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The explosion heard by millions

In 2005 people across southern England woke up when a huge fuel depot exploded.

• 9 mins

The Bengali language movement

How a march in defence of Bengali galvanised demands for an independent Bangladesh.

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The birth of Bangladesh

How Pakistan's first elections sparked civil war and the creation of a new country

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Rape as a weapon in Bangladesh

How Bengali women suffered appalling sexual violence during the war of independence.

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On the front line in Bangladesh

A Pakistani soldier's account of fighting in the Bangladesh war of independence in 1971.

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Bangladesh wins independence

An inside account of the moment Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971.

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Tanzania's first elected albino MP

How Salum Barwany overcame discrimination and fear to make history in Africa

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Rudolf Nureyev defects

In 1961 the great ballet dancer stunned the world by defecting from the Soviet Union.

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The right to drive in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi women who used social media to campaign against being banned from the roads.

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Bahrain's 2011 protests

In 2011 thousands of protestors occupied Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain’s capital.

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The home of Santa Claus

How Rovaniemi, a small town in Lapland, became the centre of Christmas tourism.

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Pong and the birth of computer games

The pioneering table tennis simulator which started the video games industry.

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Grand Theft Auto

The controversial action-adventure gaming series developed in Scotland in the 1990s.

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Tetris

In 1984 one of the most popular computer games ever was invented in Moscow.

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Lego

One of the world's most popular toys was invented in a small Danish town in 1958.

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The secret history of Monopoly

The true story of one of the world's most popular board games, Monopoly.

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The "Wild Lily" protests in Taiwan

In 1990, Taiwan’s students took to the streets in their thousands to demand democracy.

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The end of Stalinist rule in Albania

In 1990 Albania’s communist government agreed to allow independent political parties.

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Marcel Proust

The great French writer remembered by one of his friends and by his faithful maid.

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Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane: From professor to freedom fighter

The leader of Mozambique's fight against colonial rule remembered by his daughter

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The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff

In January 1945, nearly 10,000 people died in the worst maritime disaster in history.

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India's freedom fighter: Subhas Chandra Bose

The man who campaigned against colonial rule, allying himself with Hitler during WW2

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Kazakhstan's nuclear legacy

The secret plan to clear a huge nuclear testing site after the fall of the Soviet Union.

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Malick Sidibé: Mali's superstar photographer

How a Malian photographer's pictures of Mali's swinging '60s and '70s amazed the world.

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Costa Concordia

The dramatic story of the cruise ship which sunk in the Mediterranean, killing 32 people.

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The first silicone breast implants

How a Texas woman became the first in the world to have the popular cosmetic procedure.

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The rise of Boko Haram

How a small Nigerian Islamist group launched a brutal insurgency

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The first bicycle-sharing scheme

How a Dutch engineer invented a scheme to share bikes and cut pollution in the 1960s.

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The Stanford Prison Experiment

The story of the famous psychology study, the Stanford Prison Experiment, of 1971

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The story of Coretta Scott King’s campaign to have her late husband honoured in the US.

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