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How London Was Built: Utilities and Shopping

Sat July 4th at 11:00pm

The British Empire In Colour: A Tryst With Destiny

Mon July 6th at 2:00am

Hel

In Norse mythology, the goddess of the land of the dead, also named Hel or Niflheim, a northern region of ice, snow, and perpetual darkness and the lowest level of the Nine Worlds. Her realm was the abode of those who died of sickness or old age.

Hel was the hideous daughter (half woman, half corpse) of the disreputable god‐giant Loki and the giantess Angrboda. It was said that Hel would bring her dead to fight on the side of evil at Ragnarök, the final battle against the gods.

196 listings

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The Planet of The Apes

Victoria's Wars

European History for Dummies

The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant

Zimbabwe's Political History

Global Warming

The Arab-Israeli Conflict

The Trial of Jesus

Alexander the Great

Yorkshire Ripper (Peter Sutcliffe)

TECH EFFECT: Waco

Nazi Spies In America

The Boys of H Company

The Negotiator

Yasser Arafat

Jack the Ripper

The Hunt For Jack The Ripper

OJ And Company: 10 Years Later

FIRST 48: Desert Bones/Party's Over

Isaac's Storm

The Boston Strangler

The Crusades

SECRETS OF ARCHAEOLOGY: Pompeii: A City Rediscovered

Richard Ramirez: The Night Stalker

The Industrial Revolution

The Olympics

D-Day

The Great War: Germany’s failed gambit

The Gunpowder Plot

The Killing Fields: The Khmer Rouge and Cambodia

Titanic Heritage Trust

The Baader Meinhof Complex

Voices of the Armistice

Hillsborough

Pompeii: The Last Day

Anthony Beevor, D-Day

Almunia's Favourite Book

Cutty Sark

Revival

A Small Piece of History

Zimbabwe's Political History

Global Warming

The Arab-Israeli Conflict

11 July 1818

Mary Shelley's novel 'Frankenstein' is published.

4 January 1999
British Chancellor Gordon Brown's press advisor Charles Whelan resigns in wake of the Mandelson and Robinson loan affair.

8 January 871
At the Battle of Ashdown, Alfred the Great leads the West Saxon armies of his brother, King Ethelred, to victory against the invading Danes

11 January 1569
The first national lottery is held in England. 40,000 lots, at 10 shillings each, go on sale at St. Paul's Cathedral in London.

12 January 1932

Ophelia Wyatt Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, becomes the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

18 January 1871

Wilhelm I is crowned the first German Emperor at the Versailles Palace in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War.

19 January 1941

World War II: British forces attack the Italian held Eritrea.

20 January 2002

Photographs of prisoners being held at Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay by the U.S. military are published. The photographs heighten speculation that the prisoner’s human rights are being abused.

23 January 1920

The Dutch government refuses to extradite Wilhelm II to the Allies. The former Kaiser of Germany has been living in exile in the Netherlands since November 1918.

25 January 1949

The first Emmy awards are held at the Hollywood Athletic Club in Los Angeles, USA.

30 January 1945

World War II: The German ship Wilhelm Gustloff sinks in the Baltic Sea after being torpedoed by a Soviet submarine. The ship was overfilled with refugees; approximately 9,000 people died.

2 February 2006
Royal Dutch Shell announces the highest ever annual profit for a British listed company with 2005 profit of £13.12bn.

3 February 1950
Klaus Fuchs, a German-born British scientist who helped developed the atomic bomb, is arrested in Great Britain for passing top-secret information about the bomb to the Soviet Union.

4 February 1962
The Vietnam War: The first American helicopter is shot down in Vietnam.

7 February 1991
British Prime Minister John Major and senior Cabinet Ministers escape unhurt as the IRA fires three mortar shells at 10 Downing Street from a van parked several streets away in the centre of London.

10 February 1971
The Vietnam War: The acclaimed photographer Larry Burrows dies along with three other journalists when a helicopter they were travelling in crashes in Laos.

16 February 1804

First Barbary War: Stephen Decatur leads a raid to burn the pirate-held frigate USS Philadelphia.

17 February 1974

In America, Robert Preston, a discontented US army private, steels a helicopter, flying it to the White House where he hovers over the building before landing. President Nixon is not in the White House during the incident.

