A closer look at key historic events that took place on April 22:
In 2016, the Paris Agreement on climate change is signed
More than 170 countries signed the treaty on climate change, which sought to control and reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. The Paris Agreement took effect in November 2016.

In 1970, the first Earth Day is celebrated
Celebrated in the US on April 22, Earth Day was founded by American politician and conservationist Gaylord Anton Nelson. It quickly grew to be celebrated worldwide.

A drone view of a large-scale land art piece by local artists Sand In Your Eye of a girl holding the Earth for Earth Day in Hebden Bridge, Britain April 19, 2024. REUTERS/Molly Darlington

In 1915, chemical warfare is introduced in WWI
German forces introduced chemical warfare by releasing chlorine gas along a 6-km front at the Second Battle of Ypres.
In 1889, settlers enter Indian Territory in what became Oklahoma

Congress passed an amendment to the Indian Appropriations Act of 1871, which allowed the creation of homestead settlements in the unassigned lands, to be known as Oklahoma Territory, which was Indian Territory.

INDIAN APPROPRIATIONS ACT 1871
The Indian Appropriations Act launched a new era in Federal-tribal relations by ending the practice of forming treaties with tribes as sovereign nations. Native Americans protested the policy change.
National Archives, General Records of the U.S. Government

In 1370, the Bastille begins construction
The Bastille was a medieval fortress which became a French state prison in the 17th and 18th centuries. It came to symbolize French despotism and was stormed and burned by an armed mob during the French Revolution.

Taking of the Bastille, Anonymous painter from France of Northern countries

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