November 29 Through History

Explanation: Resolution 181 is one of the founding texts of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It provided for three entities: a Jewish state, an Arab state, and Jerusalem under international status (corpus separatum). Israel proclaimed its independence on 14 May 1948, but the neighbouring Arab states rejected the plan and triggered the first Arab-Israeli war.

Explanation: Jacques Chirac was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, Prime Minister twice, then President of the Republic from 1995 to 2007. He is notably known for acknowledging France's responsibility in the deportation of Jews, in a speech delivered in 1995 at the Vel d'Hiv.

Explanation: The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb (KV62) is one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the XXth century. The young pharaoh had reigned around 1332-1323 BC. The tomb was remarkably intact. Shortly after, several members of the expedition died prematurely, fueling the legend of the 'pharaoh's curse'.

Explanation: Enos was the first chimpanzee to orbit the Earth, completing 2 orbits in about 3 hours. This flight paved the way for John Glenn's first American crewed orbital flight, which took place on February 20, 1962. Enos died of hepatitis in 1962, shortly after his historic flight.

Explanation: Concorde was the result of a unique Franco-British collaboration. It made its first flight on March 2, 1969. Entering commercial service in 1976, it connected Paris or London to New York in under four hours. Its final retirement came in 2003, following notably the crash of Air France flight 4590 in 2000.

Explanation: The Warren Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Earl Warren, delivered its report in September 1964, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone. Its findings have been challenged by many investigators and historians, and the assassination of Kennedy remains the subject of numerous conspiracy theories to this day.

Explanation: Donizetti is one of the masters of 19th-century bel canto opera. Among his best-known works are Lucia di Lammermoor, L'Elisir d'amore and Don Pasquale. He composed more than 70 operas in barely 30 years of career, before illness (cerebral syphilis) put an end to his creative life.

Explanation: Pong, developed by Atari and designed by Allan Alcorn, is considered one of the first arcade games to achieve major commercial success. It simulated a 2D table tennis match. Its phenomenal success launched the mainstream video game industry and made Atari one of the most influential companies of the 1970s-1980s.

Explanation: Jean-Martin Charcot, nicknamed "the Napoleon of neuroses", is one of the founders of modern neurology. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also called Charcot's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that progressively destroys motor neurons. It was made famous by physicist Stephen Hawking, who had been affected by it since 1963.

Explanation: Giacomo Puccini died of throat cancer in Brussels, where he was undergoing treatment, leaving his opera Turandot unfinished, completed by Franco Alfano. Puccini is considered the last great representative of Italian verismo opera. La Bohème, premiered in 1896, remains one of the most performed operas in the world.