History as told by the people who were there.
The podcast Witness History is created by BBC World Service. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
As Yugoslavia began to break down, the Balkans conflict began - a series of brutal wars characterised by disputes over territory, identity, and ethnic divisions.
In 1991, the Croatian War of Independence started – the first of the major wars. One of its defining moments came in October, when the Yugoslav People’s Army advanced on the south of the country leading to the Siege of Dubrovnik.
One of the Yugoslav People’s Army commanders in the region was Rear Admiral Krsto Đurović, a Montenegrin who had spent his life working in Croatia, married a Croatian and planned to retire to the country.
Attacking Dubrovnik was unthinkable for the Rear Admiral, and he promised the city’s major: “As long as I am the commander, not a single shell will fall on Dubrovnik."
Shortly afterwards he was killed in a suspicious helicopter crash – his superiors claimed he was shot down, but there were no opposition forces in the area, and Croatian officials denied any part in the crash.
There was never an autopsy and no military investigation. Soon after, Miodrag Jokic was appointed Đurović’s replacement, and a vicious bombing campaign began which would later see Jokic convicted of war crimes.
Johnny I’Anson speaks to Montenegrin journalist Veseljko Koprivica, and documentary maker Mladen Ivanovic who say Rear Admiral Đurović’s refusal to bomb Dubrovnik may have led to his untimely death.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Rear Admiral Đurović. Credit: Đurović family)
In 1951, a group of 22 Inuit children from Greenland were sent to live with foster parents in Denmark. It was part of a social experiment aimed at improving the lot of the Inuit people. But, for the children involved it was a confusing experience.
Helene Thiesen was one of those children. She spoke to Ellen Otzen in 2015.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Helene Thiesen. Credit: Helene Thiesen)
The Nellie massacre on 18 February 1983 was the worst bloodshed in the country since Indian independence in 1947. It is estimated that 3,000 people died that day.
Bedabrata Lahkar was a journalist working for the Assam Tribune newspaper at the time. He tells Gill Kearsley about the events that led up to the massacre and the devastating scenes he witnessed.
A warning this programme contains descriptions of violence and language that some people may find offensive.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Survivors of the 1983 Assam massacre. Credit: Santosh Basak/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
What was it in September of 1959 that caused an Austrian scientist to rush out from his lab and buy children's modelling clay?
Austrian born Dr Max Perutz had made one of the greatest scientific discoveries of the 20th century. For the first time, he could see what a molecule of haemoglobin looked like in 3D. Using lectures and programmes from the BBC archive, Josephine McDermott tells the story of how his fellow Cambridge University students in the UK thought he was “mad” to try and map a molecule made of 10,000 atoms, and the “appalling task” which took 22 years to complete.
It was an achievement that earned him and his colleague John Kendrew the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962. It has since contributed to the study of blood diseases like sickle cell anaemia and Huntington's disease.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Dr Max Perutz in 1962. Credit: AP)
Sixty years ago, on 21st February 1965, the controversial black leader, Malcolm X, was assassinated in Harlem, New York as he was preparing to speak there.
In 2011, Simon Watts spoke to Herman Ferguson who was one of the people who was in the audience that day.
This programme contains outdated racial language that may offend.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Malcolm X speaks in Harlem six days before he was shot to death. Credit: Bill Quinn/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
On 29 March 1974, Czesław Kukuczka stormed into the Polish embassy in East Berlin, threatening to detonate a bomb unless he was allowed to escape to the West.
Shot at point-blank range while trying to cross the Berlin Wall, the identity of Kukuczka's killer remained a mystery for decades - until archive documents led investigators to former Stasi officer Martin Naumann.
Naumann's historic trial made him one of the first former Stasi officers to be convicted of murder.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Dr Filip Gańczak, the historian whose work helped bring Kukuczka’s killer to justice.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Berlin Wall. Credit: Owen Franken/Corbis via Getty Images)
In December 2005, Evo Morales made history in Bolivia when he became the country’s first indigenous president.
The country is one of the poorest in South America and has the highest proportion of indigenous people on the continent – they had been marginalised for centuries.
His election came after years of protests over the destruction of coca leaf crops and the privatisation of the country's oil and gas reserves.
Tim O’Callaghan speaks to Bolivia’s former Vice President Álvaro García Linera.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Evo Morales. Credit: Reuters)
In 2010, one of the oldest languages in the world died after the death of its last remaining speaker.
For 40 years, Boa Senior from the Indian Andaman Islands was the only person who spoke the Bo language. She died, aged 85.
Leading up to her death, linguist Professor Anvita Abbi spent years attempting to learn the dying language.
Without family or friends who understood her, Boa took to speaking to birds – she said they were her ancestors. Eventually she opened up to Anvita, singing songs and sharing ancient tales.
Anvita was the first and last person to record Boa’s voice.
She talks to Natasha Fernandes about her death and how it changed a whole way of life.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Boa Senior in a tsunami relief camp in 2005. Credit: Anvita Abbi)
In 2013, Guinness World Records deactivated the record for the longest kiss after 15 years, saying it had become too dangerous and some of the rules conflicted with their current updated policies.
It means Thai couple Ekkachai, and his wife Laksana, still hold the title, after first breaking it in 2011, with a time of 46 hours and 24 minutes, then again in 2013 with 58 hours and 35 minutes.
The couple are no longer together but Ekkachai looks back at breaking the records with Megan Jones.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Thai couple kiss during a competition. Credit: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP via Getty Images)
Eva Peron – otherwise known as Evita - became an icon in 1940s Argentina, famous for her passionate speeches and populist rhetoric.
Born into poverty, she moved to Buenos Aries at the age of 15 to become an actress, and was soon starring in radio soap operas.
In 1945, she married Colonel Juan Peron, a rising figure in the Argentinian military, and supported his campaign to become president.
After he won the election, she set up the Eva Perón Foundation, to distribute money, food and medicines to the poor. It won her the adulation of Argentina’s working classes, although some believed she exploited her position for personal gain.
Eva fell ill with cancer, and on 17 October 1951, she made her last major public appearance from the presidential palace balcony. It was to be her most famous speech, later inspiring the award-winning song, Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, from the musical Evita.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Eva Peron in 1951. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)
On 10 December 1992, Australia’s Prime Minister, Paul Keating, addressed a crowd in a Sydney suburb called Redfern, to mark the UN’s International Year of the World’s Indigenous People. What started as a low-key affair, is remembered as one of the most powerful speeches in Australian history. It was the first time an Australian Prime Minister took moral responsibility for the horrors committed against Indigenous Australians.
The speech received significant backlash, but it’s often credited with paving the way for a later Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to issue a formal apology to Indigenous Australians. In 2007, ABC radio listeners voted it the third most unforgettable speech in history behind Martin Luther King’s 'I have a dream' speech and Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.
Don Watson wrote the speech. He speaks to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Audio of Redfern speech: National Archives of Australia)
(Photo: Prime Minister Paul Keating at Redfern. Credit: Pickett/The Sydney Morning Herald/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
When Mary Fisher was diagnosed with HIV in 1991 she did not represent the typical stereotype of someone HIV-positive. She was white, heterosexual and contracted the disease in marriage. She used her platform at the Republican National Convention in Texas in 1992 to try and change people's treatment of those carrying the Aids virus.
The speech was broadcast live to millions of people via the major US TV outlets. She argued that she did not want her sons, aged four and two, to face stigma from the "whisper of Aids" once she had died.
It is ranked as one of the most important speeches in the US in the 20th Century. Mary Fisher recalls the moment she delivered the speech to Josephine McDermott.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Mary Fisher delivers her speech in 1992. Credit: AP)
In January 1961, US President Dwight Eisenhower ended his time in the White House with a farewell address regarded as one of the greatest speeches made by a US president.
He warned Americans against the "military-industrial complex", a phrase that he coined.
In 2018, Louise Hidalgo looked back on the speech with Dwight Eisenhower's grandson, David Eisenhower, and one of his speechwriters, Stephen Hess.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: President Dwight Eisenhower. Credit: Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images)
Dolores Ibárruri was nicknamed La Pasionaria for her fiery speeches to the anti-fascist forces during the Spanish civil war. The fighting had begun in July 1936. Troops, led by General Francisco Franco, launched an uprising against the democratically-elected government. These Nationalist rebels were backed by Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy.
On the other side were supporters of the Republican government, including Spain’s communist party, and Dolores was one of its leaders. She was already known for her speeches against fascism, but it was the civil war that sealed her reputation as a passionate and persuasive speaker. Her favourite phrase even became a battle cry for the Republicans: “No pasaran! They shall not pass!” Jane Wilkinson has been looking through the archives to find out more.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
In 1989, a dark teen comedy exploring self-harm and suicide flopped at cinemas.
Heathers would have to wait years before achieving cult status through home video tape releases.
Its stark portrayal of teenage life launched an age of more radical teen movies.
Actress Lisanne Falk played one of the ‘Heathers’, a titular trio of girls who ruled their school, until someone started taking them down.
She tells Drew Hyndman about Heathers’ journey to cult classic.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
In 1998, a mysterious phenomenon turned many of the world’s most colourful coral reefs deathly white.
It was the first recorded global coral bleaching event in history, and ecologists blamed it on rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change.
Studies showed that when the oceans get warmer, it stresses the corals, causing them to expel the algae that give them their colour, and so turn white.
Since then there have been four global bleaching events, which have destroyed up to 20% of the world’s reefs, and threatened the economy, tourism and livelihoods of more than 30 countries.
Marine ecologist Clive Wilkinson worked as co-ordinator for the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network, based in Queensland, Australia. He tells Jane Wilkinson how the first reports of the phenomenon caused shockwaves in 1998.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Reef in Trat, Thailand, damaged by coral bleaching. Credit: Sirachai Arunrugstichai/Getty Images)
In the early 1990s, as Cuba faced a devastating economic crisis, leading to severe food shortages and malnutrition, around 50,000 Cubans were inexplicably struck down with sight loss.
One of America's leading eye specialists, Dr Alfredo Sadun, was invited to the communist-ruled island by Fidel Castrol to help figure out what was going on. Mike Lanchin spoke to Dr Sadun in 2021.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A man undergoes an eye examination in Cuba in1993. Credit: Adalberto Roque/AFP/Getty Images)
In June 1944, a village in France was destroyed in just one day. German soldiers entered Oradour-sur-Glane and gathered the villagers together. They separated the men from the women and children and took groups to different locations of the village.
On that day, 642 were killed. Robert Hébras was just a teenager at the time.
Robert’s granddaughter, Agathe Hébras tells Gill Kearsley his powerful story, from the arrival of the soldiers to his escape and then his realisation that he was one of the few survivors of the massacre.
A warning, this programme contains descriptions of death.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Robert Hebras at age 86, walks through the ruins of Oradour-sur-Glane. Credit: Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1966, at Johns Hopkins University in the US, a little-known glamorous French philosopher called Jacques Derrida took to the stage and eviscerated the prevailing philosophy of the day, making him an overnight sensation.
The following year, he published three hugely influential books making the case for his theory of “deconstruction”, which questioned the foundations of Western thought and knowledge.
Deconstruction’s influence can still be felt today: from calls to decolonise the curriculum, to experimental architecture, to feminist retellings of the classics. While the word “deconstruct” has become widely used.
On his death in 2004, The Guardian newspaper wrote: "Derrida's name has probably been mentioned more frequently in books, journals, lectures, and common-room conversations during the last 30 years than that of any other living thinker.”
Hélène Cixous is one of France's most influential writers and a lifelong friend of Derrida. She speaks to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
In 1981 the first major series of English lessons was broadcast on Chinese television.
President Deng Xiaoping had allowed private enterprise and was pursuing an era of “opening up” to the rest of the world. It followed a decade of educational turmoil when teachers had been castigated as bourgeois by the former leader Mao Zedong.
Kathy Flower presented the English education programme, Follow Me, several times a week at primetime. It was watched by an estimated 500 million people keen to get a taste of the English language and observe westerners on television. Kathy Flower recalls to Josephine McDermott what it was like becoming the most famous foreign person in China.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Kathy Flower at a book signing in China. Credit: BBC)
A series of unprecedented teachers’ strikes temporarily shut most of New York’s schools in the late 1960s, provoked by an ongoing dispute over whether parents could have a say in the running of their children’s schools.