26 February 1968

In England, twenty-one female patients are killed as the Shelton Mental Hospital in Shropshire, catches fire.

6 March 1983
In West Germany, Helmut Kohl is elected Chancellor

10 March 1990
Observer journalist Farzad Bazoft is sentenced to death by an Iraqi military court for espionage. Daphne Parish, a British nurse accused of helping him is sentenced to 15 years in prison.

11 March 2006
Michelle Bachelet is sworn in as Chile’s first female president.

12 March 1933
President Franklin D. Roosevelt gives his first "fireside chat" - national radio address. Roosevelt’s radio broadcasts help to establish his tremendous popularity in the U.S.

13 March 1781
William Herschel discovers the planet Uranus.

15 March 1981
The passengers and crew of a Pakistan Airways plane held hostage for nearly two weeks after being hijacked on an internal flight in Pakistan and forced to fly to Syria, are released.

17 March 1762
In New York City, the first St. Patrick’s Day parade is held by Irish soldiers serving in the British army.

27 March 1989
In the Soviet Union, the first general election is held where people can vote for candidates from parties other than the Communist Party.

29 March 1951
In America, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are convicted of espionage.

30 March 1992
During the British general election Prime Minister John Major famously mounts his “soap box” whilst out electioneering in Cheltenham.

31 March 1905
The First Moroccan Crisis: Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany arrives in Tangiers to declare his support for the sultan of Morocco, provoking French and British anger.

5 April 1969
The Vietnam War: Large demonstrations are held throughout America protesting against the War.

9 April 1917
The First World War: British troops launch an attack against a heavily fortified line held by German troops at the Battle of Arras in France.

13 April 1918
The First World War: Germany seizes control of the Finish capital Helsinki.

22 April 1997
Troops storm the Japanese embassy in Peru freeing all but one of the 72 hostages being held there.

24 April 1980
In Tehran, 8 U.S. troops are killed whilst trying to free 52 American hostages being held in Iran.

27 April 1996
Operation Grapes of Wrath, Israel’s 16 day response to the shelling of Northern Israel by Hezbollah, comes to an end.

29 April 1975
The Vietnam War: U.S. troops launch Operation Frequent Wind, the helicopter evacuation of U.S. civilians from Saigon, South Vietnam.

30 April 2001
The Mitchell Report is published, another attempt to reinvigorate the Middle East peace process.

3 May 1959
The first Grammy Awards are held.

4 May 1415
The Council of Constance held by the Catholic Church condemns religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus as heretics.

5 May 1821
Napoleon Bonaparte dies in exile in St. Helena.

13 May 1997
England cricket captain, Tony Greig, is sacked for helping to recruit players to Kerry Packer’s new cricket tournament.

14 May 1904
The Modern Olympic Games are held in the United States of America for the first time - at St Louis, Missouri.

18 May 1991
Helen Sharman, at the age of 27, becomes the first Briton in space.

21 May 1502
Portuguese explorers discover the uninhabited island of St Helena in the South Atlantic.

22 May 1947
American President Harry Truman signs an act which gives $400 million of military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece to help prevent them from falling to communist revolutions, in what comes to be known as the Truman Doctrine.

24 May 1941
The Second World War: The German battleship Bismarck sinks the HMS Hood off Greenland with the loss of more than 1,400 lives. The ship explodes when a German shell hits the Hood's ammunition store.

28 May 1987
A 19 year old West German, Mathias Rust, surprises the Soviet authorities by flying a light plane from Helsinki to Moscow and landing safely in Red Square.

31 May 2005
Former FBI assistant director, W. Mark Felt, is revealed as being “Deep Throat”, the secret source who helped unravel the Watergate scandal.

2 June 1994
25 senior British intelligence officers involved in counter terrorism in Northern Ireland are killed when their Chinook helicopter crashes on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland.

6 June 1984
Approximately 300 people are killed as Indian troops storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar, which was held by Sikh militants.

10 June 1719
British troops defeat an alliance of Jacobites and Spaniards in the Battle of Glen Shel in Scotland.

15 June 2000
The vast majority of British troops sent to Sierra Leone to help restore order in the war torn country finish their mission and head back home.

