History of the Day for:
December 22
- 1772: Moravian missionaries began construction of the first schoolhouse west of the Allegheny Mountains at Schoenbrunn, Pa.
- 1882: The first string of Christmas tree lights was created by Thomas Edison.
- 1894: The U.S. Golf Association was formed in New York City.
- 1937: The Lincoln Tunnel in New York opened to traffic.
- 1943: W.E.B. Du Bois was elected the first black member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
- 1943: Sporting goods manufacturers received permission to use synthetic rubber for the core of baseballs.
- 1944: During the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans demanded the surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium; Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe reportedly replied: "Nuts!"
- 1956: The first gorilla born in captivity entered the world in Columbus, Ohio.
- 1962: The 1,000,000th NBA point was scored.
- 1965: Director David Lean's "Dr. Zhivago," starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie, premiered.
- 1968: Julie Nixon, daughter of the President?elect, married Dwight David Eisenhower, grandson of the former President.
- 1978: Kenny Jones became The Who's new drummer following the death four months earlier of Keith Moon.
- 1989: Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu, the last of Eastern Europe's hard?line Communist rulers, was toppled from power in a popular uprising.
- 1990: Lech Walesa took the oath of office as Poland's first popularly elected president.
- 1996: Kordell Stewart of the Pittsburgh Steelers ran 80 yards for a touchdown in the first half of an 18-14 loss to Carolina, the longest scoring run by a quarterback in NFL history.
- 1997: Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
- 1997: Hussein Aidid relinquished the disputed title of President of Somalia by signing the Cairo Declaration, in Cairo, Egypt. It is the first major step towards reconciliation in Somalia since 1991.
- 1999: The Spanish Civil Guard finds near Calatayud (Zaragoza) another van loaded by ETA with 750 kg of explosives (see related event on December 21, 1999).
- 1999: Korean Air Cargo Flight 8509, a Boeing 747-200F crashes shortly after take-off from London Stansted Airport due to pilot error. All 4 crew members are killed.
- 2001: Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Afghan Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
- 2001: Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.
- 2003: A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hits near San Simeon, California.