June 22

in History

Battle of Raphia — Egypt's pharaoh crushes the Seleucid king

Raphia, Palestine (modern Gaza)Ancient

217

Battle of Raphia

Egypt's pharaoh crushes the Seleucid king

On the sands near the ancient city of Raphia in southern Palestine, Ptolemy IV of Egypt met Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid Empire in one of the largest battles of the Hellenistic world. Ptolemy's army, which controversially included twenty thousand native Egyptian soldiers -- a departure from the Greek-only military tradition -- won a decisive victory that preserved Egyptian control of the Levant. The battle's long-term consequence was even more profound: the empowered Egyptian soldiers would later revolt, shaking Ptolemaic rule to its foundations.

217 BC

Elias Katz Was Born — Finland's flying distance runner

FinlandEarly 20th Century

1901

Elias Katz Was Born

Finland's flying distance runner

In the Russian Empire's Grand Duchy of Finland, Elias Katz was born -- a distance runner who would become one of the legendary 'Flying Finns' of the 1920s. At the 1924 Paris Olympics, he won a gold medal in the 3,000-meter team race, contributing to Finland's remarkable dominance of distance running during the interwar period. His career embodied the Finnish tradition of sisu -- the untranslatable concept of stubborn determination that defines the national character.

1901 AD

World War II — World War II: As Axis troops began their invasion of the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian Activist Front started an.

1939–1945 global conflictEarly 20th Century

1941

World War II

World War II: As Axis troops began their invasion of the Soviet Union, the Lithuanian Activist Front started an.

World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, the latter enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the only nuclear weapons used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 60 to 75 million people.

1941 AD