Witness History Episodes Episode guide
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Riverdance
Irish dance sensation Riverdance debuted at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin
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The Pope in Syria - 2001
In May 2001 Pope John Paul the Second made a historic visit to Syria
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Kim Philby: The Third Man
In May 1988, the death was announced in Moscow of the English spy Kim Philby.
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Escape from the South Atlantic
In the spring of 1982 Britain and Argentina went to war over the Falkland Islands.
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The Imaginary War Heroes
During World War Two, Soviet propaganda promoted a heroic feat that never happened.
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Hitler's Nuclear Programme
Nazi Germany had a nuclear programme, which could have given Hitler an atomic bomb
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The Belfast Blitz
In 1941, Belfast in Northern Ireland was devastated by German bombing
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Ernest Hemingway in Cuba
Alberto Ramos remembers his time working for the great American novelist in Cuba.
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U2 Spy Plane
In May 1960 Gary Powers was taken captive by the Soviets when his spy plane was shot down
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The Salem Witches
In 1692 nineteen men and women were convicted of witchcraft and executed in America.
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The Creation of the Mini
In 1959 the British Motoring Corporation unveiled a very small new family car - the Mini
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The McCarthy Era
In spring 1950, an American academic was wrongly named as the main Soviet agent in the US
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The Funeral of Charles Darwin
The great English naturalist Charles Darwin is buried at Westminster Abbey in April 1882
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Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
In April 1986 a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine
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Yves Saint Laurent and Morocco
In 1966 the great French fashion designer went to Morocco for the first time
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Shakespeare's Jubilee
How actor David Garrick organised the first national celebration of Shakespeare in 1769
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Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
An industrial disaster in New York in 1911 led to huge social reforms.
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Fighting for Castro at the Bay of Pigs
A member of Cuba's communist militia recalls battling US-backed invaders in April 1961
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The Harrier in the Falklands War
A Harrier pilot remembers the air battle over the Falklands in 1982
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Haile Selassie In Jamaica
On 21 April 1966 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia arrived in Jamaica
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The Spanish Republic
How writers and artists campaigned to bring culture to every corner of 1930s Spain
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Executed for Being Too Capitalist
In 1961, in Soviet Central Asia, 21 managers were executed for using capitalist methods.
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The Amritsar Massacre of 1919
On 13 April 1919, the British Indian Army fired on an unarmed crowd, killing hundreds
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The First Starbucks
In 1971 the first Starbucks coffee shop opened in Seattle.
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Angela Merkel
On April 10 2000, Angela Merkel became the first woman to lead a German political party.
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A Japanese Royal Wedding
In a change to tradition Japan's Crown Prince Akihito married a non-royal, in April 1959.
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The Ogaden War
In 1977 Somalia invaded Ethiopia in an attempt to take control of disputed territory.
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Mallory on Everest
In 1999 the body of legendary British mountaineer, George Mallory, was found on Everest.
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Romania's Orphans
In 1989 news began to emerge of terrible conditions in Romania's orphanages.
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The Execution of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
On April 4th 1979 Pakistan's first democratically elected Prime Minister was hanged.