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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The Shipbuilders' Clydeside "Work-In"
Fri 29 Jul 2011
How Scottish workers took over their shipyards and warded off the threat of closure
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Picasso
Thu 28 Jul 2011
Sixty years ago a young art historian got to know the greatest painter in the world
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Christian the Lion
Wed 27 Jul 2011
The story of two Australians who berfriended a lion in London, and freed him in Africa
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The Kitchen Debate
Mon 25 Jul 2011
In July 1959, two Cold War leaders argued over whose system was best
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Moroccan exodus
Fri 22 Jul 2011
In 1961 hundreds of Jewish children were smuggled from Morocco to Israel
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Libyan prison massacre
Thu 21 Jul 2011
In 1996 over a thousand prisoners were killed at a jail in Tripoli
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The Genoa riots of 2001
Wed 20 Jul 2011
It is 10 years since protests against a G8 summit turned violent on the streets of Genoa
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Rupert Murdoch, the early years
Tue 19 Jul 2011
Rupert Murdoch's career in the media began in the Australian town of Adelaide in the 1950s
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The death of Tom Simpson
Mon 18 Jul 2011
In July 1967 British cyclist Tom Simpson, rode himself to death on the Tour de France
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The opening of Disneyland
Fri 15 Jul 2011
In July 1955 the first ever Disney theme park was opened in California
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The Crusaders capture Jerusalem
Thu 14 Jul 2011
The tale of the momentous and bloody capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders in 1099
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Battle of Britain
Wed 13 Jul 2011
A Battle of Britain pilot reflects on being shot down and almost drowning in the sea
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The Srebrenica massacre
Tue 12 Jul 2011
In July 1995, Bosnian Serb fighters killed thousands of Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica
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Boycott of The Sun newspaper
Mon 11 Jul 2011
How the people of Liverpool boycotted Rupert Murdoch's Sun newspaper in the UK
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The space shuttle
Fri 8 Jul 2011
It is more than 30 years since the launch of the first space shuttle
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Bradford riots
Thu 7 Jul 2011
It is 10 years since riots engulfed the city of Bradford in the North of England
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Piper Alpha
Wed 6 Jul 2011
We hear from a survivor from the 1988 Piper Alpha oil rig disaster that killed 167 people
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Prince Charles and Princess Diana in the USA
Tue 5 Jul 2011
In 1985 the Royal couple made their first joint visit to America
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Ron Kovic - Ex US Marine and peace activist
Mon 4 Jul 2011
How ex-US Marine Ron Kovic became a peace activist after being paralysed in Vietnam
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Arthur Ashe wins Wimbledon
Fri 1 Jul 2011
In 1975 he became the first African-American man to win the tennis tournament.
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Camaron - Flamenco Legend
Thu 30 Jun 2011
How a gypsy singer called Camaron de la Isla revolutionised the world of flamenco
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Secret war in Yemen
Wed 29 Jun 2011
In the 1960s, British mercenaries joined the fighting in Yemen's civil war
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Elian Gonzalez
Tue 28 Jun 2011
The six-year-old boy caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between Miami and Havana
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President Kennedy's Visit to Ireland
Mon 27 Jun 2011
President Kennedy's emotional visit to Ireland shortly before his assassination in 1963
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Montserrat volcano
Fri 24 Jun 2011
In June 1997 the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted on the Caribbean island of Montserrat
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Fermat's Last Theorem
Thu 23 Jun 2011
Andrew Wiles on solving the problem which had intrigued mathematicians for centuries
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Operation Barbarossa
Wed 22 Jun 2011
An eyewitness account of the launch of Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union
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The Voyage of the Empire Windrush
Tue 21 Jun 2011
The story of the coming of the first West Indian migrants to Britain, back in 1948
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Australian evacuee
Mon 20 Jun 2011
During WWII British children were sent away from the cities to escape German bombs
