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On 17 December 2014, Barack Obama and Raúl Castro normalised Cuba and US relations Read more
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'I organised the Cuban thaw'
On 17 December 2014, Barack Obama and Raúl Castro normalised Cuba and US relations
The Purple Heart Warriors
In WW2, a Japanese American troop was one of the most decorated army units in US history
The handover of the Panama Canal
In 1999 the Panama Canal was handed over from US to Panamanian rule.
The birth of reggaeton
In the 1980s, Leonardo Renato Aulder pioneered a movement in Panama with his friends
Peshawar school massacre
In 2014, one of Pakistan’s worst terror attacks took place at Peshawar Army School
Surviving Andes plane crash
In 1972, 16 people survived for two months in the Andes mountains after a plane crash
Ceefax: the start of interactive television
In 1974, the BBC launched the world's first teletext service
Poland's bleak Christmas
In 1981, the communist government of Poland declared martial law to suppress civil unrest
Australian republic referendum
On 6 November 1999, voters in Australia were asked if they wanted to become a republic
'I created MasterChef'
In 1990, the cookery programme MasterChef launched on BBC TV
When instant noodles came to India
A turning point in Indian culinary history
Chef to five presidents
Cristeta Comerford was the first woman and person of colour to the White House's top chef
'Kimchi war'
In the 1990s, a diplomatic dispute broke out between Japan and South Korea over kimchi
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
Indian Ocean tsunami - Tamil Nadu
On 26 December 2004, communities around the Indian Ocean were swept away by a tsunami
Indian Ocean tsunami - Aceh
In 2004, a deadly tsunami swept away entire communities around the Indian Ocean
Robert Ripley and the ‘Believe It or Not’ empire
During the Great Depression, cartoonist Robert Ripley made millions from freaky facts
Klaus Fuchs: Oppenheimer’s atomic spy
In 1950, Klaus Fuchs itted ing top secret nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union
Creating Alexa
In 2000, two Polish students started creating a smart speaker which sounded human
Marie Kondo
In 2011, Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo's first book was published.
Charlie Hebdo attack
On 7 January 2015, 12 people were shot dead at a satirical magazine in
The invention of the hotel key card
In the 1970s, Norwegian Tor Sornes invented the hotel key card
The mystery of Raoul Wallenberg
The Swedish diplomat saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War Two
The Bosphorus boat spotter tracking Russian military trucks
In 2015, ship spotter Yörük Işık saw Russian military trucks on a ship going to Syria
Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal
In 1933, President Roosevelt enacted the New Deal to drag the US out of depression
Confronting Betty Ford’s addiction
In 1978, former first lady Betty Ford sought help for addiction
Kobe earthquake
On 17 January 1995, an earthquake devastated the city of Kobe, in Japan
'I wrote Schindler's List'
Thomas Keneally stumbled across the story of Oskar Schindler while buying a briefcase
Drum: Africa’s revolutionary magazine
The first African lifestyle magazine Drum, was first printed in 1951
Hunting the Unabomber
In September 1995, US newspapers controversially published a terrorist's manifesto.
Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway
In 1995, the doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo, launched a chemical attack on the Tokyo metro
