Blasphemy in Pakistan

In 1998 a Roman Catholic Bishop killed himself in protest at Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

• 9 mins

The Hobbit

How an Oxford academic came up with a story that charmed children for generations.

• 9 mins

The Invasion of Iraq

An Iraqi woman remembers living through the US-led invasion of 2003 with Robin Lustig.

• 15 mins

Silent Spring

A book that helped launch the green movement highlighted the damage caused by pesticides

• 9 mins

West Side Story

It is 55 years since a groundbreaking musical, West Side Story, opened on Broadway.

• 9 mins

Ireland's Magdalene Laundries

The story of a young girl who survived Ireland's notorious Catholic workhouses for women.

• 9 mins

IRA jail break

In September 1983 a group of IRA prisoners escaped from jail in Northern Ireland.

• 9 mins

Sharon at the al-Aqsa compound

In September 2000 the Israeli opposition leader visited the Al-Aqsa compound.

• 9 mins

Arafat goes to the United Nations

In the autumn of 1974 a young Palestinian was sent to NY to pave the way for Yasser Arafat

• 15 mins

German refugees in post-war Europe

At the end of WW2, many ethnic Germans in Central Europe were forced to leave their homes.

• 9 mins

The Taliban take Kabul

It is 16 years since the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital.

• 9 mins

Black Hawk Down

The battle in Mogadishu in 1993 which had a dramatic impact on US foreign policy.

• 9 mins

US Support for Nicaraguan Contras

In October 1986 a CIA plane carrying arms to "contra" rebels was shot down in Nicaragua

• 9 mins

Fifty years of the Beatles

It is half a century since the Beatles released their first single.

• 9 mins

The Achille Lauro Hijacking

In 1985 a luxury cruise liner was held by Palestinian gunmen in the Red Sea.

• 9 mins

Che in Congo

In 1965 the Latin-American revolutionary went to fight with rebels in the Congo.

• 9 mins

Solzhenitsyn and the Nobel Prize

How the Soviet dissident smuggled his writing to the outside world.

• 9 mins

Search for the Loch Ness Monster

It is 25 years since the most in-depth and expensive survey of Loch Ness.

• 9 mins

Modern art in Tehran

It is 35 years since the opening of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

• 9 mins

Cuban Missile Crisis: The Photos

CIA expert Dino Brugioni interpreted the ariel photographs of missiles in Cuba

• 9 mins

The Greek Civil War

British troops liberated Greece from the Nazis in October 1944.

• 9 mins

Colombia Peace Talks

The last serious attempt to end Colombia's long civil war was more than a decade ago.

• 9 mins

The death of Hanns Martin Schleyer

35 years ago a German industrialist was kidnapped and killed by the Baader Meinhof Gang.

• 9 mins

The Guggenheim Bilbao

It's 15 years since an extraordinary building was opened in a Spanish industrial city.

• 9 mins

Cuban Missile Crisis: The Missiles

The gradual build up of weaponry - Soviet built ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads

• 9 mins

The Moscow Theatre Siege

It is 10 years since Chechen rebels took an entire theatre full of people hostage.

• 9 mins

The Wall Street Crash

On 24 October 1929, the New York Stock Exchange began to plummet.

• 9 mins

The Iran-Iraq War

In the autumn of 1980 one of the longest wars of the 20th Century began.

• 9 mins

Cuban Missile Crisis: The Showdown

Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev finally offered to withdraw nuclear missiles from Cuba

• 9 mins

Howl

Allen Ginsberg first read his poem Howl, in San Francisco in October 1955.

• 9 mins