Which event does this 1825 photograph show?

A canal opens that lets a barge reach the sea from the middle of a continent (1825). The Erie Canal opened on 26 October 1825, 363 miles of ditch from the Hudson to Lake Erie, dug largely by hand. It cut the cost of moving a ton of freight from about 100 dollars to 10 and turned New York into the busiest port in the country. Governor Clinton poured a keg of lake water into the Atlantic to mark it.

Which event does this 1881 photograph show?

Three lawmen and a friend kill three men in thirty seconds in a vacant lot (1881). The Earps and Doc Holliday met the Clantons and McLaurys in a narrow lot off Fremont Street in Tombstone on 26 October 1881. Around thirty shots were fired in roughly thirty seconds and three men died. It was not at the O.K. Corral but in the lot behind it, and at the time it was treated as a squalid local feud.

Which event does this 1860 photograph show?

A general who has just conquered half a country hands it to a king and goes home (1860). Giuseppe Garibaldi met Victor Emmanuel II near Teano on 26 October 1860, greeted him as King of Italy and handed over everything he had taken in the south with a thousand volunteers. He asked for nothing, refused every honour offered, and retired to farm a small rocky island. Italy was proclaimed a kingdom four months later.

Which event does this 1951 photograph show?

A wartime leader thrown out by the voters in 1945 returns as prime minister at 76 (1951). Winston Churchill became prime minister again on 26 October 1951, six years after the electorate removed him weeks after victory in Europe. He was 76 and had already had a stroke. He served until 1955, by which time his deafness and failing health were being concealed from the public and from most of his own cabinet.

Which event does this 1440 photograph show?

A marshal who fought beside Joan of Arc is hanged as a mass murderer of children (1440). Gilles de Rais was hanged at Nantes on 26 October 1440. He had been a marshal of France and fought alongside Joan of Arc, then retired to his estates and spent an enormous fortune on alchemy and display. He confessed to the murder of a large number of children, though the trial was run by men who stood to gain his lands and the confession followed a threat of torture.

What happened on October 26? the opening of the Erie Canal, the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and 3 more

What happened on October 26

All 5 specimens from this file, spanning 1440 to 1951, with the story behind each photograph.

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Engineering · 1825

A canal opens that lets a barge reach the sea from the middle of a continent

The Erie Canal opened on 26 October 1825, 363 miles of ditch from the Hudson to Lake Erie, dug largely by hand. It cut the cost of moving a ton of freight from about 100 dollars to 10 and turned New York into the busiest port in the country. Governor Clinton poured a keg of lake water into the Atlantic to mark it.
Crime · 1881

Three lawmen and a friend kill three men in thirty seconds in a vacant lot

The Earps and Doc Holliday met the Clantons and McLaurys in a narrow lot off Fremont Street in Tombstone on 26 October 1881. Around thirty shots were fired in roughly thirty seconds and three men died. It was not at the O.K. Corral but in the lot behind it, and at the time it was treated as a squalid local feud.
History · 1860

A general who has just conquered half a country hands it to a king and goes home

Giuseppe Garibaldi met Victor Emmanuel II near Teano on 26 October 1860, greeted him as King of Italy and handed over everything he had taken in the south with a thousand volunteers. He asked for nothing, refused every honour offered, and retired to farm a small rocky island. Italy was proclaimed a kingdom four months later.
Politics · 1951

A wartime leader thrown out by the voters in 1945 returns as prime minister at 76

Winston Churchill became prime minister again on 26 October 1951, six years after the electorate removed him weeks after victory in Europe. He was 76 and had already had a stroke. He served until 1955, by which time his deafness and failing health were being concealed from the public and from most of his own cabinet.
Crime · 1440

A marshal who fought beside Joan of Arc is hanged as a mass murderer of children

Gilles de Rais was hanged at Nantes on 26 October 1440. He had been a marshal of France and fought alongside Joan of Arc, then retired to his estates and spent an enormous fortune on alchemy and display. He confessed to the murder of a large number of children, though the trial was run by men who stood to gain his lands and the confession followed a threat of torture.