The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about Cyberia - the first commercial internet café which opened in London in 1994. Director of the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, Professor Vicki Nash, talks us through other notable landmarks in the internet?s history. Plus how the Covid N95 mask was invented by a scientist from Taiwan in 1992.

Also how Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff was punished for his writing on liberation theology. Staying with Brazil, we hear how poor rural workers occupied land owned by the rich, resulting in violent clashes in 1980.

And the world's first global seed vault, buried deep inside a mountain on an Arctic island.

Contributors: Eva Pascoe ? a founder of Cyberia internet café Prof Vicki Nash ? Director of the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford Peter Tsai ? inventor of N95 mask Leonardo Boff ? Brazilian theologian Maria Salete Campigotto ? Landless Workers Movement protestor Dr Cary Fowler ? founder of Doomsday seed vault

(Photo: People using Cyberia in 1994. Credit: Mathieu Polak/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service all about figures branded as traitors.

In 1939 Wang Jingwei, once a national hero in China, signed an agreement with Japanese invaders which made his name synonymous with the word ?Hanjian?, a traitor to China. But Pan Chia-sheng?s memories of living under Wang Jingwei?s government in Nanjing tell a very different story.

Our guest Ian Crofton, author of Traitors and Turncoats, explains the nuances involved in our historic understanding of traitors.

Also, the fascist Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling blamed for convincing the German dictator Adolf Hitler to invade Norway in 1940. Norwegian journalist Trude Lorentzen explains the story with an account she recorded from Quisling?s Jewish neighbour, Leif Grusd.

And, the story of the former Broadway showgirl, known as Axis Sally, who broadcast antisemitic Nazi propaganda on German State Radio during World War Two, told through the archives.

Plus, the Polish colonel, Ryszard Kuklinski, code-named 'Jack Strong', who passed Soviet military secrets to the CIA that changed the tide of the Cold War.

And, the Hungarian Sándor Sz?cs, famous for playing in the country?s star football team, who was executed in 1951 for trying to defect from the communist regime.

Contributors: Pan Chia-sheng - on Wang Jingwei Ian Crofton - author of Traitors and Turncoats Trude Lorentzen - Norwegian journalist on Vidkun Quisling Aris Papas - one of the agents who received intelligence from Ryszard Kuklinski

Erzsi Kovács? story is told using an archive interview he gave in 2011 to Hungarian journalist Endre Kadarkai on the Arckép programme, on Zuglo TV.

(Photo: Mildred Gillars, known as 'Axis Sally', on trial for treason in 1949. Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We?re going wild for animals this week. We find out how the Ibadan Zoo became one of Nigeria?s biggest tourist attractions during the 1970s. Our guest Harriet Ritvo, professor of history at MIT, looks back across the centuries to reveal the fascination that humans have always had for animals. And more on the environmental campaigner who became known as Lady Tarzan for her fight against illegal logging in the forests of India.

Plus, we hear from a journalist tortured in Iran's notorious Evin Prison in the wake of the 2009 protests against the Islamic regime. Also, why hundreds of thousands of Moroccans were ordered into the Spanish Sahara by their king. And finally, more on the Bolivian president who went on hunger strike to try to save his country.

Contributors: Peaches Golding - wife of zoologist Bob Golding Professor Harriet Ritvo ? professor of history at MIT Marcela Siles - daughter of former Bolivian president Hernán Siles Zuazo Seddik Maaninou - TV cameraman Francis Gillies ? North Africa expert Maziar Bahari - journalist Jamuna Tudu ? environmentalist nicknamed ?Lady Tarzan?

(Photo: Imade the gorilla at Ibadan Zoo. Credit: bobgolding.co.uk)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriage. Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at midnight which was broadcast on TV. Hélène Faasen and Anne-Marie Thus talk about the wedding they thought they'd never have.

Our guest Lauren Moss, the LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News tells us about the history of gay marriage. Also, the man who risked his life to make the audio recordings which blew open one of the biggest corruption scandals in Spain's recent history.

Then we hear the story of the 1970s defection from the Soviet Union of a world-famous ballerina. Plus, the mystery surrounding the fate of the last king of France's son and the man who really does believe that laughter is the best medicine.

Contributors: Hélène Faasen & Anne-Marie Thus - the first lesbian couple to get married legally. Lauren Moss - LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News. José Luis Peñas - the man that made secret recordings that revealed the Gurtel scandal. Prof Jean Jacques Cassiman - Belgian geneticist. Deborah Cadbury - historian. Dr Madan Kataria ? founder of World Laughter Day.

(Photo: The couple arrive to be married at the Amsterdam City Hall. Credit: Marcel Antonisse/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Barbara Waibel, author of a book on the Hindenburg and Director of Archives at the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen, Germany. She tells us about the history of airships.

We begin with some remarkable archive of the Hindenburg airship disaster in 1937. Then British scientist Jonathan Shanklin describes how he discovered the hole in the ozone layer in 1985.

In the second half of the programme we hear from a NASA scientist who worked on the Voyager space probe which took the famous 'Pale Blue Dot' photo of Earth. A physicist from Quebec remembers when a solar flare plunged the Canadian province into darkness. And we hear the exciting and dangerous story of the invention of the wingsuit.

Contributors: Barbara Waibel - Author and Director of Archives at the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Jonathan Shanklin - Scientist who discovered the hole in the ozone layer. Candice Hansen - NASA scientist. Aja Hruska - Physicist from Quebec. Jari Kuosma - Inventor of the commercial wingsuit.

(Photo: Hindenburg airship. Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

This week, we look at the disputed history of pad Thai with food writer Chawadee Nualkhair.

We also hear from former fruit exporter Don Turner on why his family changed the name of the Chinese gooseberry to the kiwi fruit.

Our expert guest is food historian, Prof Katarzyna Cwiertka, who highlights other moments in history when food and politics combined.

We also have an interview with Thomas Chatenier, the president of Nutella, about the origins of the chocolate hazelnut spread.

Plus, we talk about the Flavr Savr tomato - the world's first genetically-engineered food.

And finally we hear from Ken Hom, the chef who introduced Chinese cookery to TV audiences.

