- 238 – Year of the Six Emperors: The Roman Senate outlaws emperor Maximinus Thrax for his bloodthirsty proscriptions in Rome and nominates two of its members, Pupienus and Balbinus, to the throne.
- 1500 – Portuguese navigator Pedro Álvares Cabral lands in Brazil.
- 1519 – Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés establishes a settlement at Veracruz, Mexico.
- 1529 – Treaty of Zaragoza divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal along a line 297.5 leagues (1,250 kilometres (780 mi)) east of the Moluccas.
- 1622 – The Capture of Ormuz by the East India Company ends Portuguese control of Hormuz Island.
- 1809 – The second day of the Battle of Eckmühl: The Austrian army is defeated by the First French Empire army led by Napoleon and driven over the Danube in Regensburg.
- 1836 – Texas Revolution: A day after the Battle of San Jacinto, forces under Texas General Sam Houston identify Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna among the captives of the battle when some of his fellow soldiers mistakenly give away his identity.
- 1864 – The U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act of 1864 that mandates that the inscription In God We Trust be placed on all coins minted as United States currency.
- 1876 – The first game in the history of the National League was played at the Jefferson Street Grounds in Philadelphia. This game is often pointed to as the beginning of Major League Baseball.
- 1889 – At noon, thousands rush to claim land in the Land Rush of 1889. Within hours the cities of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed with populations of at least 10,000.
- 1898 – Spanish–American War: The USS Nashville captures a Spanish merchant ship.
- 1906 – The 1906 Intercalated Games, now recognized as part of the official Olympic Games, open in Athens.
- 1915 – The use of poison gas in World War I escalates when chlorine gas is released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
- 1930 – The United Kingdom, Japan and the United States sign the London Naval Treaty regulating submarine warfare and limiting shipbuilding.
- 1944 – The 1st Air Commando Group using Sikorsky R-4 helicopters stage the first use of helicopters in combat with combat search and rescue operations in the China Burma India Theater.
- 1944 – World War II: Operation Persecution is initiated: Allied forces land in the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) area of New Guinea.
- 1944 – World War II: In Greenland, the Allied Sledge Patrol attack the German Bassgeiger weather station.
- 1945 – World War II: Prisoners at the Jasenovac concentration camp revolt. Five hundred twenty are killed and around eighty escape.
- 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: The port city of Haifa is captured by Jewish forces.
- 1951 – Korean War: The Chinese People’s Volunteer Army begin assaulting positions defended by the Royal Australian Regiment and the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry at the Battle of Kapyong.
- 1954 – Red Scare: Witnesses begin testifying and live television coverage of the Army–McCarthy hearings begins.
- 1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston wins the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race and completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
- 1969 – The formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) is announced at a mass rally in Calcutta.
- 1970 – The first Earth Day is celebrated.
- 1972 – Increased American bombing in Vietnam prompts anti-war protests in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco.
- 1977 – Optical fiber is first used to carry live telephone traffic.
- 1983 – The German magazine Stern claims the “Hitler Diaries” had been found in wreckage in East Germany; the diaries are subsequently revealed to be forgeries.
- 1992 – In a series of explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico, 206 people are killed, nearly 500 injured and 15,000 left homeless.
- 1993 – Eighteen-year-old Stephen Lawrence is murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus in Well Hall, Eltham.
- 1997 – Haouch Khemisti massacre in Algeria where 93 villagers are killed.
- 2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami.
- 2004 – Two fuel trains collide in Ryongchon, North Korea, killing up to 150 people.
- 2005 – Japan’s Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan’s war record.
- 2008 – The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
- 2013 – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrest and charge two men with plotting to disrupt a Toronto area train service in a plot claimed to be backed by Al-Qaeda elements.
- 2014 – More than 60 people are killed and 80 are seriously injured in a train crash in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Katanga Province.
- 2016 – The Paris Agreement is signed, an agreement to help fight global warming.
- 2019 – The 2019 Luzon earthquake kills at least 18 people in the Philippines.
