April 22nd Through History

Explanation: Pedro Álvares Cabral, commanding a Portuguese fleet of 13 ships en route to the Indies, reached Brazil by chance during a maneuver to avoid the winds of the Gulf of Guinea. He named the territory "Terra de Vera Cruz". Brazil became the only nation in South America to speak Portuguese, a direct legacy of this discovery.

Explanation: On April 22, 1915, the Germans launched approximately 168 tons of chlorine gas from 5,700 buried cylinders, creating a greenish cloud over 6 km of front. This attack caused between 6,000 and 10,000 Allied casualties in a few minutes. It marked a turning point in military history and led to the prohibition of chemical weapons by the Geneva Protocol of 1925.

Explanation: Immanuel Kant, born in Königsberg (today Kaliningrad in Russia), never left his hometown all his life, which is paradoxical for a thinker of such global influence. His "Critique of Pure Reason" (1781) revolutionized Western philosophy by attempting to reconcile rationalism and empiricism. He is considered one of the greatest philosophers of the Enlightenment.

Explanation: Laid on April 22, 1370 under the reign of Charles V, the Bastille was built by Hugues Aubriot to defend the Saint-Antoine gate of Paris. Initially a military fortress, it gradually became a state prison. It was stormed on July 14, 1789, a founding event of the French Revolution, and razed in the year that followed.

Explanation: "Kind of Blue" is considered the best-selling jazz record of all time, with more than 5 million copies in the United States alone. Recorded in only two sessions (March and April 1959), it defined modal jazz and influenced generations of musicians. Most of the tracks were played in a single take, which testifies to the genius of the musicians present, including John Coltrane and Bill Evans.

Explanation: The signing by 174 countries on the very first day constituted a historic record for an international agreement. COP21 had taken place in December 2015 at Paris-Le Bourget. The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Entered into force on November 4, 2016, it remains the global reference framework for the fight against climate change.

Explanation: Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Lenin, founded the Soviet Union after the October Revolution of 1917. His real surname was Ulyanov, and the pseudonym "Lenin" reportedly comes from the Lena River in Siberia. After his death in 1924, his body was embalmed and displayed in a mausoleum on Red Square in Moscow, where it is still visible today.

Explanation: The Treaty of Saragossa of 1529 extended the Treaty of Tordesillas of 1494 by defining a line of demarcation in the Pacific Ocean. Spain renounced its claims on the Moluccas (today Indonesia) in exchange for 350,000 gold ducats paid by Portugal. These islands were then coveted for their spices, including cloves and nutmeg.

Explanation: Germaine de Staël, daughter of the banker and minister Necker, was one of the most influential women of letters of her time. Her Parisian salon brought together the greatest minds of the late 18th century. Napoleon, whom she openly criticized, exiled her several times. Her work "On Germany" (1813) helped to make German Romanticism known in France.

Explanation: Robert Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project, the secret American program that developed the first atomic bomb during World War II. Nicknamed "the father of the atomic bomb", he subsequently expressed deep regrets about its use. He was sadly marginalized during McCarthyism in the 1950s, accused of communist sympathies, before being rehabilitated in 1963.