Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 22

This is a list of selected December 22 anniversaries that appears on the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial, or on a day that is or soon will be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.

Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only 5–6 events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is not generally posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled December 22, 2012 featured article or the December 22, 2012 featured picture.

To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.

< December 21	December 23 >

Staging area

Images

Use only ONE image at a time

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  President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan

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  William Tecumseh Sherman

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  President Ion Iliescu of Romania

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  Brandenburg Gate

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  President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan

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  Deng Xiaoping, paramount leader of PR China

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  Ludwig van Beethoven

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  Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi of Japan

Ineligible

Blurb	Reason
Dongzhi,	refimprove
Yaldā,	cleanup required
Midsummer festivities (Southern Hemisphere, 2011);	refimprove, and no Southern Hemisphere countries are even listed in the article
1864 – American Civil War: Union General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea ended with the capture of Savannah, Georgia.	Tagged with {{refimprove}}
1885 – Itō Hirobumi, a samurai from Chōshū, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.	refimprove section
1944 – Vietnamese revolutionary Hồ Chí Minh formed the Vietnam People's Army to drive French colonialists and Japanese occupiers out of Indochina.	Tagged with {{refimprove}}
1963 – A total of 128 people died when the ocean liner TSMS Lakonia burned at sea 180 miles (290 km) north of Madeira.	{{refimprove}}
1978 – The Third Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China opened, where Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and other party officials agreed to launch economic reforms and to open up China.	{{refimprove}}
1989 – Romanian Revolution: After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu took over as President of Romania, ending the Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu.	Tagged for cleanup
1989 – Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate re-opened after nearly 30 years, symbolizing the unity of East and West Germany.	refimprove section
1990 – The Parliament of Croatia adopted the country's current constitution.	refimprove
2001 – CC the cat, the first cloned pet, was born.	stubby, {{refimprove}}

Eligible

• 1807 – In an effort to avoid war, the United States Congress passed the Embargo Act, forbidding American ships from engaging in foreign trade.
• 1808 – German composer Ludwig van Beethoven premiered his Fifth Symphony, one of the most popular and well-known compositions in all of European classical music, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
• 1921 – The 8th Congress of Soviets approved the GOELRO plan, the first-ever Soviet plan for national economic recovery and development.
• 1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel, connecting New York City to Weehawken, New Jersey, opened.
• 1944 – World War II: US Army General Anthony McAuliffe responded to the German ultimatum of surrender during the Battle of the Bulge with a single word, "NUTS!"
• 1947 – The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly.
• 1984 – While riding a New York City Subway train, Bernhard Goetz shot four African American youths who attempted to rob him, sparking a nationwide debate on vigilantism, racism, and the legal limits of self-defense.
• 2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai.
• 2001 – Richard Reid unsuccessfully attempted to detonate a bomb in his shoe on a transatlantic flight from Paris, France, to Miami, Florida.

  Notes

• Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab/Northwest Airlines Flight 253 appears on December 25, so Richard Reid/2001 shoe bomb plot should not appear in the same year

December 22: December Solstice (05:30 UTC, 2011); Yule and other winter solstice festivals (Northern Hemisphere, 2011); Mother's Day in Indonesia

• 1769 – Having been soundly defeated in battle, the Qing Dynasty agreed to terms of truce, ending the Sino-Burmese War.
• 1939 – Members of the All-India Muslim League observed a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over the decision to enter the Second World War at the request of the United Kingdom.
• 1974 – Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli voted to become the independent nation of the Comoros.
• 1988 – Brazilian unionist and environmental activist Chico Mendes was murdered at his Xapuri home.
• 2008 – An ash dike ruptured at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, Tennessee, US, releasing 1.1 billion US gallons (4,200,000 m³) of coal fly ash slurry (aerial view of damage pictured).

More anniversaries: December 21 – December 22 – December 23

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