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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    The ‘Barricades’ of Latvia

    More than 500,000 people barricaded the streets of Riga in January 1991

  2. Tamoxifen: Breast cancer ‘wonder drug’

    How the drug tamoxifen became a global success in breast cancer treatment

  3. Creating the first emoji

    In 1999, Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita created a global phenomena - the first emoji

  4. When disposable nappies were invented

    The story of how disposable nappies were invented.

  5. Aibo: The world’s first robot dog

    The world's first robot dog called Aibo, sold out in just 20 minutes in 1999

  6. Inventing Rubik’s Cube

    In 1974, a Hungarian architect, Ernő Rubik invented his bestselling puzzle

  7. Invention of the ballpoint pen

    In 1938 a Hungarian journalist László Bíró invented the ballpoint pen

  8. A right royal night out

    Princess Diana, Kenny Everett and Freddie Mercury went on a night out in London in 1988

  9. When tourism came to the Maldives

    In February 1972 the first group of tourists arrived in the Maldives

  10. The National Health Service begins

    The UK’s National Health Service started on 5 July 1948

  11. Longest-serving democratically elected communist government

    A democratically elected communist government came to power in eastern India in 1977

  12. The trial of John Demjanjuk

    In 1986, John Demjanjuk was accused of being ‘Ivan the Terrible’

  13. I made Lady Gaga's meat dress

    In 2010 Lady Gaga attended the MTV Video Music Awards in a dress made out of beef

  14. The 'graveyard' for communist statues

    Communist statues in Hungary's capital Budapest were moved to Memento Park in 1993

  15. Sampoong department store disaster

    On 29 June 1995 the Sampoong Department Store in South Korea collapsed killing 502 people

  16. First reports of Ebola

    Ebola's first documented outbreak emerged in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976

  17. JFK’s Ich Bin Ein Berliner speech

    On 26 June 1963, United States President John F Kennedy gave a speech in Berlin

  18. My dad played golf on the moon

    In 1971 Alan Shepard played golf on the moon

  19. The Empire Windrush arrives

    On 22 June 1948, the Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in England

  20. Anti-gay police raid at Tasty nightclub

    On 7 August 1994, police raided Tasty, a gay nightclub in downtown Melbourne, Australia

  21. The Somali pilot ordered to bomb his own country

    Somali fighter pilot Ahmed Mohamed Hassan faced a terrible choice in 1988

  22. Uprising in East Germany

    On 16 June 1953 East German workers went on strike in protest at Soviet rule

  23. Ming Smith makes history at MoMA

    MoMA bought photos from an African-American woman for the first time in 1979.

  24. Sir Don McCullin’s photo of a US marine

    In 1968, British photographer travelled to Vietnam for his second ever war assignment

  25. Malick Sidibé: Mali’s star photographer

    Malick Sidibé photographed life in Mali after its independence from France in 1960.

  26. A Great Day in Harlem: The story behind the iconic jazz photo

    In 1958, aspiring photographer Art Kane captured 57 jazz legends in one immortal image

  27. Lee Miller in Hitler's bath

    In 1945 the war correspondent Lee Miller was photographed in Adolf Hitler's bath

  28. 1955 Le Mans disaster

    In June 1955, more than 80 people were killed and 100 injured at the Le Mans 24-hour race

  29. Last communist march before Hitler

    On 25 January 1933 the last legal communist march was held in Berlin

  30. Fighting slavery in Niger

    In 2005, Ilguilas Weila organised a ceremony to free 7,000 enslaved people in Niger

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