NOW & THEN
22 APRIL
1662: The Royal Society was constituted by Royal Charter from Charles II.
1838: The 703-tonne Sirius, built by R Menzies & Sons, Leith, and carrying 90 passengers, reached Sandy Hook, New York, to become the first to cross the Atlantic entirely under steam. Shortage of fuel forced the crew to burn spars and furniture to complete the 18-day voyage. Brunel’s steamship, Great Western, arrived a day later.
1884: A major earthquake hit Colchester and East Anglia, damaging 1,200 buildings and killing four people.
1915: Germany first used poison gas on Western Front at Ypres.
1918: The Penny Post was abolished.
1943: The printing of British £1,000 notes was discontinued.
1947: A photo-finish camera was used for the first time at Epsom.
1967: Martial law was declared in Greece after the army effected a coup.
1969: Robin Knox-johnston arrived at Falmouth to complete the first non-stop solo circumnavigation, in 312 days.
1972: John Fairfax and Sylvia Cook, in the 35-foot Britannia II, arrived in Australia, to become the first to row across the Pacific, having left San Francisco on 26 April, 1971.
1986: An Arab was accused in London court of attempting to blow up Israeli airliner with bomb carried by his pregnant Irish girlfriend.
1988: Israeli warplanes blasted Palestinian guerrilla bases south of Beirut, Lebanon.
1989: Archaeologists said they had unearthed a 2,000-year-old mummy in a gold-covered coffin in the Egyptian oasis Fayoum. She was wrapped in linen and had a child beside her.
1990: US hostage Robert Polhill released by pro-iranian Shia group in Beirut.
1992: More than 200 died and 1,500 were injured when a gas blast ripped through underground sewers in Guadalajara, Mexico.
1994: Cabinet minister Michael Portillo pledged that Scotland’s water services would not be privatised.
1997: Chilean troops stormed the Japanese ambassador’s house in Lima and freed 72 hostages who had been held for 126 days by a Marxist rebel group. All 14 guerrillas died in the assault.
2004: Two fuel trains collided in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing 150 people.
2005: Japan’s prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, apologised for Japan’s war records.
2006: 243 people were injured in pro-democracy protest in Nepal after Nepali security forces opened fire on protesters against King Gyanendra.
2008: The United States Air Force retired the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
2009: As he unveiled his Budget, chancellor Alistair Darling claimed the UK would have to borrow a record £175 billion as he admitted the economy faced its worst year since the Second World War.
2014: The World Health Organisation reported that the outbreak of the Ebola virus which began in west Africa in March had killed more than 140 people.
BIRTHDAYS
Paul Carrack, British rock musician (Ace Squeeze), 70; Carol Drinkwater, British actress, author and olive farmer, 73; Peter Frampton, British rock singer, 71; Amber Heard, US actress, 35; Lloyd Honeyghan, Jamaican boxer, 61; Ronald Hynd, British choreographer, 90; Lord Kirkwood of Kirkhope, MP 19832005, 75; Sheryl Lee, American actress, 54; Jack Nicholson, actor, director and producer, 84; Jancis Robinson OBE, British wine writer and broadcaster, 71; Michelle Ryan, British actress (Eastenders), 37; Ryan Stiles, actor and comedian, 62; Sean Lock, actor and comedian, 58.
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1707 Henry Fielding, novelist (Tom Jones); 1916 Lord (Yehudi) Menuhin, violinist and conductor; 1925 George Cole OBE, British actor; 1936 Glen Campbell, American country singer; 1960 Gary Rhodes OBE, British chef.
Deaths: 2005 Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, sculptor; 2009 Jack Cardiff OBE, cameraman and film director; 2013 Richie Havens, American singer and songwriter; 2017 Erin Moran, actress; 2019 Billy Mcneill, Scottish footballer and manager; 2019 Heather Harper CBE, British soprano.