‘Community control’ over the city’s schools was a divisive issue at the time, part of the civil rights and Black Power movement, in the USA.
Linda Mannheim spoke to Monifa Edwards, who was a pupil at a school in the district of Ocean Hill-Brownsville, a name that became synonymous with the struggle over who controlled the local schools: the communities or the mainly white city officials.
A CTVC production.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Ocean Hill-Brownsville Governing Board and supporters march over the Brooklyn Bridge in March 1969. Credit: David Fenton)
In the aftermath of World War Two, children were left orphaned, or separated from their families.
They were forced to flee East Prussia when the Red Army advanced.
Whilst trying to survive, on their way to Lithuania, they were likened to hungry wolves roaming through forests.
Now aged 84, 'wolf child' Luise Quitsch tells Megan Jones about her journey and what life was like growing up in Lithuania.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Luise. Credit: Luise Quitsch)
On 23 August 1989, approximately two million people joined hands to form a 690-kilometre human chain across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
It was a key moment in the protests in Eastern Europe that became known as the Singing Revolution.
In 2010, Damien McGuinness spoke to MEP Sandra Kalniete, a Latvian organiser of the event.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Estonian nationalist demonstrators taking part in the protest. Credit: Reuters/Dominique Dudouble)
On 16 March 1988, loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone killed three mourners and injured 60 others attending a funeral for IRA members killed in Gibraltar.
The so-called Gibraltar Three had been shot dead by the British Army and brought home to Belfast to be buried in the city’s Catholic Milltown Cemetery.
American journalist Bill Buzenberg, who was covering the funeral for National Public Radio in the US, was knocked off his feet in the gun and grenade attack. He shares his memories with Maggie Ayre.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: People help a wounded person in Milltown Cemetery after the attack at the funeral for three IRA members. Credit: Bernard Bisson/Sygma via Getty Images)
In August 1995, Microsoft released a new operating system - Windows 95 – following one of the computer industry’s biggest and most expensive marketing campaigns.
Queues formed outside shops at midnight as people around the world waited to be among the first to buy it.
The new software was designed to be more user friendly, easier to understand and aimed at ordinary people not professional programmers. Connecting to the internet was also more straightforward.
More than 40 million CD Rom copies were sold in the first year, introducing a boom in personal computers at home.
Sarah Leary who demonstrated the software on launch day – alongside Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and US talk show host Jay Leno – talks to Jane Wilkinson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Bill Gates at the Windows 95 launch. Credit: Bill Nation/Sygma via Getty Images)
On 29 November 1995, Tibetan Buddhist leaders attended a secret ceremony in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. They were present to witness the choice of the next Panchen Lama, a position in Tibetan Buddhism second in importance to the Dalai Lama.
They were met by Chinese armed guards, sent to ensure Chinese influence over the choice of Panchen Lama. The Dalai Lama's choice of Panchen Lama had been kidnapped and disappeared six months earlier.
Arjia Rinpoche, a senior Tibetan Lama, was at the ceremony. He speaks to Alex Strangwayes-Booth.
This is a CTVC production.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Arjia Rinpoche in 2008. Credit: Mira Oberman/AFP via Getty Images)
On 27 March 1995, fashion heir Maurizio Gucci was shot dead outside his office in Milan, Italy.
Five people, including his ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani, and her clairvoyant, were jailed in connection with his murder.
The media called it the 'trial of the century'.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Carmine Gallo, the police officer who cracked the case.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Carmine Gallo arresting Patrizia Reggiani, who's wearing his jacket, in 1997. Credit: PA)
In 1995, an obscure Japanese religion launched a chemical attack on the Tokyo metro.
Members of the doomsday cult, which called itself Aum Shinrikyo, dropped plastic bags containing sarin liquid on the floors of five different trains and then pierced them. As the liquid evaporated, passengers began inhaling the deadly fumes. Thirteen people were killed and thousands more injured.
One of the passengers affected that day was Atsushi Asakahara. He spoke to Chloe Hadjimatheou in 2012.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Sarin attack. Credit: Getty Images)
During a 17-year bombing campaign, an elusive terrorist known as the Unabomber killed three and injured 23 Americans.
In 1995, he contacted The New York Times and The Washington Post promising to stop his terror attacks if they published his 35,000-word manifesto. The document explained his aim: to dismantle modern industrial society.
On the advice of the FBI and the Attorney General, the newspapers published the manifesto, which led to the Unabomber’s downfall.
Dr Kathleen Puckett was an FBI agent who uncovered his identity. She speaks to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Theodore 'Ted' Kaczynski in custody. Credit: Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Drum was considered to be the first African lifestyle magazine with a readership of 40,000 in its 1950s heyday. It was first printed in South Africa in 1951 and became a voice of resistance during Apartheid.
Drum hit newsstands in 12 countries across the continent after former World War Two pilot Jim Bailey bought the publication after the first two editions flopped. Jim changed the focus by telling African stories by African writers and shining a spotlight on music, culture and life in the illegal drinking joints known as shebeens.
Black writers including Henry Nxumalo, known as Mr Drum, were credited with revolutionising journalism and literature in South Africa. Reena Stanton-Sharma speaks to Jim's son Prospero Bailey.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Drum Office in 1954. Credit: Jurgen Schadeberg from The Schadeberg Collection)
In 1980, Australian author Thomas Keneally stumbled across the story of Oskar Schindler while buying a briefcase in Beverly Hills, in the USA.
The owner of the shop, a Polish Jew called Leopold Pfefferberg, told Thomas that a Nazi party member had saved him, his wife and many others from the Holocaust, by employing them in his enamel factory.
Thomas tells Rachel Naylor why Oskar was such a compelling subject, full of contradictions, and why he believes his book has lasting appeal.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Thomas Keneally at his home in Bilgola Beach, Australia, in 1981. Credit: Martin James Brannan/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
On 17 January 1995, an earthquake devastated the port city of Kobe, in west Japan.
More than 6,000 people died and around 300,000 people were left homeless.
It was one of the most powerful earthquakes in the country's history.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Kiho Park who, aged eight, had to jump off his balcony to escape when his home was damaged.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A resident walks through the debris in Kobe after the earthquake. Credit: Toru Yamanaka via AFP via Getty Images)
In 1978, former first lady of the United States, Betty Ford, announced that she had an addiction to alcohol and prescription medication, and would be seeking treatment.
Wife of the 38th US president Gerald Ford, her openness and honesty about her addictions was remarkable for its time and was headline news.
But it was her daughter, Susan Ford, who had organised the family intervention to confront her mother about her addiction, prompting her to seek help.
Susan Ford Bales remembers the moment she knocked on her mother's door early in the morning with the rest of her family and begged her to get help.
Betty Ford would go on to establish the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, California to help others struggling with addiction.
Susan Ford tells her and her mother’s story to Colm Flynn.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Betty Ford. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1933, newly-elected US President Franklin D Roosevelt attempted to drag the United States out of the depression with the New Deal.
One of the biggest public spending projects in history, the programme funded hundreds of infrastructure projects and created thousands of jobs.
In 2020, Lucy Burns listened to archive interviews and spoke to author Adam Cohen about how the deal changed American people’s lives.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: US President Franklin D Roosevelt. Credit: Getty)
Yörük Işık is a ship spotter who logs all the boats that pass through the narrow Bosphorus Strait near his home in Istanbul, Turkey.
In October 2015, he noticed something unusual - Russian military trucks on a civilian ship bound for Syria.
The photos he took were the first evidence that Russia was supplying armed forces to support President Bashar al-Assad. It followed months of denial from Moscow that they were planning to engage militarily on the ground in Syria’s civil war.
Emily Wither speaks to Yörük about how his hobby became a news source.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Ship with Russian military trucks on. Credit: Yörük Işık)
Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis during World War Two.
Once Soviet troops reached Budapest, Wallenberg reported to Soviet officials on 17 January 1945. But he was never seen in public again. Rumours of his fate have circled ever since: a Soviet government report said he died of a heart attack in prison, while former officials said he was executed, and prisoners claimed to have seen him decades later. There is still a campaign to uncover what happened to him.
Alex Last made this programme in 2015 using archive recordings.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Raoul Wallenberg in 1937. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
In the 1970s, Norwegian Tor Sornes invented the hotel key card. He wanted to improve security in hotels after he heard the news that one of his favourite singers, Connie Francis, was attacked in her hotel room.
After making a prototype in his garden shed, Tor then had the challenging task of selling his invention globally.
Tor’s son, Anders, tells Gill Kearsley how persistence paid off for Tor, and the hotel key card was adopted worldwide.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A later version of a hotel key card. Credit: Getty Images)
On 7 January 2015, 12 people were shot dead at the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris, the capital of France.
The two gunmen had targeted Charlie Hebdo because it had published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Riss, a cartoonist who was shot in the shoulder.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A mural of some of the victims of the attack, near the former office of Charlie Hebdo. Credit: Bertrand GUAY / AFP)
In 2011, Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo’s first book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up was published.
Overnight she went from tidying other people’s homes to being known around the world for her KonMari method.
It encourages people to only keep items that spark joy and to sort by category, not location.
Now a best-selling author with hundreds of her consultants decluttering homes around the globe, Marie speaks to Megan Jones.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Marie Kondo. Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic via Getty Images.)
The smart speaker Alexa is used by hundreds of millions of people around the world every day, but did you know its voice was created by two people in Poland back in 2000?
Lukasz Osowski and Michal Kaszczuk were final year students at Gdansk Technical University when they decided to create a device which could understand you and talk back in a voice which sounded like a human.
They went through a few versions and started getting attention from big companies before eventually making a deal with Amazon.
Lukasz and Michal speak to Megan Jones.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Amazon Echo Plus smart speaker. Credit: Olly Curtis/Future via Getty Images)
German-born physicist Klaus Fuchs played a key role in the development of the first atomic bomb during World War Two.
The project, known as the Manhattan Project, was led by scientist J Robert Oppenheimer at Los Alamos in the US.
But, in January 1950, Fuchs admitted passing top secret nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union and was sentenced to 14 years in jail.
His nephew Klaus Fuchs-Kittowski tells Louise Hidalgo about his uncle.
This programme was first broadcast in 2015.
To hear more about the story of Klaus Fuchs, the spy who changed history, search for The Bomb, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Klaus Fuchs. Credit Jung/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
In December 1918, sports writer and cartoonist Robert Ripley was struggling to find some content for his column in the New York Globe.
So he compiled and illustrated some of the quirkiest sports facts from the year and created what would go onto become the ‘Believe It or Not’ cartoon.
Its popularity grew and, by the time of America’s Great Depression, Ripley was a multi-millionaire who would travel the world on his hunt for more weird and wonderful facts.
His empire expanded into radio and, in 1940, he persuaded the Duke of Windsor – who had abdicated from the throne in 1936 - to give his first commercial radio appearance.
John Corcoran, exhibits director at Ripley’s, tells Vicky Farncombe about that historic moment.
This programme also includes archive courtesy of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Archives.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Robert Ripley. Credit: Getty Images)
An earthquake off the coast of Indonesia on 26 December 2004, triggered a tsunami which cost the lives of an estimated 230,000 people around the Indian Ocean. It was one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded. Dendy Montgomery was living in the city of Banda Aceh in Indonesia which was laid to waste by the disaster. He spoke to Rebecca Kesby in 2013.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A man walks amongst through rubble in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Credit: BAY ISMOYO/AFP via Getty Images)
On 26 December 2004, an earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia sparking a tsunami which swept away entire communities around the Indian Ocean. In India, Choodamani and Karibeeran Paramesvaran’s children Rakshanya, 12, Karuyna, nine, and Kirubasan, five, were killed.
A bereft Karibeeran asked his wife to buy them some poison but Choodamani heard a voice from God telling her to help those in need. The next day the couple returned home with four children who’d lost their parents. They named their home Nambikkai which means Hands of Hope in Tamil and have looked after 42 orphans to date. They speak to Reena Stanton-Sharma about their remarkable story.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Karibeeran and his wife Choodamani Paramesvaran with some of the orphaned children. Credit: AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)
Every New Year’s Eve, millions of Germans turn on their TVs to rewatch an old favourite – the comedy Dinner for One.
The black and white sketch is in English and features a British cast but is virtually unknown in the United Kingdom.
