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Russia’s Democracy pioneer

Galina Starovoitova, the murdered politician who championed democracy in '90s Russia

• 9 mins

The Woman in Gold by Gustav Klimt

The story behind one of Klimt's most famous paintings

• 9 mins

Europe's last smallpox epidemic

The virologist who helped tackle the last smallpox outbreak in Europe

• 9 mins

The doctor who helped her mother to die

How a Dutch doctor’s euthanasia dilemma changed the world.

• 9 mins

Estonia’s internet ‘Tiger Leap’

Estonia started connecting all schools to the internet in 1996 ahead of other countries

• 9 mins

The assassination of the Mirabal sisters

Three sisters, all political activists, were murdered in 1960 in the Dominican Republic

• 9 mins

The Aids 'patient zero' myth

How Gaetan Dugas was mistakenly identified as the 'patient zero' of the Aids epidemic.

• 9 mins

The early days of HIV/Aids

The experience of a Ugandan-born woman diagnosed with HIV in the early days of the virus.

• 9 mins

AZT: The breakthrough treatment for Aids

How the first successful Aids drug was developed and approved in record time in 1987

• 9 mins

South Africa and Aids drugs

How activists fought successfully for cheaper Aids treatment in South Africa.

• 9 mins

Derek Jarman

The British experimental film-maker who spoke out about Aids in the 1980s.

• 9 mins

Fighting 'virginity tests' in the Indonesian police

How an Indonesian policewoman campaigned to ban intrusive examinations of female recruits

• 9 mins

The V2 rocket

How the Nazis secretly developed the first modern ballistic missile

• 9 mins

Spies or plane-spotters?

Why a group of British aircraft enthusiasts were arrested for spying in Greece in 2001.

• 9 mins

The Aldi kidnap

The abduction of Theo Albrecht, co-founder of the discount supermarket chain ALDI.

• 9 mins

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.

• 9 mins

The birth of Bangladesh

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

• 9 mins

Rape as a weapon in Bangladesh

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

• 9 mins

On the front line in Bangladesh

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

• 9 mins

Bangladesh wins independence

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

• 9 mins

Tanzania's first elected albino MP

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

• 9 mins

Rudolf Nureyev defects

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

• 9 mins

The right to drive in Saudi Arabia

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

• 9 mins

Bahrain's 2011 protests

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

• 9 mins

The home of Santa Claus

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

• 9 mins

Pong and the birth of computer games

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

• 9 mins

Grand Theft Auto

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

• 9 mins

Tetris

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

• 9 mins

Lego

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

• 9 mins