The Thalidomide Trial

In May 1968, executives of the German company that made the drug thalidomide go on trial

• 9 mins

The Assassination of Trujillo

On May 30th 1961 Rafael Trujillo, the dictator in the Dominican Republic, was shot dead.

• 9 mins

Karakoram Highway

In 1979 the Karakoram Highway between Pakistan and China was opened to the public

• 9 mins

Concordski Plane Crash

In June 1973 Russia's supersonic rival to Concorde crashed at the Paris Air Show

• 9 mins

Tanzania's Ujamaa policy

In the late 1960s Tanzania experimented with a new form of socialism called Ujamaa.

• 9 mins

Date Rape

In 1991 Katie Koestner went public with her experience of date rape and divided America.

• 9 mins

The Arrest of James Earl Ray

How the man convicted for killing Martin Luther King was detained in London in June 1968.

• 9 mins

Ritalin

The drug Ritalin was developed in the 1940s - it's now used to treat ADHD.

• 9 mins

Restoring 'The Last Supper'

In 1999 Italian art experts completed an ambitious restoration of da Vinci's masterpiece.

• 9 mins

Iraq's Secret Nuclear Programme

In 1981 Israel destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor; it began Iraq's secret nuclear programme

• 9 mins

The Battle for Mixed Race Marriage in the US

How a white man and a black woman won the right to marry in America in the 1960s

• 9 mins

When TV Came to Bhutan

In June 1999 the tiny Himalayan kingdom broadcast its first TV programme

• 9 mins

Moral Majority

In June 1979 the Moral Majority was launched and changed the course of American politics

• 9 mins

The Eruption of Mount Pinatubo

In 1991 one of the largest volcanic eruptions of recent times occurred in the Philippines

• 9 mins

Smoking and Lung Cancer

It was not until the 1950s that the link was proven between cigarettes and lung cancer

• 9 mins

The Fall of Paris

In June 1940, most of the residents of Paris fled as German soldiers occupied the city

• 9 mins

Black in the USSR

Robert Robinson, a black American engineer, spent 43 years in the USSR against his will.

• 9 mins

Jackass Penguin Rescue

An oil spill in June 2000 threatened tens of thousands of African penguins.

• 9 mins

Space Crash

Michael Foale was on board the Mir space station when a resupply vessel crashed into it

• 9 mins

The Bobbitt Story

On 23 June 1993 a young wife cut off her husband's penis in a frenzied attack

• 9 mins

The Khobar Towers Bombing - Saudi Arabia

On June 25th 1996 a huge truck bomb was planted at a US housing complex in Saudi Arabia.

• 9 mins

Forced Sterilisation in Peru

In the 1990s more than 280,000 women were sterilised in Peru, many against their will.

• 9 mins

Date Rape

The first time 'date rape' hit the headlines in the USA.

• 11 mins

The Cuyahoga River Fire

In June 1969 the heavily polluted Cuyahoga River, in Ohio in the USA, caught fire

• 9 mins

Soviet Imaginary Heroes

A Soviet story of heroic feats of bravery during WWII... that could not have happened.

• 11 mins

The Great Plague

In the summer of 1665, London was gripped by one of the worst epidemics in its history

• 9 mins

Space Crash

In June 1997, astronauts on the Mir space station faced disaster after a collision.

• 11 mins

Ukraine's Wartime Ultra-Nationalists

In 1941, far-right Ukrainians declared independence, hoping for Hitler's support.

• 9 mins

Angela Merkel

A look back at the career of the German Chancellor before she became a politician.

• 11 mins

World War One: The Battle of the Somme

BBC archive recordings of veterans who fought in one of the bloodiest battles in history

• 9 mins