November 13 Through History

Explanation: Claude Monet painted Impression, Sunrise in the port of Le Havre. This painting gave its name to the Impressionist movement, a term initially used pejoratively by critic Louis Leroy in the journal Le Charivari in 1874.

Explanation: The Red and the Black, subtitled Chronicle of the XIXth Century, follows the social rise of Julien Sorel. Stendhal drew inspiration from real news stories, notably the Berthet affair, to build his plot. The novel is today considered one of the founding works of French realism.

Explanation: This 1994 title was won in controversial fashion after a collision with Damon Hill in the last Grand Prix of the season. Schumacher went on to win 7 world titles in total, a record he shared with Lewis Hamilton before the latter surpassed him in 2020.

Explanation: The eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz caused its glaciers to melt, generating a lahar (volcanic mudflow) that buried the city of Armero. It is one of the greatest volcanic disasters of the 20th century. The photo of Omayra Sánchez, a child trapped in the mud, became a tragic symbol of this tragedy.

Explanation: This decision followed the Montgomery bus boycott, triggered by Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger in December 1955. This civil resistance movement, led notably by Martin Luther King Jr., had lasted 381 days and stands as one of the first major successes of the civil rights movement.

Explanation: Robert Louis Stevenson is the author of Treasure Island (1883), but also of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886). Scottish by origin, he suffered from tuberculosis and spent his final years in Samoa, in the Pacific, where he is buried. The Samoans called him Tusitala, which means "the storyteller".

Explanation: COP26 closed in Glasgow with the adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact. It was the first COP to explicitly mention the reduction of coal. Negotiations were particularly tense over the issue of climate financing for developing countries and emissions reduction commitments.

Explanation: Augustine of Hippo, also known as Saint Augustine, was born in Thagaste in Numidia (present-day Algeria). His major works, such as Confessions and The City of God, shaped Catholic and Protestant theology. His thinking on original sin, divine grace, and predestination remains fundamental in the Christian tradition.

Explanation: The COP (Conference of the Parties) is held every year in a different country, under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The first COP was held in Berlin in 1995. It was at COP 21, in Paris in 2015, that the Paris Agreement was adopted, a major commitment to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Explanation: The Holland Tunnel, about 2.6 km long, connects Manhattan (New York) to Jersey City (New Jersey) under the Hudson River. It is named after Clifford Milburn Holland, the engineer who supervised its construction and who died before its completion. It was the world's first mechanically ventilated underwater road tunnel.