Inventing Chicken Manchurian

Chef Nelson Wang created Chicken Manchurian in 1975

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Malta's bread strike

In February 1977 the bakers of Malta went on an unprecedented strike

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Inventing instant noodles

In 1958 Japanese entrepreneur, Momofuku Ando, invented instant noodles

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The birth of the Slow Food Movement

In 1986, protests against McDonalds in Rome led to an anti-fast food revolution.

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One team in Tallinn

In 1996, Scotland played in a football match where the opposition hadn't turned up

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Arctic African

Tété-Michel Kpomassie, ran away from his village in Togo and went to live in Greenland.

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When America banned silicone breast implants

In 1992, the US Government suspended all procedures involving silicone breast implants

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The man Pinochet wanted dead

In 1973, Miguel Enriquez led resistance against the dictatorship in Chile

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Pussy Riot’s cathedral protest

In 2012, a punk protest took place in one of Moscow's main cathedrals

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Plastics in oceans

In 1971 Edward Carpenter discovered plastic floating about in the Atlantic Ocean

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Dutch North Sea flood

In 1953, a storm combined with high tides breached sea defences in the Netherlands

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Paul Robeson and the transatlantic phone line

In 1957, Paul Robeson used a new phone line to perform the first transatlantic concert

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Galápagos Islands’ sea cucumber dispute

A demand for sea cucumbers set off a confrontation between fishermen and conservationists

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World’s first tidal power station

French President Charles De Gaulle opened the power station in 1966.

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Miracle on the Hudson

On 15 January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River in New York

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Europe's horse meat scandal

In 2013, horse meat was discovered in beef products across Europe

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Kosovo’s house schools

In the 1990s a generation of Albanians got their education crammed into private homes

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France's nuclear tests in Algeria

Between 1960 and 1966, France carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara

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Swine flu vaccine and narcolepsy

In 2009 a vaccine designed to stop swine flu appeared to trigger a sleep disorder

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When Britain tried to censor the Troubles in Northern Ireland

Paul McLoone recalls the time he was the voice of Martin McGuinness

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Japanese death row guard

Yoshikuni Noguchi was a prison guard in Japan and witnessed the hanging of a prisoner

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Smolensk air disaster

In 2010, a plane carrying the Polish president, crashed and killed everyone on board

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Albert Pierrepoint: Britain's executioner

Using archive recordings, Alex Last tells the story of Britain's most famous hangman

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Invention of the MP3

It took Karlheinz Brandenburg and his team more than a decade to perfect MP3 technology

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Palestine Post bombing

Mordechai Chertoff was the editor on the Palestine Post when it was bombed in 1948

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Czechoslovakia's 'Velvet Divorce'

Two former Prime Ministers describe how they split Czechoslovakia in two in 1993

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Columbia space shuttle disaster

The US space shuttle Columbia broke up on its way back to Earth on 1 February 2003

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The assassination of Burundian President Melchior Ndadaye

In 1993, Burundi’s first democratically elected President was murdered

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The first black music station in Europe

In 1981, Leroy Anderson launched Europe’s first dedicated black music station

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How a Pope is chosen

After the death of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI

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Reforming the Catholic Church with Vatican II

In 1959, Pope John XXIII announced a council of all the world's bishops and cardinals

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Pope John Paul I’s sudden death

Cardinal Albino Luciani became Pope John Paul I in 1978. He died 33 days later

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The Pope and Jews

In April 1986, Pope John Paul II made a historic visit to a Rome synagogue

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'I told the world Pope Benedict XVI was resigning'

The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

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'Hot Autumn': When Italy’s workers revolted

In 1969, Italy erupted as thousands of workers went on strike

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First Danish queen for 600 years

In 1972, Denmark crowned its first queen in 600 years

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'I developed Pokémon'

In February 1996, gamers in Japan were first introduced to Pokémon

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Discovering Tutankhamun’s tomb

In 1923 the sealed burial chamber of Tutankhamun was opened for the first time

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First winter ascent of Everest

On 17 February 1980, the first people climbed Everest in winter

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Battle for the capital: Bonn v Berlin

In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and Germany decided which city would be the new capital

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Seggae riots in Mauritius

Mauritian musician Kaya, died in police custody on 21 February 1999, sparking rioting

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The invention of Semtex

In 1958, Stanislav Brebera invented Semtex, a malleable and odourless plastic explosive

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Families interned in WW2 China

A first-hand account of being sent to a Japanese internment camp in Shanghai as a child

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When the Queen 'jumped out of a helicopter'

For the 2012 London Olympic Games the Queen appeared to jump out of a helicopter

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Wounded Knee siege

Fifty years ago, indigenous American activists staged a protest against the US authorities

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Pink Triangles: Gay men in Nazi concentration camps

In 2009, Rudolf Brazda returned to the former concentration camp he was in for being gay

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Grenada's underwater sculpture park

In 2004, Jason deCaires Taylor built the worlds first underwater gallery in Grenada

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The museum at the end of the world

In 1992, a zoologist opened one of the world's most remote museums, on an Atlantic island

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Zoran Djindjic: The murder of Serbia's prime minister

In 2003, Serbia's prime minister was assassinated in Belgrade

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Octavia E. Butler: Visionary black sci-fi writer

She received numerous Hugos and Nebulas - top writing prizes for sci-fi writing

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Mexico's first female presidential hopeful

In 1982, Rosario Ibarra became the first woman to stand for president in Mexico

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From a goddess to a graduate

The journey from goddess to graduate in Nepal.