Births on April 22
- 1412 – Reinhard III, Count of Hanau (1451–1452) (d. 1452)
- 1444 – Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (d. 1503)
- 1451 – Isabella I of Castile (d. 1504)
- 1518 – Antoine of Navarre (d. 1562)
- 1592 – Wilhelm Schickard, German astronomer and mathematician (d. 1635)
- 1610 – Pope Alexander VIII (d. 1691)
- 1658 – Giuseppe Torelli, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1709)
- 1690 – John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1763)
- 1707 – Henry Fielding, English novelist and playwright (d. 1754)
- 1711 – Paul II Anton, Prince Esterházy, Austrian soldier (d. 1762)
- 1724 – Immanuel Kant, German anthropologist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1804)
- 1732 – John Johnson, English architect and surveyor (d. 1814)
- 1744 – James Sullivan, American lawyer and politician, 7th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1808)
- 1757 – Alessandro Rolla, Italian violinist and composer (d. 1841)
- 1766 – Germaine de Staël, French author and political philosopher (d. 1817)
- 1812 – Solomon Caesar Malan, Swiss-English orientalist (d. 1894)
- 1816 – Charles-Denis Bourbaki, French general (d. 1897)
- 1830 – Emily Davies, British suffragist and educator, co-founder and an early Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge University
- 1832 – Julius Sterling Morton, American journalist and politician, 3rd United States Secretary of Agriculture (d. 1902)
- 1844 – Lewis Powell, American soldier, attempted assassin of William H. Seward (d. 1865)
- 1852 – William IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (d. 1912)
- 1858 – Ethel Smyth, English composer (d. 1944)
- 1854 – Henri La Fontaine, Belgian lawyer and author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
- 1860 – Ada Rehan, Irish-American actress (d. 1916)
- 1870 – Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary and founder of Soviet Russia (d. 1924)
- 1872 – Princess Margaret of Prussia (d. 1954)
- 1873 – Ellen Glasgow, American author (d. 1945)
- 1876 – Róbert Bárány, Austrian-Swedish otologist and physician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
- 1876 – Georg Lurich, Estonian wrestler and strongman (d. 1920)
- 1879 – Bernhard Gregory, Estonian-German chess player (d. 1939)
- 1884 – Otto Rank, Austrian-American psychologist and academic (d. 1939)
- 1886 – Izidor Cankar, Slovenian historian, author, and diplomat (d. 1958)
- 1889 – Richard Glücks, German SS officer (d. 1945)
- 1891 – Laura Gilpin, American photographer (d. 1979)
- 1891 – Vittorio Jano, Italian engineer (d. 1965)
- 1891 – Harold Jeffreys, English mathematician, geophysicist, and astronomer (d. 1989)
- 1891 – Nicola Sacco, Italian-American anarchist (d. 1927)
- 1892 – Vernon Johns, African-American minister and activist (d. 1965)
- 1899 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (d. 1977)
- 1900 – Nellie Beer, British politician, Lord Mayor of Manchester from 1966–67 (d. 1988)
- 1904 – J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (d. 1967)
- 1905 – Robert Choquette, American-Canadian author, poet, and diplomat (d. 1991)
- 1906 – Eric Fenby, English composer and educator (d. 1997)
- 1906 – Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten (d. 1947)
- 1908 – Ivan Yefremov, Russian paleontologist and author (d. 1972)
- 1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Sephardic Jewish-Italian neurologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
- 1909 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (d. 2001)
- 1909 – Spyros Markezinis, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 2000)
- 1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician and academic (d. 1971)
- 1912 – Kathleen Ferrier, English operatic singer (d. 1953)
- 1912 – Kaneto Shindo, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
- 1914 – Baldev Raj Chopra, Indian director and producer (d. 2008)
- 1914 – Jan de Hartog, Dutch-American author and playwright (d. 2002)
- 1914 – José Quiñones Gonzales, Peruvian soldier and pilot (d. 1941)
- 1914 – Michael Wittmann, German SS officer (d. 1944)
- 1916 – Hanfried Lenz, German mathematician and academic (d. 2013)
- 1916 – Yehudi Menuhin, American-Swiss violinist and conductor (d. 1999)
- 1917 – Yvette Chauviré, French ballerina (d. 2016)
- 1917 – Sidney Nolan, Australian painter (d. 1992)
- 1918 – William Jay Smith, American poet and academic (d. 2015)
