October 6, 1973, and October 6, 1981

For Egyptians, the 6th of October is Egyptian Military Day, marking the initially successful assault across the Suez Canal, still celebrated as a victory despite the far from conclusive outcome of the war. The "crossing," (al-‘ubur), as it came to be called, was seen as redemption for the disastrous defeat of 1967 and opened the door to negotiations, the reopening of the Canal, and eventually the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

It is still a holiday in Egypt, celebrated with parades and military fly-bys. But the date is also the anniversary of another October 6, eight years later in 1981, when President Anwar Sadat was assassinated while reviewing the Military Day parade. Subsequent years' celebration of Military Day rarely allude to the double nature of the anniversary