April 22-
Chemical warfare begun
1915: On this day during World War I, Germany introduced the systematized use of chemical warfare when it released chlorine gas along a 6-km (4-mile) front at the Second Battle of Ypres. The wind-borne poison cloud totally broke the lines of the unprepared French Territorial and Algerian units in its path, but the attackers failed to exploit the opportunity. Although numerous chlorine gas cloud attacks were subsequently carried out by both sides, they accomplished little, because of the introduction of gas masks and other protective measures.
1889: At noon on this day, the U.S. Congress began allowing white settlers into Indian Territory, sparking a land rush in Oklahoma that, by evening, numbered in the tens of thousands.
1834: The Quadruple Alliance was formed between Britain, France, and the more liberal claimants to the thrones of Spain and Portugal.
1724: German philosopher Immanuel Kant was born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
1370: Construction began on the Bastille, the medieval fortress that came to symbolize French despotism.
1616: Spanish novelist and poet Miguel de Cervantes died in Madrid.
1073: Gregory VII (later Saint Gregory) was elected by acclamation to succeed Alexander II as pope.
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy, a U.S. senator from Wisconsin, helped dictate the political climate of the “Red Scare” in the United States in the early 1950s with his sensational charges of communist subversion in high government circles. A nationally televised 36-day hearing on his charges against U.S. Army officers and civilian officials began this day in 1954. In the end, though, the close-up television exposure of his truculent interrogative tactics discredited McCarthy and helped to turn the tide of public opinion against him.
"I have in my hand fifty-seven cases of individuals who would appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party, but who nevertheless are still helping to shape our foreign policy."
Joseph McCarthy, speech to U.S. Congress, February 1950
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