Contributors: Chawadee Nualkhair ? Thai food writer. Don Turner ? former chief executive of kiwi exporter, Turners and Growers. Katarzyna Cwiertka - food historian and Professor of Modern Japan Studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. Thomas Chatenier - the president of Nutella. Roger Salquist ? former CEO of the biotech company which was responsible for the Flavr Savr tomato. Ken Hom ? Chinese-American chef and author.

(Photo: Pad Thai. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

This week, we hear from Lumepa Hald who survived the devastating tsunami that hit Samoa in 2009 but suffered a tragic loss.

Our expert guest, Prof Tiziana Rossetto, looks back at some of the worst tsunamis in history and how they have shaped our landscapes.

Plus we talk to Caster Semenya, the gold medallist who faced questions over her gender at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

There?s also an interview with Peter Greste, one of three Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to seven years in jail in Egypt.

We also look at the mystery surrounding the death of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda with his driver, Manuel Araya.

And finally we talk to singer Dafydd Iwan, the ?bad boy of Welsh politics?, who was arrested for defacing an English sign. He wanted official recognition for the Welsh language.

Contributors: Lumepa Hald ? survivor of the tsunami that hit Samoa in 2009. Tiziana Rossetto - Professor of Earthquake Engineering at University College London, UK. Caster Semenya ? world champion runner who faced questions over her gender. Peter Greste ? journalist sentenced to seven years in prison in Egypt. Manuel Araya ? driver of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Dafydd Iwan ? singer who campaigned for official recognition the Welsh language.

(Photo: Devastation at a beach in Samoa after the 2009 tsunami. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Ongama Mtimka, lecturer in South African politics at the Nelson Mandela University. He tells us about Mandela's life and legacy 10 years on from his death.

We start with with Mandela's daughter, Makaziwe, describing her relationship with her father and planning his funeral. Then, the brother of Emanuela Orlandi describes his lifelong mission to unravel the mystery of her disappearance in Rome in 1983.

The second half of the programme has a Russian flavour. A relative of Tsar Nicholas II describes the murder of the Romanov royal family in 1918. Then a Russian journalist describes attending the Romanov's controversial reburial 80 years later. We finish with one of Russia's greatest poets, Anna Akhmatova.

Contributors: Dr Ongama Mtimka - Lecturer in South African politics at the Nelson Mandela University. Dr Phumla Makaziwe Mandela - Nelson Mandela's daughter. Pietro Orlandi - Emanuela Orlandi's brother. Olga Romanov - Great niece of Tsar Nicholas II. Lilia Dubovaya - Journalist who was at the reburial of the Romanovs. Era Korobova - Art historian and expert on Anna Akhmatova.

(Photo: Nelson Mandela. Credit: Tom Stoddart Archive/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about two of the most influential computer games of the 1990s with their creators. John Romero was one of the developers of Doom and talks about the concept of a martian military base populated by zombie soldiers. Coder Jan Tian describes how his devotion to working on the football game FIFA 94 landed him in hospital. Our guest, The Guardian newspaper's video games editor Keza MacDonald, looks back on games which had a global impact.

Also how in 1945, 10,000 brains were collected from dead psychiatric patients in Denmark. It is now thought to be the world?s largest brain bank. We also find out how a group of right-wing army officers seized power in Greece in 1967 to stop the election of a social democratic government led by veteran politician George Papandreou.

And 30 years on since the cult French film La Haine was released, its director Mathieu Kassovitz describes how it caught the attention of high profile politicians with its criticism of policing in France.

Contributors: John Romero ? Doom developer Jan Tian ? FIFA 94 coder Keza MacDonald ? video games editor, The Guardian Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen ? pathologist George Papandreou Jnr ? former Greek Prime Minister Mathieu Kassovitz ? film director

(Photo: Brains stored in plastic buckets at the University of Southern Denmark. Credit: BBC)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

This week, the bird that defied extinction. In 1969, a Peruvian farmer Gustavo Del Solar received an unusual assignment - finding a bird called the white-winged guan that had been regarded as extinct for a century.

The American author and conservationist Michelle Nijhuis is this week's guest. She talks about some of the most interesting attempts in modern history to save animals on the brink of extinction.

Also this week, the world's first solar powered home, when Tanzania adopted Swahili and when the world went crazy for Cabbage Patch Kids.

This programme has been updated since its original broadcast. It was edited on 6 December 2023.

Contributors: Rafael Del Solar - son of conservationist Gustavo Del Solar Michelle Nijhuis - author and conservationist Meredith Ludwig - friend of Cabbage Patch Kids creator Martha Nelson Thomas Peter Baxter and George Kling - scientists Walter Bgoya - author in Tanzania Andrew Nemethy - lived in the world's first solar powered house

(Photo: A whooping crane. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

This week, we?re looking at the birth of a new African nation ? Zambia - in 1964, and find out how the country got its name. We also learn more about life after independence with our guest Dr Alfred Tembo, head of history of the University of Zambia.

Elsewhere, two survivors of a series of terrifying gun attacks in Mumbai talk about their experiences. And there?s a look back to 2003, when the worst heatwave in centuries caused thousands of deaths across Europe, and led to a health crisis in Paris.

Plus, we hear extracts from the lost memoirs of Manchester United goalkeeper Les Sealey. He recorded them before his death and the tapes were discovered years later.

And finally, the invention of bubble tea, a creation that would change the tea drinking world. The first cup was sold in a tea shop in Taiwan in 1987.

Contributors:

Mulenga Kapwepwe ? daughter of Simon Kapwepwe, fighter for Zambia?s independence Dr Alfred Tembo ? head of history, University of Zambia Devika Rotawan ? survivor of gun attack in Mumbai Arun Jadhav ? policeman and survivor of gun attack in Mumbai Dr Patrick Pelloux - emergency doctor at St Antoine Hospital in Paris Les Sealey ? former Manchester United goalkeeper Liu Han-Chieh ? tea leaf seller and shop owner Lin Xiuhu ? developer of bubble tea

(Photo: Celebrations after Zambian election, 1991. Credit: Walter Dhladhla/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Jenni Barclay from the University of East Anglia in the UK. She tells us about some of the most significant volcanic eruptions in history.

We start with the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in 2010, which caused air travel to stop across Europe. Then, memories of the Bolivian Water War in 2000.

