History Tap No. 20: October 18, 2026

Round 1: landmark

San Diego Zoo

Founded in San Diego, California, in 1916.

• It is the most visited zoo in the United States; travelers have cited it as one of the best zoos in the world.
• It began with a collection of animals left over from the 1915 Panama–California Exposition that were brought together by its founder, Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth.
• Draws about 4,000,000 visitors a year.

Round 2: landmark

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Opened in Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, on September 24, 2016.

• It was established in 2003 and opened its permanent home in 2016 with a ceremony led by President Barack Obama.
• Early efforts to establish a federally owned museum featuring African-American history and culture can be traced to 1915 and the National Memorial Association, although the modern push for such an organization did not begin until the 1970s.
• After years of little success, a legislative push began in 1988 that led to authorization of the museum in 2003.

Round 3: historic event

Assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald

Happened in Dallas, Texas, on November 24, 1963.

• In 1959, he was discharged from active duty into the Marine Corps Reserve, then flew to Europe and defected to the Soviet Union.
• He attended twelve schools in his youth, quitting repeatedly, and at age seventeen he joined the Marines, where he was court-martialed twice and jailed.
• Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age twelve for truancy, during which he was assessed by a psychiatrist as "emotionally disturbed" because of the lack of normal family life.

Round 4: historic event, world

Fall of Constantinople

Happened in Constantinople, Turkey, on April 6, 1453.

• The Ottoman cannons repeatedly fired massive cannonballs weighing 500 kilograms (1,100 lb) over 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) which created gaps in the Theodosian walls for the Ottoman siege.
• The fall of Constantinople and of the Byzantine Empire was a watershed moment of the Late Middle Ages, marking the effective end of the Roman Empire, a state which began in roughly 27 BC and had lasted nearly 1,500 years.
• The walls of Constantinople, especially the Theodosian walls, protected Constantinople from attack for 800 years and were noted as some of the most advanced defensive systems in the world at the time.

Round 5: historic event, world

1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt

Happened in Russia, on August 19, 1991.

• The GKChP hardliners dispatched KGB agents who detained Gorbachev at his dacha but failed to detain the recently elected president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin, who had been both an ally and critic of Gorbachev.
• The GKChP was poorly organized and met with effective resistance by both Yeltsin and a civilian campaign of anti-authoritarian protesters, mainly in Moscow.
• Boris Yeltsin's demand for more autonomy to the republics opened a window for the plotters to organize the coup.