This Day In History : July 22

1972 United States

Venera 8 makes soft landing on Venus

The Soviet Union's Venera 8 and another failed twin spacecraft, Cosmos 482, both launched for Venus in 1972. Venera 8 landed safely on July 22, 1972 and managed to last 63 minutes on the surface before the high pressures and temperatures killed the transmission. The probe's mission confirmed that Venus has high surface temperature and pressure, and it also sent back data from the surface along with measurements of the regolith (soil) and clouds.  

Also on This Day in History July 22

Discover what happened on July 22 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries,
famous births and notable deaths.

Births on This Day, July 22
  • 1888 Selman Waksman

    Selman Abraham Waksman was an Ukrainian-American microbiologist and biochemist who was one of the world’s foremost authorities on soil microbiology.

  • 2024 James Geddes

    American civil engineer, lawyer and politician, who was born in Pennsylvania but moved to New York state in 1794, where he began the manufacture of salt.

  • 1887 Gustav Hertz

    Gustav Ludwig Hertz was a German experimental physicist and Nobel Prize winner for his work on inelastic electron collisions in gases, and a nephew of Heinrich Hertz.

  • 1784 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel

    German astronomer who spent his entire career from age 26 (appointed 1809) as director of Frederick William III of Prussia's new Königsberg Observatory and professor of astronomy.

  • 1888 Kirk Bryan

    American geologist and geomorphologist who pioneered in explaining the forces that molded the present landforms of arid climates.

Deaths on This Day, July 22
  • 2012 George A. Miller

    George Armitage Miller was an American psychologist who was one of the founders of cognitive psychology, and more broadly, of cognitive science.

  • 1938 Ernest Brown

    Ernest (William) Brown was a British astronomer who devoted his career to the theory of the Moon's motion and constructing accurate lunar tables.

  • 1922 Jokichi Takamine

    Japanese-American biochemist and industrialist who isolated the hormone produced in the adrenal gland that causes the body to respond to emergencies.

  • 1802 Xavier Bichat

    Marie François Xavier Bichat was a French physician who was the first to investigate the body's organs as a complex of simpler structures.

  • 1809 Jean Senebier

    Swiss naturalist and botanist who demonstrated that green plants consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen under the influence of light.

1933

Aviator Wiley Post completes the first solo flight around the world in seven days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes

On July 22, 1933, Wiley Post completed a solo flight around the world in the Lockheed 5C Vega Winnie Mae. This record-breaking flight demonstrated several significant aviation technologies. It used two relatively new aeronautical devices—an autopilot and a radio direction finder. The autopilot corrected for errors in aeronautical bearing, keeping the aircraft on course.
1686

Albany, New York is formally chartered as a munipality by Governor Thomas Dongan

Albany's first charter was granted on July 22, 1686, and was known as the Dongan Charter, after Thomas Dongan, lieutenant and governor of the province of New York. A charter commission, jointly appointed by the Mayor and the Common Council, revised the City Charter, which was adopted by the voters of Albany in November, 1998.
1987

Soyuz TM-3 launched with 3 cosmonauts (1 Syrian)

Soyuz TM-3 was the third mission to Mir space station. The mission began on July 22, 1987, 01:59:17 UTC, launching Commander Alexander Viktorenko, Flight Engineer Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Research Cosmonaut Muhammed Faris, the first Syrian cosmonaut, into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, crew conducted Earth observation, medical and other scientific experiments.
2019

India's lunar mission, Chandrayaan-2 successfully takes off from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota aiming to be fourth nation to soft-land on the moon

India’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV MkIII-M1, successfully launched Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft on July 22, 2019 into its planned orbit with a perigee (nearest point to Earth) of 169.7 km and an apogee (farthest point to Earth) of 45,475 km. The launch took place from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
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