In the second half of the programme, we hear how the EpiPen was invented by Sheldon Kaplan. Plus, how Rosalind Franklin?s research helped determine the structure of DNA. Finally, the discovery of the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion, underwater off the coast of Egypt.

Contributors: Sigrun Hreinsdottir - scientist who saw the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull. Jenni Barclay - professor of volcanology at the University of East Anglia, UK. Oscar Olivera - union official who led Bolivian Water War protests and negotiations. Michael Kaplan - son of Sheldon Kaplan, inventor of the EpiPen. Michael Mesa - colleague of Sheldon Kaplan. Jenifer Glyn - sister of scientist Rosalind Franklin, who helped discover the structure of DNA. Franck Goddio - underwater archaeologist who discovered Thonis-Heracleion.

(Photo: Eyjafjallajokull erupting in 2010. Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear from Zoheb Hassen, one half of a sibling duo from Pakistan who topped the charts in countries all over the world with their dancefloor filler, Disco Deewane.

Our guest is BBC radio presenter and Pakistani music fan Raess Khan. He talks about how Pakistani pop music evolved from Zoheb?s success.

Entertainment star Debbie McGee, who is best known for being the assistant and wife of British magician Paul Daniels talks about escaping from Iran at the start of the revolution in 1978.

In 2004 a supermarket fire in Paraguay killed more than 300 people. It was the country?s biggest peacetime disaster. One of the survivors, Tatiana Gabaglio tells her story.

Plus, how one of Bosnia's most famous landmarks, the historic bridge in Mostar, was destroyed by Croat guns during the Bosnian war in 1993

Finally, the unlikely friendship of a hippo and a tortoise following the tsunami in 2004.

Contributors: Zoheb Hassen ? former popstar Raess Khan ? BBC presenter and Pakistani pop fan Debbie McGee ? British celebrity Tatiana Gabaglio ? supermarket fire survivor in Paraguay Mirsad Behram ? journalist Eldin Palata ? cameraman Dr Paula Kahumbu ? wildlife conservationist

(Photo: Nazia and Zoheb Hassen in 1982. Credit: BBC)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Tony Kapcia, Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham's Centre for Research on Cuba. He tells us about the history of Cuban foreign policy.

We start with Aleida Guevara's memories of being sent from Cuba to provide medical aid in the Angolan Civil War during the 1980s. Then, the French scientist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi explains how HIV was discovered in 1983.

In the second half of the programme, we hear how Australian scientist David Warren invented the black box flight recorder in 1962, which made flying safer. An Ecuadorian politician explains how she tried to save the country's Yasuní National Park. And the actress Jane Seymour recounts how she played the role of Freddie Mercury's bride at the Fashion Aid event in 1985.

Contributors: Tony Kapcia - Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham's Centre for Research on Cuba. Dr Aleida Guevara - daughter of Che Guevara. Francoise Barre-Sinoussi - scientist who helped identify HIV. Jenny and Peter Warren - children of David Warren, inventor of the black box. Bill Schofield - former colleague of David Warren, inventor of the black box. Ivonne A-Baki - Ecuadorian politician tasked with saving the Yasuní National Park.

(Photo: Aleida Guevara with her father, Che, and Fidel Castro in 1963. Credit: Imagno via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear from activist and actor Memet Ali Alabora on how his social media post contributed to the civil unrest following the Gezi Park protests in Turkey in 2013.

Our guest, Selin Girit who covers Turkey for BBC World Service, talks to us about Turkey's important position between Europe and Asia. We also learn about the fighting in 1980 between the left and right-wing groups that led to Turkey?s military taking control of the country. Vice Admiral Isik Biren, who was an official in the defence ministry, and a former student activist, Murat Celikkan recount their different memories of the coup.

We hear more about Turkey?s geographic connection from Harvey Binnie who was involved with the design of the first Bosphorus suspension bridge in 1973. And from Zimbabwe, economist Professor Gift Mugano, on how the country?s annual inflation rate was 89.7 sextillion percent in 2008. And finally the story of how a Nigerian Airways flight from Lagos to Abuja was hijacked by four teenagers calling themselves the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD). Obed Taseobi was a passenger on that flight in 1993.

Contributors: Memet Ali Alabora ? activist and actor Selin Girit ? BBC World Service reporter Vice Admiral Isik Biren ? former official in the Turkish defence ministry Murat Celikkan ? former student activist Harvey Binnie ? member of design team for the Bosphorus bridge Professor Gift Mugano ? economist Obed Taseobi ? Nigerian Airways passenger

(Photo: Protesters clash with Turkish police near Gezi Park in Istanbul, June 2013. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about Osmondmania! The moment in 1973 when teenage fans of American heartthrobs, The Osmonds, caused a balcony at Heathrow to collapse.

Also, we find out about the first peace walk in Cambodia and how it united a country torn apart by war.

Plus, the birth of Lagos Fashion Week and how it put Nigerian design on the global map.

Contributors: Donny Osmond. Josephine McDermott, BBC producer and presenter. Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, organiser of Cambodia?s first peace walk. Parul Akhter, a sewing machinist who survived the Rana Plaza building collapse. Oscar Maynez, a forensic scientist who used to work in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez where hundreds of young women were kidnapped or killed. Paula Flores, the mother of one of the murdered girls. Omoyemi Akerele who organised the first Lagos Fashion Week.

(Photo: Donny Osmond greets fans at Heathrow airport. Credit: George Stroud/Express/Hulton Archive via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear from Kwasi Okoh about how his mother Theodosia Okoh designed Ghana?s flag after it became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence.

Our guest, former diplomatic and foreign affairs editor, Tim Marshall, explains the importance of flags for national identity and their changing purpose through history. We also learn about the moment in 1966 when Kwame Nkrumah, one of Africa's most famous leaders, was ousted from power in Ghana.

Plus, how in 2013, India's Supreme Court made a landmark ruling aimed at transforming the lives of acid attack survivors. It followed a campaign led by Laxmi Agarwal who at the age of 15 was burned when acid was thrown at her.

And the artist Yinka Shonibare discusses how ?Nelson?s Ship in a Bottle? exhibited in London?s Trafalgar Square was the world?s largest ship in a bottle.

