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’ life and Omar Sharif’s 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’ 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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Hitler's beer hall putsch
Tue 19 Jan 2021
Adolf Hitler made his first attempt to take power in Germany in 1923
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Landing on Titan
Thu 14 Jan 2021
The remarkable mission to explore one of the moons of Saturn in 2005
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Cornelia Sorabji: India's first woman lawyer
Wed 13 Jan 2021
She was the first to graduate from Oxford and was a pioneer for women lawyers in Britain.
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Puerto Rican attack at the US Capitol
Tue 12 Jan 2021
How independence campaigners opened fire in Congress in 1954, wounding five US law-makers
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When Spain's parliament was stormed
Mon 11 Jan 2021
Armed Civil Guards took MPs hostage in Spain's parliamentary chamber in 1981
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The book that warned 2020 would bring disaster
Fri 8 Jan 2021
The book describing a sudden uncontrollable downturn that was ignored by governments.
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Sequencing the Ebola virus genome
Thu 7 Jan 2021
When the deadly Ebola virus broke out in West Africa scientists in the USA set to work
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The 'strike' in space
Wed 6 Jan 2021
How three astronauts on the Skylab space station fell out with mission control
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Buddhists and death row
Tue 5 Jan 2021
How criminals facing the death penalty in the USA found peace
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The oldest song in the world
Mon 4 Jan 2021
Deciphering the 3,500 year-old song discovered on a clay tablet in Syria
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Saving the Great Barrier Reef
Thu 31 Dec 2020
In the 1960s the Queensland government wanted to mine and drill for oil on the reef
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Le Corbusier and Chandigarh
Wed 30 Dec 2020
The modernist architect Le Corbusier agreed to build a 'city of the future' in India
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The building of the Aswan Dam
Tue 29 Dec 2020
One of the largest dams in the world, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt was completed in 1970
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It's a Wonderful Life
Christmas Day 2020
A former Hollywood child star remembers filming the classic Christmas movie in 1946.
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Studio Ghibli - Japan's Oscar-winning animators
Christmas Eve 2020
The early days of the studio which brought Japanese animation to a global audience
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Satyajit Ray - India's master of film
Wed 23 Dec 2020
An actor's memories of working with the Bengali director on the classic Apu trilogy
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The Great Dictator
Mon 21 Dec 2020
Charlie Chaplin's classic satirical film about Adolf Hitler was released in 1940
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The GDR's Namibian children
Fri 18 Dec 2020
At Christmas 1979 hundreds of Namibian children were taken to East Germany
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The blockade of Gibraltar
Thu 17 Dec 2020
How a Spanish blockade of the disputed British territory ended in December 1982.
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British reality TV is born
Wed 16 Dec 2020
The first British fly-on-the-wall documentary series aired on the BBC in 1974.
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The birth of Bangladesh
Tue 15 Dec 2020
Pakistan's first democratic elections led to the creation of a new country, Bangladesh
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White Christmas
Mon 14 Dec 2020
American entertainer Bing Crosby made 'White Christmas' one of the defining songs of WW2
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The return of the beaver
Fri 11 Dec 2020
Why beavers were officially reintroduced to the UK 400 years after they were wiped out
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Neanderthal cave mystery
Thu 10 Dec 2020
A remarkable discovery in a cave at Bruniquel in southern France in 1990
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Chief Albert Luthuli wins the Nobel Prize for Peace
Wed 9 Dec 2020
Albert Luthuli was the first African to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
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The pioneer of 'Mountain Filming'
Tue 8 Dec 2020
How a German filmmaker, Arnold Fanck, shot films high in the mountains in the 1920s
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The life and work of Chester Himes
Mon 7 Dec 2020
The African-American crime writer Chester Himes first found widespread success in France
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The V1 flying bomb
Fri 4 Dec 2020
How the first of the Nazi's new "revenge weapons" terrorised Londoners in WW2