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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

  •

    A New Approach to Shakespeare

    Mon 30 Apr 2018

    The Royal Shakespeare Company opened in Britain in 1961 and changed theatre forever.

  • Pablo Picasso

    Fri 27 Apr 2018

    The great Spanish artist Pablo Picasso died in April 1973; hear from someone who knew him

  • Scottish Prison Experiment

    Thu 26 Apr 2018

    A special unit in a Glasgow jail began offering art therapy to violent prisoners in 1973.

  • The Oslo Peace Talks

    Wed 25 Apr 2018

    How secret negotiations in Norway led to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

  • Swimming The Bering Strait

    Tue 24 Apr 2018

    How an American swimmer crossed the "Ice Curtain" between the USA and the Soviet Union.

  • World War One: The Red Baron

    Mon 23 Apr 2018

    Veterans remember the famous German air ace who was killed in April 1918

  • Earth Day

    Fri 20 Apr 2018

    In 1970, 20 million Americans came out to demonstrate for a sustainable environment.

  • The Last Keeper of the Light

    Thu 19 Apr 2018

    The island of Skellig Michael has lighthouses, and a striking role in Star Wars films.

  • Rebuilding the Site of the Twin Towers

    Tue 17 Apr 2018

    How a team of architects were given the responsibility to repair New York's skyline.

  • World War One: Germany's Spring Offensive 1918

    Mon 16 Apr 2018

    Germany launched a huge offensive on the Western Front in a last gamble to win the war.

  • The Shooting of Rudi Dutschke

    Fri 13 Apr 2018

    The German student leader was shot in April 1968, leading to protests in West Berlin.

  • The Soviet Spy Scandal

    Thu 12 Apr 2018

    In 1971 during the Cold War, the UK expelled 90 Soviet diplomats suspected of spying.

  • The Zimbabwe Massacres

    Wed 11 Apr 2018

    Robert Mugabe sent troops to put down opposition supporters in western Zimbabwe in 1983.

  • The First Frozen Embryo Baby

    Tue 10 Apr 2018

    Zoe Leyland was born in Australia on April 11th 1984 after her mother's IVF treatment.

  • Woodfall Films

    Mon 9 Apr 2018

    The film company which changed British cinema.

  • The Emergency Rescue Committee

    Fri 6 Apr 2018

    The Emergency Rescue Committee helped save intellectuals and artists from the Nazis

  • 2001 A Space Odyssey

    Thu 5 Apr 2018

    Actor Keir Dullea recalls starring in Stanley Kubrick's ground-breaking sci-fi movie

  • Russia's Bitter Taste of Capitalism

    Wed 4 Apr 2018

    Chaos and hardship hit Russia with the rapid market reforms in early 1992.

  • The UNAbomber

    Tue 3 Apr 2018

    How the UNAbomber Ted Kaczynski was caught after his brother turned him in

  • The Invention of Semtex

    Mon 2 Apr 2018

    The Czech plastic explosive that was once undetectable to security services

  • The Good Friday Agreement

    Fri 30 Mar 2018

    The deal which brought peace to Northern Ireland after decades of violence.

  • Mapping the Ocean's Secrets

    Thu 29 Mar 2018

    Marie Tharp's discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge proved the theory of plate tectonics

  • The 'Oasis of Peace'

    Wed 28 Mar 2018

    The story of Wahat al-Salam, Neve Shalom where Jews and Arabs live side by side in peace.

  • Sarajevo: Singing for Peace

    Tue 27 Mar 2018

    How a multi-faith choir brought together survivors of the Bosnian civil war.

  • First Women on the London Stock Exchange

    Mon 26 Mar 2018

    The women who broke tradition shocking London's top-hatted stockbrokers.

  • Who Killed Luis Colosio?

    Fri 23 Mar 2018

    The murder of a presidential candidate that shocked Mexico.

  • Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud

    Thu 22 Mar 2018

    In 1988 scientists performed a carbon dating test on the Shroud of Turin.

  • A Brief History of Time

    Wed 21 Mar 2018

    Physicist Stephen Hawking's best-seller, A Brief History of Time, was published in 1988

  • Elvis in the US Army

    Tue 20 Mar 2018

    How the 'King' of Rock'n'Roll became a GI in 1958 and served during the Cold War

  • The Skull Valley Sheep Kill

    Mon 19 Mar 2018

    Did a nerve agent kill 6,000 sheep close to a US military testing site in 1968?

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