Which event does this 1889 photograph show?

A dance hall with a fake windmill on the roof opens in a hillside district (1889). The Moulin Rouge opened in Montmartre on 6 October 1889, the same year as the Eiffel Tower, and put a red-painted windmill on the roof because the district had once been full of real ones. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was given his own table. The posters he made for it turned the dancers into the most recognisable figures in Paris.

Which event does this 1961 photograph show?

A president tells families to build shelters against nuclear fallout (1961). John Kennedy urged American families to build fallout shelters on 6 October 1961, a few weeks after the Berlin crisis. A rush of contractors sold basement kits, magazines ran plans, and a public argument broke out about whether it was acceptable to shoot a neighbour trying to get into your shelter. Interest faded within two years.

Which event does this 1973 photograph show?

Two armies attack across a canal and a plateau on the holiest day of the year (1973). Egypt and Syria attacked on 6 October 1973, on Yom Kippur, when much of Israel was fasting and the roads were empty. Egyptian engineers used high pressure water jets to blast gaps through the sand rampart on the far bank of the Suez Canal, a trick they had rehearsed for months. The war lasted under three weeks and led directly to the oil crisis.

Which event does this 1981 photograph show?

A president is shot dead by his own soldiers during a military parade (1981). Anwar Sadat was killed on 6 October 1981 while reviewing a parade. Soldiers taking part jumped from a truck and opened fire on the reviewing stand. He had signed peace with Israel two years earlier and shared the Nobel Peace Prize for it, which had made him an enemy of much of the Arab world and of hardliners inside his own army.

Which event does this 1892 photograph show?

A poet laureate dies after forty-two years in the post (1892). Alfred Tennyson died on 6 October 1892, aged 83, having been Poet Laureate since 1850. He wrote The Charge of the Light Brigade in a few minutes after reading a newspaper report of the battle. He had refused a peerage three times before finally accepting one, and is buried in Westminster Abbey next to Robert Browning.

What happened on October 6? the opening of the Moulin Rouge, the fallout shelter appeal and 3 more

What happened on October 6

All 5 specimens from this file, spanning 1889 to 1981, with the story behind each photograph.

Reveal the full answer key

Culture · 1889

A dance hall with a fake windmill on the roof opens in a hillside district

The Moulin Rouge opened in Montmartre on 6 October 1889, the same year as the Eiffel Tower, and put a red-painted windmill on the roof because the district had once been full of real ones. Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was given his own table. The posters he made for it turned the dancers into the most recognisable figures in Paris.
Society · 1961

A president tells families to build shelters against nuclear fallout

John Kennedy urged American families to build fallout shelters on 6 October 1961, a few weeks after the Berlin crisis. A rush of contractors sold basement kits, magazines ran plans, and a public argument broke out about whether it was acceptable to shoot a neighbour trying to get into your shelter. Interest faded within two years.
Conflict · 1973

Two armies attack across a canal and a plateau on the holiest day of the year

Egypt and Syria attacked on 6 October 1973, on Yom Kippur, when much of Israel was fasting and the roads were empty. Egyptian engineers used high pressure water jets to blast gaps through the sand rampart on the far bank of the Suez Canal, a trick they had rehearsed for months. The war lasted under three weeks and led directly to the oil crisis.
Politics · 1981

A president is shot dead by his own soldiers during a military parade

Anwar Sadat was killed on 6 October 1981 while reviewing a parade. Soldiers taking part jumped from a truck and opened fire on the reviewing stand. He had signed peace with Israel two years earlier and shared the Nobel Peace Prize for it, which had made him an enemy of much of the Arab world and of hardliners inside his own army.
Literature · 1892

A poet laureate dies after forty-two years in the post

Alfred Tennyson died on 6 October 1892, aged 83, having been Poet Laureate since 1850. He wrote The Charge of the Light Brigade in a few minutes after reading a newspaper report of the battle. He had refused a peerage three times before finally accepting one, and is buried in Westminster Abbey next to Robert Browning.