Which event does this 1903 photograph show?

Two rival leagues meet for a championship series for the first time (1903). The first World Series opened on 1 October 1903 between Boston and Pittsburgh. It was not organised by anyone official, just agreed between the two club owners, and it ran to best of nine rather than best of seven. Boston lost the first game and won the series. There was no series at all in 1904, because the New York Giants refused to play an upstart league.

Which event does this 1890 photograph show?

A valley of granite cliffs and waterfalls is made a national park (1890). Congress created Yosemite National Park on 1 October 1890, largely because of a campaign by the writer John Muir, who had spent years arguing that sheep were eating the high meadows bare. For its first 24 years the park had no rangers, so the US Army ran it, and cavalry troopers spent their summers chasing shepherds out of the mountains.

Which event does this 1946 photograph show?

A tribunal reads out its verdicts on the leaders of a defeated regime (1946). The International Military Tribunal delivered its judgments on 1 October 1946 after ten months of hearings. Twelve defendants were sentenced to hang, seven to prison, and three were acquitted. Hermann Goering swallowed a cyanide capsule in his cell hours before the executions, and nobody has ever established for certain who smuggled it to him.

Which event does this 1949 photograph show?

A leader stands on a city gate and declares a new republic founded (1949). Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic from the Gate of Heavenly Peace on 1 October 1949, in front of a crowd of about 300,000. The civil war was not actually over. Fighting continued in the south and west for months, and the defeated Nationalist government kept running from Taiwan, which is why two governments went on claiming to be China for decades.

Which event does this 1918 photograph show?

An officer in local dress enters a captured desert capital ahead of the main army (1918). Arab forces and Australian cavalry entered Damascus on 1 October 1918, ending four centuries of Ottoman rule over the city. T. E. Lawrence arrived that morning and spent two days trying to set up an Arab administration. The secret Anglo-French carve-up of the region had already been agreed, and he left for London in disgust within the week.

What happened on October 1? the first World Series, Yosemite National Park and 3 more

What happened on October 1

All 5 specimens from this file, spanning 1890 to 1949, with the story behind each photograph.

Reveal the full answer key

Baseball · 1903

Two rival leagues meet for a championship series for the first time

The first World Series opened on 1 October 1903 between Boston and Pittsburgh. It was not organised by anyone official, just agreed between the two club owners, and it ran to best of nine rather than best of seven. Boston lost the first game and won the series. There was no series at all in 1904, because the New York Giants refused to play an upstart league.
Nature · 1890

A valley of granite cliffs and waterfalls is made a national park

Congress created Yosemite National Park on 1 October 1890, largely because of a campaign by the writer John Muir, who had spent years arguing that sheep were eating the high meadows bare. For its first 24 years the park had no rangers, so the US Army ran it, and cavalry troopers spent their summers chasing shepherds out of the mountains.
Law · 1946

A tribunal reads out its verdicts on the leaders of a defeated regime

The International Military Tribunal delivered its judgments on 1 October 1946 after ten months of hearings. Twelve defendants were sentenced to hang, seven to prison, and three were acquitted. Hermann Goering swallowed a cyanide capsule in his cell hours before the executions, and nobody has ever established for certain who smuggled it to him.
Politics · 1949

A leader stands on a city gate and declares a new republic founded

Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic from the Gate of Heavenly Peace on 1 October 1949, in front of a crowd of about 300,000. The civil war was not actually over. Fighting continued in the south and west for months, and the defeated Nationalist government kept running from Taiwan, which is why two governments went on claiming to be China for decades.
Conflict · 1918

An officer in local dress enters a captured desert capital ahead of the main army

Arab forces and Australian cavalry entered Damascus on 1 October 1918, ending four centuries of Ottoman rule over the city. T. E. Lawrence arrived that morning and spent two days trying to set up an Arab administration. The secret Anglo-French carve-up of the region had already been agreed, and he left for London in disgust within the week.