Asama Sanso: Japanese hostage crisis
Armed left-wing extremists held off Japanese police for 10 days during a hostage crisis in the mountains in February 1972. Young members of the so-called United Red Army had hoped to bring about a co...
28 Feb 20198min
Sucked out of a plane
Nine passengers were sucked out of a plane when a cargo door opened mid-flight over the Pacific.United Airlines Flight 811 was flying from Hawaii to New Zealand in February 1989 when the accident happ...
27 Feb 201910min
Swine flu shuts down Mexico City
Mexico City, the world's third largest metropolis, was effectively shut down when a new and deadly virus, swine flu appeared. Soon the virus started to spread and was seen as a massive threat to globa...
26 Feb 201910min
Venezuela's oil bonanza
Rocketing oil prices in the mid 1970s fuelled massive consumer and government spending in Venezuela, earning the South American country the nickname "Saudi" Venezuela. Buoyed by the extra revenue, the...
25 Feb 201910min
How science ended the search for Josef Mengele
An international panel of experts gathered in Brazil in 1985 to identify the remains of a man thought to have been the infamous doctor from Auschwitz. 'To see that this man was finally in his grave wa...
22 Feb 20199min
The men who tried to warn us about smoking
British doctors produced an alarming report in 1962 warning that 1 in 3 smokers would die before the age of 65. The doctors suggested restrictions on advertising and on smoking in public places but th...
21 Feb 20199min
The curse of Agent Orange
Millions suffered from exposure to toxic chemicals sprayed by US forces during the Vietnam war. The chemicals were defoliants and herbicides designed to destroy jungles and vegetation which provided c...
20 Feb 20199min
The Columbia space shuttle disaster
The US space shuttle Columbia broke up on its way back to Earth on February 1, 2003. It had been in use since 1981. Iain Mackness has spoken to Admiral Hal Gehman who was given the job of finding ou...
19 Feb 20199min
