2026 Liushenyu coal mine explosion
A gas explosion at a coal mine in Changzhi, Shanxi, China, leaves at least 82 people dead.
What happened on May 22
38 events · 20 births · 20 deaths · 7 observances. From 1826 to 2026.
Standout on May 22
2017
Ariana Grande
Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
About May 22
May 22 is the 142nd day of the year. These facts are computed from the calendar, not copied from anywhere.
- Day of the year
- Day 142 of 365 (143 in leap years)223 days left in the year (223 in leap years)
- Falls on
- Friday in 2026, Saturday in 2027, Monday in 2028, Tuesday in 2029, Wednesday in 2030
- Week
- ISO week 21 of 2026 · Q2
- Zodiac sign
- ♊ Gemini (May 21 – June 20)Cusp date — the exact boundary shifts by a day in some years.
- Season
- Spring in the north · Autumn in the south
- May birthstone
- Emeraldrebirth, love and wisdom
- May birth flower
- Lily of the valley / Hawthornsweetness, humility and hope
- Next occurrence
- In 207 days
- Roman numerals
- XXII.Vday.month — see the Roman numeral date tool
Anniversaries in 2026
- 200thHMS Beagle1826
- 30thAung San Suu Kyi1996
- 25thEmma Chamberlain2001
- 25thEnzo Barrenechea2001
- 25thJoshua Zirkzee2001
- 20thLee Jong-wook2006
- 10thBata Živojinović2016
- 5thGansu ultramarathon disaster2021
May 22 through the years
- 10 years ago2016
- Bata Živojinović
- 25 years ago2001
- Enzo Barrenechea · Emma Chamberlain · Joshua Zirkzee
- 50 years ago1976
- Nothing recorded
- 100 years ago1926
- Nothing recorded
- 200 years ago1826
- HMS Beagle
Born on May 22 — ages this year
- 2004Peyton Elizabeth Leeturns 22
- 2002Anthony Richardson (American football)turns 24
- 2001Enzo Barrenecheaturns 25
- 2001Emma Chamberlainturns 25
- 2001Joshua Zirkzeeturns 25
- 2000Julián Carranzaturns 26
Historical events 38
A dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Gansu ultramarathon disaster
Hypothermia kills 21 runners in the 100 km (60-mile) Gansu ultramarathon disaster in China.
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 crashes in Model Colony near Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, Pakistan, killing 98 people.
Ariana Grande
Twenty-two people are killed at an Ariana Grande concert in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing.
Donald Trump
United States President Donald Trump visits the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall.
Republic of Ireland
The Republic of Ireland becomes the first nation in the world to utilise a public referendum to legalise gay marriage.
May 2014 Ürümqi attack
An explosion occurs in Ürümqi, capital of China's far-western Xinjiang region, resulting in at least 43 deaths and 91 injuries.
Prayut Chan-o-cha
Prayut Chan-o-cha (pictured), the commander-in-chief of the Royal Thai Army, launched a coup d'état against the caretaker government following six months of political crisis.
Fusilier
Fusilier Lee Rigby is murdered by two Islamic extremists in Woolwich, Southeast London.
Tokyo Skytree
Tokyo Skytree opens to the public. It is the tallest tower in the world (634 m), and the third tallest man-made structure on Earth after Merdeka 118 (680.5 m) and Burj Khalifa (829.8 m).
SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2
SpaceX COTS Demo Flight 2 launches a Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket in the first commercial flight to the International Space Station.
Joplin tornado
An EF5 tornado strikes Joplin, Missouri, killing 158 people and wreaking $2.8 billion in damages, the costliest and seventh-deadliest single tornado in U.S. history.
Air India Express Flight 812
Air India Express Flight 812, a Boeing 737 crashes over a cliff upon landing at Mangalore, India, killing 158 of 166 people on board, becoming the deadliest crash involving a Boeing 737 until the crash of Lion Air Flight 610.
Mangaluru
Upon landing in Mangalore, Air India Express Flight 812 overshot the runway and fell down a hillside, killing 158 of the 166 people on board.
Inter Milan
Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2–0 in the UEFA Champions League final in Madrid, Spain to become the first, and so far only, Italian team to win the historic treble (Serie A, Coppa Italia, Champions League).
Federal Bureau of Prisons
Police announced that the skeletal remains of Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy, who had been missing for a year, had been found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C.
Civil rights movement
Civil rights movement: A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murder of four girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, over 150 Tamil rebels are killed over two days of fighting for control in Jaffna.
Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong
In Public Prosecutor v Taw Cheng Kong, the Court of Appeal of Singapore overruled a High Court decision in the only time a statute in Singapore had been ruled unconstitutional.
United States Secret Service
A U.S. federal judge rules that U.S. Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the Lewinsky scandal involving President Bill Clinton.
Aung San Suu Kyi
The Burmese military regime jails 71 supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi in a bid to block a pro-democracy meeting.
Haiti
A worldwide trade embargo against Haiti goes into effect to punish its military rulers for not reinstating the country's ousted elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations.
Religious violence in India
During Hindu–Muslim rioting in Meerut, India, 19 members of the Provincial Armed Constabulary allegedly massacred 42 Muslims and dumped their bodies in water canals.
Pac-Man
Location testing for Pac-Man, a Japanese arcade game that became an icon of 1980s popular culture, began in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Dominion of Ceylon
The Dominion of Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka, adopted a new constitution, and officially became a republic within the Commonwealth.
1960 Valdivia earthquake
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded, registering approximately 9.5 Mw, struck near Valdivia, Chile, generating tsunamis that reached Hawaii and Japan.
1958 anti-Tamil pogrom
Ethnic riots mostly targeting the minority Sri Lankan Tamils broke out in Ceylon, resulting in at least 158 deaths over the next few days.
Pact of Steel
Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel, a military and political alliance.
Lassen Peak
California's Lassen Peak violently erupted, the only volcanic eruption in the contiguous U.S. in the 20th century until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.
Uruguayan Regional Workers' Federation
The Uruguayan Regional Workers' Federation declared a general strike in solidarity with trolley workers in Montevideo.
Abdul Hamid II
Sultan Abdul Hamid II established the Ullah millet, a separate millet for the Aromanians within the Ottoman Empire.
Blackwall Tunnel
The first Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames was opened to improve commerce and trade in the East End of London.
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem was first performed in the San Marco church in Milan to commemorate the first anniversary of Alessandro Manzoni's death.
Charles Sumner
Senator Charles Sumner (pictured) was assaulted by Representative Preston Brooks in the United States Senate chamber in retaliation for a speech in which Sumner fiercely criticized slaveholders.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was issued a patent for an invention to lift boats over obstacles in a river, making him the only U.S. president ever to hold a patent.
Shiraz
In Shiraz, Iran, the Báb declared himself to be a messenger of God to Mullá Husayn, leading to the foundation of Bábism, considered to be a precursor to the Baháʼí Faith.
HMS Beagle
HMS Beagle (pictured) departed on her first voyage from Plymouth for a hydrographic survey of the Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego regions of South America.
Births 20
A notable person born on this day. Each links to a person page with their dates and story.
Deaths 20
A notable person who died on this day.
Richard A. Tapia
Richard A. Tapia, American mathematician, National Medal of Science recipient (born 1939)
Joseph Brooks (songwriter)
Joseph Brooks, American director, producer, screenwriter, and composer (born 1938)
Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner, American mathematician, cryptographer, and author (born 1914)
Holidays & observances 7
A holiday, feast day, awareness day or national day observed every year on this date.
Abolitionism
Abolition Day (Martinique)
Aromanian National Day
Aromanian National Day (marginal, celebration on May 23 is more common)
Castus and Emilius
Christian feast day: Castus and Emilius
Saint Humility
Christian feast day: Humilita
Saint Fulk
Christian feast day: Fulk
Beatification
Christian feast day: Blessed John Forest
Michael Hồ Đình Hy
Christian feast day: Michael Hồ Đình Hy (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
Spread across the centuries
- 19th century6
- 20th century30
- 21st century42
Earliest: HMS Beagle (1826). Most recent: 2026 Liushenyu coal mine explosion (2026).
What the categories mean, and how the standout is chosen
- Historical events
- A dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
- Births
- A notable person born on this day. Each links to a person page with their dates and story.
- Deaths
- A notable person who died on this day.
- Milestones
- A first, a founding or a turning point our editors flagged as a landmark moment.
- Holidays & observances
- A holiday, feast day, awareness day or national day observed every year on this date.
- Standout / notable
- Editor-written entries come first, then entries covered by the most Wikipedia language editions. For the standout tile we prefer an entry that has a picture.
Nearby and related
Questions about May 22
What day of the year is May 22?
May 22 is the 142nd day of the year, with 223 days left after it.
What star sign is May 22?
May 22 falls under Gemini (May 21 – June 20), a air sign ruled by Mercury. The birthstone for the month is Emerald.
How many things happened on May 22?
We record 85 entries for May 22: 38 events · 20 births · 20 deaths · 7 observances. From 1826 to 2026.
Who was born on May 22?
Peyton Elizabeth Lee (2004) is among the notable births on May 22. The births section lists the rest.
How often is the May 22 page updated?
The day is filled the first time anyone opens it and then re-checked for new entries about every 90 days. Computed facts such as the weekday and the anniversaries update every year.
Get a daily entry like May 22
One short email a day from this calendar. Kept for this site only.
Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.