Holidays Calendar for April 22, 2020
Passover, also known as Pesach, is one of the most significant Jewish holidays. It commemorates the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt and the story of the Exodus. This festival commences on the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar and lasts for seven days in Israel and for eight days in the diaspora.
International Mother Earth Day is an annual global observance held on April 22. It was established in 2009 by the United Nations General Assembly. However, the tradition of celebrating Earth Day on April 22 began much earlier.
Administrative Professionals' Day, also known as Secretaries Day or Admin Day, is an informal professional observance that recognizes the work of administrative support professionals. In North America, it is celebrated on the Wednesday of the last full week of April.
Fighter Aviation Day is observed in the Brazilian Air Force every year on April 22. It celebrates the contribution of the Brazilian fighter aviation to the Allied war effort on the Italian front of World War II.
Russian programmers officially celebrate their professional holiday on the 256th day of the year, which falls on September 13 in common years and on September 12 in leap years. However, Russia also has at least two unofficial Programmers’ Days, celebrated on January 23 and on April 22.
Brazil observes its Discovery Day on April 22 each year, commemorating the discovery of Brazil by Pedro Álvares Cabral in 1500. This observance is not a public holiday.
Many countries around the world celebrate International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27. Some also have their own memorial days to honor the victims of antisemitism and genocide in Nazi Germany. For example, Holocaust Remembrance Day in Serbia (Dan sećanja na žrtve holokausta) is observed on April 22.
Stephen Lawrence Day is an annual remembrance day observed in the United Kingdom on April 22. It honors the memory of a black teenager who was killed in a racist attack at a bus stop in London in April 1993.
April 22 is National Jelly Bean Day. Although these candies are mostly associated with Easter, they are popular all year long.
Girl Scout Leader's Day, also known as Girl Scout Leader Appreciation Day, is an annual celebration held on April 22. It honors all Girl Scout volunteers who work as leaders and mentors.
Festivals on April 22, 2020
- Kyiv International Short Film Festival in Kyiv, Ukraine
- DetectiveFEST in Moscow, Russia
- Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival in Vancouver, Canada
- CPH:DOX Film Festival in Copenhagen, Denmark
- World Amigurumi Exhibition in New York, USA
This Day in History
- 2023 Died: Len Goodman, English professional ballroom dancer, dance teacher, and dance competition adjudicator. He was a judge on Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars.
- 2020 A truck driver under the influence of drugs crashed his truck into three cars on the Eastern Freeway in Melbourne, killing four police officers who were on routine highway patrol.
- 2016 The Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change, was opened for signature at a ceremony inside the UN Headquarters in New York.
- 2014 A freight train carrying hundreds of illegal passengers derailed near the Katangola Bridge in Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 48 people were killed and over 160 were seriously injured.
- 2006 Died: Alida Valli, Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films. Valli is known as one of the most intense and striking faces of the Italian cinema.
- 2005 Died: Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic, a student of Julius Oppenheimer and a member of the Manhattan Project during World War II. He is known for his work in quantum physics, nuclear physics and high energy astrophysics.
- 2005 Died: Norman Bird, British actor, best remembered for the 1960s films The Angry Silence, The League of Gentlemen, Whistle Down the Wind, Victim and Term of Trial.
- 2004 Two fuel trains collided in Ryongchon, North Korea. Up to 150 people were killed and 1,300 were injured.
- 1994 Died: Richard Nixon, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, the 37th President of the United States.
- 1992 Numerous gasoline explosions in the sewer system destroyed 8 kilometers of streets in Guadalajara City, Mexico. 252 people were killed, nearly 500 were injured and 15,000 were left homeless.
- 1989 Died: Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate for the discovery of the elements technetium and astatine, and the antiproton, a sub-atomic antiparticle.
- 1986 Born: Amber Heard, American actress and model. She made her breakthrough in Never Back Down and Pineapple Express. She also starred in Drive Angry alongside Nicholas Cage and in The Rum Diary alongside Johnny Depp.
- 1983 German magazine Stern claimed that the Hitler Diaries had been found in wreckage in East Germany. It was later revealed that these diaries were forgeries.
- 1982 Born: Kaká (born Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite), Brazilian former professional footballer. He is one of nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Ballon d'Or.
- 1980 Died: Jane Froman, American actress and singer. She performed on stage, television and radio despite chronic injuries she sustained from a plane crash.
- 1969 British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston won the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, the first non-stop, single-handed round-the-world yacht race.
- 1967 Born: Sheryl Lee, American actress who gained international fame for her performances as Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson on the cult TV series Twin Peaks and in the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.
- 1966 Born: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor best known for playing Negan in The Walking Dead media franchise and the Comedian in the superhero film Watchmen.
- 1945 Died: Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician, most noted for his work on the analysis and synthesis of electrical filters. His work marked the beginning of the field of network synthesis.
- 1945 Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia revolted. 520 prisoners were killed and 80 escaped.
- 1937 Born: Jack Nicholson, American actor, film director, producer, and writer. He has been nominated for the Academy Award 12 times, which makes him the most nominated male actor in the Academy's history.
- 1933 Died: Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founder of Rolls-Royce Limited, a renowned English car-manufacturing company.
- 1930 The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States signed the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
- 1923 Born: Bettie Page, American model and actress, who gained immense popularity in the 1950s for her pin-up photos. She is often referred to as the Queen of Pinunps.
- 1909 Born: Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist, Nobel Prize laureate for discovering the nerve growth factor.
- 1906 The Summer Olympics opened in Athens. Those Olympic Games are not recognized now as part of the official Games.
- 1904 Born: J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist, one of the members of the Manhattan Project, a World War II project that developed the first nuclear weapons. Alongside other members of the project he is called the "father of the atomic bomb".
- 1889 Thousands of Americans rushed to claim land in the Land Rush. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie were formed with populations of at least 10,000 people.
- 1870 Born: Vladimir Lenin, Russian politician and communist revolutionary, the first head of government of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Under his administration the Russian Empire was replaced by the Soviet Union.
- 1833 Died: Richard Trevithick, English engineer, a contributor to the development of the first high-pressure steam engine and the builder of the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive.
- 1724 Born: Immanuel Kant, German philosopher, who is considered to be a central figure of modern philosophy. His thought continues to have a major influence in contemporary fields of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics.
- 1707 Born: Henry Fielding, English author and playwright, known for his rich earthy humor and satirical prowess. His most famous work is the novel Tom Jones.
- 1616 Died: Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish author, poet, and playwright, best remembered for his novel Don Quixote (The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha).
- 1519 Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés established a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.