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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The first Pope to visit Africa
Wed 21 Sep 2022
Popes rarely left the Vatican City in the 1960s, but in 1969, Pope Paul VI visited Uganda
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Ancient fossils give new insight
Tue 20 Sep 2022
A student discovered fossils in 1967 helping our understanding of the world's evolution
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World War Two child evacuees in Britain
Tue 20 Sep 2022
The thousands of children moved out of UK cities away from the risk of German bombs
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The last days of Queen Victoria
Fri 16 Sep 2022
Witness History looks back on Queen Victoria's last days in 1901
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When the Queen opened Buckingham Palace
Thu 15 Sep 2022
Queen Elizabeth II first opened her home to the paying public on 7 August 1993
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The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
Mon 12 Sep 2022
Two Maids of Honour at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II recall their memories
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The Candelaria child massacre
Thu 8 Sep 2022
The murder of eight homeless children outside the Candelaria church in Rio De Janeiro
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The murder that shocked Brazil
Tue 6 Sep 2022
In 2002 investigative journalist, Tim Lopes, was brutally killed by a Brazilian drug gang
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Doomed hero of Brazilian democracy
Mon 5 Sep 2022
The death of Brazil's president-elect Tancredo Neves.
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Mikhail Gorbachev: Release of Irina Ratushinskaya
Fri 2 Sep 2022
The imprisonment and release of dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya
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Mikhail Gorbachev: Perestroika
Thu 1 Sep 2022
Reform in the Soviet Union, known as Perestroika, was launched in 1987
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Princess Diana dances with John Travolta
Wed 31 Aug 2022
Princess Diana dances at the White House with the star of Saturday Night Fever
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The 'Last Indian'
Tue 30 Aug 2022
The story of a Native American called Ishi who spent decades in hiding
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Marikana Massacre
Mon 29 Aug 2022
On 16 August 2012, police shot dead 34 striking miners at a platinum mine in South Africa
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India's onion election
Fri 26 Aug 2022
In 1980 Indira Gandhi came into power in India, it became known as the "onion election"
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The 'Nixon Shock' and the end of the Gold Standard
Thu 25 Aug 2022
In 1971, the US president, Richard Nixon, abandoned the gold standard.
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Hundreds die in Darayya
Tue 23 Aug 2022
The siege of the Darayya, Syria, in which hundreds of people died
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Bulgaria's cash crisis
Mon 22 Aug 2022
How an American economist helped save Bulgaria from financial collapse.
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The Bard of Bengal
Fri 19 Aug 2022
Rabindranath Tagore was one of India's greatest poets. He died in August 1941
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The death of Jawaharlal Nehru
Thu 18 Aug 2022
The death of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru
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The last Viceroy of India
Wed 17 Aug 2022
The daughter of the last British viceroy in India remembers the transfer of power in 1947
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India's Partition - Part Two
Tue 16 Aug 2022
Chandra Joashi was caught on the wrong side of the border during India's partition
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India's Partition - Part One
Mon 15 Aug 2022
Saleem was five when his family escaped to the new Muslim country of Pakistan in 1947
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The nightclub that changed Ibiza
Fri 12 Aug 2022
In June 1973, the nightclub Pacha opened in Ibiza and it changed the island forever
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Discovering Hale Bopp
Thu 11 Aug 2022
The Hale Bopp Comet was discovered in 1995 which resulted in advances in science