The two-hander starts with butler James laying a table for five people for dinner.
Then Miss Sophie arrives. It's her 90th birthday and she wants to celebrate with four friends: Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr Pomeroy, and Mr Winterbottom.
The only problem is they’re all dead so James must impersonate the guests – and drink on their behalf – with hilarious results.
The late German entertainer Peter Frankenfeld first saw the show in the theatre during a trip to Blackpool.
He wanted to record it in Germany but Freddie Frinton, who played the butler and owned the copyright to the show, initially refused to take part because of his experiences during World War Two.
Peter’s son Thomas Frankenfeld tells Vicky Farncombe how his father’s own war story, involving snipers and a Nazi surgeon, persuaded Freddie to change his mind.
The programme is now shown on TV every New Year’s Eve in places including Germany, Scandinavia and Switzerland.
“We watch it every year,” says Thomas. “It's really funny. Still after all this time.”
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Dinner for One. Credit: Getty Images)
In the run-up to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, in the United States, a row broke out between Japan and South Korea over who would supply the athletes' village with kimchi.
The two countries also took their dispute to the United Nations' Codex Alimentarius, an organisation which sets voluntary standards for food.
Dr Chaelin Park from the World Institute of Kimchi tells Vicky Farncombe how South Koreans were upset because they thought Japan was "attempting to take over" their national dish.
"For Koreans, kimchi is more than just food - it’s part of our cultural identity," she says.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Kimchi. Credit: Getty Images)
Cristeta Comerford has cooked for some of the most powerful people in the world. She spent almost three decades as a chef in the White House, serving five presidents from Bill Clinton to Joe Biden.
On 5 August 2005, she made history by becoming the first woman and person of colour to be made executive chef of the White House kitchen.
She speaks to Dan Hardoon about making it to the White House, her most memorable state dinners, and what presidents like to eat.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Cristeta Comerford. Credit: Getty Images)
The arrival of instant noodles in India was a turning point in culinary history.
In 1983, before Maggi 2-Minute Noodles launched, the country’s food culture centred around chapati, lentils and rice and the Indian economy was still a closed market.
Sangeeta Talwar, formerly of Nestle India, tells Surya Elango how instant noodles forever changed the food habits of the country.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Maggi 2-Minute Noodles. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1990, a cookery programme launched on BBC TV that would become a global phenomenon.
Today, MasterChef airs in 70 countries around the world and has an estimated audience of one billion people.
British film director Franc Roddam tells Vicky Farncombe how the idea for MasterChef came to him after he heard Hollywood bigwigs - including Mel Brooks - mocking British food.
He wanted to prove that the UK was a nation of talented home cooks - like his mum who was feted for her stew and dumplings.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Franc Roddam. Credit: Getty Images)
On 6 November 1999, voters in Australia were asked if they wanted to break ties with the British monarchy and become a republic.
The No campaign won with 55% of the vote.
Rachel Naylor speaks to former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was chair of the Australian Republican Movement and leader of the Yes campaign, and Prof David Flint, the national convenor of Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Monarchists celebrate the referendum result in Sydney. Credit: Torsten Blackwood/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1981, the communist government of Poland declared martial law in an attempt to suppress rising protests and strikes.
The civil unrest had been sparked by Solidarity, a trade union which became a social movement.
Tanks and soldiers appeared on the street, Solidarity members were rounded up, and TV and radio stations shut down.
For a devoutly Catholic country – Christmas was a sacred time, but under martial law there would be very little to celebrate this festive season.
Johnny I’Anson hears from Solidarity member and activist Maciek Romejko about a bleak Christmas in Poland.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Martial law in Poland. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1974, the BBC launched the world's first teletext service.
It provided information, like news and weather, through our TV screens, whenever users wanted, at the push of a button.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Angus McIntyre, son of the late Colin McIntyre, Ceefax's first editor.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Colin McIntyre, pictured with a television set showing Ceefax, in 1978. Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
When a plane carrying a team of young rugby players crashed into the Andes mountains in 1972, search teams soon gave up hope.
But two months later, 16 passengers of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 emerged alive.
The events became known as ‘The Miracle of the Andes’ and have previously been told in documentaries and films including Society of the Snow.
One horrifying detail continues to fascinate audiences - the starving men were only able to stay alive by eating the bodies of those who died.
In 2009, Nando Parrado told Louise Hidalgo about their extraordinary story of survival.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Wreckage of the plane in the Andes. Credit: Bettmann/Contributor)
Ten years ago, the Taliban killed more than 140 people at Peshawar Army School on 16 December 2014.
It’s one of the worst terror attacks in Pakistan’s history. Chemistry teacher Andaleeb Aftab survived by hiding in the staff toilets.
The majority killed were young students, including Andaleeb’s 16-year-old son.
She speaks to Ella Rule.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: People light candles in memory of victims of the Peshawar Army School terror attack. Credit: Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)
Singer and DJ, Leonardo Renato Aulder, got together with friends, including El General, to pioneer a movement in the 1980s which they called “reggae in Spanish”.
It later became known as reggaeton.
Many people think this globally popular music – with its legendary stars like Bad Bunny, Ivy Queen and Daddy Yankee - started in Puerto Rico, but they’re wrong.
Renato, as he’s known, took dancehall music from Jamaica and adapted it to his Spanish speaking Panamanian audience to create a new style of music, which spread in clubs and on the buses.
He tells Jane Chambers how he did it.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Renato performing in Costa Rica. Credit: Leonardo Renato Aulder)
The Panama Canal is a short cut between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and plays a huge role in global shipping.
The United States had rights to the land surrounding it, known as the canal zone, and also controlled the waterway itself.
In 1977, responding to years of Panamanian protest, US President Jimmy Carter and Panama's General Omar Torrijos signed two new treaties, giving full control to Panama.
The handover ceremony took place in December 1999.
Alberto Aleman Zubieta was an administrator of the canal. Twenty-five years on, he tells Gill Kearsley the story of the handover.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Panama handover ceremony. Credit: Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images)
During World War Two, a Japanese American battalion became one of the most decorated army units in US military history.
The 442nd Regimental Combat Unit earned more than 4,000 Purple Hearts and seven Presidential Unit Citations for extraordinary heroism in battle.
The unit was set up in 1943, just over a year after Japan bombed the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. Following the attack, 120,000 Japanese Americans living on the west coast were sent to internment camps, but many were keen to show their loyalty to the US.
They volunteered to join the 442nd RCT and fight in Europe. Hundreds of recruits came from the camps, while thousands of others were from the Japanese American community in Hawaii.
Among them was 19-year-old Matsuichi Kusatsu. His son Clyde tells Jane Wilkinson about how the unit fought prejudice to prove their loyalty, and a warning, this story includes racist language of the time.
Actor Clyde stars in the BBC World Service drama Purple Heart Warriors. To hear this six-part season search for Dramas, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Matsuichi Kusatsu in 1944. Credit: Family photo)
In 1953, Fidel Castro attacked military barracks in the east of Cuba in a bid to revolutionise the country. He failed, but it marked the beginning of his career as a guerrilla fighter.
Michael Voss spoke to one of his comrades, Agustin Diaz Cartaya, in 2010.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Fidel Castro (second from right) with comrades during the preparation of the 1953 attack. Credit: FILES-PRENSA LATINA/AFP via Getty Images)
In May 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests, drawing international condemnation. It was the first time the country had tested nuclear weapons for 24 years. Governments including the USA and Japan imposed economic sanctions on India, while Pakistan promised the tests “would not go unanswered”. Weeks later, Pakistan tested their own nuclear weapons.
In response, the Indian artist, Nalini Malani, created a video installation showing the horrors of nuclear war. It was displayed in Mumbai for 10 days generating heated debate. She recounts her memories to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Nalini Malani. Credit: Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
In October 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard made an impromptu speech in the Australian parliament setting out the misogyny she endured for years as a prominent female politician. In 2022, she spoke to Alex Collins about her career defining-speech which has been viewed online by millions of people.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Julia Gillard speaking in February 2012. Credit: Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)
In May 1974, people gathered in Lisbon, Portugal, to see whether three women would be sent to jail for writing a book.
Maria Teresa Horta, Maria Velho da Costa and Maria Isabel Barreno’s ‘Novas Cartas Portuguesas’ was banned after it was published and they were put on trial.
The case of the ‘Three Marias’ became famous around the world. Laura Jones listens to an archive interview of Maria Teresa Horta, who is now 87.
Archive audio is courtesy of Tommaso Barsali and Riccardo Bargellini, at Valigie Rosse from 2018.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Women in Los Angeles, USA protesting about the 'Three Marias' being on trial in Portugal. Credit: Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
Dr Katalin Karikó grew up in a small town in Hungary with no electricity or running water at home. She overcame great adversity to become a scientist and publish a groundbreaking paper in 2005 showing how the mRNA molecule could be used to protect the human immune system from viruses. But, her findings were initially overlooked and she even lost her job after failing to attract funding. However, she persisted with her research, which laid the scientific groundwork for mRNA vaccines that saved countless lives during the Covid pandemic. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2023. She speaks to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Dr Katalin Karikó. Credit: Janos Kummer/Getty Images)
In 1972, feminist campaigner Gloria Steinem co-founded the first magazine in the US which was owned, run and written by women.
Called Ms. Magazine, it covered issues including equal rights, abortion and domestic violence. The glossy covers helped bring feminism into the mainstream.
In 2022, Gloria Steinem told Louise Hidalgo that it's one of the projects of which she's most proud.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Gloria Steinem at the office of Ms. Magazine. Credit: PL Gould/IMAGES/Getty Images)
For 22 years, a travel and immigration ban was in place which stopped people with HIV legally entering the US.
In 2009, President Barack Obama announced it would be lifted, from the start of 2010.
HIV-positive passenger Clemens Ruland flew from Amsterdam to John F. Kennedy airport in New York and became the first passenger to fly legally into the US once the ban was lifted.
He speaks to Megan Jones.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Picture: Clemens Ruland responds to questions during a news interview. Credit: AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
In the 1970s and 1980s, scientists in Russia managed to dig a hole more than 12,000 metres deep.
It was called the Kola Superdeep Borehole.
They wanted to achieve a world record and learn more about the Earth's crust.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Prof David Smythe, a geophysicist who worked there for four months.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The site of the Kola Superdeep Borehole in the 1990s. Credit: David Smythe)
In June 1963, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk died after setting himself on fire in protest against the Catholic South Vietnamese government.
Malcolm Brown's photograph of Thich Quang Duc's burning body became one of the most famous images of the 20th century.
Sister Chan Khong witnessed the protest. She spoke to Lucy Burns in 2013.
Some listeners may find this programme disturbing.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Sister Chang Khong. Credit: Getty Images)
The Iran-Contra affair was a scandal that went right to the heart of Ronald Reagan’s White House and it became known as one of the most controversial political scandals in modern US history.
In 1986, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North was accused of orchestrating the illegal sale of weapons to Iran and using those profits to fund rebel groups in Central America.
Five years after the affair, North spoke to the BBC’s Panorama. Matt Pintus has been through the interview for Witness History.
Eyewitness 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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Oliver North in full military uniform on his first day of testimony at the Iran Contra hearings. Credit: Getty Images)
Television extravaganza Strictly Come Dancing debuted in May 2004 in the UK, bringing ballroom dancing to a whole new generation. Pairing celebrities with professionals, it has gone on to become one of the most successful TV competitions in the world. In several countries, it’s called Dancing with the Stars.
In 2019, co-creator and executive producer Karen Smith spoke to Ashley Byrne about the bright, shiny and glittery TV success story.
A Made in Manchester production.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Sir Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly from Strictly Come Dancing. Credit: BBC)
In 1993, a new combat sport was born. Its founders called it the Ultimate Fighting Championship – UFC.
It pitted all forms of mixed martial arts against each other with little to no rules and all contained in an octagon-shaped cage.
The first contest between a Samoan sumo wrestler and a Dutch kickboxer resulted in several teeth flying through the air.
It didn’t take long for the sensation to attract some big critics including the late US senator John McCain. He wanted it banned and labelled it a "human cockfight".
One of the men responsible for cooking up this new concept was TV producer Campbell McLaren.
He tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how he used controversy to market the violent spectacle.
This programme contains descriptions of violence.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Campbell McLaren. Credit: Getty Images)
It’s 70 years since William Golding’s acclaimed novel was published.
