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History told by the people who were there. For nine minutes every weekday, Witness History takes you back to moments which have shaped our world.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.

For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.

We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines鈥� life and Omar Sharif鈥檚 legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.

You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives鈥� ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.

Updated: daily
Episodes available: indefinitely

Episodes to download

  •

    Hitler's will

    Thu 24 Jan 2013

    In January 1946 a young British woman was given Hitler's will to translate.

  • The Capture of USS Pueblo

    Wed 23 Jan 2013

    American spy ship USS Pueblo was captured by North Korean forces forty-five years ago

  • The Hunger Winter

    Tue 22 Jan 2013

    How millions of Dutch faced starvation at the end of World War Two

  • The death of Bassel al Assad

    Mon 21 Jan 2013

    It is 19 years since the heir to the Syrian presidency died in a car crash.

  • The Arrest of Klaus Barbie

    Fri 18 Jan 2013

    Thirty years ago, the former Gestapo chief, Klaus Barbie, was arrested in Bolivia.

  • Black Stars of Ghana

    Thu 17 Jan 2013

    Striker Osei Kofi on how the Ghanaian football team dominated Africa in the 1960s.

  • Roe v Wade

    Wed 16 Jan 2013

    In 1973 the landmark decision was made in the US Supreme Court which made abortion legal

  • Chaim Soutine

    Tue 15 Jan 2013

    It is 120 years since the birth of the great Expressionist painter.

  • The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

    Mon 14 Jan 2013

    The US government's experiment on a group of African-American men without their knowledge

  • The Boxing Day tsunami and Aceh

    Fri 11 Jan 2013

    When the earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 hit Indonesia, over 130,000 people died.

  • Festival in the Desert

    Thu 10 Jan 2013

    In 2001 a festival held in the Sahara desert launched Tuareg music on the world scene

  • Tito on Vis

    Wed 9 Jan 2013

    In 1944 the Yugoslav partisan leader found sanctuary on a tiny island in the Adriatic.

  • Johnny Cash plays Folsom Prison

    Tue 8 Jan 2013

    It is 45 years since the Country and Western star played his first gig in a jail.

  • Operation No Living Thing

    Mon 7 Jan 2013

    In January 1999, a combined rebel force invaded the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown.

  • Donald Campbell's Fatal Crash

    Fri 4 Jan 2013

    In January 1967 the record-breaking driver was killed at the helm of his jetboat Bluebird

  • Waiting for Godot

    Thu 3 Jan 2013

    How Samuel Beckett's existentialist masterpiece revolutionised the theatre 60 years ago.

  • The Keeling Curve

    Wed 2 Jan 2013

    Meticulously recorded levels of CO2 in the atmosphere show how our climate is changing

  • Donald Woods flees South Africa

    New Year's Day 2013

    It is 35 years since the South African newspaper editor was forced into exile.

  • Pong and the birth of the computer game

    Mon 31 Dec 2012

    It is 40 years since a video game was invented which would change the way we play.

  • Big Brother - the beginning of reality TV

    Fri 28 Dec 2012

    In December 1999 a young Dutch man won the first ever Big Brother reality TV show.

  • Maitatsine

    Thu 27 Dec 2012

    In 1980 thousands died in the Nigerian city of Kano in an uprising by an Islamic sect.

  • Vietnam War - Christmas bombing campaign

    Boxing Day 2012

    40 years ago the US launched its heaviest aerial bombardment of the Vietnam War.

  • The Execution of the Ceau艧escus

    Christmas Day 2012

    On December 25th 1989, Nicolae and Elena Ceau艧escu were executed by firing squad.

  • Dusty Plays South Africa

    Christmas Eve 2012

    The British popstar Dusty Springfield went on tour in apartheid South Africa in 1964

  • Mad cow disease - CJD

    Fri 21 Dec 2012

    In the 1990s it became clear that a brain disease could be passed from cows to humans.

  • Libya and Weapons of Mass Destruction

    Thu 20 Dec 2012

    In December 2003 Colonel Gaddafi announced Libya was giving up trying to make WMD

  • The last men on the moon

    Wed 19 Dec 2012

    The story of the last US space mission to the moon 40 years ago

  • Piltdown Man

    Tue 18 Dec 2012

    In 1912, Britain's top palaeontologists were hoaxed by a "missing link" in human evolution

  • The M Room

    Mon 17 Dec 2012

    How exiles from the Nazis helped British intelligence listen in on German prisoners-of-war

  • Discovering Cleopatra's Palace

    Fri 14 Dec 2012

    Twenty years ago underwater excavations began which unearthed a 2000 year old palace.

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