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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    The Hungarian Uprising

    In October 1956 Hungarians took to the streets of Budapest to protest at Soviet rule.

  2. Shell Shock

    Veterans talk about their experience of 'shell shock' in recordings from the BBC archive

  3. Marvel Comics and 'The Fantastic Four'

    In 1961 a new generation of comic-book super heroes was launched in the US

  4. The Aberfan Disaster

    On 21st October 1966, tragedy struck a village in Wales when a landslide crushed a school

  5. Marcel Duchamp and His Fountain

    The story of the great French conceptualist artist Marcel Duchamp and his art

  6. The Mau Mau Rebellion

    During the 1950s in Kenya, rebels known as the Mau Mau were fighting against British rule

  7. Father Charles Coughlin - America's First Radio Priest

    How a controversial Catholic priest had millions of listeners in the 1930s.

  8. Bugging the US Embassy in Moscow

    The row over hi-tech spying in America's new diplomatic building in the USSR

  9. The Hoover Free Flights Promotion

    How an advertising campaign for vacuum cleaners went badly wrong.

  10. The Last Day of Lebanon's Civil War

    In October 1990, Syrian jets ousted their main opponent in Lebanon ending the civil war

  11. Chile Votes Against Pinochet

    In 1988 Chileans voted to end the brutal 15-year military rule of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

  12. The Spanish Influenza Pandemic

    In 1918, more than fifty million people died in a global flu pandemic.

  13. Irina Ratushinskaya

    The dissident poet was released from a labour camp on the eve of a US-Soviet summit

  14. Good Vibrations

    In October 1966, the Beach Boys released their "pocket symphony" Good Vibrations.

  15. Exposing Child Abuse in the Catholic Church

    In 1994, a TV programme in Northern Ireland lifted the lid on clerical child sex abuse.

  16. Thai University Massacre

    On October 6th 1976 Thai security forces opened fire on student demonstrators in Bangkok.

  17. The Poisoned Painkiller

    In October 1982 seven people in the US died after taking painkillers laced with cyanide.

  18. The Founding of Mensa

    In 1946, a chance encounter between two men launched the high IQ club, Mensa

  19. Sir Stanley Spencer

    He was one of Britain's most admired 20th century painters. His daughters remember him.

  20. The Mayak Nuclear Disaster

    On September 29th 1957 there was a major nuclear accident in the Soviet Union.

  21. The Attica Prison Rebellion

    In 1971 inmates rioted and seized control of the US jail, taking guards hostage

  22. South Africa's 1985 State of Emergency

    In the dying years of Apartheid, the white government was desperate to keep control.

  23. Outback Internment

    During WWII, Britain deported some civilians classed as 'enemy aliens' to Australia.

  24. The Curious Story of Mary Toft

    In September 1726, a woman called Mary Toft claimed she was giving birth to rabbits.

  25. The First Legal 'Physician-Assisted Suicide'

    On September 22nd 1996 an Australian doctor helped a cancer sufferer to die.

  26. Domestic Violence in Brazil

    In 2006 Brazil passed the ground-breaking "Maria da Penha" law to tackle domestic abuse.

  27. Voting Against the War on Terror

    Only one Congresswoman voted against the 'war on terror'. Her name was Barbara Lee.

  28. The West Australian Gold Rush

    In September 1892 gold was discovered in Western Australia

  29. The Capture of Abimael Guzman

    In September 1992 security forces in Peru arrested the leader of the Shining Path rebels.

  30. The First Tanks

    Tanks were first used in warfare on 15 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme

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