Lord of the Flies is the story of a group of English schoolboys marooned on a desert island, and how they survive without adults.
It was Golding’s first novel, and was praised for tackling questions about human nature and whether people are intrinsically good or evil.
The book proved a huge success, and has sold millions of copies around the world. Golding won the Nobel Prize in literature. He died ten years later.
His daughter, Judy Carver, spoke to Vincent Dowd, about her father’s work, in 2014.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A scene from the Lord Of The Flies film, 1990. Credit: United Artists/Getty Images)
In 1999, the small territory of Macau was handed back to China after centuries of Portuguese rule.
Lawyer and comedian Miguel Senna Fernandes was a member of the Macau Legislative Council and involved in the historic handover.
He tells Ashley Byrne the emotions he felt as he saw the Portuguese flag being taken down from the Government Palace.
A Made in Manchester production.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Chinese President Jiang Zemin shakes hands with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio. Credit: Getty Images)
During the early years of Syria’s brutal civil war, one neighbourhood close to the Syrian capital, Damascus, bore the brunt of the government’s viciousness.
During 2013-14, some 18,000 residents of Yarmouk, an area originally set up as a camp for Palestinian refugees, were continually subjected to bombardments from the air, or were shot at by army snipers or hit by mortar-fire. No one was allowed in or out of Yarmouk and many people came close to starvation – surviving only by eating grass, or dead animals.
Palestinian musician, Aeham Ahmad, lived in Yarmouk with his family. Known as ‘the Pianist of Yarmouk,’ Aeham tells Mike Lanchin about their struggle to survive the siege, and how music helped him overcome some of those dark days.
Listeners may find parts of this story distressing.
A CTVC production.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Siege of Yarmouk. Credit: Getty Images)
After Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, some Christians faced persecution. Between 2002 and 2005, Naghmeh Panahi and her husband, Saeed Abedini, set up a network of secret 'house churches' across the country. But it came at a cost: they were arrested, forced to flee the country, and Saeed was jailed. Naghmeh Panahi speaks to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Naghmeh Panahi. Credit: Kyle Green/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Since the 19th Century, Germans have been bathing nude at the beach.
The naturist movement, known as the FKK, was banned under the Nazis.
People also faced official disapproval during the early years of communist rule in East Germany.
Mike Lanchin spoke to German naturist, Wolfgang Haider, in 2017.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Picture: Bathers enjoy the beach. Credit: Sean Gallup via Getty Images)
In 2013, a six-year-old from Argentina became one of the youngest people in the world to legally have their gender changed on official documents through self-declaration.
It followed the introduction of the Gender Identity Act in 2012, that aimed to reduce the exclusion of transgender people.
But as Luana's mother Gabriela Mansilla reveals, the fight for recognition wasn’t easy. Gabriela speaks to Madeleine Drury.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Luana hugging her mother Gabriela Mansilla in 2015. Credit: AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
In November 1989, mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill saved 65 miners from the Mahabir Coal Mine, in India.
The miners, who had been trapped for three days after a flood, were winched out one by one using a tiny, steel capsule.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Jaswant's son, Sarpreet Singh Gill.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Jaswant Singh Gill, next to the capsule. Credit: Sarpreet Singh Gill)
In 1974, Greece held a referendum to decide the future of the country’s monarchy, and whether Constantine II would remain their king.
Constantine had come to the throne in 1964, but he’d inherited a divided country. Political divisions, between the left and right, ran deep.
In 1967, a group of army officers launched a coup, and Constantine fled into exile in England. When the military regime collapsed seven years later, the new government called a referendum to decide the fate of the country.
Some of the population supported the king, but many thought the monarchy was outdated and irrelevant.
Finally, in December, 1974, four and a half million people went to the polls to cast their vote. The result was two to one in favour of a republic. Constantine had lost his crown.
Jane Wilkinson has been looking through the BBC archives to find out more.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The wedding of King Constantine and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, Athens, 1964. Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
In 2013, 11 people were shot dead in base camp of the Nanga Parbat mountain in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
The gunmen were associated with the Pakistani Taliban and the group were set up to target foreigners.
It was the worst attack on tourists in Pakistan in a decade.
Polish mountaineer Aleksandra Dzik, aged 30, was there that night, at camp two, and speaks to Megan Jones.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Nanga Parbat base camp. Credit: Aleksandra Dzik)
In June 1948, the ‘Baby’ was invented. It was the first stored-program computer, meaning it was the first machine to work like the ones we have today.
It was developed in England at the University of Manchester.
The computer was huge, it filled a room that was nearly six metres square. The team who made it are now recognised as the pioneers of modern computing.
Gill Kearsley has been looking through the archives to find out more about the 'Baby'.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn, the inventors of the Baby shown programming the Manchester Mk 1 computer. Credit: The University of Manchester)
Irena Sendler was a Polish social worker who risked her life to save 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto during World War Two.
Irena, a Catholic, was able to enter the ghetto because of her job. She was soon smuggling in food, medicine and clothing; and smuggling out children.
And, as a member of the Zegota underground resistance movement, she recruited others to help. Some children were hidden in suitcases, potato sacks, and even inside coffins. Others escaped through sewers.
In 1943, Irena was caught and tortured by the Gestapo but her supporters bribed a guard and she was released. Irena continued her work under a false name until the end of the war.
In 1965, she was given one of Israel’s highest honours for non-Jews: the title of Righteous among the Nations. She died in 2008 at the age of 98.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
In 1971, the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, celebrated 2,500 years of the Persian Empire by throwing a huge three-day party.
Trees were planted, birds imported, and a runway built in the middle of the desert with royalty from across the world attending.
But the event united opposition parties against the Shah and lost him public credibility.
Author and journalist Sally Quinn was “party reporter” for the Washington Post and covered the event.
She speaks to Megan Jones.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
On 16 January 1979, the Shah of Iran and his wife, Farah Pahlavi, left Iran for the last time. There had been increasingly violent protests against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's regime.
Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran on 1 February after 14 years of exile. Following a referendum, he declared an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979.
In 1985, social scientist Rouhi Shafi, also left Iran and chose London as her home.
Lucy Williamson spoke to both women in 2010.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Official portrait of Empress Farah Pahlavi from 1979. Credit: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
One of the most dramatic moments from the Iranian revolution took place in November 1979. Young insurgents stormed the US embassy in the Iranian capital Tehran, taking 52 Americans captive. Barry Rosen was held hostage for 444 days. He told his story to Alex Last in 2009.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Barry Rosen waves to a crowd in 1981 at a ceremony celebrating the release of US hostages in New York's City Hall. Credit: Yvonne Hemsey via Getty Images)
For nearly 40 years, the magicians Roy Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher wowed audiences in Las Vegas with their death-defying tricks involving white lions and tigers.
But in 2003, their show at the Mirage casino came to a dramatic end when Roy was left partially paralysed after being attacked by a seven-year old tiger called Mantacore live on stage.
Animal trainer Chris Lawrence was backstage at the time and rushed to save Roy. He tells Vicky Farncombe about the terrifying moment.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Magical duo Siegfried and Roy with one of their big cats. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1996, Brazil introduced a pioneering electronic voting system, revolutionising its election process. Carlos Velozo, an electoral lawyer and judge, played a pivotal role in implementing this system, which aimed to enhance security, integrity and accessibility in voting.
The electronic voting machines were developed to make it easier for illiterate and semi-literate voters to participate in elections.
Carlos Velozo speaks to Ashley Byrne, in this Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A resident of Sao Paulo carrying her baby learns how to vote on an electronic voting machine in 1998. Credit: Photo by Marie Hippenmeyer/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2002, filmmaker Ken Burns received an intriguing proposition from Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. He wanted Burns’ signature filming style to be inserted into the video editing software of every Macintosh computer. He would call it, ‘the Ken Burns effect.’
Burns first shot to fame in 1981, when his documentary, Brooklyn Bridge, was nominated for an Academy Award.
He is perhaps best known for his 1990 documentary series, The Civil War, which was watched by more than 40 million Americans when it debuted on PBS, becoming one of the most watched documentaries of all time.
In the time since, Burns has covered a whole array of subjects about American history, including baseball, country music and the Vietnam war.
He tells Matt Pintus about his future plans, including a series about the life of Martin Luther King.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Ken Burns. Credit: Getty Images)
New Zealander Jean Batten was nicknamed the ‘Queen of the Skies’ for her record breaking flights of the 1930s.
After abandoning a career in music, Jean learnt to fly at the age of 21. She soon joined other female pilots, such as the American, Amelia Earhart, in making international headlines.
They were flying across the world, in planes made of wood and canvas, during the so-called golden age of aviation.
Jean’s achievements included being the first woman to fly solo from Australia to England; and the first female pilot to make a solo flight from England to Argentina.
Jane Wilkinson has been looking through the BBC archives to find out more about her life.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Jean Batten and her De Havilland Gipsy Moth, 1935. Credit: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 1676, Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed was looking to find a way to determine longitude at sea, so ships could know their position and hazards.
Feuds with Sir Isaac Newton, dirty rivers and a missing key are just some of the obstacles he contended with and overcame.
His labours ultimately paved the way to Greenwich Mean Time.
Emily Akkermans, Curator of Time at Royal Museums Greenwich, and Keith Moore from the Royal Society of London, speak to Allis Moss.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Picture: Greenwich Royal Observatory, London. Credit: Peter Thompson/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
In 1970, father of five Gary Gygax was fired from his job as an insurance underwriter in Chicago, in the United States of America. It may sound like a mundane event to read about but, believe it or not, this moment actually changed the gaming industry forever.
Gary is the creator of table-top roleplay game, Dungeons & Dragons. In the 50 years since its release, D&D has generated billions of dollars in sales and now boasts more than 50 million players worldwide.
However, Gary’s story is not one of riches and success. Luke Gygax witnessed the incredible highs and lows of his father’s life first hand. He shares his memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Gary Gygax and Luke Gygax. Credit: Luke Gygax)
Star athlete, Jose Adelino Barceló de Carvalho, abandoned his career in 1972 to follow his one true passion, music.
After growing up under Portuguese colonial rule, he became an outspoken supporter of Angolan independence, and used the pseudonym, Bonga Kwenda.
He was later forced into exile in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, where he recorded his first album.
He went on to become a famous Angolan musician.
He speaks with Marcia Veiga.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Bonga Kwenda. Credit: Judith Burrows/Getty Images)
In 1984, Ethiopia suffered one of its worst ever famines.
A BBC news report from the area shocked the world - and led to a huge global fundraising campaign.
In 2014, Lucy Burns spoke to Dawit Giorgis, who was in charge of Ethiopia's internal relief effort during the crisis.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Starving children at Korem refugee camp. Credit: William F. Campbell/Getty Images)
Argentinian geologist Eduardo Olivero became the first scientist to find the remains of a dinosaur in Antarctica in 1986. But digging in frozen ground is not easy, so recovering them took several trips over a decade.
Eduardo had to work with discretion and hide the fossils a couple of times to prevent other scientists from taking away his discovery. It was later proven the dinosaur is a new kind of Ankylosaurus that now carries his name: Antarctopelta oliveroi.
He speaks to Stefania Gozzer about the challenges he faced working below freezing point in Antarctica and the friendly rivalries that rise in such a remote environment.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Eduardo with the first remains he found in Antarctica. Credit: Eduardo Olivero)
In 2013, Emami, an Indian beauty and wellness company, put out an advert for their skin lightening product 'Fair and Handsome'.
It features billionaire blockbuster actor Shah Rukh Khan telling a young man that he can get more attention and live a better life if he uses the product.
Kavitha Emmanuel who was campaigning to end colourism in India, saw the advert and decided to petition against it.
She managed to gather 20,000 signatures and went to the Emami headquarters to ask them to take it down.
Kavitha tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how she handed out boxes of dark chocolate with 'Dark and Handsome' written on them, to make her point.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Women with lightening cream on. Credit: Getty Images)
After the Six Day War in June 1967, the Suez Canal in Egypt was closed.
It meant 14 ships from eight different countries, including the United States, Bulgaria and France, were trapped in an area called the Great Bitter Lake.
They would remain there for eight years, and would become known as the ‘yellow fleet’.
Two of the ships were the MS Melampus and MS Agapenor.
