Friday 22nd of April 1616

Writer Miguel Saavedra de Cervantes dies of diabetes at the age of 69 in Madrid, Área metropolitana de Madrid, Spain.

Saturday 22nd of April 1724

Philosopher Immanuel Kant is born in Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.

Tuesday 22nd of April 1766

Writer Germaine Anne Louise de Staël aka Madame de Staël is born as Anne Louise Germaine Necker in 28 Rue Michel-le-Comte, Paris, IIIe, Île-de-France, France.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1840

Symbolist painter Odilon Bertrand-Jean Redon is born in Bordeaux, Aquitaine, France.

Friday 22nd of April 1853

Law enforcement officer and biometrics researcher Alphonse Bertillon is born in Paris, Île-de-France, France.

Friday 22nd of April 1870

Political theorist and communist revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is born as Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in Simbirsk, Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1891

Anarchist Nicola Sacco is born in Torremaggiore, Apulia, Italy.

Saturday 22nd of April 1899

Writer Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov aka Vladimir Sirin known for Lolita is born in St. Petersburg, Northwestern Federal District, Russia.

Friday 22nd of April 1904

Theoretical physicist Robert Julius Oppenheimer aka The Father of the Atomic Bomb is born in New York City, New York, United States.

Saturday 22nd of April 1916

Violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin is born as Yehudi Mnuchin in New York City, New York, United States.

Saturday 22nd of April 1916

Over 1000 die in SS Hsin Yu Chinese Army transport and cruiser Hai Yung collision and sinking in Chusan Islands, Zhejiang, China.

Saturday 22nd of April 1922

Musician, bandleader and composer Charles Mingus is born in Nogales, Arizona, United States.

Sunday 22nd of April 1923

Television producer Aaron Spelling is born in Dallas, Texas, United States.

Sunday 22nd of April 1923

Pin-up model Bettie Mae Page aka The Queen of Pinups is born in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1925

Murderer John Norman Holmes Thorne aka The Chicken Run Murderer is executed by hanging at the age of 25 in Wandsworth Prison, London, Wandsworth, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Tuesday 22nd of April 1930

Murderer William Henry Podmore aka William F. Thomas is executed by hanging at the age of 29 in Winchester Prison, Winchester, Hampshire, United Kingdom.

Saturday 22nd of April 1933

Automobile designer and manufacturer Henry Frederick Royce dies of unknown causes at the age of 70 in Elmstead, Elms Lane, West Wittering, West Sussex, United Kingdom.

Royce's last words were reported to be "I wish I had spent more time in the office."

Sunday 22nd of April 1934

30-year-old Carter W. Baum is shot dead by gangster Baby Face Nelson in Little Bohemia Lodge, Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, United States.

On 20 April 1934 John Dillinger's gang, consisting of Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Homer Van Meter, Tommy Carroll, and John "Red" Hamilton settled at Little Bohemia Lodge after Dillinger's escape from the jail in Crown Point, Indiana on 3 March 1934. They were tracked down by FBI agents Melvin Purvis, W. Carter Baum and Jay Newman among others.

Thursday 22nd of April 1937

Actor Jack John Joseph Nicholson is born in Neptune City, New Jersey, United States.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1942

16-year-old Alice Porter is crucified by murderer Donald Fern in Pueblo, Colorado, United States.

Fern lured the girl to an abandoned church to fulfill his sadistic urges.

Sunday 22nd of April 1945

Artist Käthe Schmidt Kollwitz dies of natural causes at the age of 78 in Moritzburg, Sachsen, Germany.

Monday 22nd of April 1946

Film director John Samuel Waters aka The Pope of Trash is born in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

Tuesday 22nd of April 1952

Porn actress Marilyn Chambers is born as Marilyn Ann Briggs in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1959

Murderer David Brewer is born in Butler County, Ohio, United States.

Friday 22nd of April 1960

Murderer Lawrence Wade is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 32 in San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, United States.

Friday 22nd of April 1960

Valeska Eder and her fiancée Ernst Hering are shot dead by 20-year-old Serial killer Klaus Gosmann aka Der Mittagsmörder in Tuchgartenstraße, Nürnberg, Bayern, Germany.

