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 – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ 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’s oldest languages.
Episodes to download
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Sweden's pioneering paternity leave
Wed 3 Apr 2024
Fifty years ago Sweden introduced gender neutral parental leave
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The man who invented the seat belt
Tue 2 Apr 2024
In 1958, Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt for cars
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Surviving the Rwandan genocide
Fri 29 Mar 2024
April 1994 was the start of the Rwandan genocide. One hundred days of atrocities followed
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The founding of Nato
Thu 28 Mar 2024
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed to block the Soviet Union's expansion
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Britain's first beach for nudists
Wed 27 Mar 2024
In 1980, a seaside town opened a beach where people could strip off as they pleased
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Britain's Mirpuri migration
Mon 25 Mar 2024
In 1967, the Mangla Dam was built in Mirpur spurring a huge global migration
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Wham! in China
Fri 22 Mar 2024
How Wham! became the first Western pop act to perform in communist China
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Discovering the Terracotta Army
Thu 21 Mar 2024
In 1974, Chinese farmers stumbled upon an astonishing archaeological site
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The 'comfort women' of World War Two
Wed 20 Mar 2024
Hundreds of thousands of Asian women were forced into sex slavery in the 1930s and 1940s
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Surviving re-education in China’s Cultural Revolution
Tue 19 Mar 2024
Thousands of people were sent to re-education camps during China’s cultural revolution
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Pinyin: The man who helped China to read and write
Mon 18 Mar 2024
In 1958, Zhou Youguang introduced a new writing system in China
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The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Fri 15 Mar 2024
Vesuvius is famous for burying Pompeii but it last erupted in 1944, during World War II.
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Winifred Atwell: The honky-tonk star who was Sir Elton John’s hero
Thu 14 Mar 2024
The forgotten story of Winifred Atwell, the pianist from Trinidad who broke sales records
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Paraguay adopts its second language
Wed 13 Mar 2024
How Guarani was officially recognised in Paraguay’s new constitution
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Finding the longest set of footprints left by the first vertebrate
Tue 12 Mar 2024
In 1992 a student found a set of fossilised footprints from the earliest vertebrate
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11M: The day Madrid was bombed
Mon 11 Mar 2024
Nearly 200 died when Spanish commuter trains were bombed in 2004
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MH370: The plane that vanished
Fri 8 Mar 2024
Ghyslain Wattrelos' wife and two children were on MH370, the plane that disappeared.
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Rehabilitating Kony's child soldiers in Uganda
Thu 7 Mar 2024
In 2002, a nun was sent to northern Uganda to help those suffering from a bloody conflict
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The Carnation Revolution in Portugal
Wed 6 Mar 2024
In 1974, a 41-year regime was overthrown in a day
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French child evacuees of World War Two
Tue 5 Mar 2024
In World War Two, tens of thousands of children left Paris to escape the threat of bombs
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Uruguay v the tobacco giant
Mon 4 Mar 2024
In 2010, Uruguay was taken to court by a tobacco company for its trailblazing smoking ban
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The Whisky War: Denmark v Canada
Fri 1 Mar 2024
Beginning in 1984, a dispute over an island was marked by geniality, and bottles of booze
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The discovery of the Lord of Sipan in Peru
Thu 29 Feb 2024
In 1987, the looting of an ancient pyramid led to an extraordinary golden discovery
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The lost Czech scrolls
Wed 28 Feb 2024
The Torah scrolls stolen by the Nazis, rescued by an London Jewish community.
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Whistler: Creating one of the world’s biggest ski resorts
Fri 23 Feb 2024
In 2003, Whistler Blackcomb won its bid to host the Winter Olympics