Which event does this 1947 photograph show?

The largest flying boat ever built leaves the water once and never flies again (1947). Howard Hughes lifted the H-4 Hercules off the water at Long Beach on 2 November 1947 and flew about a mile at seventy feet. He had insisted it was only a taxi test. The aircraft had the longest wingspan ever built until 2019, was made of laminated birch because wartime aluminium was restricted, and was already obsolete by the time it moved.

Which event does this 1783 photograph show?

A commander issues his last order to an army he is about to disband (1783). George Washington issued his farewell orders to the Continental Army from Rocky Hill on 2 November 1783, thanking men who in many cases had not been paid for years. He had already put down a conspiracy among his own officers by producing spectacles to read a letter and remarking that he had grown grey and now nearly blind in their service. Most of them wept.

Which event does this 1920 photograph show?

A station broadcasts election results and invents commercial radio in the process (1920). KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcast the Harding and Cox presidential returns on 2 November 1920, generally counted as the first commercial radio broadcast. Westinghouse had a commercial motive: it was making receivers and needed something worth listening to. Perhaps a thousand people heard it. Within two years there were over five hundred stations.

Which event does this 1917 photograph show?

A foreign secretary promises in one sentence a homeland on land he does not hold (1917). Arthur Balfour wrote to Lord Rothschild on 2 November 1917 saying the British government viewed with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. It was 67 words. Britain did not control Palestine at the time, and the same government had already made conflicting promises to Arab leaders and to France.

Which event does this 1963 photograph show?

A president is overthrown and killed by his own generals with a foreign ally looking away (1963). South Vietnamese generals seized Saigon on 1 November 1963 and killed Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother in the back of an armoured car the next morning. Washington had signalled that it would not stand in the way. Kennedy was reportedly shaken by the killings; he was shot himself three weeks later.

What happened on November 2? the flight of the Spruce Goose, Washington's farewell orders and 3 more

What happened on November 2

All 5 specimens from this file, spanning 1783 to 1963, with the story behind each photograph.

Reveal the full answer key

Aviation · 1947

The largest flying boat ever built leaves the water once and never flies again

Howard Hughes lifted the H-4 Hercules off the water at Long Beach on 2 November 1947 and flew about a mile at seventy feet. He had insisted it was only a taxi test. The aircraft had the longest wingspan ever built until 2019, was made of laminated birch because wartime aluminium was restricted, and was already obsolete by the time it moved.
History · 1783

A commander issues his last order to an army he is about to disband

George Washington issued his farewell orders to the Continental Army from Rocky Hill on 2 November 1783, thanking men who in many cases had not been paid for years. He had already put down a conspiracy among his own officers by producing spectacles to read a letter and remarking that he had grown grey and now nearly blind in their service. Most of them wept.
Technology · 1920

A station broadcasts election results and invents commercial radio in the process

KDKA in Pittsburgh broadcast the Harding and Cox presidential returns on 2 November 1920, generally counted as the first commercial radio broadcast. Westinghouse had a commercial motive: it was making receivers and needed something worth listening to. Perhaps a thousand people heard it. Within two years there were over five hundred stations.
Politics · 1917

A foreign secretary promises in one sentence a homeland on land he does not hold

Arthur Balfour wrote to Lord Rothschild on 2 November 1917 saying the British government viewed with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people. It was 67 words. Britain did not control Palestine at the time, and the same government had already made conflicting promises to Arab leaders and to France.
Politics · 1963

A president is overthrown and killed by his own generals with a foreign ally looking away

South Vietnamese generals seized Saigon on 1 November 1963 and killed Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother in the back of an armoured car the next morning. Washington had signalled that it would not stand in the way. Kennedy was reportedly shaken by the killings; he was shot himself three weeks later.