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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Apollo 8
Wed 12 Dec 2018
How the first mission to orbit the Moon captured the world's imagination in December 1968
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When China Joined the WTO
Tue 11 Dec 2018
China had to open up its strict communist system to join the World Trade Organisation
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Cicely Saunders And The Modern Hospice Movement
Mon 10 Dec 2018
The British woman who revolutionised the treatment of dying patients around the world.
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Angela Merkel's Rise to Power
Fri 7 Dec 2018
Angela Merkel rose to power in German politics after the fall of her mentor, Helmut Kohl.
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Adopted By The Man Who Killed My Family
Thu 6 Dec 2018
Ramiro Osorio Cristales was five when his family was massacred by the Guatemalan army.
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The Armenian Earthquake
Wed 5 Dec 2018
A catastrophic earthquake hit northern Armenia on December 7th 1988, hear from a survivor
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The Coronation of Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Tue 4 Dec 2018
On 4 December 1977 Jean-Bédel Bokassa was crowned Emperor of the Central African Republic
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Berlin's Rubble Women
Mon 3 Dec 2018
At the end of WW2 much of Germany's capital had been destroyed. Women helped clear it up.
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Norway's EU referendum
Fri 30 Nov 2018
In November 1994, Norwegians voted in a referendum not to join the European Union
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The Discovery of Dinosaur Eggs
Thu 29 Nov 2018
The fossil find in 1923 in Mongolia helped to prove that dinosaurs hatched their young.
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The man who inspired Britain's first Aids charity
Wed 28 Nov 2018
In 1982, Terrence Higgins became the first known British victim of HIV/AIDS.
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The Antarctic Whale Hunters
Tue 27 Nov 2018
Memories of the bloody Antarctic industry which left whales on the brink of extinction.
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The Destruction Of Iraq's Marshlands
Mon 26 Nov 2018
When Iraq's marshes became a hiding place for rebels, Saddam Hussein destroyed them.
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The USSR Opens Up to the West
Fri 23 Nov 2018
Four years after Stalin's death, Moscow threw a festival for 30,000 foreign students.
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The Last Days of Yasser Arafat
Thu 22 Nov 2018
The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in November 2004
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The Story Behind The Man Who Shot JFK
Wed 21 Nov 2018
What did Lee Harvey Oswald do for two years in the Soviet city of Minsk?
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The 'Braceros', America's Mexican Guest Workers
Tue 20 Nov 2018
How hundreds of thousands of Mexicans were hired to work legally in US farms.
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The Funeral of the Duke of Wellington
Mon 19 Nov 2018
Recorded memories of the funeral in 1852 of the Duke of Wellington who defeated Napoleon.
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Britain's Little Blue Disability Car
Fri 16 Nov 2018
For decades disabled people in the UK were offered tiny, three-wheeled, turquoise cars
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Japanese Murders in Brazil
Thu 15 Nov 2018
Fanatics killed Japanese immigrants who accepted that Japan had surrendered in WW2.
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The Shah in Exile
Wed 14 Nov 2018
Iranians stormed the US embassy in Iran in November 79 after America allowed in the Shah
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Jewish in Imperial Russia
Tue 13 Nov 2018
A young woman's rare account of Jewish life in imperial Russia.
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How The Brazilian Dictatorship Made My Father Disappear
Mon 12 Nov 2018
Writer Marcelo Rubens Paiva remembers the day his father was taken by the military.
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WW1: Revolution in Germany
Thu 8 Nov 2018
Eyewitness accounts of the collapse of Germany in the final weeks of war in November 1918
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Women Nurses during World War One
Wed 7 Nov 2018
Thousands of women volunteered for war work during WW1. Hear archive from one of them.
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African Troops during World War One
Tue 6 Nov 2018
Thousands of East Africans were conscripted to fight for Britain and Germany during WW1
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The Battle of Passchendaele
Mon 5 Nov 2018
It was one of the battles which symbolised the horror and futility of WW1
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A Kristallnacht story
Fri 2 Nov 2018
Nora Krug investigated Nazi attacks in her German hometown on 9 November 1938
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Why I Slapped the German Chancellor
Thu 1 Nov 2018
In November 1968 a young activist hit Germany's leader to draw attention to his Nazi past
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Princess Margaret And The War Hero
Wed 31 Oct 2018
How a love affair between the Queen's sister and Captain Peter Townsend gripped Britain.
