Chasing the world’s biggest tornado

In May 2013, the widest tornado ever recorded hit the US state of Oklahoma

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Trying to unite Africa

On 25 May 1963, leaders of 32 newly-independent African nations came together

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The deadliest glacial avalanche in the world

On 31 May 1970, the Huascarán avalanche destroyed the town of Yungay, in Peru

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Edmund Hillary conquers Everest

In 1953 Edmund Hillary became the first human to reach the top of Mount Everest

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Tenzing Norgay conquers Everest

In 1953, Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest

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Mallory’s body discovered on Everest

In 1999 the body of the British mountaineer, George Mallory, was found on Mount Everest

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Tragedy on Everest

Michael Groom is one of the survivors of a tragic climbing expedition to Mount Everest

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The first Indian woman to conquer Everest

In May 1984, Bachendri Pal became the first Indian woman to stand on top of the world

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Inuit children taken from families

In 1960s, the Canadian government took academically gifted Inuit children from the homes

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Facial reconstruction: From mummy to murder

In 1975, Richard Neave invented a method to rebuild the face of an Egyptian mummy

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Fighting slavery in Niger

In 2005, Ilguilas Weila organised a ceremony to free 7,000 enslaved people in Niger

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Last communist march before Hitler

On 25 January 1933 the last legal communist march was held in Berlin

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1955 Le Mans disaster

In June 1955, more than 80 people were killed and 100 injured at the Le Mans 24-hour race

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Lee Miller in Hitler's bath

In 1945 the war correspondent Lee Miller was photographed in Adolf Hitler's bath

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A Great Day in Harlem: The story behind the iconic jazz photo

In 1958, aspiring photographer Art Kane captured 57 jazz legends in one immortal image

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Malick Sidibé: Mali’s star photographer

Malick Sidibé photographed life in Mali after its independence from France in 1960.

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Sir Don McCullin’s photo of a US marine

In 1968, British photographer travelled to Vietnam for his second ever war assignment

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Ming Smith makes history at MoMA

MoMA bought photos from an African-American woman for the first time in 1979.

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Uprising in East Germany

On 16 June 1953 East German workers went on strike in protest at Soviet rule

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The Somali pilot ordered to bomb his own country

Somali fighter pilot Ahmed Mohamed Hassan faced a terrible choice in 1988

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Anti-gay police raid at Tasty nightclub

On 7 August 1994, police raided Tasty, a gay nightclub in downtown Melbourne, Australia

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The Empire Windrush arrives

On 22 June 1948, the Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in England

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My dad played golf on the moon

In 1971 Alan Shepard played golf on the moon

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JFK’s Ich Bin Ein Berliner speech

On 26 June 1963, United States President John F Kennedy gave a speech in Berlin

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First reports of Ebola

Ebola's first documented outbreak emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976

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Sampoong department store disaster

On 29 June 1995 the Sampoong Department Store in South Korea collapsed killing 502 people

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The 'graveyard' for communist statues

Communist statues in Hungary's capital Budapest were moved to Memento Park in 1993

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I made Lady Gaga's meat dress

In 2010 Lady Gaga attended the MTV Video Music Awards in a dress made out of beef

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The trial of John Demjanjuk

In 1986, John Demjanjuk was accused of being ‘Ivan the Terrible’

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Longest-serving democratically elected communist government

A democratically elected communist government came to power in eastern India in 1977

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The National Health Service begins

The UK’s National Health Service started on 5 July 1948

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When tourism came to the Maldives

In February 1972 the first group of tourists arrived in the Maldives

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A right royal night out

Princess Diana, Kenny Everett and Freddie Mercury went on a night out in London in 1988

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Invention of the ballpoint pen

In 1938 a Hungarian journalist László Bíró invented the ballpoint pen

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Inventing Rubik’s Cube

In 1974, a Hungarian architect, Ernő Rubik invented his bestselling puzzle

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Aibo: The world’s first robot dog

The world's first robot dog called Aibo, sold out in just 20 minutes in 1999

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When disposable nappies were invented

The story of how disposable nappies were invented.

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Creating the first emoji

In 1999, Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita created a global phenomena - the first emoji

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Tamoxifen: Breast cancer ‘wonder drug’

How the drug tamoxifen became a global success in breast cancer treatment

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The ‘Barricades’ of Latvia

More than 500,000 people barricaded the streets of Riga in January 1991

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Japan surrenders in China

The signing of the Japanese surrender documents at the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1945.

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The birth of Barbie

Ruth Handler created the Barbie doll which was first sold in 1959

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The US singer who became the Soviet Union’s Red Elvis

In 1966, American Dean Reed was the first western rock star to tour the Soviet Union

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Escaping the Nazis in Greece

Yeti Mitrani and her family escaped deportation from Greece by the Nazis in 1943

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Brain: The first personal computer virus

In 1986 a computer virus was developed accidentally by two brothers in Pakistan

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The Pope’s controversial Nicaragua visit

Pope John Paul II angered supporters of the Sandinista government during a 1983 trip

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The 1960 coup against Haile Selassie

There was an attempt to overthrow the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie in December 1960

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Mr Bigg's: The birth of Nigeria's iconic takeaway

It’s been 50 years since Mr Bigg's was first launched in Nigeria

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José Mujica: Prison break to president

Uruguay's former president recounts his revolutionary past as a member of the Tupamaros

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First dinosaur eggs identified in India

In 1982, Ashok Sahni discovered nests of dinosaur eggs for the first time in India

