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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Ethiopia's 1984 famine
Wed 23 Oct 2024
In 1984, a news report on a famine in Ethiopia led to a global fundraising campaign
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I found the first dinosaur remains in Antarctica
Tue 22 Oct 2024
In 1986, Argentinian geologist Eduardo Olivero discovered a new kind of Ankylosaurus
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The fight to stop skin lightening in India
Mon 21 Oct 2024
In 2013, Kavitha Emmanuel began campaigning to stop skin lightening in India
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Eight years trapped on the Suez Canal in Egypt
Fri 18 Oct 2024
After the Six Day War in 1967, 14 ships were stuck on the Great Bitter Lake
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Dyke and Dryden: Cosmetic kings
Thu 17 Oct 2024
In 1969, Dyke and Dryden started one the most successful black British businesses
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Fleeing Afghanistan alone as a child
Wed 16 Oct 2024
Dr Waheed Arian escaped poverty and war in Afghanistan to begin a new life in the UK
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The Rose Revolution in Georgia
Tue 15 Oct 2024
In 2003, demonstrators stormed the parliament building in Tbilisi, holding flowers
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The Sunflower Movement
Mon 14 Oct 2024
In 2014, more than 500,000 Taiwanese people protested against a new trade deal with China
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'Robocops鈥� in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Fri 11 Oct 2024
Handmade robots were installed in DRC's capital city Kinshasa to direct traffic
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How the QR code was invented
Thu 10 Oct 2024
In 1994 Japanese engineer Masahiro Hara designed a square of data, now known as a QR code
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The world's first general purpose electronic computer
Wed 9 Oct 2024
In 1946, one of the world鈥檚 first electronic computers was unveiled in the USA.
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WABOT-1: The first humanoid robot
Tue 8 Oct 2024
Scientists at Waseda University in Japan built the world's first humanoid robot in 1973
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Eliza: When chatbots started
Mon 7 Oct 2024
1966 saw the invention of Eliza, which is said to be the first chatbot
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The longest plane hijacking in Latin America
Fri 4 Oct 2024
In 1973, two men pretending to be Colombian guerrillas hijacked a plane for 60 hours
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The speech that inspired the Law of the Sea
Thu 3 Oct 2024
In November 1967, the Maltese diplomat, Arvid Pardo, gave a historic speech at the UN
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South Africa鈥檚 nuclear weapons
Wed 2 Oct 2024
In 1989, South Africa became the first country to make and then dismantle nuclear weapons
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Cambodia war crimes
Tue 1 Oct 2024
Kerry Hamill mistakenly sailed into Cambodian waters and was killed by the Khmer Rouge
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Kristallnacht: The night of broken glass
Mon 30 Sep 2024
In 1938, the Nazis launched a violent anti-Jewish attack, known as Kristallnacht
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The Estonia ferry disaster
Fri 27 Sep 2024
In 1994 the Estonia ferry sank off Finland in one of Europe's biggest shipping tragedies
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South Africa鈥檚 first inter-racial marriage
Thu 26 Sep 2024
For almost 40 years, marriage between people from different ethnic backgrounds was banned
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Why Tupac was fired from Menace II Society
Tue 24 Sep 2024
In 1993, the Hughes brothers released their debut movie
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India's Mars Orbiter Mission
Mon 23 Sep 2024
India placed a satellite into orbit around Mars on its first attempt in 2014
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Designing the Google logo
Fri 20 Sep 2024
Brazilian artist and designer, Ruth Kedar鈥檚 story of designing the Google logo.
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The discovery of New Zealand鈥檚 first dinosaur
Thu 19 Sep 2024
The discovery of New Zealand's first dinosaur by Joan Wiffen
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India鈥檚 plague outbreak
Wed 18 Sep 2024
In 1994, hundreds of thousands of people fled the city of Surat
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Camouflaging Leningrad
Tue 17 Sep 2024
In 1941, landmarks were painted and covered in the Russian city during World War Two
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The invention of the CT scanner
Mon 16 Sep 2024
In 1971, the CT scanner was invented by Allan Cormack and Godfrey Hounsfield
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When Italy gave back Ethiopia鈥檚 stolen obelisk
Fri 13 Sep 2024
The Axum Obelisk was looted by Italian soldiers in 1937 on the orders of Benito Mussolini
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Abebech Gobena: Africa's 'Mother Teresa'
Thu 12 Sep 2024
In 1980, Abebech Gobena founded an orphanage in Ethiopia to save children from starvation
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Ardi: The oldest skeleton of a human ancestor
Wed 11 Sep 2024
In 1994, a college student discovered a 4.4 million-year-old skeleton in Ethiopia
