In History

In 1957, the painter showed the BBC how he built up his pictures of industrial urban life from his imagination, and described the loneliness that informed them.

Shergar was the world's most famous stallion. When armed men seized him from an Irish stud farm on 8 February 1983, the BBC reported on a sensational true crime saga.

In a BBC archive clip, archaeologist Howard Carter describes the moment on 12 February 1924 when he and his team became the first people in 3,300 years to meet the Egyptian boy king.

Frank Serpico was shot on 3 February 1971, after exposing corruption in the NYPD. The following year, the BBC reported on the "widespread" rot in the Big Apple's police force.

For years, UK politician Jeremy Thorpe's affair was a secret – but when his former lover Norman Scott blurted out the truth, an astounding story emerged.

A Norwegian rocket launched on 25 January 1995 in order to study the Northern Lights, was mistaken by Russia for an incoming nuclear missile on a direct course to Moscow.

Her murder mysteries have captivated audiences for more than a century, but, 50 years after her death, she remains an enigma. A BBC profile from 1955 reveals some of her secrets.