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Witness History Episodes

  1. The Man who Changed Parenting

    Baby and Child Care by Dr Benjamin Spock became a best-seller after publication in 1946

  2. Britain's First Commercial Surrogate Mother

    In 1985 surrogate mother Kim Cotton triggered a national debate and a change in the law

  3. The Sound of Music

    On the 50th anniversary of the film the Sound of Music, we talk to Johannes von Trapp

  4. The Highway of Death

    Allied forces bombed Iraqi vehicles leaving Kuwait at the end of the first Gulf War

  5. The Battle of Iwo Jima

    In February1945 US Marines fought the Japanese in one of the fiercest battles of WW

  6. Spanish Coup Attempt

    In February 1981 armed Civil Guards tried to take control of the Spanish parliament.

  7. The Looting of the Benin Bronzes

    The British attack Benin city in 1897 and steal its ancient artwork, the Benin bronzes.

  8. Aldrich Ames CIA Traitor

    In February 1994, CIA officer Aldrich Ames was arrested for spying for the Russians

  9. Saturday Night Fever

    The chart-topping Bee Gees sound track which made the movie a hit

  10. Larnaca Airport Shootout

    In 1978 Egyptian and Cypriot troops fought each other during a hostage crisis in Cyprus

  11. The Murder of Daniel Pearl

    In 2002 militants in Pakistan released a video of the killing of the US journalist

  12. The Murder of Archbishop Janani Luwum

    Ugandan Archbishop Janani Luwum was killed after standing up to dictator Idi Amin in 1977

  13. Martha Gellhorn

    In February 1998, the great war correspondent and writer, Martha Gellhorn, died

  14. Aung San

    The Burmese independence leader was born on February 13th 1915

  15. The Bombing of Dresden

    On February 13th 1945 the Allies began a series of air raids against the German city.

  16. Minamata Mercury Poisoning

    In the late 1950s thousands of people in Japan were poisoned by industrial waste

  17. Finland’s Winter War

    Finland's desperate fight for survival against the might of the Soviet Union in 1940.

  18. Sophiatown Removals

    In 1955 apartheid South Africa evicted people from a multi-racial area of Johannesburg

  19. The Conflict is Over

    In 1993 a message arrived in London which kickstarted the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

  20. The Greensboro Sit-In

    Four young black men protested against racial segregation in North Carolina in Feb 1960.

  21. McDonald's in Moscow

    In January 1990 the global fast food giant opened its first restaurant in the USSR

  22. The Atomic Spy

    The first spy of the Cold War, Klaus Fuchs, gave the West's nuclear secrets to Moscow

  23. Bertrand Russell

    Memories of the English analytic philosopher and political activist using BBC archive.

  24. The Family Doctor Turned Murderer

    In January 2000, Harold Shipman was found guilty of killing 15 of his female patients

  25. Black Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm

    The first major-party black candidate to make a bid for the US Presidency in 1972

  26. Greenland nuclear bomber crash

    In 1968 a US B52 plane with nuclear bombs on board crashed at Thule, Greenland.

  27. Auschwitz Train Escape

    How a handful of Belgian Jews escaped from a train heading to Auschwitz

  28. Fleeing the Spanish Civil War

    In January 1939 tens of thousands of people fled the advancing forces of General Franco

  29. Patrice Lumumba

    The African nationalist and Congo's first prime minister who was murdered in January 1961

  30. The Death of Al Capone

    Al Capone's grand niece talks about her memories of the famous Chicago mobster

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