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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

  • Saturday Night Fever

    Fri 20 Feb 2015

    The chart-topping Bee Gees sound track which made the movie a hit

  • Larnaca Airport Shootout

    Thu 19 Feb 2015

    In 1978 Egyptian and Cypriot troops fought each other during a hostage crisis in Cyprus

  • The Murder of Daniel Pearl

    Wed 18 Feb 2015

    In 2002 militants in Pakistan released a video of the killing of the US journalist

  • The Murder of Archbishop Janani Luwum

    Tue 17 Feb 2015

    Ugandan Archbishop Janani Luwum was killed after standing up to dictator Idi Amin in 1977

  • Martha Gellhorn

    Mon 16 Feb 2015

    In February 1998, the great war correspondent and writer, Martha Gellhorn, died

  • Aung San

    Fri 13 Feb 2015

    The Burmese independence leader was born on February 13th 1915

  • The Bombing of Dresden

    Thu 12 Feb 2015

    On February 13th 1945 the Allies began a series of air raids against the German city.

  • Minamata Mercury Poisoning

    Wed 11 Feb 2015

    In the late 1950s thousands of people in Japan were poisoned by industrial waste

  • Finland鈥檚 Winter War

    Tue 10 Feb 2015

    Finland's desperate fight for survival against the might of the Soviet Union in 1940.

  • Sophiatown Removals

    Mon 9 Feb 2015

    In 1955 apartheid South Africa evicted people from a multi-racial area of Johannesburg

  • The Conflict is Over

    Fri 6 Feb 2015

    In 1993 a message arrived in London which kickstarted the Northern Ireland Peace Process.

  • The Greensboro Sit-In

    Thu 5 Feb 2015

    Four young black men protested against racial segregation in North Carolina in Feb 1960.

  • McDonald's in Moscow

    Wed 4 Feb 2015

    In January 1990 the global fast food giant opened its first restaurant in the USSR

  • The Atomic Spy

    Tue 3 Feb 2015

    The first spy of the Cold War, Klaus Fuchs, gave the West's nuclear secrets to Moscow

  • Bertrand Russell

    Mon 2 Feb 2015

    Memories of the English analytic philosopher and political activist using 蜜芽传媒 archive.

  • The Family Doctor Turned Murderer

    Fri 30 Jan 2015

    In January 2000, Harold Shipman was found guilty of killing 15 of his female patients

  • Black Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm

    Thu 29 Jan 2015

    The first major-party black candidate to make a bid for the US Presidency in 1972

  • Greenland nuclear bomber crash

    Wed 28 Jan 2015

    In 1968 a US B52 plane with nuclear bombs on board crashed at Thule, Greenland.

  • Auschwitz Train Escape

    Tue 27 Jan 2015

    How a handful of Belgian Jews escaped from a train heading to Auschwitz

  • Fleeing the Spanish Civil War

    Mon 26 Jan 2015

    In January 1939 tens of thousands of people fled the advancing forces of General Franco

  • Patrice Lumumba

    Fri 23 Jan 2015

    The African nationalist and Congo's first prime minister who was murdered in January 1961

  • The Death of Al Capone

    Thu 22 Jan 2015

    Al Capone's grand niece talks about her memories of the famous Chicago mobster

  • US Drone Operator

    Wed 21 Jan 2015

    Brandon Bryant speaks to Witness about working on the controversial US drone programme.

  • The rise of England's football hooligans

    Tue 20 Jan 2015

    The rise of violence between English football fans in the 1970s

  • Zeppelins Attack England

    Mon 19 Jan 2015

    In January 1915 huge German Zeppelin airships began the first bombing raids on England

  • The mystery of Raoul Wallenberg

    Fri 16 Jan 2015

    The Swedish diplomat saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during World War Two

  • The Life and Death of Agatha Christie

    Thu 15 Jan 2015

    The best-selling novelist in history, crime-writer Agatha Christie, died in January 1976

  • India's First Call Centre

    Wed 14 Jan 2015

    In 1997 an Indian businessman saw a great opportunity to start a whole new industry

  • India Bans Widow Burning

    Tue 13 Jan 2015

    In I988 India passed a law that made it a criminal offence to help anyone commit Sati

  • Somalia's Rural Literacy Campaign

    Mon 12 Jan 2015

    The hugely ambitious campaign to teach rural people to read and write in 1970s Somalia

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