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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First Successful Sex Change
Fri 30 Nov 2012
The story of Christine Jorgensen who had surgery to change her sex from a man to a woman.
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Iran Hostage Crisis - The Canadian Story
Thu 29 Nov 2012
In November 1979, Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran.
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Eric Hebborn - Forger Extraordinary
Wed 28 Nov 2012
The story of one of the most prolific art forgers of the 20th Century.
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Isabelle Dinoire: The World's First Face Transplant
Tue 27 Nov 2012
In November 2005, doctors in France carried out the first ever face transplant.
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The Secret Soviet Naval Mutiny
Mon 26 Nov 2012
In November 1975, an incredible mutiny took place aboard a Soviet warship in the Baltic.
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The Trojan Room Coffee Pot
Fri 23 Nov 2012
20 years ago the world's first webcam was set up - and it was pointed at a pot of coffee.
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Lee Harvey Oswald and the USSR
Thu 22 Nov 2012
Lee Harvey Oswald had spent two years living in the USSR after serving there as a Marine
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The death of the Kabaka of Buganda
Wed 21 Nov 2012
In 1969 the first President of Uganda, Edward Mutesa, died in exile in London.
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Shoot
Mon 19 Nov 2012
In November 1971 a young American artist decided to get a friend to take a shot at him.
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Cesar Chavez - Yes we can!
Fri 16 Nov 2012
How the Mexican-American trade union leader Cesar Chavez inspired Latinos in the 1960s.
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The Lost Tribe Hoax
Thu 15 Nov 2012
The Filipino stone-age cave dwellers who fooled the scientific community.
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China's one-child policy
Wed 14 Nov 2012
Created to tackle China's expanding population, but how was the one-child policy enforced?
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Colombia mudslide
Tue 13 Nov 2012
It's 27 years since over 20,000 people died when a volcano erupted in western Colombia.
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Baby Fae and the Baboon Heart Transplant
Mon 12 Nov 2012
In 1984 doctors in California tried a revolutionary operation on a two-week-old baby girl.
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Edgar Feuchtwanger: Adolf Hitler's Neighbour
Fri 9 Nov 2012
The memories of a German Jew who grew up across the street from Adolf Hitler.
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Mutiny on the Bounty
Thu 8 Nov 2012
The original story of betrayal at sea - from contemporary eyewitness testimonies.
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John Howard Griffin: Black Like Me
Wed 7 Nov 2012
Over 50 years ago a white journalist tried living as a black man in America's Deep South.
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The death of Leonid Brezhnev
Tue 6 Nov 2012
One of the longest-serving leaders of the Soviet Union died on the 10 of November 1982.
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The Crate Escape
Mon 5 Nov 2012
An incredible plot to kidnap, drug and repatriate Nigerian exile Umaru Dikko in 80s London
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Lebensborn Babies
Fri 2 Nov 2012
In the 1930s the Nazi party hatched a secret plan to breed an elite Aryan race.
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Vietnam Photographer
Thu 1 Nov 2012
The great British war photographer Don McCullin remembers the Vietnam war.
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Garbage, the City and Death by Fassbinder
Wed 31 Oct 2012
In 1985 a Frankfurt theatre attempted to stage a play by the controversial German writer.
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Russian Revolution
Tue 30 Oct 2012
It is 95 years since the October Revolution which led to the creation of the Soviet Union.
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Cuban Missile Crisis: The Showdown
Fri 26 Oct 2012
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev finally offered to withdraw nuclear missiles from Cuba
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The Iran-Iraq War
Thu 25 Oct 2012
In the autumn of 1980 one of the longest wars of the 20th Century began.
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The Wall Street Crash
Wed 24 Oct 2012
On 24 October 1929, the New York Stock Exchange began to plummet.
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The Moscow Theatre Siege
Tue 23 Oct 2012
It is 10 years since Chechen rebels took an entire theatre full of people hostage.
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Cuban Missile Crisis: The Missiles
Mon 22 Oct 2012
The gradual build up of weaponry - Soviet built ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads
