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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The slaves who defeated Napoleon
Thu 3 Dec 2020
The first successful slave uprising in modern times, it prompted the abolition of slavery
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France's Muslim headscarf ban
Wed 2 Dec 2020
A law banning religious clothing from French state schools came into effect in 2004
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Iraq's pioneering feminist
Tue 1 Dec 2020
Dr Naziha Al-Dulaimi was the first woman to hold a ministerial office in the Arab world
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How Ethiopian rebels took power in 1991
Mon 30 Nov 2020
In 1991 a Tigrayan-led rebel movement took power in Addis Ababa ending years of war
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The fight for disabled rights in the UK
Fri 27 Nov 2020
The wheelchair warriors who brought London to a standstill to make their point
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Rwanda at the Paralympics
Thu 26 Nov 2020
In 2012, Rwanda's sitting volleyball team became their country's first Paralympians
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India's campaign for disability rights
Wed 25 Nov 2020
How activists forced through the first law to help tens of millions of disabled Indians
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Britain's little blue disability car
Tue 24 Nov 2020
For decades disabled people in the UK were offered tiny, three-wheeled cars for transport
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When the Egyptian president went to Israel
Fri 20 Nov 2020
Why Anwar Sadat became the first Egyptian president to visit Israel in November 1977
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Our Bodies, Ourselves
Thu 19 Nov 2020
The story of a radical book about women’s health and sexuality.
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America's WW2 refugee camp
Wed 18 Nov 2020
How nearly a thousand Jewish refugees were housed in an old fort near New York during WW2
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The world's first woman premier
Tue 17 Nov 2020
In 1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka became the world's first woman Prime Minister
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Captured by Somali pirates
Mon 16 Nov 2020
Captain Colin Darch and his crew were held hostage by pirates for 47 days in 2008
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The 'good enough' mother
Fri 13 Nov 2020
Donald Winnicott helped mothers understand babies through psychoanalysis in the 1940s.
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When Pluto lost its planet status
Thu 12 Nov 2020
An international committee of astronomers agreed Pluto wasn't really a planet in 2006
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Makaton - the signing system that changes lives
Tue 10 Nov 2020
The creation of a communication system for people with learning difficulties in the 1970s
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The Guerrilla Girls
Mon 9 Nov 2020
The women who launched an anonymous poster campaign against sexism and racism in art.
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The church that rose from the rubble
Fri 6 Nov 2020
Reconstructing Dresden's historic baroque church.
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The 1945 Pan-African Congress
Thu 5 Nov 2020
How a meeting in Manchester shaped the post-war struggle against colonialism
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The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin
Wed 4 Nov 2020
The Israeli PM was shot by an extremist opposed to the peace process on November 4th 1995
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The sex musical that wowed New York and London
Mon 2 Nov 2020
In 1969 a theatrical revue called Oh Calcutta opened. It featured male and female nudity.
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With the president on 9/11
Fri 30 Oct 2020
How former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card broke news of 9/11 to President Bush
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Ronald Reagan and the Moral Majority
Thu 29 Oct 2020
How US religious conservatives organised in the 1970s to get Republicans elected.
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The Watergate scandal
Wed 28 Oct 2020
The investigation that led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon in 1974.
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Shirley Chisholm - the black woman who tried to be president
Tue 27 Oct 2020
The pioneering politician who launched a run for the US presidency in 1972.
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When JFK won the US presidency
Mon 26 Oct 2020
The US election of 1960 was a close race between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
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Nasa's pioneering black women
Fri 23 Oct 2020
The mathematicians who worked behind the scenes on the American space programme
