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 self-made female millionaire
Thu 30 Jan 2020
Madam C. J. Walker was born to former slaves and created a black beauty business.
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The ancient oak tree that taught the world a lesson
Wed 29 Jan 2020
A tree in Kew Gardens survived the storm of 1987 and revolutionised gardening.
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Reforming India's rape laws
Tue 28 Jan 2020
The overhaul of India's rape laws followed the fatal gang rape of a student in Delhi.
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The Way Ahead group: Modernising the Royal Family
Mon 27 Jan 2020
The Way Ahead group was set up in the 1990s to make Britain鈥檚 monarchy more relevant
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The frozen zoo
Fri 24 Jan 2020
Since 1975, San Diego Zoo has been deep-freezing cell samples from rare species
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Silent Spring: A book that changed the world
Wed 22 Jan 2020
Silent Spring examined the effect of pesticides on the environment
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How the dodo died out
Tue 21 Jan 2020
A flightless bird, the dodo was extinct just decades after being discovered by Europeans
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The mystery of the disappearing frogs
Mon 20 Jan 2020
How scientists discovered that a deadly fungus was killing off amphibians.
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The killing of Osama Bin Laden
Fri 17 Jan 2020
The US tracked down the al-Qaeda leader to a city in northern Pakistan in 2011
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The story of George Stinney Jr
Thu 16 Jan 2020
How a 14-year-old boy became the youngest person executed in the USA in the 20th century
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The woman who negotiated peace with a rebel group
Wed 15 Jan 2020
The female negotiator who agreed a deal with Muslim rebels in the Philippines.
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Storming the Stasi HQ
Tue 14 Jan 2020
After the fall of the Berlin Wall East German citizens stormed the secret police HQ
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Britain's National Trust
Mon 13 Jan 2020
How some of the great stately homes of Britain were saved from demolition and decay
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The battle for Fallujah
Fri 10 Jan 2020
A US Marine's account of the massive operation against Iraqi insurgents in 2004
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The Computers for Schools revolution
Thu 9 Jan 2020
In 2009, Uruguay became the first country to give every schoolchild a laptop computer.
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The murder of environmentalist Chico Mendes
Wed 8 Jan 2020
The killing of the man who'd become a powerful symbol of the fight to save the Amazon
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The exodus of Kashmiri Hindus
Tue 7 Jan 2020
In January 1990 over 100 000 Hindus fled the Kashmir valley
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German atrocities in Poland during WW2
Mon 6 Jan 2020
The memories of a survivor of Nazi atrocities in the final months of the war in Europe
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East Germany's punks
Fri 3 Jan 2020
How the communist secret police, the Stasi, tried to crush a youth subculture.
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Desmond's: A sitcom that changed Britain
Thu 2 Jan 2020
Desmond's was the most successful black sitcom in British TV history
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The book that predicted an end to civilisation
New Year's Day 2020
The Limits to Growth was published in 1972 and suggested global decline from 2020
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Negotiating an end to El Salvador's civil war
Tue 31 Dec 2019
The UN's top negotiator Alvaro de Soto recalls his part in bringing peace to El Salvador
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Vietnam war: Surviving the 'Christmas bombing' campaign
Fri 27 Dec 2019
In December 1972 the US military launched its heaviest bombardment of Hanoi.
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Cirque du Soleil
Boxing Day 2019
The ground-breaking circus was formed by a group of street performers in Quebec in 1984.
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The secret history of Monopoly
Christmas Day 2019
The true story of one of the world's most popular board games, Monopoly.
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The invasion of Afghanistan
Christmas Eve 2019
On 24 December 1979 Soviet troops started pouring into Afghanistan
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Fighting cancer
Mon 23 Dec 2019
Pioneering work in the 60s into combination chemotherapy to try to find a cure for cancer
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