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LGBT servicemen and women in the US armed forces had to keep their sexuality secret until the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy was repealed in 2011. Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack served under the policy for most of her military career. She spoke to Rachael Gillman about her experiences. This programme is a rebroadcast. Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack (l) with her wife Ashley (r) and their two children. (Courtesy of Heather Mack)
LGBT servicemen and women in the US armed forces had to keep their sexuality secret until the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy was repealed in 2011. Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack served under the policy for most of her military career. She spoke to Rachael Gillman about her experiences. This programme is a rebroadcast. Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack (l) with her wife Ashley (r) and their two children. Courtesy of Heather Mack
The forest fires of 2019-2020 in Australia were the worst the country had ever experienced - but ten years earlier Australia had a foretaste of that disaster when 400 separate bushfires burnt their way across the state of Victoria. At the time they were the worst fires Australia had ever seen. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to one of the firefighters who battled to bring the fires under control. Photo Credit: Getty Images
In 1988, a group of Jewish feminists demanded the right to pray as freely as Jewish men at one of Judaism’s holiest sites. They called themselves the ‘Women of the Wall’. The organisation is made up of every Jewish denomination including reform, conservative and orthodox Jews. Its focus is one of the holiest sites in Judaism - the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Anat Hoffman, one of the founding members of 'Women of the Wall'. (Photo: Members of 'Women of the Wall' praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, holding their prayer shawls. Getty Images.)
In 1990, South Africa became the first country in the world to ban skin-lightening creams containing the chemical compound hydroquinone. For years the creams had caused an irreversible form of skin damage called ochronosis for the black and Asian South Africans using the products. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Dr Hilary Carman, one of the activists who worked to ban the creams and Dr Ncoza Dlova who became one of the country's first black dermatologists. Photo: A woman applying a skin-lightening cream to her face. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
When an atomic bomb was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured. Despite many survivors believing nothing would grow in the city for decades, 170 trees survived close to the epicentre and are still growing 75 years later. Green Legacy Hiroshima is a project which sends seedlings from those trees around the world, spreading a message of hope. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Teruko Ueno who survived the bombing of Hiroshima, and her daughter Tomoko Watanabe who is a co-founder of the project. Photo: one of the trees which survived the atomic bomb. Credit BBC.
On November 4th 1979 revolutionary students overran the US Embassy in Tehran and took everyone inside hostage. In February 1980 the students invited a humanitarian delegation from the US to visit them in Iran. The group were shown around Tehran to highlight the country's poverty. They were also allowed to meet some of the American hostages. Rabbi Hirshel Jaffe was a member of the delegation and Masoumeh Ebtekar was the spokesperson for the students. Rachael Gillman reports on a crucial moment in the relationship between the US and Iran, as part of the BBC Crossing Divides season, which brings people together across divides.
LGBT servicemen and women in the US armed forces had to keep their sexuality secret until the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy was repealed in 2011. Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack served under the policy for most of her military career. She has been speaking to Rachael Gillman about her experiences. Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack (l) with her wife Ashley (r) and their two children. Courtesy of Heather Mack
In 1995 a group of senior, indigenous Australian women started a campaign to halt the construction of a nuclear waste facility in a remote part of South Australia. Karina Lester, a granddaughter of one of the women and a translator for the campaign, spoke to Rachael Gillman about their unlikely victory against the Australian government. Photo: Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, the group of senior aboriginal women who led the campaign (Umoona Aged Care)
After the September 11th attacks brought down the Twin Towers, reconstruction began at the devastated area in New York in April 2006. Rachael Gillman spoke to TJ Gottesdiener, who was a managing partner at the architecture firm tasked with designing a new skyscraper on the site.(Photo credit: Robert Sabo-Pool/Getty Images)
David Vetter lived his whole life sealed off from the outside world in a completely sterile environment. He was born with a rare genetic disorder, Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease, which made him hugely susceptible to infections. He died from the disease at the age of 12 on 24 February 1984, when a bone marrow transplant failed. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to his mother Carol-Ann Demaret.(Photo: David Vetter and his mother Carol-Ann Demaret Credit: Carol-Ann Demaret)
