The visionary behind the European Space Agency

In October 2012, a visionary letter about the European Space Agency was sent into space

• 9 mins

The Germanwings plane crash

General David Galtier who led the search operation recalls the 2015 crash

• 9 mins

Goodluck Jonathan’s phone call that changed Nigeria

President Goodluck Jonathan's call to Muhammadu Buhari to concede election defeat in 2015

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The suspicious death of Rear Admiral Durović

In 1991, a Yugoslav People’s Army commander died in mysterious circumstances

• 9 mins

Harold Riley’s 'one of a kind' portrait of Nelson Mandela

A specially commissioned portrait of Nelson Mandela by Harold Riley was unveiled in 2005

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The father of Ethio-Jazz

In 1966, Ethiopian musician Mulatu Astatke recorded a new genre of music, Ethio-jazz.

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The 'ghost town' of Namibia

In 1908, the first Kolmanskop diamond was found. It's now abandoned, buried in the desert

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The invention of superglue

In 1951, Harry Coover noticed a chemical he was working with was sticking to everything

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The wonder woman of DC Comics

In 1976 Jenette Kahn became the first female head of DC Comics, home of the superheroes

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JFK’s 1963 Ich Bin Ein Berliner speech

The US President spoke at the newly constructed Berlin Wall at the height of the Cold War

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Resusci Anne: the world’s first life-saving resuscitation dummy

In May 1960 a Norwegian toy-maker unveiled a life-sized, life-like training manikin

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The UN retreat from Somalia

In 1995, a United Nations mission to restore peace in Somalia ended in disaster

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The Reichstag fire

In February 1933, the home to the German Parliament in Berlin was burned down

• 10 mins

Liberia’s women in white who helped end civil war

In 2003 the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace began protests calling for peace

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Oklahoma City bombing

On 19 April 1995, a huge truck bomb killed 168 people in a US government building

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Germany’s ‘Green Belt’

In December 1989, environmentalists met to secure the future of Germany’s ‘Green Belt’

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The Bali Nine drug smuggling case

In 2005, nine Australians were caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia

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The invention of the white LED lightbulb

In 1993, a lightbulb moment led to the invention of the first white light emitting diode

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The Khmer Rouge take power in Cambodia

In April 1975 the four-year rule of the brutal Khmer Rouge began in Cambodia

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Clearing landmines in Cambodia

Aki Ra laid hundreds of landmines for the Khmer Rouge, but began clearing them in 1992.

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The origin of World Book Day

23 April 1996, saw the first World Book Day. It originated from a Spanish tradition

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The creation of YouTube

In April 2005, the first video was posted onto YouTube

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Coca-Cola’s ‘New Coke'

On 23 April 1985, Coca-Cola changed the secret formula of its fizzy drink

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Staging Othello in apartheid South Africa

Dame Janet Suzman recalls directing Shakespeare's classic in 1987

• 10 mins

The death of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler's secretary recalls his last days in 1945

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Exercise Tiger: Disastrous D-Day rehearsal

In April 1944, a German fleet sank two allied ships. Around 749 US servicemen died.

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Doi Moi: Vietnam's economic miracle

Radical reforms introduced in 1986 lifted millions out of poverty

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Surviving the fall of Saigon in 1975

When South Vietnam fell, most people couldn’t escape

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The Cu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam War

The story of North Vietnam’s underground tunnel network in South Vietnam

• 9 mins

Ten countries join the EU in one night

On 1 May 2004, the European Union went through its biggest ever enlargement

• 10 mins