Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/December 22

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 * 69 – Roman emperor Vitellius was captured by soldiers loyal to Vespasian and executed at the Gemonian stairs in Rome.
 * 401 – Pope Innocent I began his papacy, succeeding Anastasius I.
 * 1769 – Defeated by the Burmese Konbaung dynasty, Qing China agreed to a peace treaty to end the Sino-Burmese War.
 * 1807 – In an effort to avoid engaging in the Napoleonic Wars, the United States Congress passed the Embargo Act, forbidding American ships from engaging in trade with foreign nations.
 * 1920 – The Congress of Soviets approved the GOELRO plan, the first Soviet plan for national economic recovery and development.
 * 1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel, connecting New York City to Weehawken, New Jersey, opened.
 * 1939 – Members of the All-India Muslim League observed a "Day of Deliverance" to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over the decision to enter the Second World War at the request of the United Kingdom.
 * 1964 – The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the United States Air Force's long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft and the world's fastest air-breathing manned aircraft, made its first flight.
 * 1968 – Cultural Revolution: The People's Daily published a piece by Chinese leader Mao Zedong directing that "the intellectual youth must go to the country, and will be educated from living in rural poverty".
 * 1984 – While riding a New York City Subway train, Bernhard Goetz shot four African-American youths who had attempted to rob him, sparking a nationwide debate on vigilantism, racism, and the legal limits of self-defense.
 * 1997 – Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquished the disputed title of President of Somalia.
 * 2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai.


 * 2001 – Richard Reid unsuccessfully attempted to detonate a bomb in his shoe on a transatlantic flight from Paris to Miami.
 * 2010 – The United States repealed its controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the military.
 * Born/died: | Cynesige |d|1060| Étienne Martellange |b|1569| John Newbery |d|1767| Teresa Carreño |b|1853| Frank B. Kellogg |b|1856| Jean-Victor Poncelet |d|1867| Alan Bush |b|1900| Tommy Flowers |b|1905| Peggy Ashcroft |b|1907| Rose Talbot Bullard |d|1915| Basshunter |b|1984