In the early 1960s there were virtually no laws covering car safety in the USA. Even seatbelts weren't compulsory. Then a campaigning young lawyer called Ralph Nader came along. He researched car accidents, and safety requirements in other countries. Then he published a book called 'Unsafe at Any Speed' - soon the law changed. Photo: Ralph Nader (R) examines a wrecked car in a crash test facility. Credit: Reuters.

On November 25th 1960, three sisters and political activists in the Dominican Republic were beaten to death on the orders of the dictator, General Trujillo. Their deaths sparked outrage, and inspired the assassination of the leader himself six months later. (Photo; The three Mirabal Sisters, Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa)

How coal miners in post-war France went from being seen as heroes to being seen as pariahs. Their left-wing views were even perceived as a threat to democracy itself. Lisa Louis has been speaking to Norbert Gilmez, who lost his job and was blacklisted after taking part in the 1948 strike. Photo: French President Francois Hollande welcomes former striker Norbert Gilmez during a ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris in September 2016. Credit: Reuters.

In 1916 the authorities in India uncovered what they believed was a plot to overthrow British rule in the subcontinent. It involved an Islamic teacher from the city of Deoband in northern India. Messages written on sheets of silk had been intercepted by the British. Owen Bennett Jones presents reports from the colonial archives. (Photo: The Darul Uloom Deoband, the seminary at the heart of the Silk Letter Movement)

Amid the slaughter of African elephants by poachers, a Kenyan-British woman became the first to successfully hand-rear orphaned baby African elephants . As infants, elephants are dependent on their mother's milk and are extremely vulnerable. Without their mothers, orphans struggle to survive. In 1987 Dame Daphne Sheldrick worked out a formula that can keep them alive. The charity she set up, the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, has now raised over 200 orphaned elephants in Kenya.. Photo:...

In November 2001 a group of British tourists was arrested and put on trial for spying in Greece. But they were not spies, they were aeroplane enthusiasts. Chloe Hadjimatheou hears from Paul Coppin, one of the men detained and later jailed. Photo: Paul Coppin with Greek police (AP News)

In November 1966 the hit musical opened on Broadway. Set in 1930s Berlin as the Nazis are rising to power, the show chronicles the love story between a cabaret singer Sally Bowles and an American writer amid the city's decadent cafe society. The Broadway production was a huge hit, inspiring numerous subsequent productions as well as the Oscar winning 1972 film. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Cabaret's legendary director, Hal Prince. (Photo: Jill Haworth, playing Sally Bowles from...

In November 1996 the renowned international ornithologist Tony Silva was convicted of smuggling endangered birds into the US. Some of the animals had been stuffed into cardboard containers for the journey from South America; others were hidden in false-bottom suitcases. Silva argued that he was trying to protect the birds from extinction. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to federal prosecutor Sergio Acosta, who worked on the high-profile case. Photo: A pair of Hyacinth Macaws groom each...

In 1995 one of Madagascar's most historic sites was destroyed by fire. The palace complex, which contains the stone clad Queen's Palace, dominates the capital Antananarivo. It is the burial site for Madagascar's kings and queens and is considered sacred by many. The destruction of the site caused widespread grief and anger in Madagascar. We hear from Simon Peers, who witnessed the devastating fire. Photo: Workers restoring the Queen's Palace which was almost entirely destroyed by a fire in...

On 12 November 1991, Indonesian troops opened fire on independence activists in East Timor's capital, Dili. Marco Silva has spoken to the British cameraman Max Stahl, who filmed the attack on unarmed demonstrators in the Santa Cruz graveyard. (Photo: East Timorese activists preparing for the demonstration. Copyright: Max Stahl)

The publication of Salman Rushdie's book in the autumn of 1988 outraged many Muslims who believed the book was blasphemous. There were protests against the book around the world, including Britain. Ishtiaq Ahmed took part in the demonstrations and the public burning of The Satanic Verses in the UK. He tells Farhana Haider that this provocative decision was not just about grievances over the Satanic Verses, it was also to do with feelings about Muslims not being fully accepted in Britain....

