Witness History Episodes Episode guide
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The discovery of LSD
It is 70 years since a Swiss chemist stumbled on the controversial hallucinogenic drug.
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The First War in the Air
The story of a young British pilot who survived the world's first war in the air
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Mickey Mouse goes to Europe
When Disney opened a theme park in Europe, just outside Paris it was beset with problems.
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Lee Elder at The Masters
How Lee Elder broke one of the last barriers in US sport in 1975
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The Guinea Pig Club
How severely burnt Second World War airmen learnt to overcome their terrible injuries.
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The Great Famine in China
When Mao Zedong tried to force an industrial revolution in China millions starved to death
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Matabeleland Massacres
In the early 1980s, thousands of civilians were killed in Zimbabwe by the security forces.
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James Brown Concert at the Boston Garden
Held 24 hours after the death of Martin Luther King, the gig went ahead peacefully
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Howard Hughes
The reclusive American billionaire remembered by one of the few journalists to meet him.
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Operation Babylift
As the Vietnam war ended the US tried to fly thousands of orphans out of the country.
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The real Peter Pan
A family of real boys inspired JM Barrie to write the story of Peter Pan.
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Women and the law in Britain
Over 175 years ago, Caroline Norton began to fight for the rights of married women.
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The killing of Archbishop Romero
On 24 March 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot dead while saying mass in San Salvador.
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American prisoners in Vietnam
After their release in 1973, former US prisoners of war began to talk about torture.
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Unearthing the Terracotta Army
Discovered by chance by farmers digging a well, the secrets of the Qin Dynasty in China.
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Living in Ceausescu's Romania
The communist dictator ran one of the most feared secret police forces in Eastern Europe.
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The Profumo Affair
Fifty years ago, a sex scandal threatened to engulf the British government.
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Life in Ceausescu's Romania
Nicolae Ceausescu controlled Romania through his feared secret police - the Securitate.
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Iraq: Ten years on - The capture of Saddam Hussein
In December 2003 the former Iraqi leader was finally caught by American forces.
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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.
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Iraq: Ten years on - Looting in Baghdad
In April 2003, Baghdad descended into chaos as American troops took control of the city.
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Iraq: Ten years on - The invasion of Iraq
John Crawford was part of the US forces that rolled into Iraq in March 2003.
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Iraq: Ten years on - The bombardment of Baghdad
It is a decade since the US and its allies began their invasion of Iraq.
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Lebanon hostage crisis
In 1991 Giandomenico Picco went to Beirut to try to free Western hostages.
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Syrian uprising
Two years ago Syria's conflict began with demonstrations in the southern city of Daraa.
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Giandomenico Picco - Hostage negotiator
The UN envoy who tried to secure the release of Western hostages in Lebanon.
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Marie Stopes, Birth Control Pioneer
In March 1921 Marie Stopes opened Britain's first birth control clinic in London.
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The Theft of Charlie Chaplin's Body
In March 1978 thieves stole the body of Charlie Chaplin from a cemetery in Switzerland.
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The Tibetan uprising
In 1959 the people of Tibet turned against Chinese occupying forces.
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Cesar Chavez - Yes We Can!
How a Mexican-American civil rights leader coined the phrase that would inspire Obama.