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How an American swimmer crossed the "Ice Curtain" between the USA and the Soviet Union. Read more
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Swimming The Bering Strait
How an American swimmer crossed the "Ice Curtain" between the USA and the Soviet Union.
The Oslo Peace Talks
How secret negotiations in Norway led to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Scottish Prison Experiment
A special unit in a Glasgow jail began offering art therapy to violent prisoners in 1973.
Pablo Picasso
The great Spanish artist Pablo Picasso died in April 1973; hear from someone who knew him
A New Approach to Shakespeare
The Royal Shakespeare Company opened in Britain in 1961 and changed theatre forever.
The Children's Crusade
Thousands of black children protested on the streets of Birmingham Alabama in May 1963.
Takeshi's Castle
A new sort of game show started on Japanese TV in May 1986
WW2: Prisoner on the High Seas
A surprise attack, a ship lost, a crew captured - memories of a merchant navy veteran
When Margaret Thatcher Came to Power
The British politician was the first woman elected to lead a Western European country.
The First Diagnosis of Autism
The condition was first described in 1943 by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner in the USA
Africa United
How 32 newly-independent nations came together to plan the future of their continent.
The Last King of Bulgaria
Bulgaria's former King Simeon II wins the country’s parliamentary election in 2001.
The First Foetal Surgery
On the 10th May 1981 a baby was born after a successful operation while in the womb.
The Walker Spy Ring
In 1985 of the US spy ring were arrested for selling Navy secrets to the USSR.
The Dambusters Raid
The famous British raid on German dams during World War Two.
The First Montessori Nursery
In 1907 Italian doctor, Maria Montessori, radically changed the way young children learn.
May 1968 Paris Riots
A riot policeman's view of the violence which swept through in 1968.
Look Back in Anger
The play Look Back in Anger changed British theatre when it was staged in 1956
Defusing Nuclear Bombs: The Goldsboro 'Broken Arrow'
How Lt. Jack ReVelle disarmed two thermonuclear bombs which crashed in North Carolina.
President Suharto Resigns
On May 21st 1998 the president of Indonesia resigned after 31 years in power.
China's Barefoot Doctors
In 1968 Chairman Mao sent thousands of young people into rural China to work as doctors.
Pakistan's Theatre Revolution
The launch of Ajoka, the group which pioneered theatre for social change in Pakistan.
Deaf University Protest
How deaf students forced their American university to appoint a deaf president.
Lesbian Protest on BBC News
On 23 May 1988 a group of lesbian activists invaded a BBC TV news studio as it was on air
The Rajneesh Poisoning Scandal
How the followers of an Indian guru tried to poison their opponents in Oregon, USA.
Shoah the Film
Shoah, Claude Lanzmann's epic nine-hour film on the Holocaust was released in spring 1985
Wine Shock: The Judgement of Paris
How California stunned the French wine world in the 1970s.
The BBC at Caversham
For 75 years the BBC ran a monitoring service based in an English stately home.
Canadian Indigenous Protest
Plans to expand a golf course led to a stand-off between Mohawks and Canadian police.
The First Bicycle Sharing Scheme
In the mid 1960s a Dutch engineer came up with a scheme to share bikes and cut pollution.
The Thalidomide Trial
Executives of the German company that made the drug Thalidomide went on trial in May 1968