Former assistant steward, Phil Saul, worked on both and was in charge of looking after the engineers and officers.
He speaks to Megan Jones.
His book is called Skinning Out: My time at sea and jumping ship in New Zealand.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Picture: Catering crowd on the Melampus. Credit: Phillip Saul)
In 1969, a new sound began to dominate the airwaves in the UK, reggae.
This was terrible news for two Jamaican men, Len Dyke and Dudley Dryden who were making their money selling 'slices of home' records on market stalls in London.
They had been pushed out by big labels but being true businessmen, they established themselves in an area with little-to-no commercial competition - black women’s haircare.
Little did they know they were entering the market when black beauty was about to get a whole new look that would make them millions.
It was the dawn of the Jerry Curl. This was a new product that could chemically change the texture of afro hair making it straighter and shinier.
Rudi Page, Dyke and Dryden's former marketing manager tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how the business became so successful that they started supplying products in Ghana and Nigeria as well as the whole of the UK.
Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Rudi Page. Credit: Rudi Page)
In 1999, Waheed Arian left his family in Afghanistan to seek refuge in the UK. He was just 15.
He was escaping violence, poverty and the threat of being recruited as a child soldier.
He tells Vicky Farncombe about how a dream of one day becoming a doctor sustained him.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Dr Waheed Arian as a child. Credit: Dr Waheed Arian)
In November 2003, the people of Georgia ousted veteran president Eduard Shevardnadze.
Protestors stormed the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi, holding flowers in their hands.
It would become known as the Rose Revolution.
In 2011, Nino Zuriashvili, who was one of the protestors, spoke to Damien McGuinness.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A Georgian woman holding flowers smiles as special forces leave without fighting. Credit: Sergey Supinski/AFP via Getty Images)
Between 18 March and 10 April 2014, more than 500,000 people in Taipei, Taiwan, protested against a new trade deal with China.
It was one of the largest social movements in Taiwanese history.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Brian Hioe, one of the demonstrators, who stormed Parliament and occupied it for 23 days.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Protesters at the rally in Taipei on 30 March 2014. Credit: Lam Yik Fei via Getty Images)
After the death of her brother, engineer Thérèse Izay Kirongozi got to work handmaking huge robots to direct traffic and save lives.
In 2013 they were installed on the streets of Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They have green lights on their hands, a red light in their chest, can turn around and live stream to a police control centre, they also sing when children cross the road.
You might also see the ‘female’ robots wearing skirts, make-up and hoop earrings.
Thérèse speaks to Megan Jones about her invention.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
In 1994, bar codes were in widespread use in businesses around the world, but the Japanese car component company, Denso Wave, wanted something quicker.
So they asked one of their engineers, Masahiro Hara, to come up with a solution.
After playing his favourite board game, Go, he came back with an idea.
He designed a black and white square of data that was fast, practical, and could handle more than 200 times the information contained in a barcode.
It was called the Quick Response code, or QR for short. And today it’s used, in some form, by millions of us around the world every day.
Masahiro Hara tells Jane Wilkinson about his pride in his invention.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A QR code connecting to the Witness History episode about... QR codes! Credit: BBC)
In 1946, one of the world’s first electronic computers was unveiled in Philadelphia, in the USA.
It was called the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or ENIAC, and was initially designed to do calculations for ballistics trajectories.
It was programmed by six female mathematicians.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Gini Mauchly Calcerano, whose dad John Mauchly co-designed it, and whose mum, Kay McNulty, was one of the programmers.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Computer operators programming the ENIAC. Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)
Scientists at Waseda University in Japan built the world's first humanoid robot in 1973. They called it the 'WABOT', the Waseda robot. It could see, walk and even talk. It was a huge leap forward in the history of artificial intelligence and robotics. Dr Hiromichi Fujisawa tells Ben Henderson how he was tasked with making the robot speak.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Leader of the project, Professor Ichiro Kato, with WABOT-1. Credit: Future Robotics Organization/Waseda University)
Eliza is the name of a 1966 invention by German born scientist, Joseph Weizenbaum, that is said to be the first chatbot.
Eliza worked by someone typing their feelings into a computer keyboard, and then the programme repeated it back to them, often as a question.
Joseph’s daughter, Miriam tells Gill Kearsley about Eliza. We also hear from Joseph through archive interviews from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, in the USA, that were recorded with Pamela McCorduck in 1975.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Joseph Weizenbaum. Credit: Wolfgang Kunz/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
In 1973, two men pretending to be Colombian guerrillas took a plane and flew across Latin America for 60 hours. It was the longest hijacking of an aircraft in the region.
The SAM Airlines plane stopped in countries that included Aruba, Peru, and Paraguay, making its last landing in Argentina, where local authorities were surprised to see the hijackers had vanished.
Former flight attendant Edilma Perez was one of the employees who volunteered to relieve the original crew on the second day of the hijacking. She tells Stefania Gozzer why she made such a risky decision.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: An air hostess carries food aboard the hijacked Colombian SAM plane during a refuelling stop in Lima. Credit: AP)
In November 1967, the Maltese diplomat, Arvid Pardo, addressed the United Nations with a remarkable speech that shaped the laws governing the sea.
Pardo's message is immortalised in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which was adopted in 1982, and is now the fundamental legislation governing difficult topics such as deep sea mining.
Artemis Irvine spoke to Christina Pardo Menez, Arvid Pardo's daughter, and his friend David Attard.
A Whistledown production for the BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Arvid Pardo. Credit: Elisabeth Mann Borgese fonds, Dalhousie University Archives)
In 1989, South Africa became the first, and only country to make and then dismantle nuclear weapons.
The project was conducted at Kentron Circle, a secret weapons facility.
André Buys was plant manager and systems engineer at Kentron Circle and was involved in making the weapons.
He tells Gill Kearsley about his work on this once top-secret project.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: André Buys and his son standing in front of the empty warhead storage vaults at the former Kentron Circle nuclear weapons facility. Credit: André Buys)
In 2009, a UN-backed war crimes tribunal opened in Cambodia to try the senior Khmer Rouge commanders responsible for genocide.
An estimated two million people were killed during Pol Pot's regime in the 1970s.
Aged 26, New Zealander Kerry Hamill was on a sailing trip with friends when he mistakenly found himself in Cambodian waters.
He was taken to Tuol Sleng prison where thousands of people were tortured and murdered.
In 2022 Kerry's brother, Rob Hamill, told Josephine McDermott how he testified against the infamous torturer Comrade Duch.
(Photo: Kerry Hamill aboard his boat. Credit: Rob Hamill)
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
In November 1938, the Nazis organised a night of terror against Jews in Germany. Windows of homes, businesses and synagogues were broken.
Kurt Salomon Maier was eight years old, living with his Jewish family in Kippenheim, Germany. He survived what became known as Kristallnacht or ‘the night of broken glass’ and escaped to the United States. Kurt Salomon Maier, now 94-years-old, speaks to James Jackson.
A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Windows with broken glass after Kristallnacht. Credit: Bettmann/Corbis/Bettmann Archive)
In 1994, the MS Estonia ferry sank in the Baltic Sea with the loss of 852 lives. It was one of the deadliest shipping tragedies since the sinking of the Titanic.
The Estline ferry was sailing overnight from Estonia to Sweden, in bad weather and heavy seas, when it sent a distress signal saying it was listing heavily.
Survivors later reported the boat sank within five minutes, and many passengers did not have time to escape. An official inquiry found that the ship's bow door locks had failed allowing water to gush in.
Urban Lambertson was one of the 137 survivors. He’s been speaking to Jane Wilkinson
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Memorial to the victims of the Estonia ferry disaster. Credit: Jessica Gow/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1949, inter-racial marriage and relationships were banned by South Africa’s apartheid government.
In June 1985, the ban was lifted.
Suzanne La Clerc and Protas Madlala were the first couple to tie the knot under the new rules.
Ashley Byrne was speaking to them in 2015.
Protas Madlala died in 2023.
A made in Manchester production for the BBC World Service
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The wedding of Protas Madlala and American Susan Leclerc. Credit: Philip Littleton/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1969, a white man and an Indian woman were put on trial in South Africa for conspiring to have sex.
Dr Zureena Desai and Professor John Blacking were the most high profile couple to be arrested under the Immorality Act.
Their case made headlines all over the world and made a laughing stock of South Africa's ruling National Party and its racist regime.
Dr Desai tells Vicky Farncombe about the ridiculous lengths police officers went to in order to gather evidence against the couple, including climbing trees and listening at ventilation shafts.
“Young people born after 1994 don't remember what South Africa was like,” she says. “People died. And people were arrested for fatuous reasons.”
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Dr Zureena Desai. Credit: Abrie Jantjies)
In 1993, a gritty and unflinching crime movie called Menace II Society was released to huge acclaim.
The debut picture from the teenage directors, Allen and Albert Hughes, provided a deep dive into the harsh realities faced by many young African Americans growing up in Los Angeles.
But behind the scenes, all was not well and the violence on-screen bled into real life.
Rap sensation, Tupac Shakur – who had originally been cast to feature in the movie – had fallen out with the directors and was sacked during production.
He promised retribution against the Hughes brothers, and his retribution would eventually land him time in jail.
More than 30 years on from the movie’s release, Allen Hughes shares his memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Tupac Shakur pictured in 1993. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2014, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission meant the country was the first in the world to successfully place a satellite into orbit around Mars on its initial attempt.
The mission, named Mangalyaan, was one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever. It cost less than a Hollywood film.
Indian scientist, Dr Mylswamy Annadurai, also known as ‘moon man of India,’ was programme director for the mission. He tells Gill Kearsley about this momentous event.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The control centre for India’s Mars Orbiter Mission. Credit: Pallava Bagla/Corbis via Getty Images)
Millions of us see the Google logo every day.
Ruth Kedar is the designer of the logo. The story of how she got the job starts in a martial arts class in 1998.
The Brazilian artist and designer was invited to meet company founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and asked to present them with some ideas.
Ruth tells Gill Kearsley her story of meeting the tech owners and how the design developed into a logo that became part of history.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Google logo in 2006. Credit: Adrian Brown/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
On 2 December 1972, Joan Wiffen, her husband, son and daughter started a camping trip. But it was far from ordinary. They were obsessed fossil-hunters and they were deep in the largest rainforest of New Zealand's north island at a spot by a river described casually in an old geological map as having “Saurian” bones.
For Joan, as she started to search for remains, it was “like opening up the Christmas stocking". At the time, scientists believed dinosaurs had not inhabited New Zealand. With the help of archive audio, Joan’s son Chris Wiffen describes how his mother, who left school at 12 and had no qualifications, would meticulously search the rainforest site and go on to find the tailbone of a theropod dinosaur – turning scientific beliefs on their head.
He describes to Josephine McDermott how his mother devised her own DIY palaeontology lab in their garage and he would visit from university to find her surrounded by acid baths where the rocks she excavated would yield their fossils. “They had visitors from world-renowned palaeontologists and they’d say ‘Oh my gosh. Look at this. Unbelievable’. And it was.”
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
Archival audio in this broadcast was from the Radio New Zealand collection at Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. (Photo: Joan Wiffen. Credit: Courtesy of NZME/Hawkes Bay Today)
In 1994, the pneumonic plague broke out in the city of Surat, causing mass panic.
It saw the largest migration across India since independence was declared in 1947.
Ashley Byrne speaks to Doctor Vibha Marfatia who fled along with her family.
This is a Made in Manchester production for the BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Surat, India, during the plague outbreak. Credit: RAVEENDRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s 85 years since the start of World War Two.
During the conflict, the Russian city of Leningrad came under siege in 1941.
To camouflage the landmarks from enemy attack, a small group of mountaineers climbed up high with paint and canvas.
Mikhail Bobrov was just 18 years old when he first got sent up the city’s spires.
Mikhail was speaking to Monica Whitlock in 2017.
He died in 2018.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Leningrad. Credit: ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
In 1971, the CT scanner was invented by South African physicist Allan Cormack and British engineer Sir Godfrey Hounsfield.
It was a ground-breaking moment in modern medicine and they're now in almost every hospital around the world.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Allan's son, Robert Cormack.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A patient receiving a CT scan in 1977. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2005, the pieces of an ancient monument were flown back to Ethiopia, having been stolen by Italy.
