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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

  •

    The Search For Deep Throat

    Mon 2 Jul 2018

    In July 2005, the most famous informant in American history Deep Throat revealed himself

  • The President and the Gun Lobby

    Fri 29 Jun 2018

    Former President George Bush Senior's public row with the National Rifle Association.

  • Whiskey On The Rocks

    Thu 28 Jun 2018

    The Cold War stand-off when a Soviet submarine was stranded on a Swedish rock.

  • The SARS Emergency

    Wed 27 Jun 2018

    Early 2003 saw a medical emergency sweep across the world.

  • Veronica Guerin - Dying for the Story

    Tue 26 Jun 2018

    The Irish journalist murdered for her work exposing drug barons in the 1990s

  • The King of Lampedusa

    Mon 25 Jun 2018

    How 4,000 Italian troops surrendered to a young Jewish pilot from London, during WW2.

  • How the World Woke Up to Global Warming

    Fri 22 Jun 2018

    James Hansen got US politicians to listen to his warnings about climate change in 1988.

  • Demoted For Being Gay

    Thu 21 Jun 2018

    When the Israeli Army punished Colonel Uzi Even for being gay, he fought back.

  • Wittenoom: An Australian Tragedy

    Wed 20 Jun 2018

    How a town built around an asbestos mine made its residents fatally ill.

  • Bata the Shoemaker's Revolution

    Tue 19 Jun 2018

    Bata, a Czech company, pioneered assembly line shoemaking

  • The Battered Child

    Mon 18 Jun 2018

    The American doctor who forced the medical profession to face up to child abuse.

  • The Death of Kim Il-sung

    Fri 15 Jun 2018

    The founding father of communist North Korea died in July 1994.

  • The Unified Korean Table Tennis Team

    Thu 14 Jun 2018

    How ping pong brought together athletes from bitter rivals North and South Korea.

  • The GI Who Chose China

    Wed 13 Jun 2018

    After the Korean war ended a few American prisoners chose to try life under communism.

  • The Beginning of the Korean War

    Tue 12 Jun 2018

    North Korean communist troops invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950.

  • Korea Divided

    Mon 11 Jun 2018

    The Korean peninsula was split between North and South at the end of World War Two.

  • The Execution of Adolf Eichmann

    Fri 8 Jun 2018

    Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was executed in the early hours of June 1st 1962

  • The Death of General Sani Abacha

    Thu 7 Jun 2018

    Nigeria's military ruler died suddenly in June 1998.

  • The 1968 Belgrade Student Revolt

    Wed 6 Jun 2018

    In June 1968, students in Belgrade rebelled against Yugoslavia's 'market socialism'

  • The Assassinaton Attempt that Sparked a Middle East War

    Tue 5 Jun 2018

    In 1982, a Palestinian gunman attacked the Israeli ambassador to London, Shlomo Argov

  • Couch to 5K

    Mon 4 Jun 2018

    The birth of the running programme that got millions off their sofas and out jogging

  • Lyuba the Baby Mammoth

    Fri 1 Jun 2018

    How a herdsman found the perfectly preserved body of a 42,000-year-old baby mammoth.

  • Isaac Asimov and Science Fiction

    Thu 31 May 2018

    The American writer and scientist considered one of the greats of Science Fiction.

  • Free Health Care For All

    Wed 30 May 2018

    In 1948 Britain launched the National Health Service, NHS

  • The Thalidomide Trial

    Tue 29 May 2018

    Executives of the German company that made the drug Thalidomide went on trial in May 1968

  • The First Bicycle Sharing Scheme

    Mon 28 May 2018

    In the mid 1960s a Dutch engineer came up with a scheme to share bikes and cut pollution.

  • The 麻豆社 at Caversham

    Fri 25 May 2018

    For 75 years the 麻豆社 ran a monitoring service based in an English stately home.

  • Shoah the Film

    Thu 24 May 2018

    Shoah, Claude Lanzmann's epic nine-hour film on the Holocaust was released in spring 1985

  • Lesbian Protest on 麻豆社 News

    Wed 23 May 2018

    On 23 May 1988 a group of lesbian activists invaded a 麻豆社 TV news studio as it was on air

  • Pakistan's Theatre Revolution

    Tue 22 May 2018

    The launch of Ajoka, the group which pioneered theatre for social change in Pakistan.

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