In 1962 Monty Norman wrote the music for the first James Bond film, Dr No, including the theme tune which has featured in all the 24 Bond films since. As he tells Rebecca Kesby, the iconic tune was born out of a melody he'd originally composed for an Asian/Caribbean theatre production. But a few important changes made it the world's best known spy-thriller theme. (Photo credit: EON / MGM)

In 1999 the famous folk singer was awarded one of Turkey's most prestigious musical awards. But his announcement at the ceremony that he would record a song in his native Kurdish spelt the end of his career. Cagil Kasapoglu speaks to his widow, Gulten Kaya, about the night that changed their lives. Photo: Ahmet Kaya on stage (credit: GAM Productions)

In November 1967 an iconic popular culture magazine was launched in the US. It quickly became known for its music coverage, interviews with stars and in depth political reporting. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Michael Lydon, the first managing editor of 'Rolling Stone' Magazine. Photo: Front page of the first issue of "Rolling Stone" magazine, 9 November 1967 (Credit: Alamy)

In 1991, the first Loebner Prize was held. The judges at the competition had to determine whether they were communicating with humans or computer programmes. The winner of the prize was the computer programme that most fooled the judges. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Dr Robert Epstein, who was the organiser of the first competition. Photo Credit: Digital Equipment Corporation

In 2004 a child sex abuse trial on a remote island in the Pacific shocked the world. Nearly half the adult male population of Pitcairn Island stood accused of rape and sexual assault. The victims and the accused were all descendants of British sailors, including the famous rebel Fletcher Christian, who'd mutinied on a ship called Bounty in the eighteenth century. Claire Bowes spoke to Kathy Marks, one of just six journalists who were given permission to travel to Pitcairn to report on the...

On 4 November 1965, the American war photographer, Dickey Chapelle, was killed in Vietnam by shrapnel from a booby-trapped mortar. She was the first American woman war reporter to be killed in action, and had made her name covering many of the 20th Century's greatest conflicts at a time when war reporting was almost exclusively the domain of men. (Photo: Dickey Chapelle taking photos during a US Marines operation in 1958. Credit: US Marine Corps/Associated Press)

In October 1990 the Mexican poet and essayist was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. A prolific writer, Paz was the first Mexican to win the Prize. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Professor Jason Wilson and Mexican writer, Alberto Ruy Sanchez, who knew him well. Photo: Octavio Paz and his wife speaking to the press in New York after learning he won the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature (EVY MAGES/AFP/Getty Images)

In 1966 China's communist leader declared the start of a Cultural Revolution. It was carried out by millions of young people, part of Mao's Red Guards. Lucy Burns has been speaking to Saul Yeung, who was just 20 years old when he joined up. Photo: Chinese Red Guards reading from Chairman Mao's Little Red Book (Getty Images)

In November 1950, Clarence Adams, an African-American soldier fighting in the Korean war, was captured by the Chinese Red Army. He was held in a prisoner of war camp until the war ended. But instead of returning home, Adams and 20 other GIs chose to settle in China. Rob Walker has been speaking to his daughter, Della Adams. (Photo: Clarence Adams and his Chinese wife, Liu Lin Feng, courtesy of the family)

In 1904, the great American escape artist, Harry Houdini, made his reputation with a sensational performance at a theatre in London's West End. It became known as the Mirror Handcuff Challenge. Simon Watts introduces contemporary accounts of the show, and talks to magician and Houdini expert, Paul Zenon. (Photo: Houdini later in his career. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In 1965 French agents in Paris helped kidnap and disappear Mehdi Ben Barka, a Moroccan dissident and global left-wing activist. He was taken to a villa in Paris where it is believed he was murdered by Moroccan security officials. His body has never been found. The case became a national scandal in France. The BBC's Alex Last hears from Bachir Ben Barka, who is still fighting to find out what really happened to his father. Photo: Mehdi Ben Barka (AP)

In October 1986 London's financial heart, the Stock Exchange, underwent one of the biggest shake-ups in its history. Old-fashioned practices such as the long lunches and early train home, gave way to new ways of working, and to the computer. Susan Hulme has been hearing from former stockbroker, Justin Urquhart Stewart, about the impact of those changes. Photo: Traders in the London Stock Exchange, Aug 1984 (Victor Blackman/Express/Getty Images)

In October 1956 students and workers took to the streets of Budapest to protest at Soviet rule in Hungary. The demonstrations turned violent and for a while the revolutionaries were in control before being brutally repressed. Ed Butler spoke in 2010 to one of the rebels, Peter Pallai. (Photo: November 10, 1956 - A crowd of people surround the demolished head of a statue of Josef Stalin, including Daniel Sego, the man who cut off the head, during the Hungarian Revolt, Budapest,...

In World War One, thousands of troops began suffering from psychiatric disorders which were given the name 'shell shock'. It was initially thought that shell shock was caused by soldiers' proximity to exploding shells, but it soon became clear that the conflict was having an unprecedented psychological impact. Alex Last presents BBC archive recordings of WW1 veterans talking about their experiences. Photo: French soldiers taking cover during a German bombardment, 1918 (Photo by General...