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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    Operation Babylift

    As the Vietnam war ended the US tried to fly thousands of orphans out of the country.

  2. The real Peter Pan

    A family of real boys inspired JM Barrie to write the story of Peter Pan.

  3. Women and the law in Britain

    Over 175 years ago, Caroline Norton began to fight for the rights of married women.

  4. The killing of Archbishop Romero

    On 24 March 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot dead while saying mass in San Salvador.

  5. American prisoners in Vietnam

    After their release in 1973, former US prisoners of war began to talk about torture.

  6. Unearthing the Terracotta Army

    Discovered by chance by farmers digging a well, the secrets of the Qin Dynasty in China.

  7. Living in Ceausescu's Romania

    The communist dictator ran one of the most feared secret police forces in Eastern Europe.

  8. The Profumo Affair

    Fifty years ago, a sex scandal threatened to engulf the British government.

  9. Life in Ceausescu's Romania

    Nicolae Ceausescu controlled Romania through his feared secret police - the Securitate.

  10. Iraq: Ten years on - The capture of Saddam Hussein

    In December 2003 the former Iraqi leader was finally caught by American forces.

  11. Iraq: Ten years on - Working for the Americans

    How one Iraqi who took a job with the US military, was threatened with death as a traitor.

  12. Iraq: Ten years on - Looting in Baghdad

    In April 2003, Baghdad descended into chaos as American troops took control of the city.

  13. Iraq: Ten years on - The invasion of Iraq

    John Crawford was part of the US forces that rolled into Iraq in March 2003.

  14. Iraq: Ten years on - The bombardment of Baghdad

    It is a decade since the US and its allies began their invasion of Iraq.

  15. Lebanon hostage crisis

    In 1991 Giandomenico Picco went to Beirut to try to free Western hostages.

  16. Syrian uprising

    Two years ago Syria's conflict began with demonstrations in the southern city of Daraa.

  17. Giandomenico Picco - Hostage negotiator

    The UN envoy who tried to secure the release of Western hostages in Lebanon.

  18. Marie Stopes, Birth Control Pioneer

    In March 1921 Marie Stopes opened Britain's first birth control clinic in London.

  19. The Theft of Charlie Chaplin's Body

    In March 1978 thieves stole the body of Charlie Chaplin from a cemetery in Switzerland.

  20. The Tibetan uprising

    In 1959 the people of Tibet turned against Chinese occupying forces.

  21. Cesar Chavez - Yes We Can!

    How a Mexican-American civil rights leader coined the phrase that would inspire Obama.

  22. Gay in the US military

    In 1975 a US airman announced he was gay, to test the military's attitude to homosexuals.

  23. Viagra

    Fifteen years ago a new "wonder" drug was approved for use in the United States.

  24. Skiing in the Swat Valley

    One man's mission to bring fun back to the battle-scarred Swat Valley in Pakistan.

  25. The death of Joseph Stalin

    60 years ago the Soviet dictator died and the whole of the USSR was plunged into mourning.

  26. Armenia and Azerbaijan

    It is 25 years since violence broke out in the city of Sumgait in Azerbaijan.

  27. The Cultural Revolution in China

    In the mid 1960s the young people of China were encouraged to turn on their elders.

  28. The Bethnal Green tube disaster

    It is 70 years since 173 people were crushed to death at an air-raid shelter in London

  29. Choosing a Pope

    Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor tells the story of electing Pope Benedict in April 2005

  30. The standoff at Wounded Knee

    Forty years ago, American Indian activists staged a protest against the US authorities.

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