- 1918 – Mickey Vernon, American baseball player and coach (d. 2008)
- 1919 – Donald J. Cram, American chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2001)
- 1919 – Carl Lindner, Jr., American businessman and philanthropist (d. 2011)
- 1922 – Richard Diebenkorn, American soldier and painter (d. 1993)
- 1922 – Charles Mingus, American bassist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1979)
- 1922 – Wolf V. Vishniac, American microbiologist and academic (d. 1973)
- 1923 – Peter Kane Dufault, American soldier, pilot, and poet (d. 2013)
- 1923 – Bettie Page, American model and actress (d. 2008)
- 1923 – Aaron Spelling, American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
- 1924 – Nam Duck-woo, South Korean politician, 12th Prime Minister of South Korea (d. 2013)
- 1926 – Charlotte Rae, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
- 1926 – James Stirling, Scottish architect, designed the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and Seeley Historical Library (d. 1992)
- 1927 – Laurel Aitken, Cuban-Jamaican singer (d. 2005)
- 1929 – Michael Atiyah, English-Lebanese mathematician and academic (d. 2019)
- 1929 – Robert Wade-Gery, English diplomat, British High Commissioner to India (d. 2015)
- 1930 – Enno Penno, Estonian politician, Prime Minister of Estonia in exile (d. 2016)
- 1931 – John Buchanan, Canadian lawyer and politician, 20th Premier of Nova Scotia (d. 2019)
- 1931 – Ronald Hynd, English dancer and choreographer
- 1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist and astronaut (d. 2013)
- 1935 – Christopher Ball, English linguist and academic
- 1935 – Paul Chambers, African-American bassist and composer (d. 1969)
- 1935 – Bhama Srinivasan, Indian-American mathematician and academic
- 1936 – Glen Campbell, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (d. 2017)
- 1936 – Pierre Hétu, Canadian pianist and conductor (d. 1998)
- 1937 – Jack Nicholson, American actor and producer
- 1937 – Jack Nitzsche, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and conductor (d. 2000)
- 1938 – Alan Bond, English-Australian businessman (d. 2015)
- 1938 – Gani Fawehinmi, Nigerian lawyer and activist (d. 2009)
- 1938 – Issey Miyake, Japanese fashion designer
- 1938 – Adam Raphael, English journalist and author
- 1939 – Mel Carter, American singer and actor
- 1939 – John Foley, English general and politician, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey
- 1939 – Ray Guy, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2013)
- 1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and playwright (d. 2001)
- 1939 – Theodor Waigel, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Finance
- 1941 – Greville Howard, Baron Howard of Rising, English politician
- 1942 – Giorgio Agamben, Italian philosopher and academic
- 1942 – Mary Prior, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Bristol
- 1943 – Keith Crisco, American businessman and politician (d. 2014)
- 1943 – Janet Evanovich, American author
- 1943 – Louise Glück, American poet
- 1943 – John Maples, Baron Maples, English lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Defence (d. 2012)
- 1943 – Scott W. Williams, American mathematician and professor
- 1944 – Steve Fossett, American businessman, pilot, and sailor (d. 2007)
- 1944 – Doug Jarrett, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Joshua Rifkin, American conductor and musicologist
- 1945 – Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Indian civil servant and politician, 22nd Governor of West Bengal
- 1945 – Demetrio Stratos, Egyptian-Italian singer-songwriter (d. 1979)
- 1946 – Steven L. Bennett, American captain and pilot, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1972)
- 1946 – Paul Davies, English physicist and author
- 1946 – Louise Harel, Canadian lawyer and politician
- 1946 – Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope, Scottish lawyer and politician
- 1946 – Nicholas Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, English economist and academic
- 1946 – John Waters, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1948 – John Pritchard, English bishop
- 1949 – Spencer Haywood, American basketball player
- 1950 – Peter Frampton, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
- 1950 – Jancis Robinson, English journalist and critic