19 June 2005
Only six cars compete in the Formula One United States Grand Prix as the cars using Michelin tyres pull out due to safety concerns.

20 June 1995
Oil giant Shell is forced into a U-turn and abandons plans to dump the Brent Spar oil rig at sea.

23 June 1959
The German born scientist Klaus Fuchs, who helped develop the U.S. atomic program and then subsequently turned into a Soviet spy, is released from a British prison.

29 June 1976
The Seychelles gains independence from Britain.

30 June 1985
After being held captive for nearly three weeks 39 Americans are released by their captives the Amal militia in Beirut, Lebanon.

4 July 1976
Israeli commandos free more than 100 hostages being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda following a mid-air hi-jack by Arab terrorists.

5 July 1914
In what became known as the “blank cheque”, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany pledges his country’s unconditional support for whatever action Austria-Hungary chooses to take in its conflict with Serbia.

10 July 1985
The Greenpeace campaign ship, Rainbow Warrior, sinks off Auckland in New Zealand after two explosions inside the hull. Two operatives from the French intelligence service DGSE were held responsible and were subsequently found guilty of manslaughter.

15 July 1948
The self-help American anti-drink group, Alcoholics Annoymous, is introduced into Britain with a branch being formed in London.

25 July 1993
The latest UN ceasefire in Bosnia breaks down as both sides start shelling each other's positions in Sarajevo.

27 July 1982
In South Africa, mercenary leader Colonel Mike Hoare is found guilty of hijacking a plane to escape from an aborted coup attempt in the Seychelles. Hoare is later sentenced to 10 years in prison.

29 July 1948
In England, King George VI officially opens the 14th Olympic Games and the first to be held since 1936, at Wembley Stadium, London.

31 July 1932
A general election is held in Germany with the Nazi Party becoming the largest party in the Reichstag.

1 August 1975
The United States, the Soviet Union, Canada and every European nation (except Albania) sign the Helsinki Final Act at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

7 August 1995
Bosnia and Herzegovina recapture areas of central Croatia held by Croatian Serb forces as Operation Storm comes to an end.

8 August 1991
Islamic Jihad terrorists release British journalist John McCarthy 5 years and 3 months after being kidnapped in Beirut. He had been held hostage since 17 April 1986, a total of 1,943 days.

11 August 1711
In England, the first horse race meeting is held at Ascot.

12 August 2000
In England, a memorial service is held for the murdered schoolgirl Sarah Payne at Guildford Cathedral.

14 August 1969
British troops are deployed in Northern Ireland to help quell sectarian riots in Londonderry.

17 August 1862
Dakota (Sioux) Indians attack white settlements along the Minnesota River. The Dakota were eventually overwhelmed by the U.S. military six weeks later.

18 August 1868
French astronomer Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen discovers how to observe solar prominences without an eclipse, thus also discovering the new element of helium.

25 August 325 AD
The Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical debate held by the early Christian church, concludes with the establishment of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity.

28 August 1914
The First World War: Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first major naval battle of the war between British and German warships in the North Sea.

29 August 1350
The English fleet commanded by Edward III defeats a Castilian fleet at the Battle of Winchelsea.

4 September 1888

U.S. inventor and philanthropist George Eastman patents rolls of film for hand-held cameras.

8 September 1504
Italian sculptor, painter and poet Michelangelo unveils his Statue of David in Florence.

10 September 1988
In England, BBC television presenters Mike Smith and Sarah Greene are both seriously injured when a helicopter which they were travelling in crashes in Gloucestershire.

15 September 2000
The opening ceremony is held for the Sydney Olympics.

23 September 2000
British rower Steve Redgrave wins his fifth consecutive Olympic medal by helping Britain to win the coxless fours at the Sydney Olympics. Redgrave previously won gold in Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.

26 September 1977
Two earthquakes hit central Italy killing ten people and damage several pieces of valuable art held in galleries in the area.

30 September 1971
The British Foreign Office names Oleg Lyalin as the Russian defector who helped to provide the intelligence which lead to the expulsion of 105 Soviet officials from Britain on 25th September.

