Which event does this 1988 photograph show?

A shuttle flies again, two and a half years after one exploded (1988). Discovery lifted off on 29 September 1988, the first shuttle flight after Challenger broke apart in January 1986. The booster joints had been redesigned, and the crew wore pressure suits and had a bail-out pole fitted, neither of which the earlier crews had. The five men aboard were all veterans.

Which event does this 1399 photograph show?

A king signs away his own crown while a prisoner in the Tower (1399). Richard II signed his abdication in the Tower of London on 29 September 1399, after Henry Bolingbroke returned from exile and took the country almost without a fight. Parliament deposed him the next day. He died in captivity within months, probably starved. The painting is the earliest surviving portrait of an English king painted from life.

Which event does this 1913 photograph show?

The inventor of an engine vanishes overboard on a night crossing (1913). Rudolf Diesel boarded a ferry from Antwerp on the evening of 29 September 1913, went to his cabin and was never seen alive again. A body was recovered ten days later and identified from personal effects. He was heavily in debt, and his engine was of obvious interest to several navies, so both suicide and murder have been argued ever since.

Which event does this 1916 photograph show?

A share price rise makes someone the world's first billionaire (1916). John D. Rockefeller's holdings passed a billion dollars on 29 September 1916, the first personal fortune to do so. Ironically it was the forced break-up of Standard Oil five years earlier that did it: he kept shares in every successor company, and they were worth far more apart than together.

Which event does this 1902 photograph show?

A novelist who took on his own government dies of fumes from a blocked chimney (1902). Emile Zola was asphyxiated in his Paris bedroom on 29 September 1902 by a blocked chimney. Four years earlier his open letter "J'accuse" had accused the army of framing Alfred Dreyfus, and he had been convicted of libel and fled to England. A roofer later claimed on his deathbed that he had stopped the flue deliberately.

What happened on September 29? the return to flight of Discovery, the abdication of Richard II and 3 more

What happened on September 29

All 5 specimens from this file, spanning 1399 to 1988, with the story behind each photograph.

Reveal the full answer key

Space · 1988

A shuttle flies again, two and a half years after one exploded

Discovery lifted off on 29 September 1988, the first shuttle flight after Challenger broke apart in January 1986. The booster joints had been redesigned, and the crew wore pressure suits and had a bail-out pole fitted, neither of which the earlier crews had. The five men aboard were all veterans.
Monarchy · 1399

A king signs away his own crown while a prisoner in the Tower

Richard II signed his abdication in the Tower of London on 29 September 1399, after Henry Bolingbroke returned from exile and took the country almost without a fight. Parliament deposed him the next day. He died in captivity within months, probably starved. The painting is the earliest surviving portrait of an English king painted from life.
Mystery · 1913

The inventor of an engine vanishes overboard on a night crossing

Rudolf Diesel boarded a ferry from Antwerp on the evening of 29 September 1913, went to his cabin and was never seen alive again. A body was recovered ten days later and identified from personal effects. He was heavily in debt, and his engine was of obvious interest to several navies, so both suicide and murder have been argued ever since.
Business · 1916

A share price rise makes someone the world's first billionaire

John D. Rockefeller's holdings passed a billion dollars on 29 September 1916, the first personal fortune to do so. Ironically it was the forced break-up of Standard Oil five years earlier that did it: he kept shares in every successor company, and they were worth far more apart than together.
Culture · 1902

A novelist who took on his own government dies of fumes from a blocked chimney

Emile Zola was asphyxiated in his Paris bedroom on 29 September 1902 by a blocked chimney. Four years earlier his open letter "J'accuse" had accused the army of framing Alfred Dreyfus, and he had been convicted of libel and fled to England. A roofer later claimed on his deathbed that he had stopped the flue deliberately.