Main content

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.

Updated: daily
Episodes available: indefinitely

Episodes to download

  •

    The Filming of Jaws

    Mon 29 Jun 2015

    It is 40 years since the blockbuster movie about a man-eating shark was released

  • Save the Whale

    Fri 26 Jun 2015

    On June 27th 1975 Greenpeace activists launched their first direct action against whalers

  • James Salter: Writer and Pilot

    Thu 25 Jun 2015

    The acclaimed American author died on 19 June 2015, aged 90

  • Communist Yugoslavia breaks with the USSR

    Wed 24 Jun 2015

    In June 1948 Marshal Tito shocked the world by shunning his former Soviet ally, Stalin.

  • Air India Flight 182

    Tue 23 Jun 2015

    On 23 June 1985 a passenger plane was blown out of the sky by Sikh extremists

  • Britain's First Black Woman MP

    Mon 22 Jun 2015

    In 1987 Diane Abbott became the first black woman elected to the British Parliament

  • The Six Day War: A Jewish view

    Fri 19 Jun 2015

    After the Six Day War in June 1967 Jews in Arab countries like Libya had to flee

  • Iran's Cultural Revolution

    Thu 18 Jun 2015

    How Iran's Islamic hardliners shut down universities to drive out secular groups

  • Inter-racial Marriage in South Africa

    Tue 16 Jun 2015

    In June 1985 the ban on inter-racial marriage in South Africa was finally lifted.

  • Flying to Freedom

    Mon 15 Jun 2015

    In June 1970 a group of mainly Jewish dissidents tried to escape from the USSR by plane

  • The Six Day War: A Palestinian view

    Fri 12 Jun 2015

    The Six Day War of 1967 between Israel and its Arab neighbours changed the Middle East

  • The Death of Walter Rodney

    Thu 11 Jun 2015

    The Guyanese historian and political activist Walter Rodney was killed by a bomb in 1980

  • Denmark's Inuit Experiment

    Wed 10 Jun 2015

    In 1951 a group of Inuit children were sent to Denmark for re-education as "little Danes"

  • Refugee Boat Tragedy

    Tue 9 Jun 2015

    In June 1988 the US Navy came across a boat of Vietnamese refugees in the South China Sea

  • Women's Institute at 100

    Mon 8 Jun 2015

    The British women's organisation set up to revitalise rural communities during WW1

  • Britain's first referendum on Europe

    Fri 5 Jun 2015

    In June 1975, Britain held a referendum on its membership of the Common Market

  • The Eichmann Tapes

    Thu 4 Jun 2015

    The Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann gave hours of interview before his capture and trial

  • The Death of Ayatollah Khomeini

    Wed 3 Jun 2015

    Chaos at the funeral of Iran's leader as millions gathered to mourn his death.

  • The Golden Gate Bridge

    Tue 2 Jun 2015

    In early June 1937 San Francisco was celebrating the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge

  • The Burning of the Jaffna Public Library

    Mon 1 Jun 2015

    On June 1st 1981, the public library in the Sri Lankan city of Jaffna was set on fire.

  • The Heysel Stadium Disaster

    Fri 29 May 2015

    Thirty-nine people died during the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus.

  • The Welsh in Patagonia

    Thu 28 May 2015

    In May 1865 a group of Welsh settlers left Liverpool for Patagonia

  • Protect and Survive

    Wed 27 May 2015

    In May 1980 the British government published a booklet about how to survive nuclear war

  • Dorothy Mulkey - US Fair Housing Campaigner

    Tue 26 May 2015

    The Californian woman who ended segregation in the American housing market in 1967.

  • Italy in World War One

    Mon 25 May 2015

    One soldier's diary account of the brutal Italian campaign fought in the Alps

  • Archbishop Romero of San Salvador

    Fri 22 May 2015

    An eye-witness account of the murder of the outspoken cleric, soon to declared a saint

  • Bob Marley's Funeral

    Thu 21 May 2015

    On 21 May 1981 the legendary reggae singer was buried in Jamaica

  • A Coup in Fiji

    Wed 20 May 2015

    In May 2000, gunmen broke into parliament in Fiji and declared a coup

  • Lawrence of Arabia

    Tue 19 May 2015

    It is 80 years since the Englishman TE Lawrence, known as Lawrence of Arabia, died

  • The Elephant Man

    Mon 18 May 2015

    The story of the hugely deformed Joseph Merrick, a celebrity in Victorian Britain.

  2. 1
  3. …
  4. 85
  5. 86
  6. 87
  7. 88
  8. 89
  9. …
  10. 126

This podcast belongs to