22 February: On this day in history
What events happened on 22 February in history? We round up the events, births and deaths…
22 February 1358
Etienne Marcel, provost of the Merchants of Paris, stormed the Louvre at the head of a mob and murdered two of the Dauphin Charles's advisors, the Marshals of Champagne and Normandy.
22 February 1512
Florentine explorer, financier, navigator and mapmaker Amerigo Vespucci died in Seville. America is widely believed to have been named after him.
22 February 1540
Mary of Guise, the wife of James V, was crowned queen of Scotland in Holyrood Abbey. In December 1542, she gave birth to a daughter, later known as Mary, Queen of Scots.
22 February 1563
Pierre de Chastelard, a young French nobleman who had developed a romantic obsession for Mary Queen of Scots, was executed in the market place at St Andrews after forcing his way into the queen’s chamber.
22 February 1857
Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts was born in London, 32 years to the day before the birth of his wife Olave.
22 February 1879
Frank Woolworth opened his first store in New York. It was not a success, but he opened more and the firm grew. The first UK shop opened in Liverpool in 1909.
22 February 1941
German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau attacked a British convoy east of Newfoundland and sunk four cargo ships and a tanker. By the end of their two-month raid, which was code-named Operation Berlin, they had sunk an estimated 22 vessels.
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