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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.

Updated: daily
Episodes available: indefinitely

Episodes to download

  •

    Desmond Tutu Wins the Nobel Peace Prize

    Mon 22 Oct 2018

    Apartheid South Africa's outspoken critic Bishop Desmond Tutu wins the Nobel Peace Prize

  • When Belgium Banned Coca-Cola

    Fri 19 Oct 2018

    When Belgian teenagers got sick they blamed Coca-Cola but the truth was more mysterious

  • The Pergau Dam Affair

    Thu 18 Oct 2018

    In 1993 news broke about development aid linked to a British arms deal.

  • Brazil's Hidden War in the Amazon

    Wed 17 Oct 2018

    How a small guerrilla group tried to start a revolution in the Brazilian jungle.

  • The 1973 Oil Crisis

    Tue 16 Oct 2018

    In October 1973 an Arab oil embargo caused prices to rocket.

  • Fighting Mount Etna

    Mon 15 Oct 2018

    How the Italian authorities diverted the stream of molten lava from the Etna volcano.

  • Archbishop Oscar Romero

    Fri 12 Oct 2018

    Murdered while head of the Roman Catholic church in El Salvador, he is being made a saint

  • Austria at War

    Thu 11 Oct 2018

    The story of a young Austrian woman who survived World War Two and the allied occupation

  • The Nazi Black Book

    Wed 10 Oct 2018

    During WW2 Germany listed the people it wanted to arrest should Britain fall to the Nazis

  • Anti-traveller Riots in Sweden

    Tue 9 Oct 2018

    In 1948 violence broke out against Romany-speaking traveller people in Sweden

  • Reform of the House of Lords

    Mon 8 Oct 2018

    How Britain's Labour government tried to kick the aristocrats out of Parliament

  • Howl: The Poem That Revolutionised US Writing

    Fri 5 Oct 2018

    How Allan Ginsberg's reading in San Francisco in 1955 started the "Beat Generation".

  • The Soviet Union's Fashion Revolutionary

    Thu 4 Oct 2018

    Slava Zaitsev created the first high fashion collections in the USSR.

  • The Invention of Artificial Skin

    Wed 3 Oct 2018

    How a chemist and a surgeon found a way of helping burns to heal.

  • The Street Battle That Rocked Brazil

    Tue 2 Oct 2018

    A clash between students in 1968 paved the way for a hardening of military rule.

  • Racial Equality in Britain - Learie Constantine

    Mon 1 Oct 2018

    The former West Indies cricketer took a London hotel to court in 1943

  • The Bridge Which United Sweden and Denmark

    Fri 28 Sep 2018

    The bridge which connected neighbours across the water and inspired a TV hit worldwide.

  • Fighting in the Iran-Iraq War

    Thu 27 Sep 2018

    The war lasted for 8 years and is thought to have left over a million people dead.

  • The Creation of the Cervical Cancer Vaccine

    Wed 26 Sep 2018

    The scientific breakthrough that saved the lives of thousands of women

  • Isadora Duncan - Dance Pioneer

    Tue 25 Sep 2018

    Sometimes called the 'Mother of Modern Dance'

  • The South African Army In Lesotho

    Mon 24 Sep 2018

    South Africa sent 600 soldiers into Lesotho to quell political unrest in September 1998

  • Brazil's Nuclear Accident

    Fri 21 Sep 2018

    Hundreds of people were contaminated when a disused radiotherapy machine was scrapped.

  • The Battle of Algiers

    Thu 20 Sep 2018

    The film that tells the true story of the Algerians' fight for their capital Algiers

  • The Arnhem Parachute Drop

    Wed 19 Sep 2018

    In 'Operation Market Garden' thousands of Allied troops parachuted into Nazi-held Holland

  • The Cuban Five

    Tue 18 Sep 2018

    The case of five Cuban spies arrested in Miami in September 1998

  • The Fifteen Guinea Special

    Mon 17 Sep 2018

    The train signaled the end of the steam age on Britain's main-line rail network in 1968

  • The Truth About Crop Circles

    Fri 14 Sep 2018

    Thought to be left by UFOs the phenomena was resolved when two men came forward in 1991.

  • How I Survived a Fire on a Plane

    Thu 13 Sep 2018

    One young man was the only passenger to survive a fire on a plane - find out how.

  • The Killing of Steve Biko

    Wed 12 Sep 2018

    The brutal death in custody of the anti-Apartheid activist in September 1977.

  • Appeasement

    Tue 11 Sep 2018

    In September 1938 Neville Chamberlain tried to negotiate with Hitler over Czechoslovakia.

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