TODAY IN MILITARY HISTORY
22 May
◆334 BCE Battle of the Granicus: Alexander defeats the Persians.
◆871 Battle of Basing: The Danes defeat Ethelred "the Unrede" of Wessex.
◆1455 First Battle of St. Albans: The Yorkists defeat the Lancastrians.
◆1499 Battle of Calven Gorge: The Swiss defeat the Hapsburgs.
◆1760 Battle of Wandewash, India: British defeat the French.
◆1790 Russians blockade the Swedish fleet in Viborg harbor (Swedes break out July 3).
◆1794 Battle of Tournai: Austro-Dutch defeat the French.
◆1804 The Lewis and Clark Expedition officially began as the Corps of Discovery departed from St. Charles, Missouri.
◆1809 Battle of Aspern-Essling (Day 1): Napoleon vs. the Austrians.
◆1843 A massive wagon train, made up of 1,000 settlers and 1,000 head of cattle, sets off down the Oregon Trail from Independence, Missouri.
◆1848 Battle of the Ponte di Caffaro: Italian Nationalists defeat the Austrians.
◆1848 Second Battle of Vicenza: Veneto-Papal forces defeat the Austrians.
◆1863 U.S. Grant’s second attack on Vicksburg, Miss., failed and a siege began.
◆1864 Battle of North Anna River, VA.
◆1882 Commodore Shufeldt signs commerce treaty opening Korea to U.S. trade.
◆1912 First Lieutenant Alfred A. Cunningham, the first Marine officer to be assigned to "duty in connection with aviation" by Major General Commandant William P. Biddle. Cunningham reported for aviation training at the Naval Aviation Camp at Annapolis, Maryland, and Marine aviation had its official beginning.
◆1939 Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini signed a "Pact of Steel" committing Germany and Italy to a military alliance forming the Axis powers.
◆1942 President Roosevelt orders the Selective Service registration of all male Americans residents who reach the age of 18 or 19 before June 30th or has reached the age of 20 since December 31, 1941.
◆1942 Mexico declares war on Nazi Germany and Japan.
◆1943 Admiral Donitz orders all U-boat patrols in the north Atlantic to break off operations against the convoys. The submarine losses have grown too high. This decision effectively ends the battle of the Atlantic with an Allied victory. Some boats are moved south to the Caribbean and to waters off the Azores.
◆1944 US 5th Army forces continue to advance. The US 2nd Corps (Keyes) advances north along the coast and Route 7. The French Expeditionary Corps captures Pico. There is continued heavy German resistance in the Liri Valley.
◆1944 An American submarine detects the concentration of the Japanese fleet around Tawitawi.
◆1944 Japanese forces attack US positions around Aitape. American forces make some withdrawals.
◆1944 U.S. and British aircraft begin a systematic bombing raid on railroads in Germany and other parts of northern Europe, called Operation Chattanooga Choo-Choo. The operation is a success; Germany is forced to scramble for laborers, including foreign slave laborers, to repair the widespread damage exacted on its railway network.
◆1945 Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsfuhrer SS, is captured by a British patrol at Bremervorde, near Hamburg.
◆1945 On Okinawa, American forces enter Yonabaru and capture Conical Hill. Heavy rains begin that hamper offensive operations for the coming weeks.
◆1945 Elements of the US 24th Division reach Tambongan on Mindanao.
◆1947 The first US ballistic missile was fired.
◆1952 Major General William K. Harrison succeeded Admiral C. Turner Joy as Senior U.N. Command Delegate for armistice negotiations.
◆1958 Naval aircraft F4D-1 Sky Ray sets five world speed-to-climb records.
◆1968 USS Scorpion (SSN-589) lost with all hands.
◆1990 Special Operations Command established in the USAF.
◆1993 The United States, Russia, France, Britain and Spain agreed to enforce safe areas in Bosnia-Herzegovina, but stopped short of endorsing President Clinton's proposal to use military force.
◆1997 Kelly Flinn, the Air Force's first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepted a general discharge, thereby avoiding court-martial on charges of lying, adultery and disobeying an order.
◆1998 A joint peacekeeping force was set up by 7 European nations to maintain peace in Kosovo. Deputy defense ministers of Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Romania and Turkey signed on after meeting in Tirana. Slovenia and the US signed on as observers.
◆2003 NASA released the first photo of Earth taken from Mars, 86 million miles away. The record distance was a 1990 shot by Voyager 1 from 4 billion miles.