And finally, how Kimani Maruge became the oldest man to enroll at a primary school in Kenya.

Contributors: Kwasi Okoh - son of Theodosia Okoh Tim Marshall - former diplomatic and foreign affairs editor for Sky News Chris Hesse - Ghanaian filmmaker Laxmi Agarwal - acid attack survivor Yinka Shonibare - creator of Nelson?s Ship in a Bottle Jane Obinchu - Kimani Maruge?s former teacher

(Photo: Ghanaian football fans wave their national flag. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

To mark 50 years since the global oil crisis, we?re focusing on oil - from discovery to disaster. We hear from Dr Fadhil Chalabi, then the deputy secretary general of Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) about what happened during the 1973 crisis.

Our guest Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University, explains why oil became the lifeblood of industrial economies during the last two centuries. We also learn how Kazakhstan signed ?the deal of the century? to become a fossil fuel powerhouse thanks to the Tengiz Oil Field.

Plus, why in 1956, not everyone welcomed the discovery of oil in the Nigerian village of Oloibiri. We find out more about the devastating impact of one of the world?s largest oil spills - when the Amoco Cadiz tanker ran aground off the coast of France in 1978. The wreck released more than 220,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sea.

And finally, how an indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon fought a court battle to protect their land from oil drilling ? and won.

Contributors: Dr Fadhil Chalabi ? former deputy secretary general of Opec Professor Helen Thompson - Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge University Bruce Pannier - Central Asia news correspondent Chief Sunday Inengite ? chief of Oloibiri, Nigeria Marguerite Lamour ? former secretary to Alphonse Arzel, the mayor of Ploudalmézeau in France Jose Gualing - former Sarayaku president Ena Santi - Sarayaku community leader

(Photo: Oil rig. Credit: Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the sinking of a migrant boat off Lampedusa in 2013 which was one of the Mediterranean?s worst shipwrecks. Also, we find out about Wally Hendrickson, the US physicist who volunteered to be dropped into the front line of the Vietnam War to remove fuel rods from a reactor. Plus, the opening of the world's first cat cafe in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1998.

Contributors: Amnasager Araya who survived the Lampedusa tragedy after being rescued by Vito Fiorino. Annalisa Camilli, correspondent for Internazionale magazine. Wally Hendrickson who removed the fuel rods from the reactor in Vietnam. André Turcat, the French pilot of Concorde?s maiden flight. The star of the telenovela, Kassandra, Coraima Torres, and Tony Paez who distributed the show. Tracy Chang, founder of the first cat cafe in Taiwan.

(Photo: A woman on a boat heading for Lampedusa. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the people with disabilities who were sterilised in Germany following an order in 1933, passed by the then Chancellor Adolf Hitler.

Also, we find out about the first man to descend into the ?Gates of Hell?, the Darvaza Crater, in Turkmenistan.

Plus the story behind the vuvuzela which was dubbed the ?world?s most annoying instrument?.

Contributors: Helga Gross who was sterilised in Germany as part of the Nazis? eugenics order. This is an archive interview from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Dr Susanne Klausen, Julia Gregg Brill Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the Pennsylvania State University. Campaigner Emma Bonino who fought for legal abortion in Italy. Explorer George Kourounis who was the first person to descend into the Darvaza Crater, in Turkmenistan. Paramedic Daniel Ouma who helped people injured in the Westgate Mall terror attack, in Nairobi, in Kenya, in 2013. Freddie 'Saddam' Maake who claims to have invented the vuvuzela.

(Photo: Adolf Hitler. Credit: Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. It's thirty years since the Oslo Accords were signed. This agreement in 1993 aimed to bring about peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. So this week, we're bringing you stories from Israeli and Palestinian history. We hear about attempts at peace - the secret talks behind the Oslo Accords, and President Bill Clinton's failed attempt to end the conflict at Camp David. Plus, one of the most dramatic sieges of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that took place in a church.

We also hear from a Palestinian and an Israeli who were there when rioting broke out in 2000, after the Israeli opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, made a visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. And finally a hope of peace with the orchestra, made up of young people from both sides of the conflict, which performed a concert in the Palestinian city of Ramallah.

Contributors: Mona Juul ? Norwegian diplomat who was part of the team that planned and orchestrated the meetings which resulted in the signing of the Oslo Accords. Yolande Knell - Middle East Correspondent for BBC News. Gamal Helal - American diplomatic interpreter and policy adviser. Khaled Zeghari - Palestinian cameraman. Zalman Shoval - former Israeli ambassador to Washington. Carolyn Cole - photojournalist. Father Amjad Sabbara - Franciscan friar. Tyme Khelefi - former violinist with the West-Eastern Divan orchestra. Daniel Cohen - former violinist with the West-Eastern Divan orchestra.

(Photo: Israeli soldiers run towards the Church of the Nativity. Credit: Musa Al-Shaer/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear from Chilean politician Hermógenes Pérez de Arce, who helped oust President Allende in 1973. We also hear from the widow of folk singer Victor Jara, who was killed during the military coup.

Our guest is Dr Camila Vergara, who is a historian and journalist from Chile, and a senior lecturer at the University of Essex Business School in the UK. She tells us more about the aftermath of the Chilean coup, and its lasting impact.

Eva Franchell speaks about her friend, the Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh who was murdered in 2003.

In the second half of the programme, campaigner Frank Heweston shares his experience on Greenpeace?s Arctic voyage to disrupt drilling on a newly built oil rig and we hear from a friend and promoter of Zanzibar?s most famous musician, Bi Kidude. Contributors: Camila Vergara - historian and journalist from Chile, and senior lecturer at the University of Essex Business School. Hermógenes Pérez de Arce ? Chilean politician. Joan Jara ? widow of Victor Jara. Eva Franchell ? Anna Lindh?s former press secretary and best friend. Maryam Hamdani - friend and promoter of Bi Kidude.

(Photo: President Salvador Allende. Credit: Bettman/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Jean H. Lee, an American journalist who has covered both North and South Korea extensively. Jean is also the co-host of the BBC World Service podcast, The Lazarus Heist. She tells us more about the relationship between the two countries.

The programme begins with the historic meeting between North and South Korea's leaders almost 50 years after the Korean War. We hear from Sameh Elbarky who was in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square on the day the army killed hundreds of protestors following a military coup.

