May 31st Through History

Explanation: The Treaty of Vereeniging was signed in the town of Vereeniging, South Africa. It enshrined the defeat of the Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State by the British Empire, which annexed their territories. The treaty nevertheless marked the beginning of a process leading to autonomy, with the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910.

Explanation: The Girondins, representatives of the interests of large provincial cities and supporters of decentralization, were eliminated from the National Convention by the Montagnards, supported by the Parisian sans-culottes. The event opened the way to the Terror under Robespierre's leadership. Many Girondin leaders were guillotined a few months later.

Explanation: Usain Bolt achieved this exceptional time of 9.72 seconds at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York, improving on the world record of his compatriot Asafa Powell. A few months later, at the Beijing Olympics, Bolt smashed this record again by running the 100 m in 9.69 seconds, then in 9.58 in 2009 in Berlin, a record that still stands.

Explanation: André Gide, Jean Schlumberger and Gaston Gallimard together founded this publishing house that would become one of the most prestigious in the world. The NRF had already been created as a literary magazine in 1909 by a group of writers around Gide. The Éditions Gallimard have since published thousands of major authors, including many Nobel Prize winners in Literature.

Explanation: Big Ben is actually the nickname of the great bell of the Palace of Westminster belfry, not of the clock itself. The tower housing it was officially renamed 'Elizabeth Tower' in 2012 to honor Queen Elizabeth II's 60 years of reign. The clock mechanism, renowned for its precision, was designed by clockmaker Edmund Beckett Denison.

Explanation: Galois died at only 20 from a duel, the day after his death recorded in the article. The night before the duel, sensing his death, he feverishly wrote down his mathematical work. His group theory revolutionized algebra and made it possible to prove the impossibility of solving by radicals equations of degree greater than or equal to 5, a problem that had resisted mathematicians for centuries.

Explanation: The Tulsa massacre ravaged the Greenwood district, nicknamed 'Black Wall Street' due to its African-American economic prosperity. White rioters destroyed more than 35 blocks, killed between 100 and 300 people and displaced thousands. The event was long obscured from American history before being rediscovered and commemorated, notably during the centennial in 2021.

Explanation: Sergio Leone directed the Dollars Trilogy with Clint Eastwood: 'A Fistful of Dollars' (1964), 'For a Few Dollars More' (1965) and 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966). These films, shot in Spain and Italy, revolutionized the western genre through their stylized violence, their silences, and the iconic music of Ennio Morricone. Eastwood there embodied the character of the Man with No Name.

Explanation: The Battle of Jutland pitted the British Grand Fleet against the German Hochseeflotte in the North Sea, off Denmark. Despite heavier losses on the British side in terms of ships and men, the Germans could not break the Allied naval blockade. The German fleet never again risked itself in a major naval battle, allowing the Allies to maintain their maritime superiority until the end of the conflict.

Explanation: Leaves of Grass was published by Whitman at his own expense in 1855 with only 12 poems. He constantly modified and expanded the content until his death, ending with a final edition of 400 poems. The work scandalized at its release for its references to sexuality and nudity, but it is today considered the foundation of modern American poetry, celebrating democracy, nature and the individual.