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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I helped liberate Paris from the Nazis
Wed 21 Aug 2019
A former member of the French resistance remembers the drama of August 1944
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Finding El Salvador's missing children
Tue 20 Aug 2019
The search for hundreds of children kidnapped by the Salvadoran army during the civil war
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The first human Cyborg
Mon 19 Aug 2019
In 1998 a transponder was implanted into the body of British scientist, Kevin Warwick.
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Dr Seuss: the man who taught America to read
Fri 16 Aug 2019
The Dr Seuss books revolutionised reading in America in the 1950s.
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Catching 'Carlos the Jackal'
Thu 15 Aug 2019
How the CIA tracked down one of the world's most wanted men
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The warnings before 9/11
Wed 14 Aug 2019
Throughout 2001 the US authorities were given warnings that a terror attack was imminent
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The daily disposable contact lens
Tue 13 Aug 2019
How the contact lens became cheap enough to throw away after a day
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The division of Kashmir
Mon 12 Aug 2019
The October 1947 crisis which led to the partition of Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
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The Yangtze Incident
Fri 9 Aug 2019
How a British warship escaped from Chinese Communists on the Yangtze river in 1949
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British troops take to the streets of Northern Ireland
Thu 8 Aug 2019
In August 1969 the British Army was deployed on the streets of Londonderry
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Criminals in the community
Wed 7 Aug 2019
How Britain pioneered Community Service as an alternative to prison in the 1970s
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Under the North Pole
Tue 6 Aug 2019
In 1958 the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus travelled under the North Pole.
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The mass exodus of Algeria's 'Pieds Noirs'
Mon 5 Aug 2019
How thousands of French families fled from Algeria as it won independence
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The invasion of Kuwait
Fri 2 Aug 2019
Thousands of Iraqi troops and tanks began pouring into Kuwait on 2 August 1990
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The Warsaw uprising
Thu 1 Aug 2019
On August 1st 1944, Polish resistance fighters rose up against German occupying forces
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The anti-nuclear protesters who won
Wed 31 Jul 2019
The eight year protest campaign which stopped a nuclear plant at Wackersdorf in Germany.
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The treasures of Sutton Hoo
Tue 30 Jul 2019
A huge hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold was discovered in southern England in 1939.
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The death of David Kelly
Mon 29 Jul 2019
The weapons inspector's death deepened the row over the UK's part in the invasion of Iraq
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Humanity's earliest ancestor
Fri 26 Jul 2019
A fossilised skull found in Chad is thought to be the earliest-known ancestor of humans
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When Tunisia led on women's rights
Thu 25 Jul 2019
When Tunisia introduced divorce, abortion and votes for women ahead of much of the world.
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The Chappaquiddick Incident
Wed 24 Jul 2019
The car accident involving US Senator Edward Kennedy which left a young woman dead
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LGBT 'cooperative' marriages in China
Tue 23 Jul 2019
How LGBT people in China started arranging fake marriages to hide their sexuality
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Apollo 13
Thu 18 Jul 2019
The Moon mission that almost ended in tragedy after an explosion on board the spaceship.
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The Moon Landing
Wed 17 Jul 2019
In July 1969, Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the Moon.
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Valentina Tereshkova, cosmonaut
Tue 16 Jul 2019
The Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was the first woman to be sent into space
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Laika, the first dog in space
Mon 15 Jul 2019
The Russian stray was the first dog to be sent into orbit around the earth
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Kenya's ivory inferno
Fri 12 Jul 2019
How a dramatic bonfire in Nairobi National Park highlighted the threat from poaching
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Cuba executes top military officers
Thu 11 Jul 2019
Four army officers were sentenced to death for drug trafficking by the Castro government
