Today in History: Iran–Iraq War begins

Here are some of the most significant events that happened on September 22:

1792 – France: First Republic proclaimed
France’s National Convention formally abolished the monarchy and declared the First French Republic. This ended centuries of Bourbon rule and set the Revolution on a more radical course, culminating in the trial and execution of King Louis XVI.

1862 – United States: Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation issued
President Abraham Lincoln announced a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that enslaved people in rebelling Southern states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free” as of January 1, 1863. This transformed the Civil War into a fight for abolition and discouraged European powers from supporting the Confederacy.

1888 – First issue of National Geographic published
The National Geographic Society released the inaugural issue of National Geographic Magazine. Printed in plain format without illustrations, it marked the beginning of what would become one of the world’s most influential publications on geography, science and exploration.

1914 – World War I: German U-boat sinks three British cruisers
In the North Sea, the German submarine U-9 torpedoed and sank three British cruisers—Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy—within an hour. Nearly 1,400 sailors were killed, shocking Britain and demonstrating the deadly effectiveness of submarines in modern warfare.

1939 – Joint Nazi–Soviet parade in Brest-Litovsk
After the conquest of eastern Poland under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, German and Soviet troops held a joint victory parade in Brest-Litovsk. The event symbolized the temporary alliance between Hitler and Stalin and the partition of Poland.

1948 – All-Palestine Government declared
During the Arab–Israeli War, the Arab League proclaimed an “All-Palestine Government” in Gaza. Though claiming jurisdiction over all of Palestine outside Israel, it held little real power and was soon overshadowed, but it marked one of the earliest Arab attempts to establish Palestinian governance.

1965 – Indo-Pakistan War ceasefire
After four weeks of fighting over Kashmir, India and Pakistan accepted a United Nations–brokered ceasefire. The truce ended the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 along pre-war lines, leaving the Kashmir dispute unresolved but halting one of South Asia’s largest post-independence conflicts.

1980 – Iran–Iraq War begins
Iraqi forces launched a full-scale invasion of Iran across the shared border, starting the Iran–Iraq War. The brutal conflict lasted almost eight years, drew in global powers, caused massive casualties and ended in 1988 with a UN-brokered ceasefire.

1980 – Solidarity labor union founded in Poland
Delegates from 36 Polish shipyard and trade unions established Solidarity (Solidarność) in Gdańsk under Lech Wałęsa. As the first independent labor union in the Soviet bloc, it gained millions of members and became a catalyst for democratic change, helping bring down communist rule in Poland by 1989.

1991 – Dead Sea Scrolls released to scholars
The Huntington Library in California announced it would make photographic negatives of the Dead Sea Scrolls accessible to all qualified researchers. This ended a decades-long publication monopoly and revolutionized biblical scholarship by opening the ancient texts to the wider academic world.