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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Rape of Nanjing
Fri 17 Jun 2011
How the Japanese army went on the rampage in the Chinese city of Nanjing in 1937
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Nureyev defects to the West
Thu 16 Jun 2011
On 16 June 1961 the great ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev cut his ties with the Soviet Union
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East German Uprising
Wed 15 Jun 2011
In June 1953 East German workers went on strike in protest at Soviet rule
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Newspaper Editor Rachel Beer
Tue 14 Jun 2011
The story of the rise and fall of the first ever female editor of a British newspaper
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OJ Simpson car chase
Mon 13 Jun 2011
The LAPD detective who spoke to OJ Simpson as he was chased through Los Angeles in 1994
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Italian internees
Fri 10 Jun 2011
When Italy joined WW2 in June 1940, British-Italian men were rounded up and interned
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Mixed race marriage victory in US
Thu 9 Jun 2011
How Mildred and Richard Loving fought to get mixed-race marriages legalised across the US
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Attack on the Osirak reactor
Wed 8 Jun 2011
It is 30 years since Israeli war planes destroyed a nuclear reactor in Iraq
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Imprisonment in Syria
Tue 7 Jun 2011
As tensions in Syria worsen, we talk to a man who was jailed for opposing the Assad regime
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World's First Environment Conference
Mon 6 Jun 2011
The man who first coralled the international community to hold an environment summit
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The early days of HIV/Aids
Fri 3 Jun 2011
The experience of a Ugandan-born woman diagnosed with HIV in the early days of the virus
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Retreat from Dunkirk
Thu 2 Jun 2011
One soldier's frank account of his chaotic World War Two retreat from Dunkirk
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The Massacre of Baghdad's Jews
Wed 1 Jun 2011
The story of the massacre 70 years ago that led to the exodus of Baghdad's Jews
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Attack at Lod Airport
Tue 31 May 2011
It is almost 40 years since an attack at the airport outside Tel Aviv
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Assassination of Trujillo
Mon 30 May 2011
It is 50 years since the assassination of Rafael Trujillo - Dominican Republic dictator
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Amnesty at 50
Thu 26 May 2011
It is half a century since the launch of the human rights group Amnesty International
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Mariel Boatlift from Cuba
Wed 25 May 2011
Mass exodus: how 125,000 Cubans left the island from Mariel harbour in 1980
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Manchester United 1968
Mon 23 May 2011
In May 1968 Manchester United Football club won its first European cup
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The Irish Contraceptive Train
Fri 20 May 2011
A group of women challenged a ban on contraception and took a train to get them
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Leopold and Loeb
Thu 19 May 2011
In May 1924 two rich and educated teenage boys killed an acquaintance in Chicago
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Crimean Tatars
Wed 18 May 2011
In May 1944 the Tatar people of Crimea were forced into exile by the Soviet army
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The Irish pirate Queen
Tue 17 May 2011
Over 400 years ago an Irish woman pirate met Queen Elizabeth I
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The fall of Berlin
Mon 16 May 2011
The Red Army took control of the German capital Berlin, in May 1945
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Easter Rising in Ireland
Fri 13 May 2011
Eye-witness accounts of the Irish rebellion against British rule at Easter 1916.
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Peter the Wild Boy
Thu 12 May 2011
Nearly 300 years ago a feral child was brought to the court of King George I in London.
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The death of President Tito
Wed 11 May 2011
President Tito of Yugoslavia was one of the great characters of post-war Europe
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Italian Bombing of Libya - 1911
Tue 10 May 2011
The letters of an Italian pilot reveal how he carried out the first air raid in history
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Ulrike Meinhof
Mon 9 May 2011
In May 1976 the German left-wing extremist Ulrike Meinhof killed herself in prison