In the second half of the programme, British black activists recount how they protested against racism within the local bus company in Bristol in 1963. One of the first Chinese students to arrive in the US in the early 1980s following the Cultural Revolution shares her experience. Finally, how the Mexican island of Guadalupe was saved from being destroyed by hungry goats.

Contributors: Jean H. Lee - American journalist and the co-host of the BBC's The Lazarus Heist podcast. Professor Chung-in Moon - South Korean special delegate. Sameh Elbarky - survivor of the Rabaa massacre. Paul Stephenson - spokesperson for the Bristol Bus Boycott. Roy Hackett - Bristol Bus Boycott protestor. Zha Jianying - Chinese American writer. Professor Exequiel Ezcurra - conservationist.

(Photo: North and South Korean leaders meet at the summit in 2000. Credit: Reuters)

Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History stories from the BBC World Service, this week we are focusing on Irish history.

In 2006, Ireland?s economic boom, known as the Celtic Tiger, ended. It meant thousands of people, like Michelle Burke, were left devastated as house construction stopped.

In 1959, Tralee, in Ireland, hosted a festival to promote the town and build Irish connections around the world. The Rose of Tralee is now one of Ireland?s oldest and largest festivals.

Veteran RTE broadcaster and author, Joe Duffy, walks us through the significance of the Celtic Tiger.

At Easter 1916, a small army of Irish rebels attempted to start a revolution against British rule. They held out for more than a week against a massive British military response, but the insurrection ultimately failed.

Also, how electrification lit up rural Ireland for the first time, despite concerns about its potential dangers.

And how a group of women fought against a sexist tradition, that prevented them from taking a dip in a popular swimming spot.

Contributors: Michelle Burke - lived through the Celtic Tiger boom and bust. Alice O?Sullivan - first Rose of Tralee winner. Joe Duffy - broadcaster and author. Mary Dorcey - poet, writer and women?s rights activist.

(Photo: Deserted 'ghost estate' in Ireland. Credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images)

A compilation of this week's Witness History episodes. Gerald Clarke, the author of Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, speaks to Max Pearson about the legacy of the stage and screen actress who died in 1969.

We also look at how a chance encounter led to the return of two of the looted Benin Bronzes, ancient artworks which were among thousands stolen from Benin City by the British Army in 1897.

And we head back to 2008, when a nine-year-old boy tripped over a fossil that would lead to one of the most important discoveries in the history of human evolution.

Contributors:

Author Gerald Clarke John Kelsch from the Judy Garland Museum Production assistant Rosalyn Wilder Retired police officer Tim Awoyemi Matt Berger who discovered the Australopithecus sediba fossil Hedayat Matine-Daftary, grandson of Mohammed Mossadeq

(Photo: Judy Garland during a press conference in 1963. Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History stories from the BBC World Service. Journalist Claude Angeli discovered French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing received diamonds from a depraved African emperor, which contributed to him losing the presidential election in 1981. How Bosnia?s small Jewish community helped people from all sides of the conflict, during the siege of Sarajevo in the early 1990s. The story of the gang of thieves, who held up a British Royal Mail train on its journey from Glasgow to London in August 1963. Plus Jean-Michel Basquiat, a young black graffiti artist in the 1980s took the New York art world by storm. His paintings were selling for huge sums of money, but he died before the end of the decade. And the rise and fall of self-made businesswoman Brownie Wise, who inspired an army of US housewives to sell Tupperware at parties. Contributors: Journalist Claude Angeli Journalist Pauline Bock Former vice president of the Jewish community Jakob Finci Author Bob Kealing Journalist Reginald Abbiss Patti Astor, friend of Jean-Michel Basquiat

(Photo: French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing and Jean-Bédel Bokassa in Bangui, March 1975. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about a prehistoric discovery in India - a nest full of dinosaur eggs found in 1982. Plus, why a Mongolian dinosaur skeleton became the centre of a 2012 court battle in a case known as United States V One Tyrannosaurus Bataar.

Our guest, palaeobiologist Neil Gostling reveals how newly-uncovered dinosaurs are named, and tells us which fossilised beast was the first to be christened.

José Mujica recounts his journey from young revolutionary in the 1960s and 70s to becoming Uruguay's president in 2009. Plus, we learn more about the deaf children in Nicaragua who invented their own sign language. And find out why a treehouse built beside the Berlin Wall during the Cold War became a symbol of resistance.

Contributors: Professor Ashok Sahni - palaeontologist Associate Professor Neil Gostling - palaeobiologist Dr Bolortsetseg Minjin - paleontologist José Mujica - former president of Uruguay Professor Judy Shepard-Kegl - linguist Mehmet Kahlin ? son of Osman Kahlin

(Photo: Tyrannosaurus Bataar skeleton, 2016. Credit: Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Ozoz Sokoh, Nigerian food writer and author of the Kitchen Butterfly food blog, who tells us about the history of West African food.

The programme begins with the story of Mr Bigg's, Nigeria's answer to McDonald's. Then, we hear about the 1960 coup against the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, from his grandnephew.

In the second half of the programme, a Jewish survivor tells us about the Nazi occupation of Greece from 1941-1944. Two witnesses tell us about Pope John Paul II's ill-fated visit to Nicaragua in 1983. And a Pakistani man recounts how he accidentally created the first personal computer virus in 1986.

Contributors: Ozoz Sokoh - Nigerian food writer and author of the Kitchen Butterfly food blog. Emmanuel Osugo - Mr Bigg's employee. Dr Asfa-Wossen Asserate - grandnephew of Haile Selassie. Yeti Mitrani - Jewish survivor of Nazi occupation of Greece. Nancy Frazier O?Brien - Catholic News Service reporter. Carlos Pensque - Nicaraguan protestor. Amjad Farooq Alvi - software developer.

(Photo: West African food. Credit: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories from this week?s Witness History episodes.

In the autumn of 1945, World War II surrender ceremonies took place across the Japanese Empire. Thousands of people watched the incredible moment Japanese generals handed over their swords in China's Forbidden City in Beijing.

Historian James Holland, talks about the ritual and significance of a surrender.

Also, the first Barbie doll was sold in 1959. It took Ruth Handler, who created it, years to convince her male colleagues that it would sell.

