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
Defeating the screwworm
In the 1950s, scientist Edward Knipling began what would become one of the most successful eradication campaigns in history: the fight against the New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite that cau...
21 Aug 10min
'I created the duck cake from Bluey'
First published in 1980, the Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book brought novelty cakes to the masses. From the swimming pool filled with jelly, to the ghost and the 'choo choo trai...
20 Aug 10min
Canada's controversial resettlement programme
In 1954, a massive government-run resettlement programme began in Canada.This saw the relocation of nearly 30,000 people from isolated ‘outport’ fishing communities in Newfoundland and Labrador to des...
19 Aug 9min
The battle of Mandalay in WW2
In March 1945, the British Fourteenth Army were advancing on the city of Mandalay in central Burma, now known as Myanmar, which was held by the Japanese Army. The army was made up of soldiers from acr...
18 Aug 10min
Asha Bhosle: The world's most recorded artist
In 2011 Asha Bhosle, India’s queen of melody, was officially named the most recorded artist in music history. The Guinness World Record recognised the astonishing scale of her career, having performed...
17 Aug 10min
The tortoise and the hippo
When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami struck the coast of Kenya, a baby hippo named Owen was swept out to sea and separated from his family.After being rescued, he was taken to Haller Park in Mombasa, wh...
14 Aug 10min
Kenya's power-sharing deal
In 2008, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga signed an unprecedented power-sharing deal to end a wave of violence that had left more than 1,200 people dead.Kibaki would remain pres...
13 Aug 10min
