PreviousDays✦THE WIKI
← All historyTHE ARCHIVE · 3 STORIES

1900–1945

A world transformed, for better and worse.

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History doesn’t stand still.

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MOMENTS FROM THIS ERA

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3 illustrated stories · growing daily
A mounted man in khaki service uniform reaches toward a blue ribbon with a sword as police and spectators react near Sydney Harbour Bridge.Places & travel

The horseman who interrupted Sydney Harbour Bridge’s opening

At Sydney Harbour Bridge’s opening on 19 March 1932, Francis de Groot rode into the ceremony and cut the ribbon with a sword before Premier Jack Lang could perform the planned act.

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Christ the Redeemer rises above a small period gathering on Corcovado, with Rio’s bay and mountains beyond.Places & travel

Inauguration and construction of Christ the Redeemer in Rio

Christ the Redeemer was inaugurated above Rio de Janeiro on 12 October 1931. Its familiar silhouette combines religious imagery, reinforced-concrete engineering and a protective mosaic of soapstone tiles.

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An Andean boy shows an early twentieth-century visitor overgrown Inca stonework on a mountain terrace.Places & travel

Hiram Bingham reaches Machu Picchu with local guidance in 1911

On 24 July 1911, local guidance brought Hiram Bingham to Machu Picchu. His subsequent publications gave the Inca site international visibility, but the history is better understood as an encounter between existing local knowledge and a visiting research expedition.

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