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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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
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Victory in Europe Day
Fri 6 May 2011
On May 8 1945, Winston Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe.
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Four minute mile
Thu 5 May 2011
In 1954 a record was broken when a young British athlete ran a mile in under four minutes
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Al-Qaeda 1998 Embassy Bombings in Africa
Tue 3 May 2011
Following Osama Bin Laden's death, we recall al-Qaeda's attacks in Africa in 1998
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Fall of Berlin
Mon 2 May 2011
The experiences of one German woman after Berlin fell to the Red Army in 1945
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Dennis Tito - The first space tourist
Thu 28 Apr 2011
Ten years ago an American businessman called Dennis Tito became the first space tourist
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Rock against Racism 1978
Wed 27 Apr 2011
How an anti-racism concert in London in 1978 influenced a generation
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The bombing of Guernica
Tue 26 Apr 2011
It was one of the worst atrocities of the Spanish Civil War.
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The Hitler diaries hoax
Mon 25 Apr 2011
In 1983 a German magazine believed it had found Hitler's wartime diary.
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Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
Fri 22 Apr 2011
Witness takes you back to the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
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Romanian family history
Thu 21 Apr 2011
One family's extraordinary story kept hidden for decades by the communist secret police
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Gandhi's Salt March protest
Wed 20 Apr 2011
How Gandhi's Salt March in 1930 showed the power of peaceful protest in India
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Waco siege
Tue 19 Apr 2011
How a man from northern England lost his entire family in the siege of Waco in 1993
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Bay of Pigs Invasion
Mon 18 Apr 2011
Cuban exiles, backed by the US government, tried to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro
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Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier
Fri 15 Apr 2011
She was a Hollywood superstar - he was Prince of a tiny European state
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The Hama massacre 1982
Thu 14 Apr 2011
In 1982 people in the Syrian city of Hama rose up against the Assad regime
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Windscale - Britain's worst nuclear accident
Wed 13 Apr 2011
In 1957 a nuclear reactor in the north of England caught fire
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Yuri Gagarin
Tue 12 Apr 2011
The first man in space became a hero and a poster boy for Soviet achievement
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