- 1951 – Paul Carrack, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1951 – Aivars Kalējs, Latvian organist, composer, and pianist
- 1951 – Ana María Shua, Argentinian author and poet
- 1952 – François Berléand, French actor
- 1952 – Dave Loveridge, New Zealand rugby player
- 1952 – Phil Smith, American basketball player (d. 2002)
- 1953 – Valeri Bondarenko, Estonian footballer and coach
- 1953 – Richard Broadbent, English businessman
- 1955 – David Collier, English businessman
- 1957 – Donald Tusk, Polish journalist and politician, 14th Prime Minister of Poland
- 1959 – Keith Boanas, English footballer and manager
- 1959 – Terry Francona, American baseball player, coach, and manager
- 1959 – Catherine Mary Stewart, Canadian actress
- 1959 – Ryan Stiles, American-Canadian actor and producer
- 1960 – Lloyd Honeyghan, Jamaican-English boxer
- 1960 – Mart Laar, Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia
- 1960 – Randall L. Stephenson, American businessman
- 1961 – Alo Mattiisen, Estonian composer (d. 1996)
- 1961 – Ann McKechin, Scottish lawyer and politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
- 1961 – Dewey Nicks, American photographer and director
- 1962 – Danièle Sauvageau, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1963 – Rosalind Gill, English sociologist and academic
- 1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic weightlifter and strongman
- 1964 – Paul Baxter, English footballer
- 1965 – Miguel Leal, Portuguese footballer and manager
- 1965 – Peter Zezel, Canadian ice hockey and soccer player (d. 2009)
- 1966 – Mickey Morandini, American baseball player and manager
- 1966 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
- 1967 – David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic
- 1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American actress and talk show panelist
- 1967 – Harvey Williams, American football player
- 1968 – Jo Angel, Australian cricketer
- 1968 – Bimbo Coles, American basketball player and coach
- 1968 – Zarley Zalapski, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1969 – Dion Dublin, English footballer and sportscaster
- 1970 – Erkki Bahovski, Estonian journalist
- 1971 – Eric Mabius, American actor
- 1971 – Spencer Prior, English footballer
- 1972 – Sabine Appelmans, Belgian tennis player
- 1972 – Owen Finegan, Australian rugby player and coach
- 1972 – Milka Duno, Venezuelan race car driver and engineer
- 1972 – Sergei Hohlov-Simson, Estonian footballer and manager
- 1972 – Willie Robertson, American hunter and businessman
- 1973 – Adem Poric, English-Australian footballer
- 1973 – Ofer Talker, Israeli footballer and manager
- 1974 – Shavo Odadjian, Armenian-American bass player, songwriter, and producer
- 1975 – Greg Moore, Canadian race car driver (d. 1999)
- 1975 – Carlos Sastre, Spanish cyclist
- 1975 – Anders Nyström, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
- 1976 – Dan Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
- 1976 – Paul Henderson, Australian footballer
- 1976 – Michał Żewłakow, Polish footballer
- 1977 – Mark van Bommel, Dutch footballer
- 1978 – Paul Malakwen Kosgei, Kenyan runner and coach
- 1978 – David Masters, English cricketer
- 1978 – Matt Orford, Australian rugby league player
- 1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1978 – Esteban Tuero, Argentinian race car driver
- 1979 – Zoltán Gera, Hungarian international footballer and manager
- 1979 – Daniel Johns, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
- 1980 – Igor Budan, Croatian footballer
- 1980 – Clarke Dermody, New Zealand rugby player
- 1980 – Nicolas Douchez, French footballer
- 1980 – Courtney Friel, American journalist
- 1980 – Carlos Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1980 – Quincy Timberlake, Kenyan-Australian activist, engineer, and politician
- 1980 – Rutledge Wood, American racing analyst and television personality
- 1981 – Madis Kallas, Estonian decathlete and activist
- 1981 – Rafael Sperafico, Brazilian race car driver (d. 2007)
- 1981 – Jonathan Trott, South African-English cricketer
- 1982 – Kaká, Brazilian footballer
- 1982 – Cassidy Freeman, American actress and musician
- 1982 – Joel Monaghan, Australian rugby league player
- 1982 – David Purcey, American baseball player
- 1982 – Aidas Reklys, Lithuanian figure skater
- 1982 – Aleksander Saharov, Estonian footballer
- 1982 – Noriko Shitaya, Japanese voice actress
- 1983 – Remi Ayodele, American football player
