This day in history
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22 July
Events
- 1099: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected as Defender of the Holy Sepulchre, refusing the title king, and so founds the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem.
- 1227: King Valdemar II of Denmark is defeated at Bornhved by the allies of Henry, Count of Schwerin, losing the town of Lbeck and other conquests in northern Germany. German colonization towards the east now resumes.
- 1581: The United Netherlands depose King Philip II of Spain as sovereign of the Netherlands in the Act of Abjuration (published 26 July).
- 1812: British forces, under Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, decisively defeat the French, under Marshal Auguste Marmont, on the SpanishPortuguese border at Salamanca, and subsequently advance into Spain.
- 1901: The British House of Lords rules on the Taff Vale Case, and weakens the position of trade unions by ruling that a trade union may now be liable for damages caused by its members during a strike. This means that the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants, who have been sued by the Taff Vale Railway Company, will have to pay a fine of 23,000.
- 1946: Zionist terrorists, intent on forcing Britain to set up a Jewish state in Palestine, blow up part of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem containing British government and military offices, killing 91 people.
- 1977: The Chinese Communist Party expels the Gang of Four, who had tried to seize power after the death of Mao Zedong. Deng Xiaoping is reinstated as deputy premier.
- 1979: The Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros wins the British Open at Royal Lytham St Anne's, becoming the first golfer from continental Europe to win the championship since Arnaud Massy of France in 1907.
- 2002: Manchester United of the English Premier football league pays Leeds United 30 million for English international Rio Ferdinand. It is a world record transfer fee for a defender.
- 2002: WorldCom, the giant US telecommunications group which is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an accounting scandal exposed in June, becomes the largest US company ever to file for bankruptcy protection. However, the action is not expected to impact on its services to customers.
Births and Deaths
- Gregor Mendel
1822: Gregor Mendel, Austrian monk and botanist who lays the mathematical foundations of genetics, born in Heinzendorf, Austria (1884). - Qusay Hussein
2003: Qusay Hussein, fugitive son and heir apparent of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, is killed by US special forces in Mosul, northern Iraq (37). - Uday Hussein
2003: Uday Hussein, fugitive son of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein renowned for violence and cruelty, is killed by US special forces in Mosul, northern Iraq (39).
Data provided by Helicon Publishing
