Arrested for "immorality" in South Africa

Dr Zureena Desai was arrested in South Africa for breaking the Immorality Act

• 9 mins

Strictly Come Dancing

Television extravaganza Strictly Come Dancing debuted in 2004 in the UK

• 9 mins

Thich Quang Duc: Buddhist monk who set himself on fire

In June 1963, Thich Quang Duc set himself alight in protest against the government

• 9 mins

The deepest man-made hole in the world

In the 1970s and 1980s, scientists in Russia managed to dig a 12,000-metre deep hole

• 9 mins

The end of the US HIV travel ban

In 2010, a travel and immigration ban stopping people with HIV entering the US was lifted

• 9 mins

The Iran-Contra Affair

In 1986, Oliver North was accused of orchestrating the illegal sale of weapons to Iran

• 9 mins

Gloria Steinem: The start of Ms. Magazine

In 1972, Gloria Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine in the United States

• 9 mins

The discovery that led to Covid vaccines

In 2005, Dr Katalin Karikó published research that eventually won her the Nobel Prize

• 9 mins

The ‘Three Marias’

In 1974, a judge decided if three Portuguese women should be jailed for writing a book

• 9 mins

Julia Gillard speaks out on sexism

In 2012, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard made a landmark speech on misogyny

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India’s 1998 nuclear tests

Nalini Malani made an artwork protesting against India's nuclear tests

• 9 mins

Castro's Cuban revolution attempt

In 1953, Fidel Castro attempted to revolutionise Cuba by attacking military barracks

• 9 mins

'I organised the Cuban thaw'

On 17 December 2014, Barack Obama and Raúl Castro normalised Cuba and US relations

• 9 mins

The Purple Heart Warriors

In WW2, a Japanese American troop was one of the most decorated army units in US history

• 9 mins

The handover of the Panama Canal

In 1999 the Panama Canal was handed over from US to Panamanian rule.

• 9 mins

The birth of reggaeton

In the 1980s, Leonardo Renato Aulder pioneered a movement in Panama with his friends

• 9 mins

Peshawar school massacre

In 2014, one of Pakistan’s worst terror attacks took place at Peshawar Army School

• 9 mins

Surviving Andes plane crash

In 1972, 16 people survived for two months in the Andes mountains after a plane crash

• 9 mins

Ceefax: the start of interactive television

In 1974, the BBC launched the world's first teletext service

• 9 mins

Poland's bleak Christmas

In 1981, the communist government of Poland declared martial law to suppress civil unrest

• 9 mins

Australian republic referendum

On 6 November 1999, voters in Australia were asked if they wanted to become a republic

• 9 mins

'I created MasterChef'

In 1990, the cookery programme MasterChef launched on BBC TV

• 9 mins

When instant noodles came to India

A turning point in Indian culinary history

• 9 mins

Chef to five presidents

Cristeta Comerford was the first woman and person of colour to the White House's top chef

• 9 mins

'Kimchi war'

In the 1990s, a diplomatic dispute broke out between Japan and South Korea over kimchi

• 9 mins

Dinner for One: How an English comedy became a German tradition

The sitcom Dinner for One, recorded in 1963, has become a German New Year's Eve tradition

• 9 mins

Indian Ocean tsunami - Tamil Nadu

On 26 December 2004, communities around the Indian Ocean were swept away by a tsunami

• 9 mins

Indian Ocean tsunami - Aceh

In 2004, a deadly tsunami swept away entire communities around the Indian Ocean

• 9 mins

Robert Ripley and the ‘Believe It or Not’ empire

During the Great Depression, cartoonist Robert Ripley made millions from freaky facts

• 9 mins

Klaus Fuchs: Oppenheimer’s atomic spy

In 1950, Klaus Fuchs admitted passing top secret nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union

• 9 mins