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
-
![]()
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
Mon 14 Jan 2013
The US government's experiment on a group of African-American men without their knowledge
-
![]()
The Boxing Day tsunami and Aceh
Fri 11 Jan 2013
When the earthquake and tsunami of December 2004 hit Indonesia, over 130,000 people died.
-
![]()
Festival in the Desert
Thu 10 Jan 2013
In 2001 a festival held in the Sahara desert launched Tuareg music on the world scene
-
![]()
Tito on Vis
Wed 9 Jan 2013
In 1944 the Yugoslav partisan leader found sanctuary on a tiny island in the Adriatic.
-
![]()
Johnny Cash plays Folsom Prison
Tue 8 Jan 2013
It is 45 years since the Country and Western star played his first gig in a jail.
-
![]()
Operation No Living Thing
Mon 7 Jan 2013
In January 1999, a combined rebel force invaded the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown.
-
![]()
Donald Campbell's Fatal Crash
Fri 4 Jan 2013
In January 1967 the record-breaking driver was killed at the helm of his jetboat Bluebird
-
![]()
Waiting for Godot
Thu 3 Jan 2013
How Samuel Beckett's existentialist masterpiece revolutionised the theatre 60 years ago.
-
![]()
The Keeling Curve
Wed 2 Jan 2013
Meticulously recorded levels of CO2 in the atmosphere show how our climate is changing
-
![]()
Donald Woods flees South Africa
New Year's Day 2013
It is 35 years since the South African newspaper editor was forced into exile.
-
![]()
Pong and the birth of the computer game
Mon 31 Dec 2012
It is 40 years since a video game was invented which would change the way we play.
-
![]()
Big Brother - the beginning of reality TV
Fri 28 Dec 2012
In December 1999 a young Dutch man won the first ever Big Brother reality TV show.
-
![]()
Maitatsine
Thu 27 Dec 2012
In 1980 thousands died in the Nigerian city of Kano in an uprising by an Islamic sect.
-
![]()
Vietnam War - Christmas bombing campaign
Boxing Day 2012
40 years ago the US launched its heaviest aerial bombardment of the Vietnam War.
-
![]()
The Execution of the Ceau艧escus
Christmas Day 2012
On December 25th 1989, Nicolae and Elena Ceau艧escu were executed by firing squad.
-
![]()
Dusty Plays South Africa
Christmas Eve 2012
The British popstar Dusty Springfield went on tour in apartheid South Africa in 1964
-
![]()
Mad cow disease - CJD
Fri 21 Dec 2012
In the 1990s it became clear that a brain disease could be passed from cows to humans.
-
![]()
Libya and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Thu 20 Dec 2012
In December 2003 Colonel Gaddafi announced Libya was giving up trying to make WMD
-
![]()
The last men on the moon
Wed 19 Dec 2012
The story of the last US space mission to the moon 40 years ago
-
![]()
Piltdown Man
Tue 18 Dec 2012
In 1912, Britain's top palaeontologists were hoaxed by a "missing link" in human evolution
-
![]()
The M Room
Mon 17 Dec 2012
How exiles from the Nazis helped British intelligence listen in on German prisoners-of-war
-
![]()
Discovering Cleopatra's Palace
Fri 14 Dec 2012
Twenty years ago underwater excavations began which unearthed a 2000 year old palace.
-
![]()
Marsha Hunt and the 1960s
Thu 13 Dec 2012
In the late 1960s a young black American woman rolled up in 'Swinging' London.
-
![]()
Archive of Terror
Wed 12 Dec 2012
How a huge cache of papers showed the true extent of torture across 1970s South America.
-
![]()
The Origin of Nollywood
Mon 10 Dec 2012
The story of the 1992 film which launched Nigeria's hugely successful movie industry
-
![]()
Landing in Red Square
Fri 7 Dec 2012
A German teenager managed to evade Soviet defences to land in Moscow's Red Square.
-
![]()
The Montreal massacre
Thu 6 Dec 2012
On 6 December 1989, a college shooting in Canada left 14 women dead.
-
![]()
Great London Smog of 1952
Wed 5 Dec 2012
How the worst smog in living memory lasted five days and killed thousands of Londoners.
-
![]()
Witness: The Bodyline Tour
Tue 4 Dec 2012
In 1932 a row between England and Australia over cricket became a diplomatic incident.
-
![]()
The Bhopal gas disaster
Mon 3 Dec 2012
In December 1984 thousands of people in the Indian city were killed by a chemical leak.
