Which event does this 1954 photograph show?

The first pocket radio built on transistors instead of valves goes on sale (1954). The Regency TR-1 was announced on 18 October 1954, the first radio built around transistors rather than hot glass valves. It cost about fifty dollars, roughly a week's wages, and the reception was mediocre. It mattered anyway: it proved transistors could be made cheaply in quantity, and put music in a pocket for the first time.

Which event does this 1851 photograph show?

A novel about a captain hunting a white whale is published and flops (1851). Moby-Dick appeared first in London on 18 October 1851, under the title The Whale. The British edition accidentally omitted the epilogue, so reviewers complained that the story was told by a narrator who had drowned. It sold poorly for decades and Melville died largely forgotten; the book was only rediscovered in the 1920s.

Which event does this 1931 photograph show?

An inventor holding over a thousand patents dies at 84 (1931). Thomas Edison died on 18 October 1931, holding 1,093 United States patents. He did not invent the light bulb so much as make one that lasted, after testing thousands of filament materials. On the night of his funeral, many Americans switched off their lights for a minute; the power companies refused to cut supply, on the grounds that it would have been a disaster.

Which event does this 1867 photograph show?

A territory the size of a subcontinent changes hands for two cents an acre (1867). Alaska was formally handed over at Sitka on 18 October 1867, six months after the treaty was signed. The price was 7.2 million dollars, about two cents an acre. Newspapers called it Seward's Folly and a polar bear garden. Gold in the Klondike and later oil at Prudhoe Bay settled the argument.

Which event does this 1898 photograph show?

An island changes flags and its people spend a century arguing about status (1898). The American flag was raised over San Juan on 18 October 1898, after Spain ceded the island at the end of the war. Puerto Ricans became United States citizens in 1917, in time to be drafted. The island is still neither a state nor independent, and has voted on the question repeatedly without settling it.

What happened on October 18? the first transistor radio, the publication of Moby-Dick and 3 more

What happened on October 18

All 5 specimens from this file, spanning 1851 to 1954, with the story behind each photograph.

Reveal the full answer key

Technology · 1954

The first pocket radio built on transistors instead of valves goes on sale

The Regency TR-1 was announced on 18 October 1954, the first radio built around transistors rather than hot glass valves. It cost about fifty dollars, roughly a week's wages, and the reception was mediocre. It mattered anyway: it proved transistors could be made cheaply in quantity, and put music in a pocket for the first time.
Literature · 1851

A novel about a captain hunting a white whale is published and flops

Moby-Dick appeared first in London on 18 October 1851, under the title The Whale. The British edition accidentally omitted the epilogue, so reviewers complained that the story was told by a narrator who had drowned. It sold poorly for decades and Melville died largely forgotten; the book was only rediscovered in the 1920s.
Invention · 1931

An inventor holding over a thousand patents dies at 84

Thomas Edison died on 18 October 1931, holding 1,093 United States patents. He did not invent the light bulb so much as make one that lasted, after testing thousands of filament materials. On the night of his funeral, many Americans switched off their lights for a minute; the power companies refused to cut supply, on the grounds that it would have been a disaster.
Politics · 1867

A territory the size of a subcontinent changes hands for two cents an acre

Alaska was formally handed over at Sitka on 18 October 1867, six months after the treaty was signed. The price was 7.2 million dollars, about two cents an acre. Newspapers called it Seward's Folly and a polar bear garden. Gold in the Klondike and later oil at Prudhoe Bay settled the argument.
Conflict · 1898

An island changes flags and its people spend a century arguing about status

The American flag was raised over San Juan on 18 October 1898, after Spain ceded the island at the end of the war. Puerto Ricans became United States citizens in 1917, in time to be drafted. The island is still neither a state nor independent, and has voted on the question repeatedly without settling it.