The Khmer Rouge take power in Cambodia
In April 1975 the four-year rule of the brutal Khmer Rouge began in Cambodia. Up to two million people are thought to have died - many summarily executed, or starved to death in the communist regime. ...
16 Apr 202510min
The invention of the white LED lightbulb
In 1993, a literal lightbulb moment led to the invention of the first white light emitting diode (LED). These LEDs are now used to light up everything from our streets to our homes to this screen you’...
16 Apr 202510min
The Bali Nine drug smuggling case
In April 2005, nine young Australians were caught trying to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin out of Indonesia. The Bali Nine, as they became known, faced a maximum sentence of death by firing squad under Indon...
14 Apr 20259min
Germany’s ‘Green Belt’
In December 1989, Germany’s ‘Green Belt’ was born. For more than 40 years, the country had been split by a 1,400km border and, in the decades the so-called ‘death zone’ had existed, life flourished ev...
11 Apr 202510min
Oklahoma City bombing
On 19 April 1995, a huge truck bomb killed 168 people in a government building in Oklahoma City, US. There were 19 children among the dead and more than 500 people were injured. One of the perpetrator...
10 Apr 202510min
Liberia’s women in white who helped end civil war
In December 2011, Leymah Gbowee was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her role in helping to end the devastating civil war in Liberia.She had mobilised thousands of women to take part in daily, non-vi...
9 Apr 20259min
The Reichstag fire
On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building in Berlin, which was home to the German Parliament, was burned down. This was a key event in the establishment of the Nazi dictatorship.Berlin-born journali...
8 Apr 202510min
The UN retreat from Somalia
In 1991, a horrific civil war erupted between rival warlords in Somalia. A US-led United Nations mission tried to restore order and provide humanitarian aid. But, the mission ended in an embarrassing ...
7 Apr 202510min
