‘Genius’ sci-fi writer Octavia E Butler
In 1995, Octavia E Butler became the first author to receive a MacArthur “genius” award for science fiction writing.From a young age she dreamed of writing books, but faced many challenges, including ...
2 Sep 10min
Making Turkish Star Wars
When the set fell apart for an ambitious cinematic space opera that was produced on a characteristically small Turkish budget, nationally famed director Çetin İnanç had to think fast to save his film....
1 Sep 10min
How the Star Wars toys were created
In 1976, American toy designer Jim Swearingen was working at Kenner, a mid-sized company in the American Midwest.When a script for a new film called Star Wars landed on his desk, Jim was intrigued. La...
31 Aug 10min
The hijacking of Pan Am Flight 73
On the 5 September 1986, hijackers took over a Pan-American Airways flight during a stop-over at Karachi Airport in Pakistan. The armed Palestinian terrorists wanted to fly the plane to Cyprus and Is...
28 Aug 10min
Hurricane Luis hits Antigua
On 4 September 1995, Hurricane Luis hit the Caribbean island of Antigua.Two people were killed and three-quarters of homes were destroyed.Authorities said it set the island back by a decade.Resident E...
27 Aug 9min
Peace People: The Northern Ireland campaign group born from tragedy
It is 50 years since a peace movement began in Northern Ireland spawned by the killing of three children. There had been seven years of sectarian violence. On 10 August 1976, Anne Maguire was walking ...
26 Aug 10min
Auschwitz: An SS officer’s photo album
In 2007, an abandoned photo album revealed the chilling normality of life at the Nazis’ most notorious concentration camp, Auschwitz.The 116 black-and-white images had been sent to the United States H...
25 Aug 10min
Uruguay's water referendum
On 31st October 2004, Uruguayans voted to enshrine water as a human right in their constitution, the first country in the world to do so. The so-called water referendum was organised by an alliance of...
24 Aug 10min
