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The Cairo Fire 1952

In January 1952 hundreds of buildings were deliberately set ablaze in downtown Cairo

• 9 mins

Gay Pride in Russia

In 2006, Russian activists broke the law to stage the first gay pride march in Moscow.

• 9 mins

US Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Cuba

In January 1961, the US closed down its embassy in Cuba and withdrew all diplomatic staff

• 9 mins

American Football and Brain Injuries

The death of former NFL star Mike Webster led to questions about safety in 2002

• 9 mins

The Killing of Dian Fossey

In 1985, the celebrated gorilla expert was murdered at her research station in Rwanda.

• 15 mins

The Georgian-Abkhaz War

In 1992 a war erupted in the separatist Georgian territory of Abkhazia

• 9 mins

The Death of Chinese Cockle Pickers

In February 2004, 23 Chinese immigrants drowned off the coast of north-west England

• 9 mins

Colossus: the World's First Electronic Computer

In February 1944, the first electronic computer began attacking coded Nazi messages

• 9 mins

War Brides

In 1946 tens of thousands of British women went to Canada on the first 'war brides' ship

• 9 mins

Beatlemania

On 7 February 1964 the pop group the Beatles were met by hysterical crowds in the USA

• 9 mins

The Battle of the Carmens

At the 1988 Winter Olympics, an East German and an American ice dancer were vying for Gold

• 15 mins

The Buildup to World War Two

In 1939 tension was growing in Europe, over Nazi Germany's expansionist plans

• 9 mins

The Search for Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction

In 2004, the US began to realise Saddam Hussein may not have been stockpiling WMDs

• 9 mins

Women and the Iranian Revolution

In 1979, the Islamic Revolution changed Iranian women's lives forever.

• 9 mins

The Exile of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

On 13 February 1974 the Russian dissident writer was sent into exile in the West

• 9 mins

Fighting the Contras

Sandinista 'Daniel Alegria' on the brutal fight with US-backed Contra rebels in Nicaragua

• 9 mins

Women and the Iranian Revolution

In February 1979, Iran was undergoing a revolution which would lead to an Islamic state.

• 15 mins

Jean-Michel Basquiat

The rise and fall of a New York graffiti artist

• 9 mins

The True Story of "Whisky Galore"

In February 1941, a ship carrying nearly 30,000 cases of whisky was wrecked in Scotland.

• 9 mins

The Death of Deng Xiaoping

Deng Xiaoping's translator, Victor Gao remembers the architect of China's transformation

• 9 mins

The Fall of Albania's Enver Hoxha

In February 1991 protesters pulled down the giant statue of Albania's communist dictator.

• 9 mins

Protests for the Mother Tongue

In February 1952 thousands marched in Dhaka in defence of the Bengali language

• 9 mins

The Exile of Solzhenitsyn

In February 1974, Russia's most famous dissident writer was sent into exile in the West.

• 15 mins

Stalin's 1944 Deportations

How nearly half a million Chechen and Ingush people were deported from the North Caucasus

• 9 mins

The Khrushchev Thaw

In the 1950s Soviet citizens were allowed to buy tape recorders for the first time.

• 9 mins

The Downfall of Jean-Bertrand Aristide

In February 2004 the president of Haiti was forced out of power by a countrywide uprising

• 9 mins

Hugo Chavez's First Coup

Left-leaning army officers staged an unsuccessful coup in Venezuela in February 1992

• 9 mins

The Assassination of Benigno Aquino

In 1983, the Philippines opposition leader was shot dead on his return from exile.

• 15 mins

The Maharishi's World Tour

In spring 1959, an Indian guru toured the world teaching Transcendental Meditation.

• 9 mins

British Miners' Strike

In March 1984, coal miners across the UK went on strike over planned pit closures

• 9 mins