Events from the past that changed our world today
World Service,·12 episodes
The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand plunged the world into four years of bloody war
The capture of the Winter Palace signalled the start of the October Revolution
Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming changed the medical landscape of the 20th Century
The death of John F Kennedy at 46 presaged a turbulent 60s and loss of idealism in the US
Independence of Ghana in 1957 marked the beginning of the end of Britain's African empire
The fall of Saigon was a humiliation for the US. But who won the peace?
The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the Cold War. Why was it put up? And what brought it down?
Nelson Mandela's release from prison after 27 years years signalled the end of apartheid
Neil Armstrong's moon landing. A triumph for mankind, science and America in the Cold War
Ghandi's defiance of the British salt tax marked the beginning of the end of colonial rule
How the crash led to a world-wide depression and a new era of government intervention
In August 1945 the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The nuclear age had begun
