Modern History

From the end of the 18th century to the present day, this period of history saw European industrialization and the development of the modern nation-state.

'GREAT ESCAPES WITH MORGAN FREEMAN' - Morgan Freeman next to a helicopter and a search tower shining spotlights on the jungle

Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman
The Gilbert 238 Atomic Energy Lab on display in a museum

The shockingly hazardous history of radioactive toys
A Lockheed U-2 plane in flight

Lockheed U-2: The plane that started the Area 51 legend
The entrance to Hỏa Lò Prison - with a sign reading 'Maison Centrale'

The dark history of Vietnam’s notorious prison
Vladimir Putin

From Kursk to Ukraine: Russia's 21st century timeline
Vladimir Putin and Bill Clinton speaking in July 2000

Bill Clinton’s relationship with Vladimir Putin
Bill Clinton gestures with his hands while being interviewed in 2024

11 key contributors to 'Kursk: 10 Days That Shaped Putin'
Vladimir Putin speaking in 2000

How the Kursk Submarine Disaster changed Putin’s rule
Crew members of the Kursk stand on its deck during a parade in July 2000

The Kursk Submarine Disaster
Bob Dylan with his guitar and attached harmonica with Joan Baez

Bob Dylan: The voice that shaped a generation

Valentina Tereshkova portrait photograph in her space suit

Valentina Tereshkova: The first woman in space
Dr Jim Swire standing with two police officers in the background

The Lockerbie bombing: Jim Swire's pursuit of justice
A painting that depicts horses being used in the Battle of Friedland in 1807

Galloping through time: How horses shaped history
The destroyed wreckage of BA Flight 149

What happened to British Airways Flight 149?
Earthrise, as seen from Apollo 8, 24th December 1968

History of the Space Race: The battle for the Final Frontier
Harriet Tubman

7 disabled people who changed history
Anti-nuclear bunker transformed into history museum in Tirana, Albania

The fascinating history of Albania's secret Cold War bunkers

Joseph Stalin in 1920

4 secret hideouts of Europe’s ruthless dictators

Ayrton Senna sitting in his McLaren in May 1988

Ayrton Senna: The death of an icon, 30 years on
Phil Taylor celebrates

The 10 greatest darts players of all time
President Charles de Gaulle steps out of a black car not longer his assassination attempt

The assassination plot that inspired 'The Day of the Jackal'
Ross Kemp stands next to a masked man in an aircraft hangar

'It's violent and it's tough': Ross Kemp goes inside the Mafia
Ross Kemp sits at the bar in a pub while a gangster figure lurks in the back ground

Ross Kemp: Mafia and Britain – Official Trailer
Sicilian Mafia boss Vito Cascio Ferro holds a puppy as he sits with his sun who is holding a large rifle. The photograph is overlayed on a black and white and blurred image of a modern Sicilian road sign covered in bullet holes

From Sicily to New York: A brief history of the Mafia
The Kray Twins pictured in an East London flat

Whiskey, gangsters and alliances: Britain's surprising Mafia history
John Gotti being booked in 1990

The Mafia's Golden Age: Who are the Five Families?
A seven-feet tall metal monolith appeared in a park in Mubmai

Are aliens or artists behind the monolith mystery
Hannah Cockroft of Team GB competes in wheelchair racing at the Tokyo Paralympics

The history of the Paralympics