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HISTORY & TIMELINE
22 February

A journey through
22 February in history

From a French king marching into Naples in 1495 to an earthquake that shattered Christchurch in 2011, 22 February has seen revolutions, reconciliations and a hockey game that became a legend. This timeline follows the date across five centuries.

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JUMP THROUGH TIME
II
THE MIDDLE AGES

Medieval History

Kingdoms, conflict, faith, power and the changing medieval world.

1495
A painting of Charles VIII's triumphal entry into Naples in 1495.A painting of Charles VIII’s triumphal entry into Naples in 1495.Image: Tangopaso · Public domain
world · Europe

Charles VIII of France enters Naples

Charles VIII of France, who had invaded Italy the previous autumn to claim the Kingdom of Naples, entered the city in triumph on 22 February 1495, meeting little resistance. His quick success alarmed the other powers, and Milan, Venice, Spain, the Emperor and the Pope formed a league against him. By May he had left Naples, and his army had to fight its way home. The campaign opened more than sixty years of Italian Wars.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Charles VIII ↗
III
A CHANGING WORLD

Early Modern Era

Exploration, political change, scientific development and expanding global connections.

1632
The title page and frontispiece of Galileo's Dialogue, printed by Giovanni Battista Landini in Florence, 1632.The title page and frontispiece of Galileo’s Dialogue, printed by Giovanni Battista Landini in Florence, 1632.Image: Giovanni Battista Landini · Public domain
science · Europe

Galileo presents his Dialogue to the Grand Duke

On 22 February 1632 Galileo presented the first copy of his newly printed Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems to his patron, Grand Duke Ferdinando II de’ Medici, in Florence. Written as a conversation between three friends, it set out the case for Copernicus’s Sun-centred system against the Earth-centred system of Ptolemy. By summer there were rumours that the book would be banned. Galileo was summoned to Rome, tried by the Inquisition in 1633 and forced to recant, and the Dialogue stayed on the Church’s list of forbidden books until 1835.

Source: Museo Galileo, Florence: Galileo’s life ↗
IV
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The 1800s

Industry, empire, invention, reform and a century of enormous transformation.

1848
Insurgents storm the Château d'Eau guardhouse on the Place du Palais-Royal, 24 February 1848, in a contemporary painting in the Musée Carnavalet.Insurgents storm the Château d’Eau guardhouse on the Place du Palais-Royal, 24 February 1848, in a contemporary painting in the Musée Carnavalet.Image: anonymous · Public domain
politics · Europe

Paris rises in the revolution of 1848

King Louis-Philippe’s government had banned a political banquet planned by reformers who wanted the vote extended. On the morning of 22 February 1848 students and some 3,000 workers gathered anyway and marched towards the Chamber of Deputies, shouting ‘Long live reform! Down with Guizot!’, the unpopular chief minister. The protests grew over the next two days. Guizot was dismissed, but soldiers fired on a crowd, barricades went up across Paris, and on 24 February the king abdicated. France became a republic and gave the vote to all adult men, and revolutions spread across Europe that spring.

Source: Assemblée nationale: February 1848, the February Revolution ↗
V
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The 1900s

War and peace, technological leaps, social change, politics, sport and popular culture.

1974
Leaders of Algeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia at the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore during the Islamic summit, February 1974.Leaders of Algeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia at the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore during the Islamic summit, February 1974.Image: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain
politics · Asia

Pakistan recognises Bangladesh

On 22 February 1974, just before the opening of an Islamic summit in Lahore, Pakistan’s prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announced that his country recognised Bangladesh, the former East Pakistan, which had won its independence in a bloody war in 1971. Bangladesh’s leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had refused to attend until it was recognised. He flew to Lahore the next day and embraced Bhutto, and leaders from 38 countries met at the summit.

