Reaching out After World War Two
German children from Dusseldorf were invited to stay in the English town of Reading shortly after WW2 had ended. Hear how two girls became lifelong friends as a result. Chris Browning has been hearing from June Whitcombe and Gretel Rieber about their memories of that time, and about the local mayor, Phoebe Cusden, who single-handedly organised the exchange.(Photo: June (L) and Gretel (R) in the 1940s. Courtesy of June Whitcombe)
12 Jan 20188min
When France said 'Non' to Britain joining the EEC
In 1963, France stopped Britain from joining the European Economic Community, now the EU. The news shocked Britain, which had been in talks to join the EEC for more than a year. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Juliet Campbell, a diplomat who was at the talks in Brussels, about the moment when Britain was shut out of the club which was making Europe prosperous.Photo: 14th January 1963 Charles de Gaulle, President of France, at a press conference during which he stated that Britain was not ready to join the Common Market except on special terms. (Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
11 Jan 20189min
The Algerian Massacres
In the 1990s, the Algerian military was locked in a brutal struggle with radical Islamists. It's estimated that more than 150,000 people were killed. The conflict was marked by massacres of entire villages. In 2013, Alex Last spoke to Marc Marginedas, a Spanish journalist who reported on the infamous massacre of Sidi Hamed in January 1998. (Photo: Women mourn victims in Sidi Hamed. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
10 Jan 20189min
The First iPhone
The touchscreen smartphone changed mobile technology for ever. It was unveiled on January 9th 2007 by the Apple boss Steve Jobs. Within a few years smartphones had changed the way billions of people lived their lives. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Andy Grignon a senior developer on the project.Photo: Steve Jobs at the iPhone launch in San Francisco in 2007. Credit: David Paul Morris/Getty Images
9 Jan 20189min
The Boy Who Stayed Awake For Eleven Days
California high school student Randy Gardner set the world record for staying awake in 1964, going without sleep for over 264 hours. He was monitored by his school friend Bruce McAllister and Stanford University sleep scientist William Dement - they speak to Lucy Burns about their memories of the experiment.Photo: Randy Gardner (in blindfold) describes scents offered to him by Bruce McAllister, while Joe Marciano Jr. takes notes, San Diego, California, 1964 (Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
8 Jan 20189min
Iran Student Protests 1999
In July 1999, students in Iran took to the streets demanding reform. At the time it was the largest anti government protest since the Islamic revolution. Alex Last spoke to Ahmad Batebi in 2013, about how he became an unwitting symbol of the protest movement and suffered years of mistreatment in prison. (Photo: Ahmad Batebi holds up a T-shirt belonging to an injured friend, Tehran, July 12, 1999. Credit: Reuters)
5 Jan 20189min
I Hijacked A Plane To Save My Children
On 4 January 1970 a hijacked plane touched down in Cuba after a dramatic four day journey. The plane, its crew and passengers had been seized on New Year’s Eve by a small group of left-wing guerrillas fighting military rule in Brazil. Mike Lanchin has spoken to one of the hijackers, Marilia Gimaraes, who took her two young children with her.Photo: Marilia Gimaraes, 2017 (courtesy of the family)
4 Jan 20189min
Spelling Bee - The Children's Competition that Grips America
In 1985 one of the most famous children’s competitions in the world was won by an Indian-American for the first time. Balu Natarajan was 13 years old when he won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which has been running in the USA since 1925. Balu tells Farhana Haider how he first got interested in competitive spelling and why he thinks people of South Asian background have excelled in the Bee.Photo: Balu Natarajan poses with his National Spelling Bee championship trophy 1985. Credit: Balu Natarajan.
2 Jan 20189min
