Witness History Podcast
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.
Episodes to download
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The Prestige Oil Disaster in Spain
Wed 29 Nov 2017
How thousands of volunteers cleaned up after a huge environmental disaster in 2002
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The Audacious Plot to Kill a Colonel
Tue 28 Nov 2017
How El Salvador's leftist rebels led a top army officer into a deadly trap
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The Case of Alger Hiss
Mon 27 Nov 2017
The conviction of diplomat Alger Hiss was one of America's most notorious spy cases
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The Exile of Wolf Biermann
Fri 24 Nov 2017
East Germany's most famous singer-songwriter was exiled to the West in November 1976.
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Toy Story - The First Digitally-Animated Feature Film
Thu 23 Nov 2017
It was a box-office hit and a revolution in the world of animated films.
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The Assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem
Wed 22 Nov 2017
The president of South Vietnam was overthrown and murdered in a coup in November 1963.
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The Man Who Prosecuted Charles Manson
Tue 21 Nov 2017
Charles Manson's followers murdered 9 people on his orders. But how to prove his guilt?
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The Siege of Mecca
Mon 20 Nov 2017
In 1979 Islamic militants took over the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam
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Botswana's Diamonds
Fri 17 Nov 2017
Huge diamond deposits were first discovered in the Kalahari desert in Botswana in 1967
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The 'Disappeared' of Lebanon
Thu 16 Nov 2017
Searching for the thousands who went missing during Lebanon's brutal civil war.
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The British Love Affair with Curry
Tue 14 Nov 2017
Indian restaurants first became popular in the UK in the 1950s.
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World War One: Ordinary Lives
Fri 10 Nov 2017
Recordings of two people who felt the cost of war both on the battlefield and at home
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Laika the Space Dog
Wed 8 Nov 2017
The Russian street dog was the first living creature to orbit the Earth.
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The Russian Revolution: The Bolsheviks Take Control
Tue 7 Nov 2017
Eyewitness accounts of the Russian Revolution of 7 November 1917
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Osama Bin Laden's Last Interview
Mon 6 Nov 2017
Osama bin Laden spoke to journalist Hamid Mir as US-led forces closed in after 9/11.
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The Case That Saved Sex on the Internet
Thu 2 Nov 2017
In 1997 the US Supreme Court ruled against censoring sex on the internet.
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Oscar Niemeyer's Forgotten Masterpiece
Wed 1 Nov 2017
In the Lebanese city of Tripoli there is an exceptional architectural site.
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Martin Luther's 95 Theses
Tue 31 Oct 2017
How German monk Martin Luther started a religious revolution
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The Murder of Brazil's Leading Journalist
Mon 30 Oct 2017
Journalist Vladimir Herzog was killed in detention by the secret police in October 1975.
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A Literary Love Affair
Fri 27 Oct 2017
How Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir met and fell in love in Paris in October 1929
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The Death of Dele Giwa
Thu 26 Oct 2017
An eyewitness to the assassination of the famous Nigerian journalist Dele Giwa in 1986
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The Fake IDs That Saved Jewish Lives
Wed 25 Oct 2017
How tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews escaped the Nazis by using false papers.
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Private Eye
Tue 24 Oct 2017
A new satirical magazine called Private Eye was published in London in October 1961.
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Romania's Abortion Ban
Mon 23 Oct 2017
Dictator Nicolae Ceausescu made abortion illegal in October 1966.
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The 43 Group: Battling British Fascism
Fri 20 Oct 2017
How British Jewish ex-servicemen fought fascists on the streets of Britain after WW2
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The Mysterious Death of Samora Machel
Thu 19 Oct 2017
The socialist leader of Mozambique was killed in a plane crash and many were suspicious.
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Moscow Theatre Siege
Wed 18 Oct 2017
Svetlana Gubareva recalls her ordeal when Chechen rebels seized a Moscow theatre in 2002.