Friday 22nd of April 1966

83 Army cadets die in American Flyers Lockheed L-188C Electra Flight 280 crash in Municipal Airport, Ardmore, Oklahoma, United States.

There were 15 survivors.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1970

Mass murderer Harry Kecinski commits suicide by a shot in the head at the age of 43 in Lundbarg 27, Fahrdorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

In depair over the loss of his job and heavy debts Kecinsky shot his wife Lisa and seven children and took his own life.

Saturday 22nd of April 1972

27-year-old Serial killer Arthur John Shawcross aka The Genesee River Killer marries his third wife, Penny Sherbino in Watertown, New York, United States.

Tuesday 22nd of April 1980

Over 100 die in Don Juan ferry and Tacloban City oil tanker collision in Manila Bay, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Friday 22nd of April 1983

Robber, kidnapper and murderer John Louis Evans is executed by Yellow Mama at the age of 33 in Holman Correctional Facility, Ross Road, Atmore, Alabama, United States.

After the first jolt of electricity, sparks and flames erupted from the electrode attached to Evans' leg. The electrode then burst from the strap holding it in place and caught on fire. Smoke and sparks came out from under the hood. Two physicians entered the chamber and found a heartbeat. The electrode was reattached to his leg. More smoke and burning flesh. Again doctors found a heartbeat. Ignoring the pleas of Evans' lawyer Russ Canan, a third jolt was applied. The execution took 14 minutes and left Evans' body charred and smoldering.

Sunday 22nd of April 1984

15-year-old April Brunais is raped and strangled by serial killer Michael Ross aka The Roadside Strangler in Griswold, Connecticut, United States.

Sunday 22nd of April 1984

14-year-old Leslie Shelley is raped and strangled by serial killer Michael Ross aka The Roadside Strangler in Griswold, Connecticut, United States.

Tuesday 22nd of April 1986

Double murderer David Livingston Funchess is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 40 in Florida State Prison, 23916 NW 83rd Ave., Raiford, Florida, United States.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1992

    252 die in sewer system gasoline explosion in Guadalajara, Analco, Jalisco, Mexico.

Four days before the explosion residents started complaining of a strong gasoline-like smell coming from the sewers which became progressively more pungent over the course of days. Nearly people were 500 injured and 15.000 were left homeless.  

Wednesday 22nd of April 1992

School shooter Adam Peter Lanza is born in Exeter, New Hampshire, United States.

Friday 22nd of April 1994

37th President of the United States Richard Milhous Nixon dies of cerebral edema at the age of 81 in New York–Presbyterian Hospital, New York City, New York, United States.

Nixon was the only president to resign without completing an elected term.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1998

Murderer Jose Roberto Villafuerte is executed by lethal injection at the age of 46 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Villafuerte's last meal request was for one broiled chicken, nine corn tortillas, two tomatoes, one can of jalapenos, two cans of Pepsi, one four-ounce plate of rice.

Wednesday 22nd of April 1998

Murderer Joseph John Cannon is executed by lethal injection at the age of 38 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Monday 22nd of April 2002

Porn actress Linda Lovelace known from Deep Throat dies of massive trauma and internal injuries after a car accident on 3 April at the age of 53 in Denver, Colorado, United States.

Tuesday 22nd of April 2003

Multiple murderer Juan Rodriguez Chavez aka The Thrill Killer is executed by lethal injection at the age of 35 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Chavez' last words were "Is it working?"

Thursday 22nd of April 2004

160 die in flammable train cargo explosion in Ryongch'ŏn, North P'yǒngan, North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il passed through the station several hours before the explosion as he returned from a meeting in China. It was suggested that the explosion might have been an assassination attempt, but South Korean intelligence services believed that it was an accident. The Red Cross reported that 1.850 houses and buildings had been destroyed and another 6.350 had been damaged.

Friday 22nd of April 2005

Striking local celebrities at the opening of an art exhibition in Vladivostok, Primorsky Krai, Russia.

Saturday 22nd of April 2006

Visuals on display during a 24-hour lecture by Maren Hoffmeister on "Fragmente des Deutungsmuster Lustmord" in Ballhaus Ost, Pappelallee 15, Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Friday 22nd of April 2022

A mosaic in a chapel in Schengen, Remich, Luxembourg.