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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 Cuyahoga River Fire

    Tue 28 Jun 2016

    In June 1969 the heavily polluted Cuyahoga River, in Ohio in the USA, caught fire

  • Forced Sterilisation in Peru

    Mon 27 Jun 2016

    In the 1990s more than 280,000 women were sterilised in Peru, many against their will.

  • The Khobar Towers Bombing - Saudi Arabia

    Fri 24 Jun 2016

    On June 25th 1996 a huge truck bomb was planted at a US housing complex in Saudi Arabia.

  • The Bobbitt Story

    Thu 23 Jun 2016

    On 23 June 1993 a young wife cut off her husband's penis in a frenzied attack

  • Space Crash

    Wed 22 Jun 2016

    Michael Foale was on board the Mir space station when a resupply vessel crashed into it

  • Black in the USSR

    Mon 20 Jun 2016

    Robert Robinson, a black American engineer, spent 43 years in the USSR against his will.

  • The Fall of Paris

    Fri 17 Jun 2016

    In June 1940, most of the residents of Paris fled as German soldiers occupied the city

  • Smoking and Lung Cancer

    Thu 16 Jun 2016

    It was not until the 1950s that the link was proven between cigarettes and lung cancer

  • The Eruption of Mount Pinatubo

    Wed 15 Jun 2016

    In 1991 one of the largest volcanic eruptions of recent times occurred in the Philippines

  • Moral Majority

    Tue 14 Jun 2016

    In June 1979 the Moral Majority was launched and changed the course of American politics

  • When TV Came to Bhutan

    Mon 13 Jun 2016

    In June 1999 the tiny Himalayan kingdom broadcast its first TV programme

  • The Battle for Mixed Race Marriage in the US

    Fri 10 Jun 2016

    How a white man and a black woman won the right to marry in America in the 1960s

  • Iraq's Secret Nuclear Programme

    Thu 9 Jun 2016

    In 1981 Israel destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor; it began Iraq's secret nuclear programme

  • Restoring 'The Last Supper'

    Wed 8 Jun 2016

    In 1999 Italian art experts completed an ambitious restoration of da Vinci's masterpiece.

  • Ritalin

    Tue 7 Jun 2016

    The drug Ritalin was developed in the 1940s - it's now used to treat ADHD.

  • The Arrest of James Earl Ray

    Mon 6 Jun 2016

    How the man convicted for killing Martin Luther King was detained in London in June 1968.

  • Date Rape

    Fri 3 Jun 2016

    In 1991 Katie Koestner went public with her experience of date rape and divided America.

  • Tanzania's Ujamaa policy

    Thu 2 Jun 2016

    In the late 1960s Tanzania experimented with a new form of socialism called Ujamaa.

  • Concordski Plane Crash

    Wed 1 Jun 2016

    In June 1973 Russia's supersonic rival to Concorde crashed at the Paris Air Show

  • Karakoram Highway

    Tue 31 May 2016

    In 1979 the Karakoram Highway between Pakistan and China was opened to the public

  • The Assassination of Trujillo

    Mon 30 May 2016

    On May 30th 1961 Rafael Trujillo, the dictator in the Dominican Republic, was shot dead.

  • The Thalidomide Trial

    Fri 27 May 2016

    In May 1968, executives of the German company that made the drug thalidomide go on trial

  • Yeltsin And The Chechen Rebels

    Thu 26 May 2016

    In 1996, a Chechen rebel delegation negotiated peace with Russia's President Yeltsin.

  • The Israeli Airlift of Ethiopian Jews

    Wed 25 May 2016

    In 1991 14000 Ethiopian Jews were airlifted to Israel during Operation Solomon

  • Hands Across America

    Tue 24 May 2016

    The day millions of Americans formed a human chain to try to end poverty and homelessness

  • The Execution of Anne Boleyn

    Mon 23 May 2016

    In May 1536 the Queen of England was executed on the orders of her husband, Henry VIII

  • Kia Ora: Maori Rights Breakthrough in New Zealand

    Fri 20 May 2016

    Telephone operator Naida Glavish became known for saying good morning to callers in Maori

  • Dien Bien Phu

    Thu 19 May 2016

    The French surrender at the siege of Dien Bien Phu ended their colonial rule of Vietnam

  • Marcus Garvey

    Tue 17 May 2016

    In 1916 Marcus Garvey arrived in the US urging black people to unite in a new nation.

  • Citizen Kane

    Mon 16 May 2016

    Archive interviews with Orson Welles about one of the greatest films of all time

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