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Legalising contraception in Ireland

Contraception wasn't easily accessible in traditionally Roman Catholic Ireland until 1985

• 9 mins

The Jewish exodus from Iraq

How two thousand Jews fled persecution in the summer of 1971, helped by Iraqi Kurds

• 9 mins

The trial of South Africa’s 'Dr Death'

The trial of a South African doctor accused of multiple murders under Apartheid.

• 9 mins

China's Democracy Wall

How a brick wall in Beijing became a beacon for those calling for change

• 9 mins

When Ariel Sharon visited the Al-Aqsa compound

The Israeli politician visited the compound containing one of Islam's holiest sites

• 9 mins

Striking in South Korea in 1980

Strikes and protests against South Korea's military government came to a head in May 1980

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When Egypt said 'enough'

Years before the Arab Spring swept the Middle East Egyptians were protesting in Cairo

• 9 mins

Saving the world's wetlands

Iran hosted the first convention to save the world's wetlands in1971.

• 9 mins

Fighting forced marriage in war

Why a court in Sierra Leone ruled that forced marriage was a crime against humanity.

• 9 mins

The strike that shocked India

The Indian railway workers’ strike of 1974 prompted mass arrests and a state of emergency

• 9 mins

The first Arab woman pilot

Egyptian Lotfia Elnadi made history when she gained her pilot licence in 1933

• 9 mins

Amilcar Cabral: An African liberation legend

Amilcar Cabral led the armed struggle against Portuguese colonial rule in West Africa

• 9 mins

Rock concert for Chernobyl

The first charity rock concert ever held in the USSR raised money for Chernobyl survivors

• 9 mins

The Tulsa Race Massacre

In 1921, a white mob destroyed an affluent African-American neighbourhood.

• 9 mins

The war on drugs

President Richard Nixon was the first US President to try to wipe out illegal drug use

• 9 mins

The killing of Pablo Escobar

The Colombian drug lord was shot dead by police in December 1993

• 9 mins

When Peru mistook missionaries for drug traffickers

The Peruvian Air Force shot down a light plane carrying American missionaries in 2001

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Afghanistan's poppy problem

Laila Haidari set up Kabul's first independent drug rehab centre in 2010

• 9 mins

How Switzerland defeated its heroin epidemic

In the 1990s, the Swiss tried radical new policy ideas, including heroin on prescription

• 9 mins

When Israel destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor

Israeli warplanes launched a surprise attack on the Osirak nuclear reactor in June 1981

• 9 mins

Tunisia’s legal brothels

For decades, Tunisia has had a system of legal brothels.

• 9 mins

Benjamin Britten's War Requiem

The emotional first performance at the newly-built Coventry Cathedral in 1962

• 9 mins

The elections that Hamas won

Palestinians voted to elect a new government in 2006. The outcome surprised everyone.

• 9 mins

The Fall of Madrid

How the Spanish capital fell to General Franco's forces in 1939, ending a civil war

• 9 mins

The Confederate flag and America’s battle over race

Why an activist removed the Confederate flag from South Carolina's state house grounds

• 9 mins

Mindfulness for the masses

Scientist Jon Kabat-Zinn pioneered a meditative approach to treat pain and depression.

• 9 mins

The police rape interview that shocked Britain

The documentary that changed the way British police treated women reporting rape.

• 9 mins

The Trabant

The iconic East German car that dominated the roads of communist Central Europe

• 9 mins

China's 'Economic Miracle'

Massive economic growth has been possible because of migrant labour, but at what cost?

• 9 mins

The Stonewall Inn

How a protest outside New York's Stonewall Inn inspired the modern gay rights movement.

• 9 mins