The invention of the automatic electric rice cooker

In 1955, entrepreneur and engineer Yoshitada Minami, revolutionised rice cooking

• 9 mins

Sinking of the Lusitania

During World War One, the British ocean liner was sunk by a German submarine

• 9 mins

VE Day celebrations

The scenes of celebration in London on VE Day 1945

• 9 mins

Rescuing Palmyra’s treasures from the Islamic State group

In 2015, Khalil Hariri risked his life to save centuries-old archaeology in Syria.

• 10 mins

Intervision Song Contest

In 1980, Finnish singer Marion Rung won Intervision, the USSR's answer to Eurovision

• 10 mins

Tesla and Edison: Electricity rivals

In 1915, two rival electricity pioneers were told they would share a Nobel Prize

• 10 mins

The founding of the Warsaw Pact

On 14 May 1955, eight Soviet countries met to sign the Warsaw Pact.

• 10 mins

Mexico’s soda tax: Confronting soft drink giants

In 2013 a new tax was approved in one of the world’s biggest consumers of fizzy drinks

• 10 mins

Sweden’s shocking sugar experiment

In the 1940s vulnerable hospital patients were fed sugar to see if their teeth decayed

• 9 mins

Lunch atop a Skyscraper

In 1932, a photo was taken showing 11 ironworkers eating lunch at the top of a skyscraper

• 10 mins

Nigerian photographer’s iconic 'Hairstyles' series

J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, known as Nigeria’s top photographer gained international acclaim

• 10 mins

Martín Chambi: Peru's pioneering documentary photographer

Chambi's dramatic black and white photographs showed indigenous people in a new light.

• 10 mins

The founding of Magnum Photos

On 22 April 1947, a group of famous war photographers founded the agency.

• 10 mins

Vivian Maier: Secret street photographer

The secret street photography of a US nanny in the 1950s and 1960s

• 10 mins

'I wrote the Champions League anthem'

The story of how one of the most iconic tunes in sport was created in 1992

• 10 mins

The Tragically Hip's final gig

In 2015 Canadian rockstar Gord Downie was given months to live, he went on one last tour

• 9 mins

Chinua Achebe’s revolutionary book Things Fall Apart

Achebe's English language novel from 1958 about life in Nigeria before colonialism

• 9 mins

The legacy of The Pirate Bay

In 2006 police raided the popular but controversial file-sharing website The Pirate Bay

• 10 mins

The Battle of the Beanfield

In 1985, police and hippies clashed at the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge, in England

• 10 mins

Dolly Rathebe: South Africa’s first international film star

Jim Comes to Jo’burg, also known as African Jim, launched Dolly Rathebe’s career in 1949

• 10 mins

The world’s largest model train set

In 2000, twins Frederik and Gerrit started building Miniatur Wunderland

• 10 mins

Favela life: The diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus

In 1960, the diary of a poor Brazilian mum became an international bestseller.

• 9 mins

The discovery of the first exoplanets

In 1992, astronomer Alex Wolszczan discovered the first planets outside our solar system

• 10 mins

Usonia: Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘utopian’ town

1948 saw the start of a “utopian” town of houses designed by America’s greatest architect

• 10 mins

World War Two’s Rome escape line

How an Irish priest saved thousands of allied prisoners of war and Jews in Rome in WW2

• 10 mins

The woman born in a prisoner of war camp

The Sino-Indian war in 1962, left a lasting legacy on Indian families of Chinese descent

• 10 mins

Lonesome George: The celebrity tortoise

In 2012, Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his species died

• 10 mins

Ronald Reagan’s ‘Tear down this wall’ speech

In 1987 the US President called on the Soviet Union leader to take down the Berlin Wall

• 10 mins

The Schengen Agreement

In 1985, five European politicians agreed to scrap border checks between their countries

• 10 mins