The plastic creation sold 350,000 in the first year and went on to take the world by storm selling millions. It?s now even been turned into a live action film starring Margot Robbie.

Contributors: John Stanfield, signed surrender declaration documents on behalf of the British at the end of World War II James Holland, historian, writer, and broadcaster Ramona Reed on her father Dean Reed who became known as ?Red Elvis? Vents Krauklis, a demonstrator in the Latvian capital, Riga in 1991 Professor V. Craig Jordan, who helped bring the drug tamoxifen to the world?s attention Ruth and Elliot Handler from a BBC documentary broadcast in the 1990s

(Photo: Barbie in her various incarnations. Credit: Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a selection of this week?s Witness History stories.

In 1999, Aibo: the world's first robot dog, hit the shops in Japan and sold out in just 20 minutes.

We hear from Toshitada Doi who spent six years on the project when he worked at Sony. Plus we hear from Dr Ella Haig about the development of artificial intelligence.

Japanese software developer Shigetaka Kurita created the first emoji in 1999.

Valerie Hunter Gordon, from England, invented disposable nappies in 1947 after the birth of her third child. We hear from Valerie?s son, Nigel Hunter Gordon.

Hungarian journalist László Bíró was sick of smudging the ink from his fountain pen and so he invented the ballpoint pen in 1938.

Finally, a Hungarian architect Ern? Rubik invented what's known as the Rubik's Cube.

Contributors:

Toshitada Doi on developing Aibo: The world's first robot dog Dr Ella Haig, Reader in Artificial Intelligence, in the School of Computing at the University of Portsmouth in the UK Japanese software developer Shigetaka Kurita, who created the first emoji Nigel Hunter Gordon, the son of Valerie Hunter Gordon, on disposable nappies Hungarian journalist László Bíró, the inventor of the ballpoint pen Hungarian architect Ern? Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik's Cube

(Photo: The original Aibo. Credit: Jun Sato/WireImage via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a selection of this week?s Witness History stories.

In 1972, tourists arrived in the Maldives for the first time. We hear from one of the people who made it happen, plus analysis of the growth of tourism around South East Asia with Ploysri Porananond.

Also, on the 75th anniversary of the National Health Service in the UK, one of the first doctors shares his experience.

Lawyers for both the prosecution and defence of concentration camp guard John Demjanjuk, discuss his trial.

The election in India, of what was to be the longest serving democratically elected government in the world.

Finally, a night out to remember, with Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett.

Contributors:

Ahmed Naseem on bringing tourism to the Maldives Ploysri Porananond, head of the centre for tourism research at Chiang Mai University in Thailand Dr John Marks on the formation of the NHS in 1948 Lawyer Yoram Sheftel, who acted in defence of John Demjanjuk Lawyer Eli Gabay, who prosecuted John Demjanjuk Mohammad Salim, former Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Cleo Rocos, on her night out with Princess Diana, Freddie Mercury and Kenny Everett

(Photo: Early tourists enjoy the Maldives in the 1970s Credit: Kurumba)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History stories.

In 1995, the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in the South Korean capital, Seoul, killed and injured hundreds of people. Explaining the impact it had on urban planning is Dr Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Also, the speech President John F Kennedy made at the height of the Cold War on 26 June 1963. It galvanised the world in support of West Berliners who had been isolated by the construction of the Berlin Wall.

From the archive, Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann worked to bring the first documented outbreak of Ebola under control in 1976.

Plus, Budapest's communist statue 'graveyard' which opened in 1993.

Finally, when Lady Gaga accepted an MTV Video Music Award in a dress made entirely out of beef.

Contributors:

Sun Minh Lee on the Sampoong Department Store disaster Dr Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh Gisela Morel-Tiemann on the Ich Bin Ein Berliner speech Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann on Ebola Judit Holp on Memento Park Franc Fernandez on Lady Gaga's meat dress

(Photo: US military troops and South Korean army soldiers look for survivors in the rubble of the collapsed Sampoong Department Store. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History stories.

Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, a fighter pilot in the Somali air force defied orders to bomb civilians in 1988. Explaining more about the Somali civil war and its legacy is BBC Monitoring's regional analyst Beverly Ochieng.

Also, the demonstrations in East Germany that triggered martial rule in 1953.

From the archive, Sam King recalls arriving in England on the Empire Windrush in 1948, one of 802 pioneering Caribbean migrants.

Plus, the 1994 raid on a gay nightclub in Melbourne, Australia, where more than 400 people were strip-searched and detained.

Finally, in 1971 Alan Shepard, the commander of Apollo 14 became the first and only person to play golf on the moon.

Contributors: Ahmed Mohamed Hassan on being a fighter pilot in the Somali air force Beverly Ochieng, BBC Monitoring's Horn Of Africa analyst Helmut Strecker on his recollections of the protests in East Germany Sam King on the Empire Windrush Gary Singer on the raid of Tasty nightclub Laura Shepard Churchley on her father Commander Alan Shepard

(Photo: Refugees in Somalia's civil war. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History stories.

We focus on some of the world?s best known photographs - and the photographers who took them.

We find out why Lee Miller was in Hitler?s bath in the dying days of World War Two; and historian Dr Pippa Oldfield discusses the women who were the pioneers of war photography.

Also, Sir Don McCullin tells the story behind one of his most famous images of the Vietnam War.

Plus, more on the party pictures that shone a light on an unseen Africa and how the biggest names in jazz came together for one immortal portrait.

Finally, the first African American woman to have her photographs snapped up by New York?s Museum of Modern Art.

Contributors: Antony Penrose, Lee Miller's son and biographer Sir Don McCullin, photographer Dr Pippa Oldfield, photo-historian Manthia Diawara, filmmaker Jonathan Kane, son of photographer Art Kane Ming Smith, photographer

(Photo: Grace Jones. Studio 54, New York, 1970s. Credit: Ming Smith)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History and Sporting Witness stories.

We hear about the Inuit children taken away from their homes and culture, to be educated in Canadian cities. Adamie Kalingo tells his story about being placed with a foster family in Ottawa in 1964. Dr Raven Sinclair explains how Adamie?s story was part of a wider program of resettling Indigenous children.