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First all-women peacekeeping unit

In 2007, the UN deployed its first all-female contingent of peacekeepers in Liberia

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Monica McWilliams’ role in the Northern Ireland peace process

Monica McWilliams played a pivotal role in the Northern Ireland peace process

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Iraq War: The beginning

In March 2003, the Iraq War began as the United States bombed the capital, Baghdad

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Iraq War: Refugees escaping

In March 2003, millions of citizens tried to flee Iraq after the US invasion began

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Iraq War: 'Most wanted' playing cards

In April 2003, playing cards were given to US troops to help them identify Iraqi targets

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Iraq War: The capture of Saddam Hussein

On 13 December 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured by United States forces

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Iraq War: US security guards killed my son

In 2007, private US Blackwater security guards opened fire on Iraqi civilians

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Kieu Chinh: A real Hollywood story

In 1974, actress Kieu Chinh found herself on a farm cleaning up after chicken

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Alcatraz: The strangest escape

Three prisoners escaped from the maximum security US jail, Alcatraz in June 1962

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DDLJ: India’s longest running movie

The longest running film in India was released in 1995

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The man who lived in an airport

From 1988, Mehran Karimi Nasseri, from Iran, spent 18 years living in a Paris airport

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Keiko: Freeing 'Free Willy'

In 1998, Keiko the Hollywood killer whale was released back into the wild

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The windmill that revolutionised wind power

In 1978, a group of volunteers in Denmark built their own wind turbine to power a school

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How Bengaluru became India’s Silicon Valley

Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, describes the city's technology revolution

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Godfather of manicures

In 1975, Minh Nguyen left behind his macho military life and re-trained as a manicurist

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The first photo sent from a phone

In 1997, French engineer Philippe Kahn shared the first ever photo from a mobile phone

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A Brief History of Time

A Brief History of Time, written by Prof Stephen Hawking, was published in March 1988

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Escaping national service in Eritrea

The story of one young Eritrean woman’s attempt to escape compulsory national service

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Pan-European picnic

In 1989, a picnic was held as demonstration for European integration

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Awaji Kannon: One of the world's tallest statues

In 1982, a Japanese businessman unveiled the World Peace Giant Kannon in Japan

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Beto Perez: 'I created Zumba by accident'

In 2001, Colombian born choreographer Beto Perez created Zumba and it was all by accident

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The Good Friday Agreement referendum

In 1998, a referendum was held in Northern Ireland and Ireland on the Belfast Agreement

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Emperor Tewodros II

In 1868, Tewodros II of Ethiopia prepared to make a last stand against the British army

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The universal recycling symbol

In 1970, American student Gary Anderson designed a logo for recycled paper products

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Mass grave at Sernyky

An archaeologist travels to Ukraine to excavate a mass grave from World War Two

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I led the hunt for the Boston Marathon bombers

On 15 April 2013, two brothers set off bombs at the Boston Marathon

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Richard Dimbleby describes Belsen

Richard Dimbleby was the first broadcaster to report from Belsen concentration camp

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The first dog in space

Laika orbited Earth in 1957

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The world's first labradoodle

In 1989, Wally Conron created the world's first labradoodle

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Roselle the 9/11 guide dog

In 2001, Roselle helped his owner escape from the World Trade Center

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Smoky the World War II dog hero

In 1944, Bill Wynne adopted a Yorkie believed to be one of the first therapy dogs

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The Russian man who pretended to be a dog

In 1994, Oleg Kulik posed as a dog to protest conditions in post-Soviet Russia

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Althea McNish: 'I designed fabrics for the Queen'

In 1966, Althea McNish designed fabrics for the Queen's visit to Trinidad

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Discovering the secrets of DNA

James Watson and Francis Crick published their discoveries about DNA on 25 April 1953

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Guatemala's outspoken bishop

Human rights campaigner Bishop Juan Gerardi was bludgeoned to death on 26 April 1998

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The Met Gala goes global

In 1995, Anna Wintour became chair of the Met Gala and changed it forever

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The fight to televise the Queen's Coronation

How BBC bosses battled with the government for the right to film inside Westminster Abbey

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The king under the car park

In 2012, the lost grave of King Richard III was found under a car park in Leicester

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Jean-Bédel Bokassa's coronation

Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Republic in 1977

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The 'execution' of Oliver Cromwell

In 1661 in England, the body of Oliver Cromwell was dug up for ritual execution

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Last King of Bulgaria

In June 2001, Bulgaria’s former King Simeon II won the country’s parliamentary election

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The removal of Scotland's Stone of Destiny

In 1950, four young Scottish students took the 'Stone of Destiny' from Westminster Abbey

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United States bomb the Chinese embassy in Belgrade

On 7 May 1999, US bombs damaged the embassy and relations between China and the West

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The sinking of the SS Tilawa: the ‘Indian Titanic’

Hundreds died when an passenger ship was hit by Japanese torpedoes in 1942

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The last commercial flight out of Kai Tak

In 1998, the last commercial flight left Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport

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Warsaw Ghetto uprising

In May 1943, the uprising in the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw in Poland came to an end

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World War II victory in North Africa

It is 80 years since the Allies in World War II declared victory in North Africa

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