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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

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    Bob Marley Survives Assassination Attempt

    Fri 2 Dec 2016

    In December 1976 gunmen tried to kill the legendary reggae singer at his home in Jamaica.

  • Colombia's 'Lost City'

    Thu 1 Dec 2016

    In 1976, archaeologists found the ruins of a huge indigenous settlement hidden in forest

  • India's City of the Future: Chandigarh

    Wed 30 Nov 2016

    World famous architect Le Corbusier built a city to revive Indian pride after Partition.

  • Car Safety and Ralph Nader

    Tue 29 Nov 2016

    In the early 1960s there were virtually no laws covering car safety in the USA.

  • The Assassination of the Mirabal Sisters

    Mon 28 Nov 2016

    3 sisters in the Dominican Republic were beaten to death on the orders of the dictator

  • The 1948 French Miners' Strike

    Fri 25 Nov 2016

    How coal miners in France went from post-war heroes to pariahs

  • The Silk Letters Movement

    Thu 24 Nov 2016

    In 1916 the authorities in India uncovered plans to overthrow British rule

  • Saving Orphaned African Elephants

    Wed 23 Nov 2016

    How a Kenyan woman, Dame Daphne Sheldrick, first raised orphaned baby African elephants

  • Plane spotters arrested in Greece

    Tue 22 Nov 2016

    In Nov 2001 a group of British tourists was arrested in Greece and charged with spying.

  • The Musical Cabaret

    Mon 21 Nov 2016

    Director Hal Prince remembers the hit musical opening on Broadway in November 1966

  • Smuggling Endangered Birds

    Fri 18 Nov 2016

    In Nov 1996 leading ornithologist Tony Silva was convicted of smuggling endangered birds.

  • The Madagascar Palace Fire

    Thu 17 Nov 2016

    In 1995 one of Madagascar's most historic sites was destroyed by fire

  • East Timor Massacre

    Wed 16 Nov 2016

    In November 1991 Indonesian troops opened fire on independence activists in Dili.

  • The Burning of the Satanic Verses

    Tue 15 Nov 2016

    The publication of Salman Rushdie's book outraged many Muslims around the world

  • The James Bond Theme Tune

    Mon 14 Nov 2016

    In 1962 Monty Norman wrote the music for the first James Bond film, Dr No.

  • Kurdish Singer Ahmet Kaya

    Fri 11 Nov 2016

    The widow of the famous folk singer recalls the night that changed her husband's life.

  • Rolling Stone Magazine

    Thu 10 Nov 2016

    Writer and musician Michael Lydon recalls the birth of an iconic magazine.

  • The First Loebner Prize

    Tue 8 Nov 2016

    On 8 November 1991, a competition which judged artificial intelligence was held.

  • The Pitcairn Sex Abuse Trial

    Mon 7 Nov 2016

    In 2004 a child sex abuse trial on a remote island in the Pacific shocked the world.

  • War Photographer, Dickey Chapelle

    Fri 4 Nov 2016

    Photographer Dickey Chapelle was the first woman war reporter to be killed in Vietnam

  • Octavio Paz

    Thu 3 Nov 2016

    In October 1990 the Mexican poet and essayist was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

  • Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution

    Wed 2 Nov 2016

    A former communist Red Guard recalls his role in China's Cultural Revolution.

  • A Black GI in China

    Tue 1 Nov 2016

    How an African American soldier captured in the Korean war, decided to settle in China

  • Harry Houdini

    Mon 31 Oct 2016

    How a performance in London made the reputation of the world's greatest escape artist

  • The Abduction of Mehdi Ben Barka

    Fri 28 Oct 2016

    In 1965 French agents helped kidnap and disappear the Moroccan dissident in Paris

  • The Big Bang

    Thu 27 Oct 2016

    In 1986 London's Stock Exchange underwent one of the biggest shake-ups in its history.

  • The Hungarian Uprising

    Wed 26 Oct 2016

    In October 1956 Hungarians took to the streets of Budapest to protest at Soviet rule.

  • Shell Shock

    Tue 25 Oct 2016

    Veterans talk about their experience of 'shell shock' in recordings from the 蜜芽传媒 archive

  • Marvel Comics and 'The Fantastic Four'

    Mon 24 Oct 2016

    In 1961 a new generation of comic-book super heroes was launched in the US

  • The Aberfan Disaster

    Fri 21 Oct 2016

    On 21st October 1966, tragedy struck a village in Wales when a landslide crushed a school

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