The Obelisk of Axum, built around 1,700 years ago, was 24-metres (78 feet) high and weighed around 160 tons.
It was looted from Ethiopia on the orders of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
He had it re-erected in Rome outside the former Ministry of the Colonies building near Circus Maximus.
Despite a pledge to the United Nations in 1947 to return all plundered goods, it took nearly 60 years for Italy to return the stele.
Architect Michele Daniele was one of those involved in dismantling, transporting and re-erecting the tower.
He tells Vicky Farncombe about the “hardest days” of his career.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Obelisk of Axum being re-erected in Ethiopia. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1980, Abebech Gobena was on a pilgrimage to Wollo in Ethiopia, when she witnessed the devastating effects of a severe famine and drought, one of the worst in the country's history. Within a year she had rescued 21 orphans and brought them to live with her in Addis Ababa. The organisation she founded has since raised thousands of Ethiopian orphans.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Hannah Merkana, one of the children raised in the orphanage, who considers herself one of Abebech's daughters.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Abebech Gobena in 2013. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
In 1994, a college student called Yohannes Haile Selassie unearthed a 4.4 million-year-old skeleton in Ethiopia.
She was the first near-complete skeleton of a species of human ancestor called Ardipithecus ramidus. The paleoanthropologists who discovered her called her Ardi. The discovery upended how scientists view human evolution.
Yohannes Haile Selassie speaks to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Yohannes Haile Selassie in the Afar desert, Ethiopia. Credit: CMNH/Woranso-Mille Project)
In 1936, Haile Selassie came to Bath in the west of England to escape Mussolini and the fascists who had invaded Ethiopia.
He bought a property – Fairfield House - and moved his entire family and staff there. He quickly became the talk of the town.
The local paper ran daily updates on the Emperor’s schedule and dispelled rumours such as the Emperor’s beard "having turned white with anguish" or that he was keeping lions in the basement.
Haile Selassie also made a point of indulging in local amusements and even took a trip to the Tropicana outdoor swimming pool in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.
Selassie returned to Ethiopia in 1940 after the British helped remove Mussolini. He never forgot his time in Bath and renamed one of his palaces Fairfield in tribute to the British city.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Haile Selassie during his coronation. Credit: Getty Images)
Haile Selassie was Emperor of Ethiopia. His dynasty ruled for centuries, supposedly descending from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
In 1974 he was overthrown in a coup by a Marxist-Leninist military junta called the Derg. Over the following months, the insurrectionists executed 60 members of Haile Selassie's government, before murdering the former Emperor in his bed in 1975. Lij Mulugeta Asseratte Kassa is a relative of Haile Selassie. He spent time with the Emperor in the days leading up to the coup and was imprisoned for nine years by the Derg. He speaks to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Emperor Haile Selassie in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Credit: Terry Fincher/Express via Getty Images)
In 1988, Jorge Gonzalez was a basketball star in Argentina and became the first athlete from this country drafted by an NBA team, the Atlanta Hawks. He was over 2.5m tall due to gigantism, which led to big day-to-day challenges like finding shoes his size. But it also gave him great opportunities.
The Atlanta Hawks’ never put Jorge on the court because he was too heavy to play. But the owner of the team, Ted Turner, proposed an alternative for Jorge, to wrestle for World Championship Wrestling, a predecessor of WWE.
Julio Lamas was one of Jorge’s coach in Argentina, and Bill Alfonso was a wrestling referee and Jorge’s assistant. They tell Stefania Gozzer about Jorge’s rise in both sports and the difficulties he faced.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Jorge Gonzalez visiting the Atlanta Hawks. Credit: AP photo/Neil Brake)
On 13 April 1970, a Moon mission almost ended in tragedy, after an explosion on board the spaceship.
Fred Haise was one of the Apollo 13 astronauts.
In 2010, he spoke to Richard Howells about how they managed to get back to Earth against the odds.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Three of the crew members of Apollo 13, from left: Fred Haise, Jim Lovell and Ken Mattingly. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)
Until 1973, married women in Ireland were banned from working in state jobs.
It was one of the longest lasting marriage bars in the world.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Bernie Flynn, who postponed her wedding and became one of the first married women in the public service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Bernie and Jimmy Flynn on their wedding day in 1973. Credit: Bernie Flynn)
In 1976, the 3,000-year-old mummy of Ramesses II was found to have a fungal infection.
The embalmed body of the Egyptian pharaoh was flown from Cairo to Paris for a once-in-a-deathtime makeover.
It received a royal welcome at the airport, and was guarded throughout its restoration, which took place at the Musee de l’Homme.
Anne-Marie Goden worked as a receptionist at the museum. She tells Gill Kearsley the extraordinary story of the restoration.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The mummy of Ramesses II being examined in Paris. Credit: Tony Comiti/Sygma via Getty Images)
On the 26 September 2014 Nathan Law stood on a makeshift stage outside Hong Kong's central government complex and chanted ‘Democracy Now’ and ‘Freedom’ into a microphone.
He was leading hundreds of protesters who had gathered to demand that China grants Hong Kong free and fair elections.
As the day went on the protest continued to grow and it wasn’t long before Nathan’s face was all over the news.
Then at 2am his microphone was cut off and the protest plunged into darkness as plain-clothed police officers rushed to the stage and arrested him.
Nathan tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how despite his arrest the protests continued to grow into some of the largest Hong Kong had ever seen lasting 79 days in total.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Picture: Umbrella Protests. Credit: Getty Images)
Amateur radio enthusiast Maggie Iaquinto spent a year trying to make contact with Russian cosmonauts on the Mir space station using special equipment.
It took careful planning as she had to know when they were orbiting past her house in Australia and what frequency they’d be on.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Maggie relayed crucial information to cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev.
Maggie’s son Ben Iaquinto speaks to Megan Jones.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Margaret Iaquinto. Credit: Benjamin Iaquinto)
More than 200,000 people were killed during Guatemala's 36-year civil war between the military and left-wing rebels which ended in 1996.
Of these, an estimated 45,000 people were forcibly disappeared, their bodies buried in unmarked pits.
Jeremias Tecu's two brothers were among the disappeared.
They went missing after a family party in 1981.
Jeremias tells Vicky Farncombe how his mother put herself in danger trying to find out what happened to them.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Jeremias Tecu. Credit: Jeremias Tecu)
In 1987, an unknown 18 year-old Somalian model called Waris Dirie walked into the studio of renowned British photographer Terence Donovan.
She had never had her picture taken before but after striking her first pose it was clear belonged in front of the lens.
Although she says modelling was "easy-peasy” it was not an obvious career path for Waris.
She was born in the Somalian desert to a nomadic family.
When she was young she was forced to undergo female genital mutilation after which her family arranged a marriage for her.
Waris tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how she walked barefoot across the Somalian desert to escape child marriage and how she became an international supermodel sensation.
Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Waris Dirie. Credit: Waris Dirie)
In 1964, the Disney film 'Mary Poppins' was released. It was based on the character created by writer PL Travers.
Travers disliked the Oscar-winning Disney production so much, that she never allowed any more Mary Poppins books to be adapted into films.
In 2018, Vincent Dowd spoke to Brian Sibley and Kitty Travers about their memories of PL Travers.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke in the film Mary Poppins. Credit: LMPC / Contributor)
In 1967, the small town of St. Paul, Canada declared that they were a place that welcomed everyone, even the aliens.
They did this by building a giant UFO landing pad, hoping to attract intergalactic tourists.
They timed it to coincide with Canada's centennial celebrations.
Although most of the town saw it as a light hearted joke the driving force behind the alien parking space Margo Lagassee, was a firm believer in the outer space community.
Paul Boisvert who was the part of the original crew behind the landing pad tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how St. Paul became a destination spot for extraterrestrial visitors.
He also makes clear if aliens do descend on St. Paul he “would be pleased to feed them some Pierogi, Garlic Sausage and Pea Soup.”
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Paul Boisvert on the landing pad. Credit: Melissa Broadbent)
In 1945, a fight broke out between two groups of teenage boys during a parade in the Spanish town of Buñol in Valencia. The boys ended up throwing tomatoes at each other.
They decided to repeat the deed every year on the anniversary of the first fight, defying disapproving looks from older neighbours and even bans by the city council.
Eight decades later, their shenanigans have led to one of Spain’s most popular and international festivals, as well as the largest tomato fight in the world: La Tomatina.
Thousands of people, some of them from faraway countries, travel to the small town, to toss tomatoes to each other for an hour, and dive into a sea of tomato juice.
Goltran Zanon is the only one of those boys who is still alive. He told the story to his daughter Maria Jose Zanon, and Valencian history teacher Enric Cuenca Yxeres. They talk to Stefania Gozzer about Goltran's memories of the first Tomatina.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Woman is pelted with tomatoes during La Tomatina festival. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1996, an Indian government minister said that the work of women serving in bars "is not suited in our Indian culture”.
There were protests and restrictions on women working in bars up until 2007 when a ruling lifted restrictions and saw female bartenders in India become headline news across the world.
Shatbhi Basu became known as India’s first female bartender and has been in the business since 1981. She tells Gill Kearsley her story.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Cocktails. Credit: Shcherbak Volodymyr via Getty images)
In 2001, Argentina suffered an economic catastrophe so severe the country went through five leaders in two weeks. On the streets police engaged in battles with protestors. Eduardo Duhalde was the fifth President tasked with pulling his country back from the brink. He speaks to Ben Henderson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Eduardo Duhalde. Credit: Rafael Wollmann/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
After World War Two, Egypt’s government recruited thousands of Nazis and their collaborators to bolster the country’s defence and security.
This was part of Egyptian President Nasser’s efforts to modernise the country and present himself as the leader of the Arab world in its conflict with Israel.
Johann Von Leers was one of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi propagandists. Nasser’s government recruited him in 1956 to lead Egypt’s antisemitic propaganda machine.
Frank Gelli was a member of a far-right group in Italy at the time. He was sent to meet Von Leers in Cairo in 1964. He tells Ben Henderson about their conversation.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Johann von Leers. Credit: Bernd Settnik/BArch/CC-BY-SA 3.0)
In 2003, the French rock star Bertrand Cantat murdered his actress girlfriend, Marie Trintignant.
The attack happened in Lithuania where Marie had been shooting a film.
Cantat was sentenced to eight years, but was released after just four and returned to music.
Journalist Michelle Fines tells Vicky Farncombe how the case divided opinion in France with some calling it a brutal murder, others a crime of passion.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Marie Trintignant. Credit: Getty Images)
Two bombs ripped through the Kuta area of the Indonesian island of Bali on 12 October 2002.
202 people were killed.
28 burns victims were taken to Royal Perth Hospital, Australia, where plastic surgeon Professor Fiona Wood worked.
She led a team working to save patients suffering between two and 92 percent body burns using ‘spray-on skin’.
Professor Wood speaks to Megan Jones.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Professor Fiona Wood. Credit: Fiona Wood Foundation)
Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, known as ‘Carlos the Jackal’, carried out bombings, killings and kidnappings.
Born in Venezuela, he was considered one of the most notorious political militants of the 1970s and 80s.
After years on the run, he was captured in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in 1994.
Former CIA operative Billy Waugh tracked him down.
He spoke to Alex Last in 2014, before his death in 2023.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, aka "Carlos". Credit: Thomas Coex / AFP via Getty Images)
On the morning of 17 August 1945, the Indonesian nationalist leader, Sukarno, read out a statement declaring independence.
It was broadcast to the country on radio and it came just two days after Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II.
The announcement marked the culmination of years of struggle against Dutch colonial rule, which had lasted for over three centuries.
Sukarno’s youngest daughter, Kartika Soekarno, speaks to Matt Pintus about the journey to independence.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Sukarno's proclamation of independence in 1945. Credit: Getty Images)
From 1912 until 1948, you could win medals in art at the Olympic Games, in categories such as architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture.
At the London Games in 1948, Canadian composer John Weinzweig won a silver medal for his composition, Divertimento for Flute and Strings.
Rachel Naylor speaks to his son, Daniel Weinzweig.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: John Weinzeig. Credit: Frank Lennon / Toronto Star via Getty Images)
Singer Clara Nunes is an icon of African Brazilian culture and known as the Queen of Samba.
Her first samba song Ê Baiana was released in 1973.
