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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

  •

    War Photographer, Dickey Chapelle

    Fri 4 Nov 2016

    Photographer Dickey Chapelle was the first woman war reporter to be killed in Vietnam

  • Octavio Paz

    Thu 3 Nov 2016

    In October 1990 the Mexican poet and essayist was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

  • Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution

    Wed 2 Nov 2016

    A former communist Red Guard recalls his role in China's Cultural Revolution.

  • A Black GI in China

    Tue 1 Nov 2016

    How an African American soldier captured in the Korean war, decided to settle in China

  • Harry Houdini

    Mon 31 Oct 2016

    How a performance in London made the reputation of the world's greatest escape artist

  • The Abduction of Mehdi Ben Barka

    Fri 28 Oct 2016

    In 1965 French agents helped kidnap and disappear the Moroccan dissident in Paris

  • The Big Bang

    Thu 27 Oct 2016

    In 1986 London's Stock Exchange underwent one of the biggest shake-ups in its history.

  • The Hungarian Uprising

    Wed 26 Oct 2016

    In October 1956 Hungarians took to the streets of Budapest to protest at Soviet rule.

  • Shell Shock

    Tue 25 Oct 2016

    Veterans talk about their experience of 'shell shock' in recordings from the 麻豆社 archive

  • Marvel Comics and 'The Fantastic Four'

    Mon 24 Oct 2016

    In 1961 a new generation of comic-book super heroes was launched in the US

  • The Aberfan Disaster

    Fri 21 Oct 2016

    On 21st October 1966, tragedy struck a village in Wales when a landslide crushed a school

  • Marcel Duchamp and His Fountain

    Thu 20 Oct 2016

    The story of the great French conceptualist artist Marcel Duchamp and his art

  • The Mau Mau Rebellion

    Wed 19 Oct 2016

    During the 1950s in Kenya, rebels known as the Mau Mau were fighting against British rule

  • Father Charles Coughlin - America's First Radio Priest

    Tue 18 Oct 2016

    How a controversial Catholic priest had millions of listeners in the 1930s.

  • Bugging the US Embassy in Moscow

    Mon 17 Oct 2016

    The row over hi-tech spying in America's new diplomatic building in the USSR

  • The Hoover Free Flights Promotion

    Fri 14 Oct 2016

    How an advertising campaign for vacuum cleaners went badly wrong.

  • The Last Day of Lebanon's Civil War

    Thu 13 Oct 2016

    In October 1990, Syrian jets ousted their main opponent in Lebanon ending the civil war

  • Chile Votes Against Pinochet

    Wed 12 Oct 2016

    In 1988 Chileans voted to end the brutal 15-year military rule of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

  • The Spanish Influenza Pandemic

    Tue 11 Oct 2016

    In 1918, more than fifty million people died in a global flu pandemic.

  • Irina Ratushinskaya

    Mon 10 Oct 2016

    The dissident poet was released from a labour camp on the eve of a US-Soviet summit

  • Good Vibrations

    Fri 7 Oct 2016

    In October 1966, the Beach Boys released their "pocket symphony" Good Vibrations.

  • Exposing Child Abuse in the Catholic Church

    Thu 6 Oct 2016

    In 1994, a TV programme in Northern Ireland lifted the lid on clerical child sex abuse.

  • Thai University Massacre

    Wed 5 Oct 2016

    On October 6th 1976 Thai security forces opened fire on student demonstrators in Bangkok.

  • The Poisoned Painkiller

    Tue 4 Oct 2016

    In October 1982 seven people in the US died after taking painkillers laced with cyanide.

  • The Founding of Mensa

    Mon 3 Oct 2016

    In 1946, a chance encounter between two men launched the high IQ club, Mensa

  • Sir Stanley Spencer

    Fri 30 Sep 2016

    He was one of Britain's most admired 20th century painters. His daughters remember him.

  • The Mayak Nuclear Disaster

    Thu 29 Sep 2016

    On September 29th 1957 there was a major nuclear accident in the Soviet Union.

  • The Attica Prison Rebellion

    Wed 28 Sep 2016

    In 1971 inmates rioted and seized control of the US jail, taking guards hostage

  • South Africa's 1985 State of Emergency

    Tue 27 Sep 2016

    In the dying years of Apartheid, the white government was desperate to keep control.

  • Outback Internment

    Mon 26 Sep 2016

    During WWII, Britain deported some civilians classed as 'enemy aliens' to Australia.

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