Inventing Play-Doh
In 1956, one of the world’s most beloved children’s toys went on sale for the first time, but its origins were surprising.The modelling clay had started out as a household cleaning product. In the day...
23 Dec 202510min
The invention of Jenga
It's just over 30 years since the brick game was introduced to the world at a department store in London. Made of 54 wooden blocks stacked into a tower in rows of three by three, each player takes a t...
22 Dec 202510min
The first television opera
On 24 December 1951, in the United States, television history was made with the live broadcast of Amahl and the Night Visitors, the first opera ever composed specifically for TV.Written by acclaimed I...
19 Dec 202510min
When Laurel and Hardy spent Christmas at an English pub
In December 1953, Hollywood film stars Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy spent a few weeks at the Bull Inn, Bottesford, Leicestershire, while they performed a show at the nearby Nottingham Empire.Stan’s si...
18 Dec 202510min
When Norway introduced salmon sushi to Japan
In the late 1980s, Norway needed a new market for its growing farmed salmon production. Fish-loving Japan and its lucrative sushi market seemed to fit the bill. But salmon was one fish the Japanese d...
17 Dec 202510min
India's disability law
In December 1995, India's parliament passed the country's first disability rights legislation.The landmark law aimed to give full participation and equality rights to an estimated 60 million people - ...
16 Dec 202510min
How NFL tickets caught fugitives
Operation Flagship was a U.S Marshals sting operation, where some of Washington DC’s most wanted fugitives, were lured to a convention centre under the pretence of having won coveted NFL tickets in De...
15 Dec 202510min
The Paris climate agreement
On 12 December 2015, nearly 200 countries adopted the Paris climate agreement. It legally committed countries to climate action plans, designed to stop global temperatures rising 2C above pre-industri...
12 Dec 202510min