- 1983 – Sam W. Heads, English-American entomologist and palaeontologist
- 1983 – Jos Hooiveld, Dutch footballer
- 1983 – Matt Jones, American football player
- 1983 – Vangelis Mantzios, Greek footballer
- 1984 – Amelle Berrabah, English singer-songwriter
- 1985 – Kristin Fairlie, Canadian actress
- 1986 – Amber Heard, American actress and producer
- 1986 – Marshawn Lynch, American football player
- 1986 – Dušan Šakota, Serbian-Greek basketball player
- 1987 – David Luiz, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – David Mateos, Spanish footballer
- 1988 – Dee Gordon, American baseball player
- 1989 – DeJuan Blair, American basketball player
- 1989 – Jasper Cillessen, Dutch footballer
- 1989 – Aron Gunnarsson, Icelandic footballer
- 1990 – Óscar González, Mexican boxer (d. 2014)
- 1990 – Machine Gun Kelly, American rapper and actor
- 1991 – Jordi Murphy, Irish international rugby player
- 1991 – Braydon Smith, Australian boxer (d. 2015)
- 1992 – Kenny Stills, American football player
- 1992 – Joonas Vaino, Estonian basketball player
- 1993 – Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, Australian footballer
- 1993 – Ngani Laumape, New Zealand rugby player
- 1993 – Marcel Ritzmaier, Austrian footballer
Deaths on April 22
- 296 – Pope Caius
- 536 – Pope Agapetus I
- 591 – Peter III of Raqqa
- 613 – Saint Theodore of Sykeon
- 846 – Wuzong, Chinese emperor (b. 814)
- 1208 – Philip of Poitou, Prince-Bishop of Durham
- 1322 – Francis of Fabriano, Italian writer (b. 1251)
- 1355 – Eleanor of Woodstock, countess regent of Guelders, eldest daughter of King Edward II of England (b. 1318)
- 1585 – Henry of Saxe-Lauenburg, Prince-Archbishop of Bremen, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück and Paderborn (b. 1550)
- 1616 – Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright (b. 1547)
- 1672 – Georg Stiernhielm, Swedish linguist and poet (b. 1598)
- 1699 – Hans Erasmus Aßmann, German poet (b. 1646)
- 1758 – Antoine de Jussieu, French botanist and physician (b. 1686)
- 1778 – James Hargreaves, British inventor (b. 1720)
- 1806 – Pierre-Charles Villeneuve, French admiral (b. 1763)
- 1821 – Gregory V of Constantinople, Greek patriarch and saint (b. 1746)
- 1833 – Richard Trevithick, English engineer and explorer (b. 1771)
- 1850 – Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, Estonian philologist and physician (b. 1798)
- 1854 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican general and politician, 11th President of Mexico (b. 1786)
- 1871 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (b. 1806)
- 1877 – James P. Kirkwood, Scottish-American engineer (b. 1807)
- 1892 – Édouard Lalo, French violinist and composer (b. 1823)
- 1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian businessman and author (b. 1825)
- 1894 – Kostas Krystallis, Greek author and poet (b. 1868)
- 1896 – Thomas Meik, English engineer, founded Halcrow Group (b. 1812)
- 1908 – Henry Campbell-Bannerman, Scottish-English merchant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1836)
- 1925 – André Caplet, French composer and conductor (b. 1878)
- 1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter and art collector (b. 1848)
- 1932 – Ferenc Oslay, Hungarian-Slovene historian and author (b. 1883)
- 1933 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman, co-founded Rolls-Royce Limited (b. 1863)
- 1944 – Nikolaos Roussen, Greek captain (b. 1913)
- 1945 – Wilhelm Cauer, German mathematician and academic (b. 1900)
- 1945 – Käthe Kollwitz, German painter and sculptor (b. 1867)
- 1946 – Lionel Atwill, English-American actor (b. 1885)
- 1946 – Harlan F. Stone, American lawyer and jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1872)
- 1949 – Charles Middleton, American actor (b. 1874)
- 1950 – Charles Hamilton Houston, American lawyer and academic (b. 1895)
- 1951 – Horace Donisthorpe, English myrmecologist and coleopterist (b. 1870)
- 1956 – Walt Faulkner, American race car driver (b. 1918)
- 1968 – Stephen H. Sholes, American record producer (b. 1911)
- 1978 – Will Geer, American actor (b. 1902)
- 1980 – Jane Froman, American actress and singer (b. 1907)
- 1980 – Fritz Strassmann, German chemist and physicist (b. 1902)
- 1983 – Earl Hines, American pianist and bandleader (b. 1903)
- 1984 – Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (b. 1902)
- 1985 – Paul Hugh Emmett, American chemist and academic (b. 1900)