Source: Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: 2nd Islamic Summit, Lahore 1974 ↗
1979
The Pitons, Saint Lucia's twin volcanic peaks, above the town of Soufrière.The Pitons, Saint Lucia’s twin volcanic peaks, above the town of Soufrière.Image: Aneil Lutchman · CC BY-SA 2.0
politics · Americas

Saint Lucia becomes independent

The Caribbean island of Saint Lucia became an independent country on 22 February 1979, remaining within the Commonwealth as a parliamentary democracy. Fought over by Britain and France for more than a century, it had been British since 1814. It had gained representative government in 1924 and full internal self-government as an associated state of the United Kingdom in 1967. Its independence day is now the national holiday.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Saint Lucia, independence ↗
1980
The United States play the Soviet Union at Lake Placid on 22 February 1980, with Mike Ramsey (5) on the puck.The United States play the Soviet Union at Lake Placid on 22 February 1980, with Mike Ramsey (5) on the puck.Image: Henry Zbyszynski · CC BY 2.0
sport · Americas

The ‘Miracle on Ice’ at Lake Placid

At the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid on 22 February 1980, a United States ice hockey team of college players beat the Soviet Union, winners of the previous four Olympic titles, by four goals to three. The Americans came from behind twice, and their captain Mike Eruzione scored the winner in the third period. As the clock ran down, the broadcaster Al Michaels asked viewers, ‘Do you believe in miracles? Yes!’ The team went on to beat Finland two days later and take the gold medal.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica: Miracle on Ice ↗
1986
Corazon Aquino in September 1986, seven months after she became president.Corazon Aquino in September 1986, seven months after she became president.Image: Airman Gerald B. Johnson · Public domain
politics · Asia

The People Power Revolution begins in Manila

On the evening of 22 February 1986 the Philippine defence minister, Juan Ponce Enrile, and the army’s vice chief of staff, Fidel Ramos, broke with President Ferdinand Marcos after an election marred by fraud. That night Cardinal Jaime Sin called on Radio Veritas for people to gather outside the military camps to protect the rebels. Hundreds of thousands filled Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, known as EDSA, over the next four days. On 25 February Corazon Aquino was sworn in as president, and Marcos flew into exile in Hawaii, ending two decades of his rule.

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines: The fall of the dictatorship ↗
1997
Dolly, preserved and on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.Dolly, preserved and on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.Image: Toni Barros from São Paulo, Brasil · CC BY-SA 2.0
science · Europe

The world meets Dolly the cloned sheep

The news that scientists at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh had cloned a sheep broke on 22 February 1997, and reporters from around the world descended on Roslin. Dolly, born on 5 July 1996 and kept secret for seven months, was the first mammal cloned from an adult cell. The research paper, by Ian Wilmut’s team, appeared in Nature on 27 February. Dolly set off a worldwide debate about the ethics of cloning. She had six lambs and lived until 2003, and she can still be seen at the National Museum of Scotland.

Source: National Museums Scotland: The story of Dolly the sheep ↗
VI
2000 TO TODAY

Modern Day

The events of recent decades that have already become part of the historical record.

2002
Jonas Savimbi in Washington, DC, in October 1990.Jonas Savimbi in Washington, DC, in October 1990.Image: Michael Geissinger · CC0
world · Africa

UNITA’s leader Jonas Savimbi is killed

Jonas Savimbi, who had led the rebel movement UNITA against Angola’s government for more than three decades, was killed by government troops in Moxico province on 22 February 2002. His death left UNITA weakened and divided, and within weeks it agreed a ceasefire. A peace agreement signed in April 2002 ended a civil war that had begun at independence in 1975.

Source: US Department of State: Death of Jonas Savimbi, Angolan rebel leader of UNITA (2002) ↗
2011
'185 Empty Chairs', a memorial in Christchurch to those who died, in 2019.‘185 Empty Chairs’, a memorial in Christchurch to those who died, in 2019.Image: Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0
world · Oceania

An earthquake strikes Christchurch

At 12.51 in the afternoon on 22 February 2011 a shallow earthquake of magnitude 6.3 struck close to Christchurch, New Zealand’s second-largest city. Because it was so near and so shallow, and came in the middle of a working day, it caused severe damage in the centre of the city and in Lyttelton. 185 people died, more than 130 of them in the collapse of two office buildings.

Source: Ministry for Culture and Heritage, NZ History: Christchurch earthquake kills 185 ↗
RESEARCH

Sources & Further Reading

Selected authoritative references supporting the events on this page.

WHY THESE MOMENTS?

Significance before volume

This page is not the longest possible list of events. It is a chronological journey through 22 February, where each entry is chosen for historical significance, human interest and reliability.

Facts are checked against authoritative museums, archives, universities and reference works. Where sources disagree, the page says so.

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