Witness History Episodes Episode guide
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Vietnam War - Christmas bombing campaign
40 years ago the US launched its heaviest aerial bombardment of the Vietnam War.
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The Execution of the Ceauşescus
On December 25th 1989, Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu were executed by firing squad.
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Dusty Plays South Africa
The British popstar Dusty Springfield went on tour in apartheid South Africa in 1964
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Mad cow disease - CJD
In the 1990s it became clear that a brain disease could be passed from cows to humans.
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Libya and Weapons of Mass Destruction
In December 2003 Colonel Gaddafi announced Libya was giving up trying to make WMD
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The last men on the moon
The story of the last US space mission to the moon 40 years ago
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Piltdown Man
In 1912, Britain's top palaeontologists were hoaxed by a "missing link" in human evolution
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The M Room
How exiles from the Nazis helped British intelligence listen in on German prisoners-of-war
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Discovering Cleopatra's Palace
Twenty years ago underwater excavations began which unearthed a 2000 year old palace.
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Marsha Hunt and the 1960s
In the late 1960s a young black American woman rolled up in 'Swinging' London.
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Archive of Terror
How a huge cache of papers showed the true extent of torture across 1970s South America.
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Operation Restore Hope
In December 1992 US Marines landed on the beaches of Somalia.
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The Origin of Nollywood
The story of the 1992 film which launched Nigeria's hugely successful movie industry
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Landing in Red Square
A German teenager managed to evade Soviet defences to land in Moscow's Red Square.
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The Montreal massacre
On 6 December 1989, a college shooting in Canada left 14 women dead.
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Great London Smog of 1952
How the worst smog in living memory lasted five days and killed thousands of Londoners.
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The Bodyline Tour
How a cricket row between England and Australia sparked a diplomatic incident.
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The Bhopal gas disaster
In December 1984 thousands of people in the Indian city were killed by a chemical leak.
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First Successful Sex Change
The story of Christine Jorgensen who had surgery to change her sex from a man to a woman.
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Iran Hostage Crisis - The Canadian Story
In November 1979, Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran.
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Eric Hebborn - Forger Extraordinary
The story of one of the most prolific art forgers of the 20th Century.
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Isabelle Dinoire: The World's First Face Transplant
In November 2005, doctors in France carried out the first ever face transplant.
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The Secret Soviet Naval Mutiny
In November 1975, an incredible mutiny took place aboard a Soviet warship in the Baltic.
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The Trojan Room Coffee Pot
20 years ago the world's first webcam was set up - and it was pointed at a pot of coffee.
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Lee Harvey Oswald and the USSR
Lee Harvey Oswald had spent two years living in the USSR after serving there as a Marine
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The death of the Kabaka of Buganda
In 1969 the first President of Uganda, Edward Mutesa, died in exile in London.
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Windsor Castle Fire
How a fire devastated Queen Elizabeth's weekend home in 1992.
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Shoot
In November 1971 a young American artist decided to get a friend to take a shot at him.
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Cesar Chavez - Yes we can!
How the Mexican-American trade union leader Cesar Chavez inspired Latinos in the 1960s.
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The Lost Tribe Hoax
The Filipino stone-age cave dwellers who fooled the scientific community.
