Mishima Suicide

Japanese writer, Yukio Mishima's dramatic decision to end his life.

• 10 mins

Freddie Mercury

The last days of Freddie Mercury battle with Aids

• 10 mins

Inca defeat

How the great Inca empire was brought to its knees - almost 500 years ago.

• 10 mins

Tomb of Tutankhamun

In late November 1922 the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh, Tutankhamun, was uncovered

• 10 mins

Channel Tunnel

The moment of breakthrough for the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France

• 10 mins

El Salvador killings

On December 2nd 1980 the military in El Salvador killed 3 US nuns, and a layworker.

• 10 mins

Kindertransports

In December 1938 the Kindertransports began, carrying Jewish children to safety in Britain

• 10 mins

Somalia Marines

In December 1992 US Marines stormed the beaches of Somalia.

• 10 mins

Pearl Harbour

The Japanese attack on American ships in Pearl Harbour forced the US into World War II.

• 10 mins

John Lennon

It is exactly 30 years since the former Beatle, John Lennon, was shot dead in New York.

• 10 mins

Smallpox Eradication

It was once one of the most feared diseases in the world - disfiguring and often deadly

• 10 mins

Albert Luthuli Receives the Nobel Peace Prize

Chief Albert Luthuli was the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Peace - in 1960

• 9 mins

Argentina's disappeared

On 13 December 1983, the government of Argentina promised to investigate military crimes

• 10 mins

Capture of Saddam Hussein

It was on this day in 2003 that Saddam Hussein was finally captured by US forces

• 10 mins

Siege of Grozny

In December 1994 Russian forces invaded Chechnya and laid siege to the capital Grozny.

• 10 mins

Operation Desert Fox

On 16 December 1998 the US and Britain began a four day bombardment of Iraq.

• 10 mins

Washington Snipers

It is 7 years since one of the Washington snipers, Lee Boyd Malvo, was convicted of murder

• 10 mins

US invasion of Panama

It is 21 years since the US invaded the tiny Central American state of Panama.

• 10 mins

Lockerbie

On December 21 1988 a US passenger plane blew up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

• 10 mins

Georgia in crisis

Christmas 1991 was a very difficult time for the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

• 10 mins

Andrei Sakharov

On 23 December, 1986 the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov was allowed to return to Moscow

• 10 mins

Christmas Truce

When British and German troops sang carols, exchanged gifts and played football together

• 9 mins

Jamaica Slave Rebellion

The rebellion was brutally crushed, but it had a significant impact

• 9 mins

The Great Escape

One of the Great Escapees from a German prisoner of war camp speaks out

• 10 mins

Assad and Syria

It is 40 years since Hafez al Assad seized power in Syria.

• 10 mins

Hamlet

Hamlet - by William Shakespeare - is still popular four centuries after it was written.

• 10 mins

Chiapas Uprising

On January 1 1994 indigenous people in southern Mexico began their rebellion.

• 10 mins

Alaska statehood

On January 3 1959 Alaska finally became a fully fledged member state of the USA.

• 10 mins

LBJ State of Nation

US President Lyndon B Johnson makes his first State of the Nation address.

• 10 mins

Afghanistan's Secret Schools for Girls

How Afghan women resisted the Taliban's efforts to prohibit education for girls

• 10 mins