July 22

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

July 22, 1784

Birth of Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel in Minden, Germany. An astronomer, Bessel measured the position of 50,000 stars and developed the first system of measuring the distance of stars.

July 22, 1809

Death of the poet, Detlev Liliencron in Alt-Rahlstedt (near Hamburg).

July 22, 1822

Birth of Gregor (Johann) Mendel in Heinzendorf, Austria. Mendel set the scientific framework for the science of genetics.

July 22, 1823

Birth of Ludwig Bamberger in Mainz, Germany. Bamberger was an economist with a specialization in currency problems. Working with Bismarck he achieved the standardization of German coinage, the adoption of the gold standard and the founding of the Reichsbank.

July 22, 1887

Birth of Gustav Hertz in Hamburg, Germany. He won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1925 for confirmation of the theory that energy can be taken on in only certain amounts by atoms.

July 22, 1892

Birth of Arthur Seyss-Inquart in Stannern, Bohemia. He was the Austrian Nazi leader and chancellor of Austria during the annexation of Austria by Germany.

July 22, 1970

Death of Fritz Kortner (original name, Fritz Kohn) in Munich, Germany (born in Vienna, Austria). Kortner was a theater actor and director. Kortner established his reputation as a actor in Berlin on the stage and in films. He fled Germany when the Nazis came to power and spent the war years in the United States. He returned to Germany in 1949 and earned a reputation as an innovative theater director.