In October 1973 Sydney Opera House was officially opened by the Queen. The impressive building, with its distinctive white-shelled roof, took 20 years to complete. We hear from Jack Zunz, one of the lead engineers about the dramas, both human and structural.

(Photo: The Syndey Opera House. Credit: ALLSPORT/Getty Images)

On 19 October 1983, Grenada's popular left-wing prime minister, Maurice Bishop, was killed following an internal party coup. Six days later the US invaded the tiny Caribbean island. We hear from Ann Peters, who was with Maurice Bishop in his final hours.

Photo: Maurice Bishop in 1983 . BBC Pictures

In 1931, nine black teenagers were convicted of raping two white girls in the southern US state of Alabama.

Eight were sentenced to death by an all-white jury; but after years of campaigning, all eventually went free.

We hear from the daughter of Clarence Norris, one of the accused.

Picture: Police escort two recently freed "Scottsboro Boys" New York, 1937, Credit: Associated Press

In October 1989, the anti-apartheid leader, Walter Sisulu, was freed from prison after 26 years.

He had been jailed along with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island.

One of Sisulu's daughters, Beryl, recalls the day her father came home.

Photo: Walter Sisulu with his wife, Albertina, soon after his release from prison (AP)

In October 1984, Margaret Thatcher survived a bomb attack on the hotel where she was staying.

Five people were killed and more than 30 others injured in the explosion, which was carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

We hear from a government official in the hotel at the time.

Photo: The Grand Hotel in Brighton after the IRA bombing (John Minihan/Express/Getty Images)

Hundreds of Jewish slave labourers in a Nazi death camp staged a revolt and escaped in October 1943.

Many were caught and shot. Around 50 made it to the end of the war.

Listen to the story of Thomas Blatt, one of the survivors.

Photo: Sobibor Death Camp (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

On September 15 1963, four young black girls were killed in a racist bomb attack against a church in Birmingham, Alabama in the US. The Baptist church at 16th Street had been a centre for civil rights activities in the city.

Sarah Collins Rudolph was badly injured in the attack, and her sister, Addie Mae was one of those who died. Listen to her story.

Photo: BBC Copyright.

One of Africa's most famous radical leaders, Captain Thomas Sankara, was gunned down in a coup in Burkina Faso in October 1987. His overthrow was orchestrated by his old friend, Blaise Compaore. We hear from Thomas Sankara's brother, Paul.

Photo: Captain Thomas Sankara in Zimbabwe, Aug 1986. AFP/Getty Images

In 1925 a young black American dancer became an overnight sensation in Paris. Her overtly sexual act soon made her one of the most famous women in Europe. Her name was Josephine Baker - hear from her adopted son Jean-Claude Baker about her dancing, and her life.

(Photo: Josephine Baker in her heyday. Credit: Walery/Getty Images)

In October 1964 a group of students helped 57 people escape from communist East Germany despite the wall built to keep them in. Hear from Ralph Kabisch and Joachim Neumann who spent weeks digging what became known as Tunnel 57.

(Photo: A refugee is pulled out of Tunnel 57. Courtesy of Ralph Kabisch).