The discovery of the coelacanth
In 1938, South African museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer discovered a coelacanth, a fish that was believed to have been extinct for 65 million years.It is thought to be our ancestor and the mi...
10 Dec 202510min
Dismaland: Banksy's dystopian theme park
In 2015, Banksy turned a derelict swimming pool in Weston-super-Mare, England, into a dystopian theme park which drew huge crowds and Hollywood stars.Working under cover of darkness, the street artist...
9 Dec 202510min
The Balcombe Street IRA siege
In December 1975, four members of one of the IRA’s deadliest units were chased by police through the streets of London before hiding out in a small flat owned by a middle-aged couple called John and S...
8 Dec 20259min
How Lagos Fashion Week began
In 2011, Lagos Fashion Week debuted, putting Nigerian style on the map. Omoyemi Akerele founded the event which helped to launch the careers of designers internationally.It has grown into a major fash...
5 Dec 202510min
Wole Soyinka: Imprisoned during Nigeria’s Biafra war
In 1967, Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka tried to stop the country’s Biafra war, in which Nigeria’s Igbo people responded to violence by seceding from the rest of the country. They proclaimed a new Repub...
4 Dec 202510min
Escaping Nigeria's Biafra war
When the south-east region of Nigeria declared itself to be the independent state of Biafra, civil war broke out in May 1967. More than a million people died before the fighting stopped. In 2021, Patr...
3 Dec 202510min
Building the New Afrika Shrine in Nigeria
It's 25 years since the opening of the New Afrika Shrine, an open-air entertainment centre in Nigeria. A hub for Afrobeat music and culture, it's dedicated to the legacy of Fela Kuti who pioneered the...
2 Dec 202511min
West Africa fights back against Boko Haram
In 2015, West African countries fought against the jihadist militant group Boko Haram which controlled large areas of northeastern Nigeria. The group, whose name means 'western education is forbidden'...
1 Dec 202511min
