How a botched press briefing opened the Berlin Wall in 1989
The Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989. The BBC and National Geographic trace how a botched press briefing turned months of protest into an open border.
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Six countries pooled coal and steel, and built the EU's machinery
The European Coal and Steel Community put French and German heavy industry under one authority in 1952. Its commission, court and assembly became the EU's.
How the Black Death spread, and why medieval doctors missed it
BBC Bitesize and National Geographic explain how a bacterium on rat fleas killed a third to half of Europe. Doctors blamed the four humours and bad air.
Europe's broadcasters borrowed Sanremo and built Eurovision
Eurovision began in 1955 as a plan by the new European Broadcasting Union. Its first contest, in Lugano in 1956, was an early live international broadcast.
Europe's only banned theatre company still performs, from exile
Belarus Free Theatre is the only company in Europe prohibited on political grounds. Its members left Minsk for London, and kept staging work from there.
Gulf Stream explains less of Europe's mild winters than thought
Climate models without the Gulf Stream still leave Europe milder than Canada. Atmospheric currents and air pressure across the Atlantic also play a part.
Iceland's Althing is called the oldest parliament. It has a gap.
Iceland dates its Althing to 930 and calls it the oldest parliament, though the assembly stopped sitting for about 45 years.
France's 35-hour law traded fewer hours for flexible shifts
France's working week fell to 35 hours under the loi Aubry. Its real effect was to make firms renegotiate contracts around flexible, annualised hours.