9 October 1991
As part of the Japan festival in Britain, the first ever Sumo wrestling tournament to be held outside of Japan takes place at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

12 October 1915
The First World War: English nurse Edith Cavell is executed as a spy by a German firing squad for helping captured British soldiers to escape from behind German lines.

15 October 1815
Napoleon Bonaparte begins his exile on the island of St. Helena.

16 October 1946
10 Nazi war criminals are executed in accordance with the sentences handed down by the Nuremburg trials. Among those hanged are General Alfred Jodl, Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Frick and Julius Streicher.

21 October 1977
Meat Loaf’s record breaking album Bat Out of Hell is released.

24 October 1901
To help raise money to pay her mortgage, Mrs Ann Edson Taylor goes over Niagara Falls in a padded barrel, and survives.

25 October 1984
The European Economic Community donates £1.8 million to Ethiopia to try and help fight the famine in the country.

28 October 1628
In France, the Siege of La Rochelle ends with victory for the royalist forces of Louis XIII over the Huguenots.

1 November 1512
In Italy, Michelangelo’s finest work, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, is exhibited to the public for the first time.

2 November 1986
American David Jacobsen is released by Islamic Jihad in Beruit, Lebanon, having been held hostage for 17months.

3 November 1986
The Lebanese magazine Ash Shiraa reports that the United States has been secretly selling arms to Iran in an effort to secure the release of seven American hostages held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon.

5 November 1984
The ruling left-wing Sandinista party wins the General Election in Nicaragua, the first election held since the Sandinista’s came to power in a revolution five years ago.

6 November 1986
45 oil rig workers are killed when a helicopter which is transporting them crashes off the coast of Scotland.

8 November 1895
In Germany, scientist Wilhelm Rontgen becomes the first person to observe X-rays during an experiment at the University of Wurzburg.

9 November 1919
Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates from the German and Prussian throne.

12 November 1979
In response to 66 Americans being held hostage in Tehran, American President Jimmy Carter stops the importation of petroleum from Iran.

13 November 1002
In England, King Ethelred orders the killing of all Danes in the country, known as the St. Brice's Day massacre.

14 November 2004
Palestinian interim President Rawhi Fattuh announces new Presidential elections, following the death of Yasser Arafat, will be held on 9th January 2005.

15 November 1920
The first assembly of the League of Nations is held in Geneva, Switzerland.

17 November 1969
Soviet and U.S. negotiators meet in Helsinki to begin the Strategic Arms Limitation talks (SALT).

19 November 1967
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson defends his government’s decision to devalue the pound, arguing that it will help to solve the country’s economic problems.

21 November 2004
The Second round of the Ukrainian Presidential elections is held. In what was regarded a fraudulent result, Viktor Yanukovych is eventually declared the winner, sparking what become known as the Orange Revolution.

23 November 1890
Following the death of King William III of the Netherlands, Princess Wilhelmina, I the absence of a make heir becomes, Queen of the Netherlands. Although her mother Emma is named Regent until Wilhelmina’s 18th birthday.

27 November 1999
In a General Election in New Zealand Helen Clarke becomes the first female Prime Minister in the countries history.

1 December 1991
A national referendum in the Ukraine overwhelmingly supports the countries declaration of independence issued in August.

5 December 1991
British businessman Robert Maxwell calls the administrators to help salvage his business empire, which is £1billion in debt.

7 December 1815
Michel Ney, one of the 18 Marshal’s of France created by Napoleon Bonaparte, is executed having been convicted of treason for his support of Napoleon.

9 December 1992

U.S. troops land in Somalia in attempt to restore order in the country and help combat the famine.

11 December 1979
The Rhodesian parliament votes to revert back to British rule until democratic elections are held in the country which is eventually renamed Zimbabwe.

14 December 1918
The newly-crowned Frederick, German-born and the brother-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II, renounces the Finnish throne.

23 December 1990
In the Balkans, Slovenia votes overwhelmingly in favour of secession from Yugoslavia.

1776: United States declares independence
After a decade of economic conflict with Great Britain, the 13 colonies answer King George III's... More >

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Ancient Chinese Sports

Catapulting viewers into a sporting world that few knew existed, a world that thrived centuries... More >

Sat 4 Jul 9.00pm

The Plague (Part 2 of 2)

In 1437, the worst biological disaster in history swept... More >