Russian ballerina defects to the west
In 1970, Natalia Makarova became the first female ballet star to defect to the West from Russia.The dancer claimed asylum during a UK tour, nine years after another Russian dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, had...
10 Jan 20249min
The mystery of France's lost king
The fate of Louis-Charles, son of the last king of France, was for years shrouded in rumour.The little boy was said to have died in prison in 1795. But for years, rumours spread that he had been swapp...
9 Jan 20248min
The world’s first lesbian couple to get married
On 1 April 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise gay marriage.Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at midnight which was broadcast on TV.Hélè...
8 Jan 20249min
What the 1989 solar storm did to Quebec
On 13 March 1989, the Canadian province of Quebec suffered a nine-hour electricity blackout. Much of the state's infrastructure was damaged, but the power companies couldn't find any obvious cause. Ph...
5 Jan 202410min
The Hindenburg airship disaster
In 1937, the Hindenburg airship burst into flames during its mooring in New Jersey, in the US, killing 35 of the 97 passengers and crew.
4 Jan 20249min
The invention of the wingsuit
The wingsuit is the ultimate in extreme sports clothing. The aerodynamic outfit allows base jumpers and skydivers to free-fall for longer before opening a parachute.The road to creating it was littere...
3 Jan 20249min
Discovery of the hole in the earth’s ozone
In 1985, British scientists made what would turn out to be one of the most important environmental discoveries of the 20th century - finding a hole in the earth’s ozone layer.The British Antarctic Sur...
2 Jan 20249min
Earth: A pale blue dot in the universe
In February 1990, Nasa space probe Voyager took a famous photo of Earth as it left the Solar System.Seen from six billion kilometres away, our planet appears as a mere dot lit up by the sun, giving a ...
1 Jan 20249min
