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
-
![]()
Attack on Argentina's Jews
Mon 21 Jul 2014
In 1994 a bomb exploded in Argentina killing 85 people at a Jewish centre
-
![]()
The Plot to Kill Hitler
Fri 18 Jul 2014
Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to kill Adolf Hitler on 20 July, 1944
-
![]()
-
![]()
The Fall of General Somoza
Wed 16 Jul 2014
In July 1979 left-wing rebels toppled the last member of the Somoza dynasty in Nicaragua.
-
![]()
The Chappaquiddick Incident
Tue 15 Jul 2014
In July 1969, Edward Kennedy was involved in a car accident in which a young woman died
-
![]()
The Death of Frida Kahlo
Mon 14 Jul 2014
On 13 July 1954, the celebrated Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, died at the age of 47
-
![]()
Pablo Neruda
Fri 11 Jul 2014
The great Latin American poet was born in a remote town in southern Chile in July 1904
-
![]()
The Srebrenica Massacre
Thu 10 Jul 2014
Bosnian Serb troops murdered thousands of Bosnian Muslim men and boys in July 1995
-
![]()
The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
Wed 9 Jul 2014
On 9 July 1985 the Greenpeace campaign ship was bombed by French secret agents
-
![]()
The Death of Kim Il Sung
Tue 8 Jul 2014
It is 20 years since the death of North Korea's founding leader Kim Il Sung
-
![]()
The Storming of the Red Mosque
Mon 7 Jul 2014
When militants took over a mosque in Islamabad, troops were sent in to end the siege
-
![]()
Iraq's Awakening Movement
Fri 4 Jul 2014
Sunni tribal militia turned on Al Qaeda in Iraq and began working with US forces In 2006
-
![]()
Artek - the Soviet Holiday Camp
Thu 3 Jul 2014
Every year, thousands of Soviet children visited the holiday camp Artek by the Black Sea
-
![]()
Oklahoma: The Musical
Wed 2 Jul 2014
In World War Two an optimistic musical about American rural life became a hit on Broadway
-
![]()
Abuse at Abu Ghraib: the Iraqi view
Tue 1 Jul 2014
Two Iraqi, Abu Ghraib detainees recall their experiences inside the American-run prison
-
![]()
Britain's Serial Murderers
Mon 30 Jun 2014
In 1994 Fred and Rosemary West were charged with a series of gruesome murders in England.
-
![]()
The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Fri 27 Jun 2014
The heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire was killed in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914
-
![]()
The Start of Computer Dating
Thu 26 Jun 2014
In 1965 a pioneering computer dating scheme, Operation Match, launched in the USA.
-
![]()
'Lidice Shall Die'
Wed 25 Jun 2014
The destruction of the village of Lidice in German-occupied Czechoslovakia in June 1942
-
![]()
Albanian Illegal Immigrants
Tue 24 Jun 2014
In the summer of 1991 thousands of Albanians commandeered cargo ships to take them Italy
-
![]()
1954 Burma Hijack
Mon 23 Jun 2014
In June 1954 separatist Karen rebels in Burma hijacked a passenger plane.
-
![]()
The River That Caught Fire
Fri 20 Jun 2014
In 1969 the Cuyahoga River in the US caught fire inspiring new laws for the enviroment
-
![]()
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
Thu 19 Jun 2014
The passing of the Civil Rights Act through the United States Congress 50 years ago
-
![]()
The Mysterious Life and Loves of a Russian Baroness
Wed 18 Jun 2014
Russian aristocrat Moura Budberg lived through turbulent times. But was she a Soviet spy?
-
![]()
Burying a Hungarian Hero
Tue 17 Jun 2014
In 1989 the body of Imre Nagy, Prime Minister during the Hungarian uprising, was reburied
-
![]()
The OJ Simpson Car Chase
Mon 16 Jun 2014
In June 1994 police chased the American football star through Los Angeles
-
![]()
Brazil's Tropicalia Movement
Fri 13 Jun 2014
Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso on the 1960s movement that changed Brazilian music
-
![]()
The Fusca - The Car that Charmed Brazil
Thu 12 Jun 2014
How the Brazilian version of the VW Beetle won a special place in the nation's heart
-
![]()
The Murder that Shocked Brazil
Wed 11 Jun 2014
In June 2002 investigative journalist, Tim Lopes, was brutally killed by a Rio drug gang
-
![]()
Building of Brasilia
Tue 10 Jun 2014
How Brazil opened a modernist capital city in its remote central plains in 1960
