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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A communist in the US
Thu 10 Feb 2011
On 9 February 1950 Senator Joseph McCarthy began his hunt for communists in the US
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The Docklands bomb
Wed 9 Feb 2011
On 9 February 1996, a bomb exploded in London bringing an IRA ceasefire to an end
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Shot down in Iraq
Tue 8 Feb 2011
It is 20 years since international forces united to drive Iraq out of Kuwait
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Duvalier flees Haiti
Mon 7 Feb 2011
Twenty-five years ago today, the President of Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier fled the country
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Sarajevo marketplace massacre
Fri 4 Feb 2011
On February 5 1994 there was an attack on a marketplace in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo
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Revolution in Iran
Thu 3 Feb 2011
The first week of February 1979 saw a revolution unfolding in Iran
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Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-ins
Tue 1 Feb 2011
A simple non-violent action to protest against racial segregation in restaurants and shops
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The North Sea Flood
Mon 31 Jan 2011
On the last day of January 1953 high tides and storms brought a huge flood to Holland.
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The siege of Leningrad
Fri 28 Jan 2011
Hundreds of thousands of civilians died of starvation during the siege of Leningrad.
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Siege of Sidney Street
Thu 27 Jan 2011
The bloody battle between British police and a group of revolutionaries in London in 1911
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Conflict in Somalia
Wed 26 Jan 2011
In January 1991 the government of Siad Barre in Somalia, collapsed
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Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff
Tue 25 Jan 2011
One of the worst maritime disasters in history - the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff
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Funeral of Winston Churchill
Mon 24 Jan 2011
Sir Winston Churchill, the British wartime leader, died on 24 January, 1965
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Execution of Louis XVI
Fri 21 Jan 2011
On 21 January 1793 the French king, Louis XVI was executed in Paris
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Ben Ali Comes to Power in Tunisia
Thu 20 Jan 2011
The story of how Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali came to power in Tunisia
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Palomares nuclear accident
Wed 19 Jan 2011
How a B-52 bomber crashed on the Spanish coast while carrying four nuclear weapons.
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Crossing Antarctica
Tue 18 Jan 2011
In January 1997 Borge Ousland became the first person to cross the Antarctic alone
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Kindertransport - Oliver's story
Mon 17 Jan 2011
The story of a boy who escaped Nazi Germany on a kindertransport train heading for Britain
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Football wages
Fri 14 Jan 2011
We take you back to 1961 when the cap on football wages was abolished in England
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Wikipedia - 10 years on
Thu 13 Jan 2011
It is 10 years since the Wikipedia online encyclopedia was launched
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Cryonic freezing
Wed 12 Jan 2011
In 1967 a group of enthusiasts first tried to cryonically freeze a human being.
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Crossing the Rubicon
Tue 11 Jan 2011
When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon river 2,000 years ago he changed history
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Bojinka Airline Plot
Mon 10 Jan 2011
The Manila-based plot to blow up a dozen airliners over the Pacific Ocean
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Clinton impeachment
Fri 7 Jan 2011
On January 7 1999 the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began in the US Senate
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Sudan's civil war
Thu 6 Jan 2011
In 1983 a civil war broke out in Sudan which would last for more than 20 years.
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Afghanistan's Secret Schools for Girls
Wed 5 Jan 2011
How Afghan women resisted the Taliban's efforts to prohibit education for girls
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LBJ State of the Union Address
Tue 4 Jan 2011
US President Lyndon B Johnson's 1965 speech proposed healthcare for the poor and elderly
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Alaska statehood
Mon 3 Jan 2011
On January 3 1959 Alaska finally became a fully fledged member state of the USA.
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Chiapas Uprising
Fri 31 Dec 2010
On January 1 1994 indigenous people in southern Mexico began their rebellion.
