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Introduction to My Century

The radical events of the 20th Century altered the balance between countries and societies

• 28 mins

Invention of the Soft Contact Lens

Czech chemist Otto Wichterle invented the soft contact lens, but preferred to wear glasses

• 4 mins

Invention of the Jet Engine

Engineer Frank Whittle's invention began the era of widespread international air travel

• 4 mins

Invention of the Silicon Chip

The invention of the silicon chip and predictions for its future

• 4 mins

Witnessing War

Listen to witness accounts from World War I to the shelling of Sarajevo

• 28 mins

Invention of the Vacuum Cleaner

From pillowcase to an idea inspired by the dust filtering system used at a saw mill

• 4 mins

Invention of Television

How electronic TV production works using transmitters, receivers and cathode ray tubes

• 4 mins

The Siege of Leningrad

"There just wasn't enough food. The hunger drove people insane" recalls Elena Taranukhina

• 4 mins

World War I Stretcher Bearer

"They were all cannon fodder" Australian veteran Edward Smout recalls Passchendaele

• 4 mins

Witnessing Inventions

From the soft contact lens to TV, from the jet engine to the silicon chip

• 28 mins

Biafra, Nigerian Civil War

Chief Emeka Ojukwu led the Biafran war of secession in Nigeria from 1967 - 1970

• 4 mins

Nicaraguan Revolution

"We didn't have free elections" Fighting for the Sandinistas to challenge the dictatorship

• 4 mins

Shelling of Sarajevo

Edo Dedovic was a teenager when he was injured during shelling at Sarajevo in Bosnia

• 4 mins

Being Kurdish

Kurdish musician Tara Jaff on belonging to a community with no nation of their own

• 4 mins

Birth of a Nation - China

Xu Xiaobing and Hou Bo heard Chairman Mao proclaim the People's Republic of China

• 4 mins

Birth of a Nation - Israel

The UN voted for the partition of Palestine allowing the creation of a Jewish state

• 4 mins

Birth of A Nation - India

Journalist Khushwant Singh heard Jawaharlal Nehru announce Indian independence in 1947

• 4 mins

Birth of a Nation - Ghana

John Offeh recalls how his country's new found liberty affected ordinary people

• 4 mins

Beliefs in the 20th Century

People share their memories and experiences of their faith in the 20th Century

• 28 mins

Birth of a Nation

From Chairman Mao declaring the People's Republic of China to Ghana's independence

• 28 mins

New Home, Old Faith

Mohammed Accram Khan-Cheema on how he almost lost touch with Islam when he emigrated

• 4 mins

Losing a Loved One

Helia Lopez Zarsoza's sister's fiancé's disappearance and how her faith helps her

• 4 mins

After Amritsar

Aftar Singh on being caught up in Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple in Amristar

• 4 mins

Surviving the Holocaust

Lucille Eichengreen saw her entire family killed, what affect has it had on her faith?

• 4 mins

No Healthcare for Prisoners

"What they really need is treatment", says prisoner Gilberto Fernandez

• 4 mins

Reporting the Nuremberg Trials

Stefan Heyn on the defendents responsible for the horrific events of the Holocaust

• 4 mins

An Enemy of the State in Maoist China

Nien Cheng was imprisoned in solitary confinement for six and a half years

• 4 mins

Wartime Love and Persecution

Gad Beck on life in Nazi Germany as a gay man and how he lost his true love

• 4 mins

Surviving a Soviet Labour Camp

At 28, the Russian poet Irina Ratushinskaya was imprisoned for her writing

• 3 mins

Truth and Reconciliation in South Africa

"Apartheid was all pervasive" – Dr Fazel Randera on South Africa's human rights abuses

• 4 mins