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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Mexico's first female presidential hopeful
Tue 7 Mar 2023
In 1982, Rosario Ibarra became the first woman to stand for president in Mexico
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Octavia E. Butler: Visionary black sci-fi writer
Mon 6 Mar 2023
She received numerous Hugos and Nebulas - top writing prizes for sci-fi writing
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Zoran Djindjic: The murder of Serbia's prime minister
Fri 3 Mar 2023
In 2003, Serbia's prime minister was assassinated in Belgrade
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The museum at the end of the world
Thu 2 Mar 2023
In 1992, a zoologist opened one of the world's most remote museums, on an Atlantic island
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Grenada's underwater sculpture park
Wed 1 Mar 2023
In 2004, Jason deCaires Taylor built the worlds first underwater gallery in Grenada
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Pink Triangles: Gay men in Nazi concentration camps
Tue 28 Feb 2023
In 2009, Rudolf Brazda returned to the former concentration camp he was in for being gay
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Wounded Knee siege
Mon 27 Feb 2023
Fifty years ago, indigenous American activists staged a protest against the US authorities
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When the Queen 'jumped out of a helicopter'
Fri 24 Feb 2023
For the 2012 London Olympic Games the Queen appeared to jump out of a helicopter
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Families interned in WW2 China
Thu 23 Feb 2023
A first-hand account of being sent to a Japanese internment camp in Shanghai as a child
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The invention of Semtex
Wed 22 Feb 2023
In 1958, Stanislav Brebera invented Semtex, a malleable and odourless plastic explosive
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Seggae riots in Mauritius
Tue 21 Feb 2023
Mauritian musician Kaya, died in police custody on 21 February 1999, sparking rioting
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Battle for the capital: Bonn v Berlin
Mon 20 Feb 2023
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and Germany decided which city would be the new capital
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First winter ascent of Everest
Fri 17 Feb 2023
On 17 February 1980, the first people climbed Everest in winter
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Discovering Tutankhamun’s tomb
Thu 16 Feb 2023
In 1923 the sealed burial chamber of Tutankhamun was opened for the first time
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'I developed Pokémon'
Wed 15 Feb 2023
In February 1996, gamers in Japan were first introduced to Pokémon
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First Danish queen for 600 years
Tue 14 Feb 2023
In 1972, Denmark crowned its first queen in 600 years
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'Hot Autumn': When Italy’s workers revolted
Mon 13 Feb 2023
In 1969, Italy erupted as thousands of workers went on strike
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'I told the world Pope Benedict XVI was resigning'
Fri 10 Feb 2023
The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI
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The Pope and Jews
Thu 9 Feb 2023
In April 1986, Pope John Paul II made a historic visit to a Rome synagogue
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Pope John Paul I’s sudden death
Wed 8 Feb 2023
Cardinal Albino Luciani became Pope John Paul I in 1978. He died 33 days later
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Reforming the Catholic Church with Vatican II
Tue 7 Feb 2023
In 1959, Pope John XXIII announced a council of all the world's bishops and cardinals
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How a Pope is chosen
Mon 6 Feb 2023
After the death of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI
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The first black music station in Europe
Fri 3 Feb 2023
In 1981, Leroy Anderson launched Europe’s first dedicated black music station
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The assassination of Burundian President Melchior Ndadaye
Thu 2 Feb 2023
In 1993, Burundi’s first democratically elected President was murdered
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Columbia space shuttle disaster
Wed 1 Feb 2023
The US space shuttle Columbia broke up on its way back to Earth on 1 February 2003
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Czechoslovakia's 'Velvet Divorce'
Tue 31 Jan 2023
Two former Prime Ministers describe how they split Czechoslovakia in two in 1993
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Palestine Post bombing
Mon 30 Jan 2023
Mordechai Chertoff was the editor on the Palestine Post when it was bombed in 1948
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Invention of the MP3
Fri 27 Jan 2023
It took Karlheinz Brandenburg and his team more than a decade to perfect MP3 technology
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Albert Pierrepoint: Britain's executioner
Thu 26 Jan 2023
Using archive recordings, Alex Last tells the story of Britain's most famous hangman
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Smolensk air disaster
Wed 25 Jan 2023
In 2010, a plane carrying the Polish president, crashed and killed everyone on board