Swedish History

Swedish History

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

It has been 50 years since Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, so we're exploring Swedish history. Also in 1974, Sweden became the first country in the world to offer paid parental leave that was gender neutral. One father who took the leave tells us about this pioneering policy. We hear from one of the inventors of Bluetooth. The technology was named after Harald Bluetooth, a Viking king. Our expert guest is Eva Krutmeijer, Swedish science writer and co-author of the book ' Innovation, the Swedish Way’.

Plus, the invention of the three-point safety belt for cars, that is estimated to have saved more than one million lives around the world, and the story behind Sweden’s Cinnamon Bun Day. Finally, 1974 was just the beginning for the Swedish quartet, Abba, who shared their name with a herring company. By the end of the decade, they were one of most recognisable music acts of the 20th century. Contributors: Per Edlund - one of the first fathers in his town to take split paid parental leave Sven Mattison - one of the inventors of Bluetooth Eva Krutmeijer - Swedish science writer and co-author of the book 'Innovation, the Swedish Way' Gunnar Ornmark - stepson of Nils Bohlin who invented the three-point safety belt for cars Kaeth Gardestedt - who came up with the idea of Sweden's Cinnamon Bun Day Görel Hanser - manager of Abba (Photo: Abba in 1974. Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

Avsnitt(469)

The Flavr Savr Tomato - The World's First Genetically Engineered Food

The Flavr Savr Tomato - The World's First Genetically Engineered Food

In 1994 the world's first genetically-engineered food went on sale in the US. It was a tomato, called the 'Flavr Savr' which stayed fresh for up to 30 days. Plus, a mysterious anthrax outbreak in the Soviet Union; the murder of a Catholic archbishop in El Salvador; and the Teletubbies turn 20.Photo: Roger Salquist, former Chairman and CEO of Calgene (courtesy of Roger Salquist)

1 Apr 201750min

The First Russian Revolution of 1917

The First Russian Revolution of 1917

100 years since the Russian Revolution, Imperial Russia in colour, AIDS and the mystery of 'Patient Zero', when Indian sex workers marched for employment rights and the British Lord who fled the Nazis in Czechoslovakia as a six year old on the Kindertransport.Photo: 12th March 1917: Barricades across a street in St Petersburg, as a red flag floats above the cannons, during the Russian Revolution. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

18 Mars 201751min

Kuwaiti Women Secure the Vote

Kuwaiti Women Secure the Vote

Women in Kuwait win the right to vote, and the only women on the front line on the Western Front in World War One; battling smog in Mexico City in the 1980s, the artist Georgia O'Keeffe, and America's first incident of Islamic terror forty years ago.Photo: the first women candidates for parliamentary elections in Kuwait in 2006, Aisha al-Rashid (R) and Rola Dashti (C) (Credit: Yasser al-Zayya/AFP/Getty Images)

10 Mars 201750min

Mother Teresa - The Nun Who Became A Saint

Mother Teresa - The Nun Who Became A Saint

Life with Mother Teresa among the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, how the World Health Organisation came to realise that obesity was a global problem and Eleanor Roosevelt in the White House. Plus the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks - a remarkable story of one woman's impact on medical research.(PHOTO: AP Mother Teresa holds a child in 1978)

4 Mars 201750min

The German American Bund

The German American Bund

In the 1930s, a group of German-American Nazi sympathisers known as the German American Bund held rallies and summer camps across the US. Also, the lawyers who helped Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic defend himself against war crimes charges and how vandals attacked Denmark's famous Little Mermaid Statue.

25 Feb 201750min

Love and Marriage

Love and Marriage

From speed-dating to gay romance, from divorce to bigamy we look at recent changes in the way society perceives love and marriage. Plus - an expert view on how to make sure your love endures.Photo: A heart hanging over Carnaby Street in London. Credit: BBC.

18 Feb 201750min

Sanctuary Cities in the USA

Sanctuary Cities in the USA

This week how American cities like San Francisco became safe havens for undocumented immigrants, the story of Tilikum and first recorded killing of a human by an orca whale, discovering DNA, the ship wreck that gave locals whiskey galore and Kenya's smash hit song - that got everyone singing in Swahili.(Photo: Supporters of Sanctuary Cities demonstrating in San Francisco, January 2017. Credit: AP)

11 Feb 201750min

The End of Apartheid

The End of Apartheid

Former South African police minister on ending apartheid, eyewitness to Black Hawk Down, landmark sexual harassment case in India, the last South American war and a record breaking solo trek across the Antarctic Picture: Anti-apartheid protestors demonstrate in Cape Town on the same day that President de Klerk announced the lifting of the ban on the ANC and the release of all political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela (Credit: RASHID LOMBARD/AFP/Getty Images)

4 Feb 201750min

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