Main content

The History Hour Episodes

  1.

    Fighting for the pill in Japan

    Why it took until 1999 for Japanese women to be allowed to take the contraceptive pill.

  2. VE Day Special

    Eyewitness accounts of the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of World War Two in Europe.

  3. The 1957 flu pandemic

    A million die in 1957 flu, conflict in the Galapagos islands and trees in Hiroshima.

  4. The last survivor of the transatlantic slave trade

    The grandson of the last US slave, Pakistan's welfare hero and the Deepwater disaster.

  5. Apollo 13: The drama that gripped the world

    50 years since the near disaster on the Apollo 13 mission to the Moon.

  6. How technology revolutionised our lives

    Memories of milestones from webcams to social networks, from the iPhone to home-shopping.

  7. Women in the law

    Trailblazing British lawyer Rose Heilbron, plus Muslims in China and a Swedish warship

  8. The AIDS memorial quilt - a patchwork of loss

    How an LGBTQ+ activist decided to commemorate lost friends with a quilt.

  9. The launch of the Hubble Space Telescope

    Putting an observatory in space; China's cure for malaria; the "Red Scare" in Hollywood.

  10. The 1918 'Spanish' flu pandemic

    Eyewitnesses accounts of battling deadly viruses from the 1918 flu, to Ebola and SARS.

  11. The history of the Volkswagen Beetle

    How the British army helped rebuild the German car industry after WW2.

  12. Freeing American prisoners from Iran

    How a former prisoner fought to free her friends, an Antarctic mystery, and rebel nuns

  13. Saving Antarctica

    Environmentalists save the ice continent; how meditation changes the brain; Nigerian art.

  14. The publication of Harry Potter

    The origins of the boy wizard, plus Mao's Little Red Book and Erica Jong's Fear of Flying

  15. London's first black policeman

    London's first black policeman, a new sign language, and the release of Nelson Mandela

  16. The early days of the European Union

    The EU in the 1950s, the British royal scandal and the self-made female millionaire.

  17. The mystery of the disappearing frogs

    How scientists discovered that a deadly fungus was killing off amphibians.

  18. Storming the Stasi HQ

    East Germany's secret police; killing Osama Bin Laden; saving aristocrats' houses

  19. The Computers for Schools revolution

    Bringing laptops into education; the battle for Fallujah; environmentalist Chico Mendes.

  20. The book that warned of an end to civilisation

    Environmental warnings from 1972, El Salvador, East German punks and the Chippendales.

  21. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

    The Soviet-Afghan war, the invention of chemotherapy, and Cirque du Soleil.

  22. The Romanian revolution

    In December 1989 a wave of protests finally deposed communist dictator Nicolae Ceau葯escu.

  23. The Awakenings

    A medical experiment that brought the catatonic back to life; and an IRA siege in the 70s

  24. The Cuban writer who defied Castro

    The life and death of Reinaldo Arenas, plus Henry Moore and tracking down Pablo Escobar

  25. The man who gave his voice to Stephen Hawking

    The scientist who pioneered synthesised speech. Plus the first US AIDS case. .

  26. I saw the soldiers who killed El Salvador's priests

    An atrocity in El Salvador, the first Taser, and building the Delhi metro

  27. Rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean

    Rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean; the demolition of the Ayodha mosque; Wilfred Owen

  28. Britain's secret propaganda war

    'Fake news' in WW2, why Indian police blinded detainees and the Berlin Wall rock concert

  29. 'Jane' - the underground abortion service

    The secret 1960s US abortion network and the battle to protect the Barrier Reef.

  30. The fall of the Berlin Wall

    A look at events across Europe in 1989 that led to the wall coming down in Germany.

  2. 1
  3. …
  4. 7
  5. 8
  6. 9
  7. 10
  8. 11
  9. …
  10. 25