Japanese embassy hostage crisis

In 1997, left-wing rebels held 71 people hostage for over four months in Peru.

• 10 mins

Auschwitz Convoy Escape

How a group of Jews escaped from a train bound for the Auschwitz death camp in 1943.

• 10 mins

Twenty-five years of the Simpsons

One of the most successful TV series ever was created by cartoonist Matt Groening.

• 10 mins

Rivers of Blood speech

In April 1968 a politician put race and immigration at the centre of British politics.

• 10 mins

The trial of Oscar Wilde

How a court case ruined the 19th century playwright and wit.

• 10 mins

75 years since Guernica

In April 1937 the Basque town of Guernica was firebombed during the Spanish Civil War.

• 10 mins

Gallipoli

One New Zealand soldier's account of surviving the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915

• 9 mins

Studio 54

It is 35 years since the legendary New York night club opened its doors to cool people.

• 10 mins

Mass Trespass

How walkers stormed an English peak in 1932 and started a fight for countryside access.

• 10 mins

The right to die

In 2002 a paralysed woman, known as Miss B, was allowed to die in a London hospital.

• 10 mins

The capture of President Izetbegovic

In May 1992 the Bosnian president was taken captive by Serb soldiers.

• 10 mins

The Los Angeles Riots

The people of South Central Los Angeles took to the streets in fury at police brutality

• 9 mins

Suicide of gay footballer

Justin Fashanu, Britain's first openly gay footballer, killed himself in May 1998.

• 10 mins

The General Strike

In May 1926 workers across Britain went on strike in support of coal miners.

• 10 mins

The trial of Charles Manson

He was responsible for a series of gruesome murders in the Hollywood hills.

• 10 mins

Attack on Fela Kuti

The Nigerian military stormed the musician's compound in Lagos, Kalakuta Republic

• 10 mins

The Psychiatrist and Rudolf Hess

How a British psychiatrist examined the deputy Nazi leader after his flight to Scotland.

• 10 mins

Paris 1968

How student protests and workers' strikes threatened to bring down France's government.

• 10 mins

The assassination of a Prime Minister

On May 11th 1812, the British Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, was killed.

• 10 mins

Michael Apted and the 7 Up TV series

In 1964, a TV documentary series introduced a group of seven-year-olds to British viewers

• 10 mins

The Anschluss

In March 1938 Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany - one Vienna resident remembers.

• 10 mins

The execution of Anne Boleyn

In May 1536 the Queen of England was executed on the orders of her husband Henry VIII.

• 10 mins

The South Asia nuclear standoff

In May 1998 a nuclear arms race began in South Asia.

• 10 mins

Mount St Helens

On May 18th 1980 there was a huge volcanic eruption in Washington state in the USA.

• 10 mins

Star Wars - the film

It is 35 years since one of the biggest movie franchises of all time hit cinema screens.

• 10 mins

Monkeys in Space

The USA sent two monkeys into space and brought them back alive for the first time

• 10 mins

The murder of Giovanni Falcone

Twenty years ago the anti-mafia judge was assassinated by a bomb under his car.

• 10 mins

The Hacienda nightclub

How the legendary Manchester venue launched a dance music revolution.

• 10 mins

Dutch School Siege

Thirty-five years ago, gunmen took 105 young children hostage in a school in Holland.

• 10 mins

The Dionne Quintuplets

The story of the "miracle babies" who became global superstars in the 1930s.

• 10 mins