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Journey into Japan: Modernising Japan in the Meiji era

The restoration of Emperor Meiji in 1868 ushered in a period of rapid change in Japan. The country not only borrowed practices and technologies from Western countries, in less than forty years it too had become an imperialist power. This clip is fifth in a series of six.

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Weekend Magazine: The modern office workplace, 1960s style

How different was the Australia workplace half a century ago? This Weekend Magazine program from the mid-1960s looks at work in what was then the new Commonwealth Centre in Sydney, where 2,000 Commonwealth public servants were employed. It provides a glimpse of a world that has changed beyond recognition. As you watch the ...

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ABC Rosh Hashanah: The feast

Is there any day of the year when you and those in your community have a special meal, or feast? Australia has people from many countries, cultures and religions. That is why not all Australians have feast days on the same days. This clip explores the feast of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

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Weekend Magazine: Vinyl: the Australian record industry, 1963

Discover a time in Australia's past when the vinyl record industry was thriving. Today you can download your choice of music at almost any time or place. But in this clip from 1963 you will experience life before music downloads and compact discs (CDs): the age of vinyl records. These records created a teenage mass market ...

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Thinkabout, Talkabout: Rations and coupon shopping

Discover what it was like to go shopping in Australia during World War II. See how people in the 1940s had to live with restrictions on how much they could buy (rationing). Find out how rationing was an attempt to make the distribution of necessary goods, such as food and clothing, equal for everybody.

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ABC News: President Sukarno faces political unrest, 1967

How long can a president last in the top job when those in the government want him out? In this 1967 news clip, Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, is faced with political opposition. While he is still popular with the people, politicians speculate that he may not be in the job for long. Although Sukarno puts on a brave ...

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Journey into Japan: The end of Japan's isolation

Under the shoguns, Japan was deliberately isolated from the outside world from around 1600 CE. However, by the mid-19th century, Western imperialism was entering a new phase of expansion that no Asian state was able to resist. Discover what happened when the West came beating on the doors of a closed society. This clip ...

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Four Corners: African American disadvantage in the 1960s

Find out about the frustration and anger of African Americans and their experiences of racism in the 1960s. Discover what disadvantaged African Americans living in Harlem in 1968 had in common with African Americans living in the wealthy, advantaged suburbs.

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This Day Tonight: Sydney's Aboriginal rock carvings in danger, 1969

How and why do things that are precious and important sometimes get damaged or destroyed? This clip from 1969 gives us some answers. It explores what was happening to significant Aboriginal rock carvings in and around Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in New South Wales. We see many of the carvings, and hear a museum curator ...

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Four Corners: Sukarno's collaboration with Japan during WW II, 1966

Imagine that, in order to preserve your freedom, you had to fight alongside your enemy. During World War II, Indonesian nationalists - led by Sukarno - collaborated with Japanese invaders. Richard Oxenburgh's commentary provides a well-argued historical explanation for Sukarno's collaboration with the Japanese in Indonesia.

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The Navigators: Baudin sails north to Timor

Have you ever opened an exciting gift box to find nothing that you hoped for inside? French explorer Nicolas Baudin voyages to 'New Holland' to investigate the continent. This clip explains what he was expecting to see and why he was so disappointed with what he finds in Western Australia.

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Four Corners: Harlem co-op supermarket, 1968

What would you do if you found out that you were being sold inferior groceries, at higher prices, just because of the colour of your skin? Harlem resident Cora Walker explains that this was the situation faced by members of Harlem's African American community in the late 1960s. See how the residents joined together to address ...

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Four Corners: Konfrontasi: Indonesia's undeclared war, 1966

How do you distract your citizens from the hardships they face? You give them a common enemy. This clip from 1966 reveals the way in which President Sukarno rallied Indonesians behind an undeclared war against Malaysia, which he painted as a puppet of the United Kingdom.

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Outback House: Accommodation on the station

Imagine leaving home to travel back to a time over 150 years ago, to live and work on an outback farm. Sixteen Australians take part in a reality TV show about life on Oxley Downs, a sheep station built to look and work like a real station of the 1860s. Take a look at the buildings that will be home to the station's residents ...

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River Valley Civilisations: How did a river valley civilisation arise?

The world's first civilisations arose around rivers. Why do you think this was? Think about the characteristics of a civilisation and how advanced agricultural practices allowed civilisations to flourish. This video mentions four ancient civilisations. Can you think of other civilisations that emerged near a river?

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Cambodian refugees

How do people become refugees? From the late 1960s, the small Southeast Asian nation of Cambodia was dragged into a war that was not of its making. Many thousands of its people suffered terribly when their country was caught up in the Vietnam War. Watch as ABC reporter Andrew Swanton covers the flight of refugees into the ...

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Four Corners: Before the Referendum: Margaret Valadian speaks up

Imagine being asked to speak on behalf of your culture. Explore and compare some of the attitudes of and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in 1967. In the national referendum of that year, 90 per cent of Australian voters agreed that the affairs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be ...

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Paul Keating's 1992 Redfern speech

On 10 December 1992, Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating delivered a speech in Redfern, Sydney at a celebration of the International Year of the World's Indigenous People. The speech addressed many of the injustices suffered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the previous 200 years. Today, it is regarded ...

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In My Blood It Runs: Whose story of history?

People have different privileges and biases. While we may be born into certain privileges, we may also develop biases as we age and through the people we spend time with. The majority culture within a population has a certain privilege that comes from being part of the majority, and this often leads to "marginalisation" ...

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ABC Rosh Hashanah: Tashlikh

Have you ever done something that you thought was wrong? If so, what did you do about it? Most religions teach about what they see as right behaviour and wrong behaviour. Many of these religions expect or suggest that their followers who have done wrong to do certain things that will help them become better people. Explore ...