The world’s first lesbian couple to get married
On 1 April 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise gay marriage.Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at midnight which was broadcast on TV.Hélène Faasen and Anne-Marie Thus tell Dan Hardoon about the wedding they thought they'd never have. (Photo: The four happy couples cut the cake. Credit: Marcel Antonisse/ANP/AFP/Getty Images)
8 Jan 20249min
What the 1989 solar storm did to Quebec
On 13 March 1989, the Canadian province of Quebec suffered a nine-hour electricity blackout. Much of the state's infrastructure was damaged, but the power companies couldn't find any obvious cause. Physicist Aja Hruska was one of the only people in the country that knew the answer to Quebec's problem. A solar flare ejected by the sun had hit the earth's magnetic field, creating electrical havoc.And the damage could have been avoided if her warnings had been properly acknowledged. Aja shares her memories of that day with Eva Runciman.(Photo: A solar flare erupts from the sun. Credit: Photo 12/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
5 Jan 202410min
The Hindenburg airship disaster
In 1937, the Hindenburg airship burst into flames during its mooring in New Jersey, in the US, killing 35 of the 97 passengers and crew.
4 Jan 20249min
The invention of the wingsuit
The wingsuit is the ultimate in extreme sports clothing. The aerodynamic outfit allows base jumpers and skydivers to free-fall for longer before opening a parachute.The road to creating it was littered with casualties, but in 1999 skydivers Jari Kuosma and Robert Pecnik developed the first commercial wingsuits.In 2019, Jari told Jonathan Coates how exciting, but also how dangerous they can be.(Photo: Jari in his wingsuit. Credit: BBC)
3 Jan 20249min
Discovery of the hole in the earth’s ozone
In 1985, British scientists made what would turn out to be one of the most important environmental discoveries of the 20th century - finding a hole in the earth’s ozone layer.The British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge, had been monitoring ozone levels for more than 30 years using the Dobson Ozone Spectrophotometer.But it was only when they compared previously uncharted figures from the 1980s with the previous decade that they made the shocking finding, as Jonathan Shanklin, the man who compiled the data, told Jane Wilkinson.(Photo: Ozone hole in September 2006. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
2 Jan 20249min
Earth: A pale blue dot in the universe
In February 1990, Nasa space probe Voyager took a famous photo of Earth as it left the Solar System.Seen from six billion kilometres away, our planet appears as a mere dot lit up by the sun, giving a sense of humanity's small place in the universe.In 2020, Darryl Morris spoke to Nasa planetary scientist Candice Hansen, who worked on the Voyager programme. A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.(Photo: Earth - a pale blue dot. Credit: Nasa/JPL-Caltech)
1 Jan 20249min
Ken Hom's 'Chinese Cookery'
In 1982, after a two-year global search, the BBC auditioned Ken Hom to be the star of a new Chinese cookery TV series.In the show, called Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery, he introduced viewers to dishes like dim sum and spicy braised aubergine. He also gave advice on choosing and using a wok.He tells Josephine McDermott about his sudden rise to celebrity and how he brought Chinese dishes to new audiences. (Photo: Ken Hom. Credit: Chris Ridley/Radio Times/Getty Images)
29 Dec 202311min
The disputed history of pad Thai
It’s one of the most popular dishes in South East Asian cooking and for many it’s seen as Thailand’s national dish. However, the origins of pad Thai are disputed. Some believe it was created and taken to the country centuries ago by Chinese immigrants. Others believe it was invented during the rule of military dictator, Plaek Phibunsongkhram, as a way of cementing Thai nationalism in the 1940s. Thai food writer Chawadee Nualkhair dissects all the theories with Matt Pintus.(Photo: Pad Thai. Credit: Getty Images)
28 Dec 20239min