In 1974, the release of the song Conto de Areia secured her a place in history. Clara sold more records than any other Brazilian woman had before.
She's considered to be one of the greatest samba singers of her generation. She died in 1983.
Brazilian radio broadcaster and samba record producer Adelzon Alves worked with Clara. He tells Gill Kearsley Clara’s story.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Clara Nunes in 1974. Credit: Gilbert Girbaldi/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
In 1956, the two largest US parties agreed to participate for the first time in a televised debate ahead of the presidential elections. But instead of incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Democratic opponent Adlai Stevenson, the audience watched two female representatives defending their candidates.
Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Senator Margaret Chase Smith took the stage to represent the Democratic and Republican candidates. It was a 30-minute format in which speakers focused on international affairs and civil rights. A panel of journalists asked questions and both women were allowed to render a final statement, setting the path for future debates.
Historians Kate Scott and Janann Sherman tell Stefania Gozzer how the event took place.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Chase Smith. Credit: CBS News)
On 8 August 1974, Richard Nixon became the first US president in history to resign from office, following the Watergate scandal.
This scandal began with a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in 1972, which was linked to Nixon’s re-election campaign.
The release of tapes from within the White House, dubbed the Nixon Tapes, revealed Nixon’s involvement in the cover-up, leading to a loss of political support and impending impeachment proceedings.
In 2014, Farhana Haider spoke to journalist Tom DeFrank, who watched the drama unfold minute by minute.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Richard Nixon. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1979, the Moral Majority was launched and changed the course of US politics.
It was set up to promote family values by religious conservatives from Catholic, Jewish and evangelical Christian communities.
It urged Protestants, in particular, to go against the tradition of separating politics and religion. It encouraged them to vote Republican.
Richard Viguerie was one of the driving forces behind the movement.
He spoke to Claire Bowes in 2016.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Richard Viguerie and Ronald Reagan. Credit: courtesy of ConservativeHQ.com)
The US presidential election of 2000 was one of the closest and most contested in history.
It was more than a month before the result was decided after a Supreme Court decision. It all came down to the vote in Florida, where irregularities and technical problems added to the confusion.
In the end it's thought there were just a few hundred votes in it but the result still divides opinion.
Callie Shell was the official photographer for Al Gore's presidential campaign and documented the dramatic events behind closed doors in pictures. She tells Rebecca Kesby what it was like to be there.
This programme was first broadcast in 2020.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Al Gore and George Bush. Credit: Getty Images)
Pete Souza was Chief Official White House Photographer during Barack Obama's presidency. His photo from when Bin Laden was killed by US soldiers in 2011 has become one of his most famous.
He tells Uma Doraiswamy what that day was like leading up to the moment when he took the photo.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team receive an update on the mission against Osama bin Laden. Credit: Getty Images / Pete Souza, White House)
In 2014, the ice bucket challenge craze took over the internet.
Millions of people including sports stars and celebrities filmed themselves being doused in ice cold water for charity.
Nancy Frates' son Pete helped to make the ice bucket challenge become a phenomenon. Nancy tells Gill Kearsley the poignant story of how the challenge went from a simple idea to world news.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Pete Frates takes part in the ice bucket challenge. Credit: Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
A warning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners - this programme contains the names of people who have died.
Nearly 60 years ago, a group of university students set out on a bus to challenge the discrimination of Australia’s indigenous people.
Led by Sydney University’s first indigenous undergraduate, Charles Perkins, they toured north-western New South Wales highlighting the public pools, cinemas, theatres and pubs in country towns where Aboriginal people were excluded or segregated from white people.
Darce Cassidy was recording the journey for a radio programme. We hear 19-year-old Brian Aarons demonstrating at a swimming pool in Moree where Aboriginal children were not normally allowed to swim.
He and Gary Williams, an indigenous student, recall the Freedom Ride to Josephine McDermott, including the moment when they made the national news by ordering a beer together in a Bowraville pub.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The 1965 Freedom Riders. Brian Aarons and Gary Williams sit fifth and fourth from the right, one row from the back. Credit: Reproduced with permission of Wendy Watson-Ekstein and Ann Curthoys)
In 1998, brown bears were declared a protected species in Bulgaria and the ancient tradition of forcing them to dance for people's entertainment became illegal.
A veterinarian called Dr Amir Khalil helped establish a bear sanctuary in the country, to look after the retired animals.
In this programme, first broadcast in 2018, he spoke to Farhana Haider.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Brown bear in Bulgaria. Credit: Getty Images)
When Islamic State (IS) militants took control of Syria and Iraq in June 2014, the entire Yazidi population in Sinjar were immediately in grave danger. The Sunni Muslims of IS believed Yazidis were infidels and should either convert to Islam or be killed.
On 3 August 2014, 5,000 Yazidis were killed on the first day of the genocide. For those who survived that night, the only escape route was to climb Mount Sinjar in the blistering heat, with no shelter or food, and pray to be rescued.
Mirza Dinnayi convinced Iraq’s president to supply three helicopters and began evacuating 50,000 Yazidis, who were stranded on top of the mountain in a race against time. Mirza shares his experience with Sarah Ehrlich.
A 2 Degrees West production for BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Yazidi people escape the Sinjar mountains in August 2014. Credit: Emrah Yorulmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
In 1983, punk rock was strictly forbidden in East Berlin. However, that didn’t stop young music obsessive Mark Reeder, from Manchester in the UK, smuggling cassettes, and then a punk band across the Berlin Wall.
Mark shares how he arranged for the West German band, Die Toten Hosen, to perform illegally at a secret concert in a church.
This episode was produced by Paul Hanford and Rosalie Delaney. A Munck Studios production for the BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Members of the band Die Toten Hosen and friends in East Berlin in 1983. Credit: Mark Reeder)
In 1974, Ghana pioneered a new system which would help in the roll-out of the immunisation of serious diseases across Africa and the rest of the world. The World Health Organisation chose the country to trial its cold chain system, to help keep vaccines for often deadly diseases refrigerated. It would later evolve into the storage systems used to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Justice Baidoo meets Patience Azuma, who was one of the first children to benefit from the Enhanced Immunisation Programme in the 1970s and Dr Kofi Ahmed later a chief medical officer, who helped in the original cold storage system roll out.
A Made in Manchester Production for BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A man being vaccinated in Ghana. Credit: Junior Asiama / 500px)
More than 10,000 Russian workers built the first line of the Moscow Metro which opened in 1935 to great fanfare.
The spectacular stations were designed to show the world the power and possibility of Russian strength. Stalin wanted architects to design stations to be 'palaces for the people', with statues and structures built to make people look up and admire the marble walls, high ceilings and grand chandeliers.
Now one of the busiest undergrounds in the world, Uma Doraiswamy goes through the archives and hears from Tatiana Fedorova, one of the workers who sometimes had to use her hands to dig the tunnels.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Sokolniki Metro station in Moscow in 1935. Credit: Getty Images)
At the London 2012 Olympics, the Somali sprinter Zamzam Farah became a crowd favourite after finishing last in her 400m heat by 27 seconds.
Zamzam had grown up in war-torn Mogadishu, where she had to dodge violence while training on the so-called ‘Road of Death’.
She competed with her body fully covered, but, after the Olympics, her family in Somalia received death threats because of what Al-Shabab considered unacceptable behaviour for a Muslim woman. She remained in the UK and gained asylum.
Zamzam Farah spoke to Ian Williams in 2021.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Zamzam Farah about to start the 400m at the London 2012 Olympics. Credit: Olivier Morin/AFP/GettyImages)
After being designed in one night, Shuss, the cartoon skier, debuted at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France.
Instead of ‘mascot’, the Olympic Organising Committee referred to it as a ‘character’ at the time.
In the colours of the French flag, Shuss was available as a variety of souvenirs.
Megan Jones speaks to one manufacturer of Shuss merchandise, André Thiennot.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Picture: Shuss souvenir. Credit: BBC)
The last time Paris held the Olympic Games was 100 years ago in 1924.
More than 3,000 athletes from 44 nations took part, of which only 135 were women, in 17 sports.
Rachel Naylor goes through the BBC archive for interviews with two British medallists - the sprinter Harold Abrahams and the tennis player Kitty Godfree.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Harold Abrahams winning gold at the Olympics in Paris, in 1924. Credit: Jewish Chronicle / Heritage Images / Getty Images)
In the 1990s, Ayia Napa, in Cyprus, went from quiet fishing village to party resort.
The Kool Club was one of the first nightclubs to open in 1995.
Rachel Naylor speaks to founder and DJ Nick Power, the 'godfather of Ayia Napa'.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Kool Club, in Ayia Napa. Credit: Nick Power)
Between 1963 and 1974, more than 2,000 people in Cyprus went missing during clashes, a coup and the Turkish invasion.
Only about half of them have been found.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Nick Neokleous, the President of the Organisation of Relatives of Missing Cypriots, whose brother, Pavlos, went missing in 1974.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A Cypriot woman holds a picture of her relatives, who went missing in 1974. Credit: Laura Boushnak via Getty Images)
In April 2003, the people of Cyprus were allowed to cross the ceasefire line for the first time in 29 years.
Hundreds of people rushed to the check points and queued for hours to visit the homes they had left after the Greek coup and Turkish invasion of July 1974. Greek Cypriots made up the great majority of those displaced, often fleeing under fire with nothing but the clothes they had on.
Singer and ethnomusicologist Nicoletta Demetriou’s parents were among them. Nicoletta tells Maria Margaronis about the day the checkpoints opened, the experience of crossing, and her parents’ encounter with their old neighbourhood and its new inhabitants — and reflects on how it changed her.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
Music: Solo laouto by Michalis Tterlikkas
(Photo: People crossing the ceasefire line in Cyprus in April 2003. Credit: Janine Haidar/AFP via Getty Images)
On the 20 July 1974, a young pilot was preparing to land passenger flight CY317 into Nicosia Airport in Cyprus, amidst the threat of an imminent Turkish invasion. From the air, he could see warships approaching the island.
Little did he know that his aircraft would be the final one to land there, it would be destroyed within hours, and the airport remains frozen in time to this day.
Fifty years later, Captain Adamos Marneros tells Amelia Parker about that fear-filled final flight, on a pivotal day in 1974, and the airport, which he revisited a few years ago.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Derelict Nicosia airport. Credit: Scott Peterson/Liaison)
On 15 July 1974, the Greek military dictatorship in Athens sponsored a coup on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, aiming to overthrow its selected president and unite the island with Greece.
Days later, Turkey invaded the island, taking a third of it and displacing many thousands of its inhabitants.
The writer Bekir Azgun grew up in the village of Potamia, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots had once lived together in harmony. He speaks to Maria Margaronis about the day of the coup and reflects on the gradual separation of the island's two communities, beginning with the Greek Cypriot anticolonial struggle against Britain in the 1950s and culminating in the Turkish invasion and partition.
No outside power acted to stop this conflict between two NATO members. Cyprus, strategically positioned near the Middle East, remains divided to this day.
Archive by kind permission of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
Music: Michalis Terlikkas.
(Photo: The new de facto President of Cyprus, Nikos Sampson, holds a press conference after the military coup d'état which deposed Archbishop Makarios. Credit: Harry Dempster/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Like many young children growing up in Brazil in the 1960s and 1970s, Dilma Mendes had one dream: to play football for her country.
There was just one problem. It was illegal for women in Brazil to play football at that time, a law that came into force in 1941 - and lasted nearly 40 years.
Dilma lost count of the amount of times she was arrested and taken to the police station for playing football.
She tells Vicky Farncombe the confusion and fear she felt as a child. "I did not understand why people didn't allow me to do something which I loved so much."
She also describes the ingenious ways she hid from the police officers.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Dilma Mendes. Credit: Getty Images)
In September 1988, protests broke out in Manfredonia, Italy, after the arrival of a large ship carrying toxic waste of Italian origin. The Deep Sea Carrier had arrived from Nigeria, after a protracted diplomatic dispute between Italy and Nigeria.
For four days, the town was completely shut down and by the end of the protests, an environmental movement was born.
The Deep Sea Carrier and another ship, the Karin B, became known as the ‘navi dei veleni’, or poison ships.
Jill Achineku speaks to Rosa Porcu, a teacher and one of the protesters. A Whistledown production for the BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Rusty barrrels of toxic waste. Credit: iznashih)
On 2 October 1968, thousands of students protested in Mexico City, 10 days before the Olympics.
