In 1661 in England, 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 as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.

In 2014, Vincent Dowd spoke to civil war historian Charles Spencer.

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

Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Republic in a lavish ceremony on 4 December 1977.

He'd already been president for several years since taking power in a military coup - but he wanted more.

In 2018, Janet Ball spoke to his son Jean-Charles Bokassa.

(Photo: Jean-Bédel Bokassa at his coronation. Credit: Pierre Guillaud / AFP via Getty Images)

In 2012, archaeologists from the University of Leicester discovered the lost grave of King Richard III under a car park in Leicester in the English East Midlands.

Richard was the King of England more than 500 years ago and for centuries was portrayed as one of the great villains of English history.

He was killed in 1485 leading his army in battle against a rival claimant to the throne, Henry Tudor.

After the battle, King Richard III's corpse was stripped naked and paraded around before being hastily buried in a church within a friary in Leicester.

In 2020, Alex Last spoke to Dr Richard Buckley who led the archaeological team that dug up the remains.

(Photo: Remains of King Richard III. Credit: BBC)

Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953 was a watershed moment for television as millions watched the ceremony live.

But it nearly never happened as the UK Government initially refused to allow TV cameras inside Westminster Abbey.

The late Peter Dimmock, the BBC’s former head of outside broadcasts, looks back on the challenges the corporation faced.

Former maid of honour Lady Jane Rayne Lacey also shares her memories of the day with Vicky Farncombe, including the part that felt “too sacred” to televise.

(Photo: Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: Getty Images)

The Met Gala takes place annually on the first Monday in May.

In 1995, Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour chaired the huge fashion celebration for the first time that takes place at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Anna changed the date of the celebrity bash from December to May and is the driving force that transformed the event from a society dinner to the star-studded affair labelled “fashion’s biggest night”.

The shindig has been attended by stars including Rihanna, Beyoncé and Madonna.

Fashion podcaster and former Vogue International editor Suzy Menkes tells Alex Collins about her memories of the gala as it became a global sensation.

(Photo: Rihanna at the 2015 Met Gala wearing a dress designed by Guo Pei. Credit: Getty Images)

On 26 April 1998 leading human rights campaigner, Bishop Juan Gerardi, was attacked and killed in his home, just two days after presenting the conclusions of a major investigation into abuses committed during Guatemala’s civil war.

Bishop Gerardi’s report blamed the country’s military and paramilitary forces for the deaths of most of the 50,000 civilians killed during the conflict.

Ronalth Ochaeta, who worked alongside Bishop Gerardi, tells Mike Lanchin about the murdered bishop’s life-long quest for justice.

A CTVC production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Bishop Juan Gerardi. Credit: ODHAG)

James Watson and Francis Crick first published their discoveries about the structure of DNA on 25 April 1953.

Their findings were to revolutionise our understanding of life.

We hear archive recordings of their memories, 70 years on.

This programme, presented by Louise Hidalgo, was first broadcast in 2010.

(Photo: James Watson and Francis Crick. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1966, the artist Althea McNish designed fabrics for the Queen's tour of the West Indies when she visited Trinidad and Tobago.

Althea, who was born in Trinidad and moved to England in 1950, had her vibrant designs turned into the Queen's dresses and they were even used for curtains and cushions for the royal residence.

Rose Sinclair, a lecturer in textile design at Goldsmiths, University of London, speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.

(Photo: Althea McNish. Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In 1994, Russian conceptual artist Oleg Kulik posed naked, pretending to be a guard dog, attacking passers by in Moscow.

He was protesting conditions in post-Soviet Russia. He claimed Russians had lost their ability to relate to each other, and were reduced to living like animals.

In this programme, first broadcast in 2014, Dina Newman speaks to Kulik about his protest performance, which made him famous around the world.

(Photo: Oleg Kulik dressed as dog on car bonnet. Credit: Oleg Kulik)

In 1944, Bill Wynne who was serving with the U.S. Army during World War II, adopted a tiny Yorkshire terrier called Smoky.

When Bill caught dengue fever and was sent to hospital, his friends brought Smoky to see him.

Soon the nurses were taking Smoky to visit other patients who had been wounded in the Biak Island invasion. She had a powerful healing effect on the soldiers and is believed to be one of the world’s first therapy dogs.

Reena Stanton-Sharma talks to Bill's friend Adrian Brigham about Smoky, her role in World War II, and her TV career.

Archive: University of Tennessee, PDSA, WCPN.

(Photo: Bill Wynne and Smoky (centre) at the Vaughan General Hospital, in Illinois. Credit: Smoky War Dog, LLC)