Exercise Tiger: Disastrous D-Day rehearsal
In April 1944, the Allies planned Exercise Tiger to practise their landing on France's Normandy beaches ahead of D-Day. During the rehearsal, a German fleet attacked, sinking two allied ships. Around ...
21 Apr 202510min
The origin of World Book Day
In November 1995, a proposal of having an annual day focused on celebrating books was put forward at the UNESCO conference in Paris.The idea came from a long-established Spanish celebration ‘The Day o...
18 Apr 202510min
Clearing landmines in Cambodia
Fifty years after the start of the genocide that wiped out a quarter of its eight million population, Cambodia remains one of the most heavily landmined countries in the world.More than 65,000 people ...
17 Apr 20259min
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
