April 22nd
1500
Pedro Alvares Cabral discovered Brazil and claimed it for Portugal.
1509
Henry VIII became king of England.
1864
Congress authorized the inscription "In God We Trust" on coins minted as U.S. currency.
1876
Eight baseball teams began the inaugural season of the National League. In the first game Boston beat Philadelphia 6-5.
1889
The land rush in Oklahoma began when it was opened to settlers.
1898
The first shot of the Spanish-American War rang out as the USS Nashville captured a Spanish merchant ship off Key West, Fla.
1914
Babe Ruth made his pitching debut with the Baltimore Orioles.
1915
The New York Yankees wore pinstripes and the hat-in-the-ring logo for the first time.
1970
The first Earth Day was observed.
1978
The final episode of "Maude" aired.
1986
NBC aired the final episode of "Riptide."
1993
The web browser Mosaic version 1.0 is released.
1994
Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, died at age 81 in New York City, four days after suffering a stroke.
2000
Armed immigration agents took Elian Gonzalez from the Miami home of his relatives to reunite him with his father.
2002
Actor Robert Blake was charged with murder in the shooting death of his wife. He was later acquitted.
2002
Adult film actress Linda Lovelace died at age 53.
2004
Pro football player Pat Tillman, who'd traded in a multimillion-dollar contract to serve as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, was killed by friendly fire; he was 27.
Birthdays
84 George Cole Actor
83 Charlotte Rae Actress ("Facts of Life")
77 Estelle Harris Actress ("Seinfeld")
73 Glen Campbell Country singer
72 Jack Nicholson Actor
66 Mel Carter R&B singer
64 Cleve Francis Country singer
63 John Waters Director
59 Peter Frampton Rock musician
58 Paul Carrack Rock singer, musician (Squeeze, Mike and the Mechanics)
55 Joseph Bottoms Actor
50 Ryan Stiles Actor ("Whose Line is It Anyway?")
48 Byron Allen TV host, comedian ("Real People")
45 Chris Makepeace Actor
43 Jeffrey Dean Morgan Actor ("Grey's Anatomy")
42 Sheryl Lee Actress
42 Sherri Shepherd Actress, talk show host ("The View")
42 Heath Wright Country musician (Ricochet)
38 Kellie Coffey Country singer
38 Eric Mabius Actor ("Ugly Betty")
38 Ingo Rademacher Actor ("General Hospital")
38
MarkMc Cigar Asylum Inmate
35 Shavo Odadjian Rock musician (System of a Down)
30 Daniel Johns Rock musician (Silverchair)
25 Michelle Ryan Actress ("Bionic Woman")
23 Amber Heard Actress
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Buena Fortuna Cigar Asylum Inmate
53 Isabella I 4/22/1451 - 11/26/1504 Spanish Queen (1474-1504) ; sponsored Columbus's voyage to the New World
47 Henry Fielding 4/22/1707 - 10/8/1754 English novelist and playwright
54 Vladimir Ilich Lenin 4/22/1870 - 1/21/1924 Russian leader of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and first head of the Soviet state
62 J. Robert Oppenheimer 4/22/1904 - 2/18/1967 American physicist; headed the Manhattan Project
83 Aaron Spelling 4/22/1923 - 6/23/2006 American film and television producer
63 Steve Fossett 4/22/1944 - 9/3/2007 American businessman, aviator, sailor, and adventurer and the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon