The sound of the past is in fact the sound of a ghost, it's a haunting magnetic pulse -which is all that's left of a mighty star that we can still hear today, thanks to the Centre for Astrophysics at Jodrell Bank. The explosion that killed this star was so intense, that it was seen in broad daylight across Europe, North America and China in the summer of the year 1054; at least that's what the year was called in Europe. So what was our world up to, when men and women, however they counted the years, were gazing up to the heavens at this dying star, which they could see and we can still hear? What were they doing, making, thinking? Well, a thousand years ago in America, pyramids are taking shape on the Mississippi river; the world's first bank notes are circulating in China; a magnificent Baghdad is the largest city in the world; in West Africa, Ghana rules a vast empire and, on a chilly island in northern Europe, there's a nasty surprise on the horizon for a king called Harold.