The Attempt on Ronald Reagan's Life

On March 30th 1981 a man tried to assassinate US President Ronald Reagan.

• 9 mins

Harrer in Tibet

In 1944, Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer fled into the forbidden land of Tibet.

• 11 mins

Siege of Sarajevo

The siege of Sarajevo lasted for almost four years. Witness Vedrana Seksan tells her story

• 11 mins

Pakistan Ban on Alcohol

In the spring of 1977 the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto introduced a ban on alcohol

• 9 mins

Nigeria's War on Indiscipline

In 1984, General Buhari's military regime launched an unusual campaign to clean up Nigeria

• 11 mins

The Yodogo Hijacking

In March 1970, Japanese left-wing extremists hijacked a plane with samurai swords.

• 9 mins

The Execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto

On April 4th 1979 Pakistan's first democratically elected Prime Minister was hanged.

• 9 mins

Romania's Orphans

In 1989 news began to emerge of terrible conditions in Romania's orphanages.

• 9 mins

Mallory on Everest

In 1999 the body of legendary British mountaineer, George Mallory, was found on Everest.

• 9 mins

The Ogaden War

In 1977 Somalia invaded Ethiopia in an attempt to take control of disputed territory.

• 9 mins

A Japanese Royal Wedding

In a change to tradition Japan's Crown Prince Akihito married a non-royal, in April 1959.

• 9 mins

Angela Merkel

On April 10 2000, Angela Merkel became the first woman to lead a German political party.

• 9 mins

The First Starbucks

In 1971 the first Starbucks coffee shop opened in Seattle.

• 9 mins

The Amritsar Massacre of 1919

On 13 April 1919, the British Indian Army fired on an unarmed crowd, killing hundreds

• 9 mins

Executed for Being Too Capitalist

In 1961, in Soviet Central Asia, 21 managers were executed for using capitalist methods.

• 9 mins

The Spanish Republic

How writers and artists campaigned to bring culture to every corner of 1930s Spain

• 9 mins

Haile Selassie In Jamaica

On 21 April 1966 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia arrived in Jamaica

• 9 mins

The Harrier in the Falklands War

A Harrier pilot remembers the air battle over the Falklands in 1982

• 9 mins

Fighting for Castro at the Bay of Pigs

A member of Cuba's communist militia recalls battling US-backed invaders in April 1961

• 9 mins

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

An industrial disaster in New York in 1911 led to huge social reforms.

• 9 mins

Shakespeare's Jubilee

How actor David Garrick organised the first national celebration of Shakespeare in 1769

• 9 mins

Yves Saint Laurent and Morocco

In 1966 the great French fashion designer went to Morocco for the first time

• 9 mins

Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

In April 1986 a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine

• 9 mins

The Funeral of Charles Darwin

The great English naturalist Charles Darwin is buried at Westminster Abbey in April 1882

• 9 mins

The McCarthy Era

In spring 1950, an American academic was wrongly named as the main Soviet agent in the US

• 9 mins

The Creation of the Mini

In 1959 the British Motoring Corporation unveiled a very small new family car - the Mini

• 9 mins

The Salem Witches

In 1692 nineteen men and women were convicted of witchcraft and executed in America.

• 9 mins

U2 Spy Plane

In May 1960 Gary Powers was taken captive by the Soviets when his spy plane was shot down

• 9 mins

Ernest Hemingway in Cuba

Alberto Ramos remembers his time working for the great American novelist in Cuba.

• 9 mins

The Belfast Blitz

In 1941, Belfast in Northern Ireland was devastated by German bombing

• 9 mins