In December 1961, Goa became the last part of India to break free of colonial rule. The rest of India had become independent in 1947 when the British had left - but Goa had been a Portuguese colony, and Portugal did not want to give it up.

Witness speaks to Libia Lobo Sardesai, who worked on the radio station Voice of Freedom, campaigning for Goan independence.

Protests which led to the collapse of communism in Romania, and the death of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, began on 16 December 1989. Followers of an opposition Hungarian priest, Laszlo Tokes, had gathered to support him in the town of Timisoara - but their protest prompted a violent response from the Romanian military. Zsolt Szilagy was there when the shooting started.

(Photo: An old man greets a soldier after the uprising in Timisoara. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The premiere of one of the most successful films ever made, was held in Atlanta on 15 December, 1939. A sprawling romantic epic it was set during the American Civil War. Years later some of the cast and crew spoke to veteran Hollywood reporter Barbra Paskin.

(Photo: Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, the stars of Gone With the Wind. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Aids patient Jeff Getty was given a bone marrow transplant, from a baboon, in December 1995. It was the first time a human being had been given baboon cells. Witness speaks to Dr Steven Deeks, the doctor who oversaw the transplant.

Photo: Jeff Getty is surrounded by the press and well wishers following his release from San Francisco General Hospital after the baboon bone marrow transplant, Credit: AFP/Getty Images

On 11 December 1997, delegates from 160 countries worked through the night in Kyoto, Japan, to agree the first international treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Some countries present did not ratify it, notably the United States. But it was the first agreement of its kind. We talk to two people who helped make it possible - a young UN intern, Joanna Depledge, and her boss, the chair of the negotiations, Raul Estrada-Oyuela.

(Photo: Delegates at the opening session of the Kyoto Protocol negotiations. Credit: Toru Yamanaka/AFP/Getty Images)

Drummer Jimmy Cobb recalls playing with Miles Davis on the album that changed jazz for ever. Kind of Blue was recorded in just two sessions by Davis' sextet at the 30th St Studios in New York City in 1959.

Photo: Miles Davis. Credit: Don Hunstein/AP Photo/Sony/Legacy)

In 1995, a frantic search was under way for a crucial 'cancer gene' called BRCA2. Scientists knew it was linked to hereditary cases of breast cancer. Professor Sir Mike Stratton was one of those racing to identify the gene. Annmarie Blomfield was one of the first women to be tested for it.

(Photo: A Scientist looks through a microscope: Credit: Science Photo Library)

In 1661, following the restoration of the monarchy, the body of Oliver Cromwell was dug up for ritual execution. Cromwell had overthrown King Charles I and ruled Britain during its only period as a republic. We hear from civil war historian Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer.

(Photo: The death mask of Oliver Cromwell, 1599 - 1658. Credit: Getty Images/Hulton Archive)

During the Lebanese civil war the hotel district in Beirut was turned into a battlefield. Hear from two hotel workers who worked at the luxury Holiday Inn, and who lived through what came to be known as The Battle of the Hotels.

Photo: The ruins of the Holiday Inn. Credit: Getty Images

The American journalist Terry Anderson was freed after nearly seven years in captivity on 4 December, 1991. He had been kidnapped by Shia militants in Lebanon during the country's civil war. Terry talks about his time in captivity.

(Photo: Terry Anderson and daughter Sulome, Credit: AP)