Witness History Podcast
History told by the people who were there. For nine minutes every weekday, Witness History takes you back to moments which have shaped our world.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron 鈥� Argentina鈥檚 Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous 鈥榯ear down this wall鈥� speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler鈥檚 List; and Jacques Derrida, France鈥檚 鈥榬ock star鈥� philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal ; and the death of one of the world鈥檚 oldest languages.
Episodes to download
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Yasser Arafat Arrives in Gaza
Fri 5 Jul 2013
When the Palestinian leader was allowed to return from exile to the Gaza strip in 1994
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Ludwig Wittgenstein
Thu 4 Jul 2013
How the publication of Philosophical Investigations in 1953 revolutionised philosophy
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Penguin Rescue
Wed 3 Jul 2013
The mission to save thousands of African penguins from an oil spill in July, 2000
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Chilean Students Set on Fire
Tue 2 Jul 2013
In July 1986 two students were set on fire by Chilean government soldiers
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The Battle of Gettysburg
Mon 1 Jul 2013
It is 150 years since the Battle of Gettysburg, a turning point in the American Civil War
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Iraq's Sectarian Violence
Fri 28 Jun 2013
The recent surge in violence in Iraq has echoes of the sectarian conflict in 2006-07
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JFK in Ireland
Thu 27 Jun 2013
Novelist Colm Toibin recalls US President John F Kennedy's visit to Ireland in June 1963
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Smoking and Lung Cancer
Wed 26 Jun 2013
It took until the 1950s for researchers to connect smoking with lung cancer
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War Requiem by Benjamin Britten
Tue 25 Jun 2013
It is regarded as one of the most important pieces in 20th Century English music.
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Ultrasound
Mon 24 Jun 2013
It's 55 years since a picture of a foetus inside the womb was first published.
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The first woman in space
Fri 21 Jun 2013
In June 1963 Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova went into orbit.
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Murder in Managua
Thu 20 Jun 2013
In June 1979 an American TV reporter was shot dead by government forces in Nicaragua
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Rocky Horror Show
Wed 19 Jun 2013
It is 40 years since the opening of a comedy musical which would become a cult phenomenon
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The Execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
Tue 18 Jun 2013
It is 60 years since the American couple were executed for spying
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Gay Marriage
Mon 17 Jun 2013
The first gay marriage in America took place more than 40 years ago in Minnesota.
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The Pentagon Papers
Fri 14 Jun 2013
In 1971 one man leaked thousands of pages of secret US government documents to the press.
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Post-war Berlin
Thu 13 Jun 2013
A child's eye view of life in Berlin in the aftermath of World War II
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Nigeria's Lost Election
Wed 12 Jun 2013
The election of Chief MKO Abiola 20 years ago, which was annulled by the military
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Escape from Alcatraz
Tue 11 Jun 2013
In June 1962 three prisoners escaped from the maximum security US jail.
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Robert Kennedy's Funeral Train
Fri 7 Jun 2013
How huge crowds of Americans mourned Bobby Kennedy after his 1968 assassination.
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Stalin's Gulag
Thu 6 Jun 2013
Millions of people were sent to brutal labour camps in the USSR under Joseph Stalin
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The Oklahoma Bomber
Wed 5 Jun 2013
Twelve years ago, Timothy McVeigh was executed for carrying out the 1995 Oklahoma bombing
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Bristol Bus Boycott
Tue 4 Jun 2013
How a protest by black activists in 1963 led to the UK's first anti-racism laws
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The Nepali Royal Massacre
Mon 3 Jun 2013
Twelve years ago, the Crown Prince of Nepal massacred his family at the royal palace
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The Queen's Coronation
Fri 31 May 2013
Two Maids of Honour remember the crowning of Queen Elizabeth the Second in London in 1953.
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The New Deal
Thu 30 May 2013
Eighty years ago, Franklin D Roosevelt promised to rescue the US from the Great Depression
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The Ascent of Everest
Wed 29 May 2013
How Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing conquered the world's highest mountain in 1953.
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The Rite of Spring
Tue 28 May 2013
100 years ago, the premiere of a Stravinsky ballet caused a riot in Paris.
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Liberace
Mon 27 May 2013
A film-maker remembers the flamboyant pianist and entertainer immortalised in a new film.
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Israel withdraws from Lebanon
Fri 24 May 2013
A senior UN official recalls Israel's hasty withdrawl from southern Lebanon in 2000.
