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.
Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.
When you subscribe to Witness History, you’ll be taken inside turning points in world affairs, from West Africa’s fight back against Boko Haram in 2015, to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations.
You’ll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
You’ll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden’s Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles’ George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy’s show to a sudden end.
And if you’re curious about inventions, we’ll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.
If you’re new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.
Episodes to download
-
![]()
The Mumbai Train Bombings
Mon 11 Jul 2016
In July 2006, seven coordinated explosions tore through packed commuter trains in Mumbai.
-
![]()
War in Slovenia
Fri 8 Jul 2016
In 1991, Yugoslav army tanks moved into Slovenia to try to stop it becoming independent
-
![]()
Executions in Cuba
Thu 7 Jul 2016
In July 1989 four Cuban army officers were convicted of drug trafficking and executed.
-
![]()
The Sale of London Bridge
Wed 6 Jul 2016
In July of 1967 London Bridge put up for sale. American Robert P McCulloch bought it
-
![]()
Denmark's second EU Referendum
Tue 5 Jul 2016
In 1993, Denmark held a second referendum on greater EU integration
-
![]()
Born on the Fourth of July
Mon 4 Jul 2016
Ron Kovic is a former US Marine turned peace activist whose story became a Hollywood film
-
![]()
Ukraine's Wartime Ultra-Nationalists
Thu 30 Jun 2016
In 1941, far-right Ukrainians declared independence, hoping for Hitler's support.
-
![]()
The Great Plague
Wed 29 Jun 2016
In the summer of 1665, London was gripped by one of the worst epidemics in its history
-
![]()
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.
-
![]()
-
![]()
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
