Which event does this 1956 photograph show?

Two old empires invade to seize a canal and are stopped by their own ally (1956). Israel invaded Sinai on 29 October 1956, in a plan agreed secretly with Britain and France so that the two could intervene to separate the sides and seize the Suez Canal. It worked militarily and collapsed politically: the United States threatened Britain's currency and the whole operation was abandoned. It is usually taken as the end of Britain as a first-rank power.

Which event does this 1923 photograph show?

An empire of six centuries is formally replaced by a republic (1923). The Republic of Turkey was proclaimed on 29 October 1923 with Mustafa Kemal as its first president. Over the next fifteen years he replaced Arabic script with Latin, abolished the caliphate, changed the calendar, the legal code and the alphabet, and required surnames, taking Ataturk, father of the Turks, for himself.

Which event does this 1863 photograph show?

A businessman appalled by a battlefield founds a neutral society to treat the wounded (1863). A conference in Geneva agreed on 29 October 1863 to set up national volunteer societies to care for the wounded, with a neutral emblem. It came from Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman who had stumbled on the aftermath of Solferino in 1859 and organised local women to treat men of both sides. He later went bankrupt and lived in a poorhouse.

Which event does this 1787 photograph show?

An opera about a seducer dragged to hell opens with the overture written overnight (1787). Don Giovanni had its first performance in Prague on 29 October 1787. Mozart is said to have written the overture the night before, with his wife keeping him awake by telling him stories, and the ink was reportedly still wet when the orchestra played it at sight. Prague loved it. Vienna, when it got there, did not.

Which event does this 1618 photograph show?

A courtier is beheaded for an old charge revived to please a foreign king (1618). Walter Raleigh was beheaded at Westminster on 29 October 1618 under a treason sentence passed fifteen years earlier and never carried out. He had been released to look for gold in Guiana, sacked a Spanish settlement on the way, and Spain demanded his head. He had spent thirteen years in the Tower writing a history of the world.

What happened on October 29? the Suez Crisis, the Turkish Republic proclaimed and 3 more

What happened on October 29

All 5 specimens from this file, spanning 1618 to 1956, with the story behind each photograph.

Reveal the full answer key

Conflict · 1956

Two old empires invade to seize a canal and are stopped by their own ally

Israel invaded Sinai on 29 October 1956, in a plan agreed secretly with Britain and France so that the two could intervene to separate the sides and seize the Suez Canal. It worked militarily and collapsed politically: the United States threatened Britain's currency and the whole operation was abandoned. It is usually taken as the end of Britain as a first-rank power.
Politics · 1923

An empire of six centuries is formally replaced by a republic

The Republic of Turkey was proclaimed on 29 October 1923 with Mustafa Kemal as its first president. Over the next fifteen years he replaced Arabic script with Latin, abolished the caliphate, changed the calendar, the legal code and the alphabet, and required surnames, taking Ataturk, father of the Turks, for himself.
Society · 1863

A businessman appalled by a battlefield founds a neutral society to treat the wounded

A conference in Geneva agreed on 29 October 1863 to set up national volunteer societies to care for the wounded, with a neutral emblem. It came from Henry Dunant, a Swiss businessman who had stumbled on the aftermath of Solferino in 1859 and organised local women to treat men of both sides. He later went bankrupt and lived in a poorhouse.
Music · 1787

An opera about a seducer dragged to hell opens with the overture written overnight

Don Giovanni had its first performance in Prague on 29 October 1787. Mozart is said to have written the overture the night before, with his wife keeping him awake by telling him stories, and the ink was reportedly still wet when the orchestra played it at sight. Prague loved it. Vienna, when it got there, did not.
History · 1618

A courtier is beheaded for an old charge revived to please a foreign king

Walter Raleigh was beheaded at Westminster on 29 October 1618 under a treason sentence passed fifteen years earlier and never carried out. He had been released to look for gold in Guiana, sacked a Spanish settlement on the way, and Spain demanded his head. He had spent thirteen years in the Tower writing a history of the world.