News
How the Chinese gooseberry became the kiwi and one of New Zealand’s biggest exports Read more
now playing
Kiwi: How New Zealand hijacked China's fruit
How the Chinese gooseberry became the kiwi and one of New Zealand’s biggest exports
Flavr Savr tomato: The world's first genetically-engineered food
In 1994, a tomato became the world's first genetically-engineered food on sale
The disputed history of pad Thai
Exploring the different theories behind the creation of pad Thai
Ken Hom's 'Chinese Cookery'
In 1984, Ken Hom taught TV audiences to cook Chinese food for the first time
Earth: A pale blue dot in the universe
In 1990, a space probe's photograph of Earth captured the enormity of space
Discovery of the hole in the earth’s ozone
In 1985, news broke of a major environmental discovery: a hole in the earth’s ozone layer
The invention of the wingsuit
In 1999, skydiver Jari Kuosma developed the first commercial wingsuit
The Hindenburg airship disaster
In 1937, the Hindenburg burst into flames during mooring, killing 35 people on board.
What the 1989 solar storm did to Quebec
In 1989, a huge solar flare ground life to a halt in Quebec
The world’s first lesbian couple to get married
In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriage
The mystery of 's lost king
The fate of Louis-Charles, imprisoned in 1795, was for years shrouded in rumour
Russian ballerina defects to the west
The Russian ballerina who defected to the west
The first World Laughter Day
The first World Laughter Day took place in Mumbai, India in January 1998
Gürtel scandal: Spain's Watergate
How one man's secret recordings revealed one of Spain's biggest corruption scandals
The hunger-striking Bolivian president
In 1984, President Zuazo went on hunger strike, in an attempt to stabilise Bolivia
The Green March: Moroccans take over the Sahara
In 1975, unarmed Moroccans faced off against gun-carrying Spanish soldiers
Tortured in Iran's Evin Prison
Protests after Iran's 2009 election caused one man to be interrogated for 118 days
Ibadan Zoo
Bob Golding turned Ibadan Zoo into one of Nigeria's biggest attractions in the 1970s
Jamuna Tudu: The real life 'Lady Tarzan'
In the early 2000s, a woman known as ‘Lady Tarzan’ fought India’s so called timber mafia
Vidkun Quisling: Norway's traitor
In 1939, Vidkun Quisling asked Hitler to invade Norway.
Axis Sally: World War II traitor who broadcast for the Nazis
Mildred Gillars became the first woman in American history to be convicted of treason.
Wang Jingwei: China’s traitor or protector?
The national hero was branded a traitor for collaborating with Japan during World War Two
The Hungarian footballer executed for love
Sándor Szűcs was hanged for trying to escape communist Hungary with his lover
Jack Strong aka Ryszard Kukliński: Cold War traitor or hero?
During the Cold War a high-ranking Polish colonel ed Soviet secrets to the CIA
Silenced by the Vatican
How Brazilian priest Leonardo Boff was punished for his writing on liberation theology
Brazil's Landless Workers Movement
In 1980, poor rural workers occupied land owned by the rich and violent clashes followed
The Arctic’s doomsday seed vault
In 2008, seeds began arriving at a frozen vault designed to save the world’s food supply
First internet cafe
Cyberia, billed as the World's first internet cafe opened in London in 1994
Inventing the Covid N95 mask
In 1992, Peter Tsai invented the N95 mask filter
Queen of the 'fro
In 1986, Charlotte Mensah went to work in the UK's first luxury Afro-Caribbean hair salon
A young mother saved from death by stoning
In 2003, human rights lawyer Hauwa Ibrahim defended Amina Lawal from death by stoning