Also, the crash at Le Mans which killed 80 people in 1955; the ceremony in 2005, organised by campaigner Ilguilas Weila, to free 7,000 slaves in Niger; plus, the forensic artist whose reconstructions have helped solve murders.

Finally, we find out whether a man can ever beat a horse in a race.

Contributors: Adamie Kalingo, taken from his Inuit community in 1964 Dr Raven Sinclair, retired professor of social work John Fitch, racing driver Ilguilas Weila, anti-slavery campaigner Richard Neave, forensic artist Huw Lobb, long distance runner Gordon Green, creator of the Man v Horse race

(Photo: Adamie Kalingo in 2023. Credit: Adamie Kalingo)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes focusing on Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.

It's 70 years since Edmund Hillary with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to reach the summit of Everest in 1953.

We hear about some of the earliest, tragic attempts to scale the mountain, and from those who've blazed a trail up the slopes for others to follow.

Contributors: Peter Hillary - Sir Edmund Hillary's son. Jamling Tenzing Norgay - Tenzing Norgay's son. Bachendri Pal - the first Indian woman to scale Mount Everest. Michael Groom - a survivor of the tragic expedition in 1996 when a storm struck the mountain. Jochen Hemmleb - an original member of the team that discovered George Mallory's remains.

(Photo: Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary after their return from Everest. Credit: Bettmann)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear how a shocking photo from a Bosnian concentration camp stunned the world, what it's like to be in a tornado and the heroic clown who helped after an earthquake in Peru.

Plus the 1980 military coup in Suriname and the moment in the 1960s when African de-colonisation might have led to a United States of Africa.

This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.

(Photo: Fikret Alic in a Bosnian refugee camp. Credit: ITN/Shutterstock)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week?s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the German children who were evacuated to camps in the countryside to avoid the bombs of World War Two. You may find some of the content distressing.

Also we find out about the execution of Flor Contemplacion

Plus the creation of the 3000 km Te Ararora trail in New Zealand, the Dambusters raid and the story behind the popular children?s book, Pippi Longstocking.

Contributors: Gunter Stoppa and Klaus Reimer - German evacuee camp residents. This was taken from archive recordings from "Haus der Geschichte der Bundersrepublik Deutschland" in Bonn. Beate Muller - Professor of German Studies and Cultural History at Newcastle University, England Geoff Chapple who lobbied for the creation of the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand. Russel Contemplacion - Flor Contemplacion?s daughter Edre Olalia - Flor Contemplacion?s Lawyer George "Johnny" Johnson - the last survivor of the Dambusters squadron. Karin Nyman ? Daughter of author Astrid Nyman

(Photo: Flor Contemplacion. Credit: Russel Contemplacion)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the Allies' campaign in North Africa in the Second World War in 1943.

Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2025, the BBC is trying to gather as many first-hand accounts from surviving veterans as possible, to preserve for future generations.

Working with a number of partners, including the Normandy Memorial Trust and the Royal British Legion, the BBC has spoken to many men and women who served during the war. We are calling the collection World War Two: We were there.

We also have the story of the last flight out of the old international Hong Kong airport in 1998. The approach to the airport was known as 'the Kai Tak heart attack' because of it's location between the mountains and the city.

As well as the end of the uprising in the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw, the sinking of the 'Indian Titanic' and the United States' bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

Contributors: Peter Royle - British Army Captain in the Royal Artillery. Dr Helen Fry - author and historian, specialising in the Second World War. Simha "Kazik" Rotem - a Jewish fighter in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Arvind Jhani and Tej Mangat - survivors of the sinking of the SS Tilawa. Captain Kim Sharman - the pilot of the last passenger flight out of Kai Tak.

(Photo: Tunis victory parade, 20 May 1943. Credit: Peter Royle)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the Scottish students who removed the 'Stone of Destiny' from Westminster Abbey in London. Former King Simeon II of Bulgaria explains how he went from child King to Prime Minister of his country. Also, why the body of Oliver Cromwell was dug up and executed in the UK in 1661. The son of Jean-Bédel Bokassa explains why his father proclaimed himself Emperor of the Central African Republic. Plus the story of the King found under a car park in England.

Professor Cindy McCreery speaks to Max about royal thefts and repurposing of regal items.

Contributors: Ian Hamilton, student who removed the 'Stone of Destiny. Cindy McCreery, Associate Professor in History at the University of Sydney. Charles Spencer, historian. Dr Gabriel Heaton, specialist at Sotheby's auction house. Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, former King and former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Jean-Charles Bokassa, son of Jean-Béddel Bokassa. Dr Richard Buckley OBE, leader of the team which dug up Richard III's remains.

(Photo: Jean-Béddel Bokassa after he crowned himself Emperor Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about Althea McNish, the Trinidadian artist who designed fabric for Queen Elizabeth II.

Former Vogue editor Suzy Menkes on the success of the fashion celebration, the Met Gala.

The Guatemalan Bishop, Juan Gerardi, killed in his home, after presenting the conclusions of a major investigation into abuses committed during the country's civil war.

We remember Harry Belafonte, with a look back at his historic duet with Petula Clark.

Plus the fight by the BBC to televise Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953.

Contributors: Rose Sinclair, Lecturer in textile design at Goldsmiths, University of London. Gavin Douglas, Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer in fashion design at Manchester Metropolitan University. Suzy Menkes, former Vogue International Editor. Ronalth Ochaeta, former head of the Catholic Church?s human rights office in Guatemala. Steve Binder, TV producer. Lady Jane Rayne Lacey, a lady in waiting at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953.

(Photo: Althea McNish Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the invention of the labradoodle, the first dog in space and how a Yorkshire terrier called Smoky became the world's first therapy dog.

Author Mackenzi Lee talks about her book, The History of the World in Fifty Dogs. She discusses Napoleon Bonaparte's turbulent relationship with pugs and the first guide dogs in America.

Plus, the guide dog who saved its owner's life during the 9/11 terror attacks and the man who dressed up as a dog to protest life in post-Soviet Russia.

Contributors:

Wally Conron - dog breeder. Mackenzi Lee - author. Michael Hingson - 9/11 terror attacks survivor. Professor Victor Yazdovsky - Russian immunologist. Oleg Kulik - Russian conceptual artist. Adrian Brigham - friend of American World War II veteran Bill Wynne.

