A week of first steps, trials, and turning points

Apr 6, 2026 – Apr 12, 2026

This week moves through moments of beginnings and proof: on a stadium field, a theater stage, open water, and in orbit.

Across public gatherings, technical trials, and decisive meetings, the selection traces how history often turns when an idea is tested in the real world.

This week

  • From Olympic revival to Eurovision's first night
  • Sea trials, maiden thresholds, and open routes
  • Mars orbit and the first human in space
  • Surrender papers at the end of a campaign
  • A national day shaped from local concern

Open this week’s selection and start with the box that draws you in first.

WEEKLY PUZZLES · APRIL 12

First Eurovision Song Contest held in Lugano

Before it became a fixture of European television, Eurovision began as a careful live experiment in Lugano. One small evening tested a very large idea.

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The first Eurovision Song Contest at Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland, on 12 April 1956.
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Days this week

Athletes parade during the opening of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.

First Modern Olympic Games Opened in Athens

Explore how the 1896 Athens Olympics revived ancient traditions and ignited a global sporting movement.
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft launched to study Mars on April 7, 2001.

Launch of NASA's Mars Odyssey Mission

Uncover the story behind NASA's Mars Odyssey mission and its pivotal role in space exploration.
RMS Titanic during sea trials in Belfast Lough and the Irish Sea on 8 April 1912.

Titanic Completes Sea Trials Before Entering Service

Before the maiden voyage, there was a quieter test: a day in open water to see whether the new liner was truly ready to…
Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House in Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

Lee Surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia

A famous surrender at Appomattox was more than a single meeting. The road to it was shaped by blocked routes, lost…
Subject related to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Belfast, where multiparty talks concluded at Stormont in Northern Ireland.

The Good Friday Agreement in Belfast

A settlement announced in Belfast tried to turn decades of conflict into a workable political framework. Its design…
Yuri Gagarin aboard Vostok 1 after the first crewed orbital flight, linked to the 1961 mission from Baikonur.

Yuri Gagarin's Vostok 1 Orbit of Earth

One orbit, 108 minutes, and a new boundary crossed. Yuri Gagarin's flight showed that space travel had entered a…
The first Eurovision Song Contest at Teatro Kursaal in Lugano, Switzerland, on 12 April 1956.

First Eurovision Song Contest held in Lugano

Before it became a fixture of European television, Eurovision began as a careful live experiment in Lugano. One small…

Also this week

Slovak edition
Mikuláš Dzurinda, born in Spišský Štvrtok in 1955, later served as prime minister of Slovakia.

Mikuláš Dzurinda and Slovakia’s Euro-Atlantic Turn

Born in a vanished state, he later led an independent one through two defining international milestones.