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Today in History, December 22nd

On December 22, 1944, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe answered a German surrender demand at Bastogne with one word: "Nuts!" Plus Beethoven's Fifth and more.

By Today in History Updated November 10, 2026 3 min read Sources checked

Published December 22, 2025 · Last updated November 10, 2026

December 22 is best known for the one-word American answer, “Nuts!”, to a German surrender demand at Bastogne in 1944. The date also saw Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony premiere in 1808 and the signing of the law repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010.

The big story: “Nuts!” at Bastogne (1944)

A week into the Battle of the Bulge, the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne was surrounded, and the 101st Airborne Division was holding it with the help of other units. Around 11:30 on the morning of December 22, 1944, four Germans carrying white flags walked up to American lines south of town. They brought a typed note offering an “honorable surrender” and threatening a heavy artillery barrage if it was refused within two hours. The note made its way to Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, who was dozing when he heard the news. His first response was “Nuts!” When his staff pointed out that the word made a fine official reply, he had it typed up and signed “The American Commander.” Colonel Bud Harper delivered it. The Germans did not know the slang, so an interpreter translated it more bluntly as an invitation to go to hell. Bastogne held, and the word became one of the most famous replies in U.S. military history.

More events on December 22

Year	What happened
1808	Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony had its premiere in Vienna.
1849	Fyodor Dostoyevsky, facing a firing squad in St. Petersburg, was spared at the last moment and sent to Siberia instead (Old Style date).
1894	A French military court convicted Captain Alfred Dreyfus of treason and sentenced him to life in prison, setting off a scandal that split France.
1941	Winston Churchill arrived in Washington to plan a joint war strategy with Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1956	Colo, the first gorilla born in captivity, was born at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio.
1972	Rescue helicopters reached the Andes crash site of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 and evacuated the first survivors.
1988	Brazilian rubber tapper and Amazon defender Chico Mendes was assassinated.
1989	Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate reopened as East and West Germany moved toward reunification.
2001	Richard Reid tried and failed to set off explosives hidden in his shoes on a Paris-to-Miami flight.
2010	President Barack Obama signed the law repealing the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.
2018	A partial federal government shutdown began. It ended on January 25, 2019.

Born on December 22

1858: Giacomo Puccini, Italian opera composer.
1887: Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician celebrated for his work on numbers and infinite series.
1912: Lady Bird Johnson, first lady and champion of highway beautification and wildflowers.
1960: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Brooklyn-born painter whose work grew out of graffiti.