- 1985 – Jacques Ferron, Canadian physician and author (b. 1921)
- 1986 – Mircea Eliade, Romanian historian and author (b. 1907)
- 1987 – Erika Nõva, Estonian architect (b. 1905)
- 1988 – Grigori Kuzmin, Russian-Estonian astronomer and academic (b. 1917)
- 1988 – Irene Rich, American actress (b. 1891)
- 1989 – Emilio G. Segrè, Italian-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- 1990 – Albert Salmi, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1994 – Richard Nixon, American lieutenant, lawyer, and politician, 37th President of the United States (b. 1913)
- 1995 – Jane Kenyon, American poet and author (b. 1947)
- 1996 – Erma Bombeck, American journalist and author (b. 1927)
- 1996 – Jug McSpaden, American golfer and architect (b. 1908)
- 1998 – Kitch Christie, South African rugby player and coach (b. 1940)
- 1999 – Chan Canasta, Polish-English magician (b. 1920)
- 1999 – Munir Ahmad Khan, Pakistani nuclear engineer (b. 1926)
- 2002 – Linda Lovelace, American porn actress and activist (b. 1949)
- 2003 – Felice Bryant, American songwriter (b. 1925)
- 2003 – James H. Critchfield, American CIA officer (b. 1917)
- 2003 – Martha Griffiths, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 58th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan (b. 1912)
- 2003 – Mike Larrabee, American runner (b. 1933)
- 2004 – Jason Dunham, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1981)
- 2004 – Pat Tillman, American football player and soldier (b. 1976)
- 2005 – Erika Fuchs, German translator (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Philip Morrison, American physicist and academic (b. 1915)
- 2005 – Eduardo Paolozzi, Scottish sculptor and artist (b. 1924)
- 2006 – Henriette Avram, American computer scientist and academic (b. 1919)
- 2006 – D’Iberville Fortier, Canadian diplomat (b. 1926)
- 2006 – Alida Valli, Italian actress (b. 1921)
- 2007 – Juanita Millender-McDonald, American educator and politician (b. 1938)
- 2008 – Cameron Argetsinger, American race car driver and lawyer (b. 1921)
- 2008 – Ed Chynoweth, Canadian businessman (b. 1941)
- 2009 – Jack Cardiff, British cinematographer, director and photographer (b. 1914)
- 2010 – Richard Barrett, American lawyer and activist (b. 1943)
- 2011 – Hazel Dickens, American singer-songwriter, bassist and guitarist (b. 1935)
- 2012 – John Amabile, American football player and coach (b. 1939)
- 2012 – Bill Granger, American author (b. 1941)
- 2012 – Buzz Potamkin, American director and producer (b. 1945)
- 2012 – George Rathmann, American chemist, biologist, and businessman (b. 1927)
- 2013 – Dave Gold, American businessman, founded 99 Cents Only Stores (b. 1932)
- 2013 – George Stanley Gordon, American businessman (b. 1926)
- 2013 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1941)
- 2013 – Lalgudi Jayaraman, Indian violinist and composer (b. 1930)
- 2013 – Mike Smith, English footballer (b. 1935)
- 2013 – Robert Suderburg, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1936)
- 2013 – J. S. Verma, Indian judge, 27th Chief Justice of India (b. 1933)
- 2014 – Allen Jacobs, American football player and coach (b. 1941)
- 2014 – Jovan Krkobabić, Serbian politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1930)
- 2014 – Mohammad Naseem, Pakistani-English activist (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Werner Potzernheim, German cyclist (b. 1927)
- 2014 – Oswaldo Vigas, Venezuelan painter (b. 1926)
- 2015 – Dick Balharry, Scottish environmentalist and photographer (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Gennadi Vengerov, Belarusian-Russian actor (b. 1959)
- 2017 – Erin Moran, American actress (b. 1960)
- 2017 – Donna Leanne Williams, Australian writer, artist, activist (b. 1963)
Holidays and observances on April 22
- Christian feast day:
- Acepsimas of Hnaita and companions (Catholic Church)
- Arwald
- Epipodius and Alexander
- Hudson Stuck (Episcopal Church)
- John Muir (Episcopal Church)
- Opportuna of Montreuil
- Pope Caius
- Pope Soter
- St Senorina
- April 22 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
- Discovery Day (Brazil)
- Earth Day (International observance) and its related observance:
- International Mother Earth Day
- Holocaust Remembrance Day (Serbia)
- From 2018 onwards, a national day of commemoration for the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence (United Kingdom)