An ambitious ecological experiment was launched in Arizona in September 1991. It aimed to see if human beings could produce everything they needed to survive - in a man-made environment. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Linda Leigh, one of the eight scientists who spent two years sealed inside the giant greenhouse known as 'Biosphere 2'. Photo credit: TIM ROBERTS/AFP/Getty Images
An ambitious ecological experiment was launched in Arizona in September 1991. It aimed to see if human beings could produce everything they needed to survive - in a man-made environment. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Linda Leigh, one of the eight scientists who spent two years sealed inside the giant greenhouse known as 'Biosphere 2'.Photo credit: TIM ROBERTS/AFP/Getty Images
In 1977, Janet Guthrie became the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 - the biggest race in American motorsport. Guthrie, a former aerospace engineer, had faced opposition and scepticism from male drivers and some sections of the press. She talks to Rachael Gillman. (Photo: Janet Guthrie after qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 in 1977. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1979, an outbreak of anthrax poisoning caused dozens of deaths in the Soviet Union. Geneticist and molecular biologist Professor Matthew Meselson and his team accessed the area years later to determine what had happened. He told Rachael Gillman about his experience.Photo: Anthrax Vial Credit: Getty Images
In 1979, an outbreak of anthrax poisoning caused dozens of deaths in the Soviet Union. Geneticist and molecular biologist Professor Matthew Meselson and his team accessed the area years later to determine what had happened. He told Rachael Gillman about his experience. Photo: Anthrax Vial Credit: Getty Images
In February 1990 half of the original manuscript of one of America's best loved books, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, was found in an attic in Hollywood. The handwritten document had laid undiscovered for a century. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Pam Lindholm, whose sister made the discovery.
In February 1990 half of the original manuscript of one of America's best loved books, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, was found in an attic in Hollywood. The handwritten document had laid undiscovered for a century. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Pam Lindholm, whose sister made the discovery.
In January 2003, the city's governor announced that four men living on death row were to be pardoned. They had given false confessions after being tortured by police. Darrell Cannon, another of the victims, and his lawyer Flint Taylor spoke to Rachael Gillman for Witness. Photo credit: Tim Boyle
In January 2003, the city's governor announced that four men living on death row were to be pardoned. They had given false confessions after being tortured by police. Darrell Cannon, another of the victims, and his lawyer Flint Taylor spoke to Rachael Gillman for Witness.Photo credit: Tim Boyle
In September 1995, millions of Hindus around the world were gripped by reports of their God, Ganesha, 'drinking' milk. Rachael Gillman hears from Hindu priest Radha Krishna Bharadwaj about first seeing the apparent 'miracle' at the Shree Durga Vishno temple in New Delhi. Photo Credit: MUFTY MUNIR/AFP/Getty Images
In September 1995, millions of Hindus around the world were gripped by reports of their God, Ganesha, 'drinking' milk. Rachael Gillman hears from Hindu priest Radha Krishna Bharadwaj about first seeing the apparent 'miracle' at the Shree Durga Vishno temple in New Delhi.Photo Credit: MUFTY MUNIR/AFP/Getty Images
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 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 1946, Roland Berrill and Lancelot Ware were travelling on a train when they sparked up a conversation about intelligence testing. That chance encounter sparked the high IQ club, Mensa. Rachael Gillman speaks to the society's archivist Ian Fergus about those early days. (Photo: A computer generated image of the human head and brain. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1946, Roland Berrill and Lancelot Ware were travelling on a train when they sparked up a conversation about intelligence testing. That chance encounter sparked the high IQ club, Mensa. Rachael Gillman speaks to the society's archivist Ian Fergus about those early days.(Photo: A computer generated image of the human head and brain. Credit: Getty Images)
In September 2001, 68 people died after a massive outbreak of alcohol poisoning in Parnu, Estonia. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Dr. Raido Paasma, who was working as a doctor in the town when the first cases were discovered. Photo: Victims of the Parnu alcohol poisoning outbreak (AP Images)
In September 2001, 68 people died after a massive outbreak of alcohol poisoning in Parnu, Estonia. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Dr. Raido Paasma, who was working as a doctor in the town when the first cases were discovered.Photo: Victims of the Parnu alcohol poisoning outbreak (AP Images)
On August 18 1976 an American platoon was sent into the DMZ between North and South Korea, to trim a tree that was obscuring the view of a manned checkpoint. Two US soldiers were killed as tensions escalated in the no man's land. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to US army veteran Eugene Bickley about his experiences that day. Photo credit: Getty Images
On August 18 1976 an American platoon was sent into the DMZ between North and South Korea, to trim a tree that was obscuring the view of a manned checkpoint. Two US soldiers were killed as tensions escalated in the no man's land. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to US army veteran Eugene Bickley about his experiences that day.Photo credit: Getty Images