October 2 Through History

Explanation: Saladin, whose real name was Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, was the sultan of Egypt and Syria. His reconquest of Jerusalem ended 88 years of Christian domination over the city, established after the 1st Crusade in 1099. He was paradoxically admired in Europe for his chivalry and clemency toward the defeated inhabitants.

Explanation: Hochelaga was an Iroquoian village that Jacques Cartier visited during his 2nd voyage to New France. The city of Montreal, officially founded in 1642 under the name Ville-Marie, takes its name from the mountain that Cartier named Mont Royal. Montreal is today the metropolis of Quebec and the 2nd largest French-speaking city in the world.

Explanation: Gandhi theorized and practiced non-violence (ahimsa) and passive resistance or civil disobedience, which he called Satyagraha, literally "the force of truth". This approach inspired many civil rights movements around the world, notably Martin Luther King in the United States in the 1950s-1960s.

Explanation: Joséphine Baker, born in 1906 in Saint-Louis, Missouri, was just 19 years old during her appearance in the Revue nègre. She went on to become a huge star in Paris, but also a French resistance fighter during World War II and a civil rights activist. She was inducted into the Panthéon in November 2021, the first Black woman to enter the Panthéon.

Explanation: Peanuts, created by Charles M. Schulz, was published for 50 years without interruption, until its author's death in February 2000. The strip was syndicated in more than 2,600 newspapers in 75 countries and translated into 21 languages. Schulz always refused to employ assistants, drawing every strip himself until the end of his life.

Explanation: The Treaty of Amsterdam, signed on October 2, 1997 and entering into force in May 1999, strengthened the powers of the European Parliament, introduced provisions on freedom, security and justice, and integrated the Schengen agreements into EU law. It was followed by the Treaty of Nice in 2001, then the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007.

Explanation: Ferdinand Foch was appointed Marshal of France in 1918, but also Field Marshal of Great Britain and Marshal of Poland, extremely rare distinctions. Supreme Commander of the Allied forces from April 1918, he coordinated the final offensive that led to the armistice of November 11, 1918. He rests at Les Invalides in Paris, not far from Napoleon.

Explanation: The Tlatelolco massacre, also known as the Night of Tlatelolco, took place at the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Mexico City. The Mexican government of President Díaz Ordaz used the army and paramilitary groups against student protesters. The Mexico City Olympic Games opened ten days later, on October 12, 1968. The exact death toll has never been officially established.

Explanation: Charles Darwin boarded HMS Beagle in December 1831 at the age of 22. This five-year voyage took him to the Galápagos Islands, among other places, where his observations of finches and giant tortoises inspired him to develop his theory of evolution by natural selection, published in 1859 in "On the Origin of Species".

Explanation: The Grameen Bank, founded in Bangladesh by Muhammad Yunus, specializes its loans in microcredit aimed at the poorest populations, particularly rural Bangladeshi women. Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for this financial and social innovation. Microcredit has since been adopted in many developing countries.