September 22
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1966
The day only 413 fans watched the Yankees
On this day in 1966, the New York Yankees set a weird new record: smallest paid attendance at a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. Just 413 fans attended this Thursday afternoon makeup game against the Chicago White Sox. Both teams had been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, and New York City had experienced four days of near-record rainfall, leaving both the field and the fans soggy. The Yankees ultimately lost the game, 1–4.
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Featured Event
Reportagebild/AP Images
Solidarity, the Polish trade union and political party that became a hotbed of resistance to Soviet control, was founded this day in 1980 when delegates of 36 unions met and united under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa.
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
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Michael Faraday, born this day in 1791, was an English scientist whose pioneering work in electromagnetism included producing an electric current from a magnetic field and inventing the first electric motor and dynamo.
Famous Birthdays
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2025
Super Typhoon Ragasa made landfall in the Philippines, with top winds reaching 183 miles (295 km) per hour. At least 10 people were killed and 13 others injured.
© Bettmann/Getty Images
2015
American baseball player, manager, and coach Yogi Berra, who won a record 10 World Series while a catcher with the New York Yankees and was known for his amusing non sequiturs, died at age 90. [How well do you know Yogi Berra’s most famous sayings?]
Matt Cardy/Getty Images
2002
Hundreds of thousands of rural protesters converged on London to demonstrate in favour of foxhunting, which two years later the House of Commons banned in England and Wales. [Sort fact from fiction in our English culture and customs quiz.]
National Broadcasting Company (NBC)
1999
The West Wing, which was created by Aaron Sorkin, debuted on American television; it enjoyed high ratings with its depiction of the inner workings of the administration of a fictional U.S. president. [Test your knowledge of pop culture.]
© Warner Bros. Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
1994
The first episode of Friends aired on NBC. The show went on to become one of the most popular sitcoms in the United States. [Read more about what happened in TV history during the 1990s.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1989
Irving Berlin, who was perhaps the greatest and most enduring of American songwriters, died in New York City. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about music composers.]
© Zuheir Saade—AP/REX/Shutterstock.com
1980
The Iran-Iraq War began when Iraqi armed forces invaded western Iran along the countries’ joint border; fighting continued until 1988, and a formal peace agreement was signed in 1990. [Take our quiz about famous conflicts throughout history.]
© Brian Rasic/Getty Images
1958
Opera tenor Andrea Bocelli, who was noted for his unique blend of opera and pop music, was born near Pisa, Italy. [Test your knowledge of opera.]
UPI/Bettmann Archive
1927
Gene Tunney successfully defended his world heavyweight boxing title by defeating Jack Dempsey after the controversial “long count” in the seventh round. [How much do you know about boxing?]
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives/Biodiversity Heritage Library
1888
The first issue of National Geographic Magazine was published, and it became famous for its richly illustrated articles on the various geographic regions of the world.
Brady National Photographic Art Gallery/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-19211)
1862
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which warned the Confederacy that he would free all enslaved people in states “in rebellion against the United States” on January 1, 1863. [Read the Emancipation Proclamation.]
Photograph by Katie Chao. Brooklyn Museum, New York, purchased with funds given by Sol Schreiber in memory of Ann Schreiber and the Hannah and Leonard Stone Fund, 1995.63
1776
American officer Nathan Hale was hanged by the British for spying during the American Revolution. [Read about 10 famous names in the espionage game, including Nathan Hale.]
© North Wind Picture Archives
1692
In what was to be the last executions during the Salem witch trials, eight people were hanged in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. [Who was the first person to be accused of witchcraft in Salem?]
Alinari—Art Resource/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
530
After a four-year reign, Pope Felix IV died, having named Boniface II as the next pope so as to avoid a succession controversy. [Take our quiz about popes.]