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 visionary behind the European Space Agency
Fri 21 Mar 2025
In October 2012, a visionary letter about the European Space Agency was sent into space
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The historic handshake in space
Thu 20 Mar 2025
In July 1975, Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts met in space and shook hands
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In event of moon disaster: 'The speech that never was'
Wed 19 Mar 2025
Richard Nixon's contingency speech in case the moon landing astronauts never made it home
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First spacewalk
Tue 18 Mar 2025
On 18 March 1965, cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first person to spacewalk
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The rocket that revived Brazil鈥檚 space programme
Mon 17 Mar 2025
On 23 October 2004, Brazil launched its first rocket following a devastating accident
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Bardo Museum attack in Tunisia
Fri 14 Mar 2025
In March 2015, 22 people were killed when two gunmen stormed the building
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The Gambia鈥檚 鈥楺ueen of Recycling鈥�
Thu 13 Mar 2025
In 1997, a Gambian woman started an environmental initiative
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The Capitol Crawl
Wed 12 Mar 2025
On 12 March 1990, hundreds of wheelchair users crawled up the steps of the US Capitol
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King Kong: South Africa's first all-black musical
Tue 11 Mar 2025
South Africa鈥檚 first musical with an all-black cast opened to critical acclaim in 1959
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The invention of GPS
Mon 10 Mar 2025
The Global Positioning System, also known as GPS, was created in the late 1970s
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How bloodshed in Selma led to the US Voting Rights Act 1965
Fri 7 Mar 2025
In 1965, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was brought in to end racial discrimination
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The Great Toyota War
Thu 6 Mar 2025
In 1987, rugged pickup trucks provided a turning point in the decades-long war in Chad
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The US invasion of Panama
Wed 5 Mar 2025
In 1989, more than 20,000 US soldiers descended on the tiny Central American country
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The invention of the shopping trolley
Tue 4 Mar 2025
In 1937, American supermarket owner Sylvan Goldman wanted his customers to spend more.
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The Calais 'Jungle' migrant camp
Mon 3 Mar 2025
In 2015, thousands of migrants lived in a squalid camp in France known as the "Jungle"
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Africa鈥檚 stolen Metis children
Fri 28 Feb 2025
In 1953, Marie-Jos茅 Loshi was forcibly taken from her family because of her skin colour
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Surviving Chile's tsunami
Thu 27 Feb 2025
In 2010, an earthquake struck the coast of Chile triggering a tsunami
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Denmark鈥檚 Inuit children experiment
Wed 26 Feb 2025
In 1951, 22 Inuit children from Greenland were sent to live with families in Denmark
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The Nellie massacre
Tue 25 Feb 2025
In 1983, an estimated 3,000 people were massacred in Assam, India
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Discovering the structure of haemoglobin
Mon 24 Feb 2025
Dr Max Perutz made one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 20th century
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Assassination of Malcolm X
Fri 21 Feb 2025
In 1965, the controversial black leader, Malcolm X, was assassinated in New York
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Murder at the Berlin Wall
Thu 20 Feb 2025
In March 1974, Polish man Czes艂aw Kukuczka was shot by a Stasi officer at the Berlin Wall
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Bolivia鈥檚 first indigenous president
Wed 19 Feb 2025
The election of Evo Morales in 2005 was a historic first for the South American country
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Bo: The death of a language
Tue 18 Feb 2025
In 2010, one of the oldest languages died after the death of its last remaining speaker
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The world's longest kiss
Mon 17 Feb 2025
In 2013, a Thai couple locked lips for 58 hours and 35 minutes in a world record attempt
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Eva Peron: Argentina鈥檚 Evita
Fri 14 Feb 2025
Eva Peron - or Evita - was an icon in 1940s Argentina, famous for her populist rhetoric
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Paul Keating's Redfern speech
Thu 13 Feb 2025
In 1992, Australia's Prime Minister addressed atrocities inflicted upon Indigenous people
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Mary Fisher's 'A Whisper of Aids' speech
Wed 12 Feb 2025
In 1992, Mary Fisher set out to fight the prejudice faced by those with HIV and Aids
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Eisenhower's farewell address
Tue 11 Feb 2025
In 1961, the US President ended his time in the White House with a famous speech
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La Pasionaria: Heroine of the Spanish civil war
Mon 10 Feb 2025
Dolores Ib谩rruri was dubbed La Pasionaria for her fiery speeches in the Spanish civil war
