The Paris heatwave
In August 2003 Europe was hit by the hottest heatwave for hundreds of years. Tens of thousands of people died. Not built to withstand two weeks of extreme heat, Paris turned into a death trap for it...
23 Nov 20239min
Kennedy’s nail-biter election victory
On 22 November 1963, United States President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.Lucy Williamson looks back to 8 November 1960, when Richard Nixon and JFK went toe to toe at the polls in ...
22 Nov 20239min
The invention of bubble tea
In 1987, a tea shop in Taiwan named Chun Shui Tang began selling pearl milk tea, or bubble tea, as it’s often called. It would revolutionise the tea-drinking world. Ben Henderson speaks to Liu Han-Chi...
21 Nov 202310min
The independence of Zambia
In 1964, Zambia became a republic. It was the ninth African state to leave British colonial rule.Simon Kapwepwe was one of the leaders in the fight for independence, along with his childhood friend Ke...
20 Nov 202310min
Discovering the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion
In 2000, the pioneering underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio made one of the greatest ever submerged discoveries.He found evidence that the remains he had found off the coast of Egypt were from Thon...
17 Nov 202310min
The Bolivian Water War
The Bolivian Water War was a series of protests that took place in the city of Cochabamba in 2000 against the privatisation of water. People objected to the increase in water rates and idea that the g...
16 Nov 20239min
Rosalind Franklin: DNA pioneer
In 1951, Rosalind Franklin began one of the key scientific investigations of the century. The young British scientist produced an X-ray photograph that helped show the structure of DNA, the molecule t...
15 Nov 20239min
Eyjafjallajökull: The volcano that stopped a continent
In 2010, a previously little-known Icelandic volcano erupted twice, sending a huge plume of volcanic ash all over Europe. The ash cloud grounded flights for days, causing disruption for millions of pa...
14 Nov 20239min