(Photo: Estie the labradoodle and Lola the cockapoo. Credit: Reena Stanton-Sharma)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the unearthing of a mass grave in Sernyky, Ukraine, in 1990, and when the Boston Marathon was the target of a terror attack in 2013.

This programme contains distressing details.

Contributors: James Bulgin - head of public history at the Imperial War Museum in Britain. Richard Wright - archaeologist. Jonathan Dimbleby - broadcaster. Edward Deveau - Watertown Chief of Police. Charles Barnett - managing director of Aintree Racecourse. Gary Anderson - designer.

(Photo: David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about the lengths one woman goes to to escape Eritrea, how Zumba was invented by accident and how a giant peace statue on a Japanese island, crumbled into a ghostly ruin.

Plus the arguments then, and the arguments still over the Good Friday Peace Agreement for Northern Ireland, and a picnic for peace that breached the Iron Curtain.

This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.

Contributors: Martin Plaut - Senior Research Fellow at University of London Semhar Ghebreslassie - Eritrean graduate Beto Perez - Choreographer and inventor of Zumba Jane Morrice - Yes campaigner in 1998 referendum on the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement Lee Reynolds - No campaigner in 1998 referendum on the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement Yusuke Natsukawa - Local resident of Awaji Island Goro Otsubo - IT worker who enjoys visiting weird sites around Japan Walburga Habsburg Douglas - an organiser of the Pan-European picnic

(Photo: Zumba creator Beto Perez. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

We hear about Vietnam's manicure godfather, how Bengaluru became India's Silicon Valley and how the first ever photograph from a mobile phone was sent.

Plus, the popularity of theoretical physicist Prof Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, and the windmill that revolutionised wind power.

Contributors:

Tuong Vu - Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon. Kien Nguyen - Wife of Minh Nguyen. Narayana Murthy - Founder of Infosys. Philippe Kahn - Software engineer and owner of world's first mobile phone photo. Peter Guzzardi - Publisher and editor. Britta Jensen - Teacher.

(Photo: Minh and Kien Nguyen outside beauty school in California. Credit: Kien Nguyen)

Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories about the history of film and cinema from around the world, including the longest running film in Indian cinema, the man who lived in an airport for 18 years and the ambitious release of the orca from the movie, Free Willy.

Plus, the real life escape from Alcatraz and the incredible story of Vietnamese movie star, Kieu Chinh.

Contributors:

Dr Ranita Chatterjee - Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Exeter. Kajol - Indian actress. Kieu Chinh - Vietnamese actress. Andrew Donkin - Biographer of Mehran Karimi Nasseri. Jolene Babyak - Lived on Alcatraz Island. Dave Phillips - Founder of the Free Willy Keiko Foundation.

(Photo: People queuing for DDLJ in Mumbai. Credit: Getty Images)

A compilation of stories marking the 20th anniversary of the American led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Caroline Hawley, who was the Baghdad correspondent for the BBC at the time, speaks to Max Pearson about reporting on Iraq.

Contributors:

Lubna Naji - schoolgirl in Baghdad when the war broke out. Yasir Dhannoon - became a refugee when he fled Iraq. General Vincent Brooks - first revealed the playing cards to help US troops identify the most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein's government. Muwafaq al Rubaie - was asked to help to identify Saddam Hussein after he was captured. Banwal Baba Dawud - brother to Ammo Baba.

(Photo: US Marines help Iraqis take down a Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad. Credit: RAMZI HAIDAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories celebrating women who made history including a ground-breaking, African American science fiction writer and the first presidential hopeful in Mexico.

Plus the UN's first ever all-female peacekeeping unit, a woman who helped bring peace to Northern Ireland and a child goddess in Nepal.

Contributors:

Dr Brenda Stevenson - Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair in Women?s History at St John?s College, Oxford University. Nisi Shawl - friend of Octavia Butler. Rosario Piedra - daughter of Rosario Ibarra. Nick Caistor - journalist. Seema Dhundia - member of India?s Central Reserve Police Force. Lesley Pruitt - author of The Women in Blue Helmets. Monica McWilliams - one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement. Chanira Bajrycharya - former child goddess in Nepal.

(Photo: March for International Women's Day in Mexico City in 2023. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Uta Rautenberg from the University of Warwick in the UK, an expert on homophobia in Nazi camps.

Rudolf Brazda recounts his experience of being a gay man in a Nazi concentration camp, symbolised by the pink triangle he was forced to wear on his uniform.

Then, we hear first-hand accounts of the Indigenous American protest at Wounded Knee 50 years ago, and the assassination of Serbia's Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, in 2003.

We finish with two lighter stories: the world's most remote museum on the island of South Georgia and the first ever underwater sculpture park in the Caribbean.

Contributors: Dr Uta Rautenberg - University of Warwick. Rudolf Brazda - Nazi concentration camp survivor. Russell Means - former National Director of the American Indian Movement. Gordana Matkovic - former Serbian cabinet minister. Jan Cheek - South Georgia Museum trustee. Jason deCaires Taylor - creator of Grenadian underwater sculpture park.

(Photo: Marchers carry a pink triangle at a Gay Pride event in London. Credit: Steve Eason/Hulton Archive via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Philippe Sands, Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London, who tells us about the history of ethnic tensions in Mauritius.

The programme begins with Kaya a Mauritian musician whose death sparked three days of rioting. Then, we hear from John Huckstep who was interned by the Japanese when living in China during World War Two.

In the second half of the programme, we tell the story of how Semtex was invented, and the debate about where the German capital should be after reunification.

Finally, the man who made the Queen appear to jump out of a helicopter tells us how he did it, with the help of corgis, a clothesline, the Queen's dresser and of course James Bond.

Contributors: Veronique Topize - Kaya's widow. Cassam Uteem - Former President of Mauritius. Phillippe Sands - Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London. Jurgen Nimptsch - Former Mayor of Bonn. Wolfgang Schauble - Member of German Bundestag. John Huckstep - Held as a child at an interment camp in China. Stanislav Brebera - Brother of chemist who invented Semtex. Frank Cottrell-Boyce - Writer.

(Photo: Mural of Kaya. Credit: BBC)