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Birth of a new language

In the early 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a new sign language

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Treehouse on the Berlin Wall

In 1982 a Turkish worker in Germany built a treehouse against the Berlin Wall

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Dinosaur in court

In 2012 a dinosaur skeleton became the subject of a restraining order and a court case

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Brownie Wise: The creator of Tupperware parties

How Brownie Wise inspired an army of US housewives to sell Tupperware at parties

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The Great Train Robbery

In 1963, thieves held up a Royal Mail train on its journey from Glasgow to London

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Sarajevo’s haven of peace

The Jewish charity that helped people in the Bosnian war during the siege of Sarajevo

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Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's diamonds scandal

Journalist Claude Angeli broke the story that helped topple France's President in 1981

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Jean-Michel Basquiat bursts onto the New York art scene

The success of graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

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The boy who discovered a new species of human ancestor

Matt Berger tripped over a hominid fossil whilst exploring with his dad in South Africa

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Iran: How the prime minister was overthrown in 1953

It's 70 years since the US-backed coup which brought the Shah of Iran to power in 1953

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Returning Benin Bronzes

In 2004, a chance encounter in Nigeria led to the return of two looted art treasures

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Judy Garland: The final shows

The last performances of Judy Garland in January 1969

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The Wizard of Oz: The stolen ruby slippers

Ruby slippers used in the film 'The Wizard of Oz' were stolen in 2005.

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Easter Rising in Ireland

In 1916, a group of Irish rebels launched an armed revolt against British rule

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How electricity came to rural Ireland

The Rural Electrification Scheme brought power to 300,000 homes in the Irish countryside

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The first Rose of Tralee

In 1959, the first Rose of Tralee festival was held in Ireland

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Celtic Tiger: Ireland's 'ghost estates'

How the collapse of Ireland's Celtic Tiger led to thousands of abandoned housing estates

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Women invade Dublin's male-only swimming spot

In 1974, women campaigned to swim at the Forty Foot in Dublin, Ireland

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The Bristol bus boycott

How a protest by black activists in 1963 led to the UK's first anti-racism laws

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North and South Korean leaders meet for the first time in decades

In June 2000, the first inter-Korean summit since the Korean War took place

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Egypt's Rabaa massacre

In August 2013, the army killed hundreds of protestors in Cairo

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Saving Guadalupe from goats

An island expedition helped save Guadalupe's wildlife from extinction...and goats

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Leaving China to study after the Cultural Revolution

We hear from one of the first students to study overseas after the Cultural Revolution

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Arctic 30: Russian arrest of Greenpeace campaigners

In 2013, campaigners were arrested for protesting against oil drilling in the Arctic

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Bi Kidude: Zanzibar's 'golden grandmother of music'

Bi Kidude was one of the first women from Zanzibar to sing in public without the veil

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Murder of Swedish politician Anna Lindh

In 2003, Swedish politician Anna Lindh was attacked and killed in Stockholm

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Organising Chile's 1973 military coup

On 11 September, General Augusto Pinochet deposed President Salvador Allende

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Victor Jara: killed in Chile's coup

The musician's widow recounts his murder at the hands of Chile's army in 1973

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Oslo Peace Accords: The secret talks behind Middle East deal

How a couple in Oslo brokered peace in the Middle East

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Camp David Summit: How Middle East peace talks failed

President Bill Clinton’s failed attempt to end the conflict in the Middle East.

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Ariel Sharon visits al-Aqsa

In 2000, the Israeli opposition leader visited the al-Aqsa Mosque compound

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The siege at the Church of the Nativity

The final days of one of the most dramatic sieges of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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The Ramallah concert

In 2005, an orchestra made up of young Arab and Israeli musicians performed in Ramallah

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Nazi eugenics

In 1933, Adolf Hitler ordered the sterilisation of people with disabilities

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Fighting for legal abortion in Italy

In 1978, campaigners won their fight to legalise abortion in Italy despite the opposition

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The first person inside the 'Gates of Hell'

In November 2013, George Kourounis descended into the 'Gates of Hell'

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Kenya: Nairobi shopping mall attack

In 2013, a Somali militant group attacked the Westgate Mall in Nairobi

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The year of the vuvuzela

Freddie 'Saddam' Maake tells the story of how he became known as 'Mr Vuvuzela'

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Vietnam War: Stopping nuclear disaster

In 1975, physicist Wally Hendrickson prevented nuclear disaster in Vietnam

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Concorde's first flight

On 2 March 1969 Concorde took to the skies for the first time

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Kassandra: The peacekeeping telenovela in Bosnia

The Latin American soap opera Kassandra helped keep peace in Bosnia

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The Lampedusa shipwreck tragedy

In 2013, a ship carrying more than 500 migrants sank off the coast of Lampedusa.

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The first cat cafe

In 1998, the world’s first cat cafe opened in Taiwan

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The oil crisis of 1973

In October 1973, Arab nations slashed oil production causing prices to sky rocket

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The oilfield that changed Kazakhstan

In 1993 Kazakhstan partnered with Chevron and started drilling for oil

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Nigeria strikes oil

In 1956 commercial quantities of oil were discovered in Nigeria

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The Amoco Cadiz oil spill

In 1978, a crude oil tanker was shipwrecked off the coast of France

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Protectors of the Amazon

In 2003, the Sarayaku community began a legal battle against an oil company

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Yinka Shonibare: Nelson's Ship in a Bottle

On 24 May 2010, artist Yinka Shonibare unveiled his sculpture, Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle

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