The students wanted the government to free political prisoners and respect their right to protest.
More than 4,000 activists came to the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the capital's Tlatelolco district that evening.
It resulted in Mexican soldiers opening fire on the protesters. The death toll has never been confirmed, a government report from the time put it at 26, while student leaders estimated it at more than 100.
In 2011, one of the young protesters, David Huerta, spoke to Julian Miglierini.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Students arrested by police in Tlatelolco on 2 October 1968. Credit: Bettmann / Contributor via Getty Images)
In January 1990, Cuban singer Celia Cruz, known as ‘the Queen of Salsa’, went back to Cuba. Banned by Fidel Castro for opposing his regime, it was the only time in her 43 years of exile that she was able to visit the island.
She was invited to sing in the US naval base on Guantanamo Bay. The trip only lasted a day and a half, but it was full of touching moments and symbolisms. Omer Pardillo Cid, Celia’s manager and close friend, tells Stefania Gozzer about the mark this visit left in the singer.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Celia Cruz holds a Cuban flag as she performs during the 'Combinacion Perfecta' concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, 1993. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2006, Dutch engineer Fred van der Weij invented a kitchen device that changed the way many of us cook today: the air fryer.
Fred’s first prototype was nearly as big as a dog kennel and made of wood and aluminium, with a chicken wire basket. It was only a partial success.
But Fred was certain he could make the machine work thanks to an idea he patented called rapid air technology.
Four years later, and after several more prototypes, Fred took his invention to the electronics company, Philips, and signed a deal.
Today, there are many other air fryer brands and models, and by the end of 2024, it’s estimated 80 million will have been sold around the world.
Fred died of cancer in 2022 but his daughter Suus van der Weij witnessed the development of his invention. She told Jane Wilkinson about the family’s pride in her father.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Fred van der Weij with his prototypes. Credit: van der Weij family)
In Canada's 1993 election, the governing Progressive Conservative Party was routed, ending up with just two seats.
In the 1980s, the party won the largest majority in Canadian history. But by 1993, it was in crisis and the new Prime Minister, Kim Campbell, called an election. But she didn’t bank on the emergence of a new populist party called Reform, which stormed Canada’s traditionally two-party system claiming 52 seats. The Progressive Conservatives never recovered.
Ben Henderson speaks to the former Prime Minister, Kim Campbell, and Preston Manning, founder and former leader of Reform.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Preston Manning. Credit: Peter Power/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
It's 35 years since the release of one of the most provocative songs in music history.
Fight the Power by hip-hop group, Public Enemy, was radical both politically and sonically.
The song was written at the request of filmmaker, Spike Lee, who needed an anthem for his 1989 movie, Do the Right Thing.
The film became a box office smash and - despite controversy surrounding Public Enemy's image - the song soon became an anthem of protest and rebellion all over the world.
Public Enemy frontman, Chuck D, shares his memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Chuck D and Spike Lee pictured in 1989. Credit: Getty Images)
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the newly independent state Georgia found itself on the verge of a civil war.
Rebel groups in Tbilisi came together to overthrow the newly elected President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was forced into hiding. Gunmen took to the streets and hospitals were overwhelmed.
In 2010, Tom Esslemont spoke to Lamara Vashakidze, a survivor of Georgia’s crisis.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Two Georgian soldiers stand among bomb-damaged buildings in Tbilisi. Credit: Patrick Robert/Sygma/CORBIS/Sygma via Getty Images)
Between 1937 and 1938, Soviet leader Josef Stalin carried out his most severe purge in Georgia.
Known as the Great Terror, thousands of political rivals, intellectuals and ordinary citizens were executed without trial and buried in mass graves.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Levan Pesvianidze in Tbilisi, Georgia, whose grandfather Viktor and uncle Giorgi were both executed.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Viktor Pesvianidze with colleagues in Georgia in the 1930s. Credit: Levan Pesvianidze)
In 1984, urban photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant came together to publish an era-defining book about the early graffiti movement.
They had been documenting the work of graffiti arts on the subways system of New York for many years.
The colourful book was called Subway Art and it quickly became known as the graffiti bible.
Forty years on from its release, Martha and Henry explore its enduring legacy with Matt Pintus.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Marta Cooper and Henry Chalfant pictured at the 25th anniversary event for Subway Art. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1974 an unknown Japanese artist put pen to paper and created a character that would go on to be worth more than $80 billion.
The illustration was titled ‘Unknown White Cat’ but you will probably know it better as Hello Kitty.
The artist, Yuko Shimizu, designed Hello Kitty while she was working for the firm Sanrio.
Fast forward 50 years and Yuko’s friendly feline has been on a fair few adventures including going to space and becoming Japan’s ambassador for tourism.
Yuko tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty the secrets behind Hello Kitty’s ‘cuteness’ and introduces her latest character, the stylish French bulldog Rebecca Bonbon.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Hello Kitty. Credit: Getty Images)
In June 1954, the first CIA-backed coup took place in Guatemala, when President Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown in a operation organised by the US government. The Administration of Dwight D Eisenhower feared his policies - which included a land reform - could threaten the interests of one of the most powerful firms in the US at the time – the United Fruit Company.
Arbenz was labelled a communist, and he was forced into a long exile that took him and his family to seek shelter across Europe and Latin America. Arbenz's son told Mike Lanchin in 2016 about the devastating impact the coup had on his family.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Arbenz family in 1955. Credit: RDB via Getty)
In 1998, the assisted dying society, Dignitas was set up in Switzerland by lawyer Ludwig Minelli.
It was the first end-of-life organisation in the world to help foreigners - non-Swiss citizens - to die.
Since then around 4,000 people from 65 different countries have ended their lives with help from the group, which operates under the full name 'Dignitas - To live with dignity. To die with dignity.'
But while 10 countries have legalised assisted dying, most have not. Critics say it can weaken respect for human life, put pressure on the terminally ill to die and lead to worsening end-of-life care.
Ludwig Minelli tells Jane Wilkinson why he believes freedom of choice is so important.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Ludwig Minelli in 2012. Credit: Sebastien Bozon/AFP/GettyImages)
When visionary architect Antoni Gaudi died unexpectedly in 1926, his followers were left with incredible plaster of Paris models showing how to complete his famous church, La Sagrada Familia.
The only problem was they were smashed “to smithereens” during the Spanish Civil War.
New Zealand architect Mark Burry was part of a small team trying to piece together Gaudi’s vision for the Barcelona basilica.
He tells Vicky Farncombe about his first week in the job.
“There were literally thousands and thousands of pieces and lots of missing pieces.
“By day three, I was in despair.”
He also shares the spine-tingling moment he heard music in the church for the first time.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: La Sagrada Familia. Credit: Getty Images)
At the end of World War Two, the Czechoslovak government expelled up to three million German speakers, known as the Sudeten Germans.
They were accused of being loyal to Nazi Germany and collaborating in war crimes.
By 1946 the expulsions were in full swing, and Helmut Scholz, who was a six-years-old at the time, was caught up in the turmoil.
Helmut tells Phil Jones about the traumatic train journey, in a cattle truck, from his home in Czechoslovakia to Germany.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Helmut Scholz: Credit: Helmut Scholz)
On 12 November 1988, the world’s first commercial bungee jumping site was opened near Queenstown, New Zealand.
AJ Hackett and Henry Van Asch started out bungee jumping as a hobby with friends. They developed the bungee ropes and rigging system and found the perfect site – the historic Kawarau Suspension Bridge – which would give paying customers the chance to safely fall 43 metres.
It helped make Queenstown become the adventure tourism capital of the world. Josephine McDermott jumped from the bridge herself 20 years ago and finds out from AJ Hackett how it all came about.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: A jump from Kawarau Bridge. Credit: Getty Images)
On 16 January 1988, the world’s largest passenger ship, Sovereign of the Seas, set sail on her maiden voyage around the Caribbean.
She carried more than 2,600 passengers and had five restaurants, nine bars, four pools and a casino.
Rachel Naylor speaks to her captain, Tor Stangeland.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Sovereign of the Seas. Credit: Getty Images)
In the 1950s, the transformation of the sleepy little town of Benidorm began when Pedro Zaragoza was appointed mayor. He started by getting pipes built to allow running water, then went on to pass a decree which allowed women to wear bikinis. Now, every year millions of tourists arrive in Benidorm, on Spain’s Costa Blanca. This episode was produced by Simon Watts in 2018, using recordings of Pedro Zaragoza.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Tourists flock to the beaches in Spain. Credit: David Ramos via Getty Images)
In 1969, Antonio Enríquez Savignac was given the go-ahead to transform a secluded Mexican island into a world-beating tourist destination.
The technocrat believed tourism was a cost effective solution for fixing the country's faltering economy.
He was given funding from the Mexican federal government to create infrastructure on the island, including an airport.
The resort would be called Cancún.
More than 50 years later, Cancún welcomes more than 20 million guests to its shores every year, with over 30,000 hotels scattered across the island.
However, the island has become a crime hotspot and there are major pollution problems in the area.
Antonio's son, Juan Enríquez, shares his memories with Matt Pintus.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Cancún. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1955, a small Icelandic airline, Loftleioir Icelandic, slashed the cost of flying across the Atlantic.
For the first time, thousands of young Americans were able to afford air travel to Europe on what became known as the 'Hippie Express.'
In 2017, Mike Lanchin spoke to Edda Helgason, whose father, Sigurdur Helgason, launched the ambitious scheme, and Hans Indridason, who ran the company's sales and marketing department at the time.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Icelandic Airlines plane, with passengers disembarking, 1965. Credit: Smith Collection / Gado / Getty Images)
In 1971, an architect called Chu Ming Silveira created Brazil's iconic egg-shaped telephone booth, Orelhão.
More than 50,000 of the booths were installed across Brazil and the design was so successful that other countries decided to use it.
Chu Ming was born in China and moved over to Brazil with her family in 1949, following the end of the Chinese Civil War.
At a time when not many architects were women in the country, she was tasked with creating a design for a cheap, light-weight and visually attractive public phone booth.
Chu Ming died in 1997, aged 58. In 2017, Google decided to celebrate her life by creating a doodle.
Her son, Alan Chu, has been sharing his memories of Chu Ming with Matt Pintus.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Chu Ming using an Orelhão phone booth. Credit: Chu Ming Silveira’s Collection - Ouvio.arq.br)
In 1980, 123 men were killed when the Alexander L. Kielland platform capsized in the North Sea oil fields.
It was Norway's biggest industrial disaster and led to a range of safety improvements for those working in the country’s oil and gas sector.
Lars Bevanger speaks to survivor Harry Vike, who spent 10 hours in a lifeboat waiting to be rescued, and his wife Grete, who was waiting for a call to find out if he was alive or dead.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The broken leg of the Alexander Kielland oil drilling platform, 1980. Credit: Alamy)
In 1984, a 21-year-old Irish shopworker refused to serve a customer buying two South African grapefruits. Mary Manning was suspended from the Dunnes store in Dublin, and ten of her colleagues walked out alongside her in protest.
It was the start of a strike that lasted almost three years, and ended when Ireland became the first western country to impose a complete ban of South African imports.
Why did Mary do it? In 1984, she and her colleagues were part of the Irish workers’ union, IDATU, which had told its members not to sell items from South Africa.
At the time the 11 strikers knew little about apartheid – South Africa’s system of racial segregation - but they soon learnt.
Their protest would lead to them addressing the United Nations, winning praise from Bishop Desmond Tutu, and meeting with Nelson Mandela.
Mary tells Jane Wilkinson about what drove the strikers to continue despite little initial support.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Strikers outside Dunnes store in Dublin in 1985. Credit: Derek Speirs)
In 2014, Boko Haram militants drove into Gwoza in north-east Nigeria and began an assault that would leave hundreds of people dead.
Ruoyah, who was just 14, hid in her house for eight hours under continuous fire.
She says when she finally opened the door to leave her house she says: "There were corpses everywhere, we even saw the corpse of our neighbour in our front door."
Ruoyah managed to escape to Cameroon, but her sister was kidnapped by Boko Haram militants.
She was taken into the Sambisa forest where she was forced to marry a militant and starved.
A few months later, Boko Haram's leader unilaterally declared that Gwoza was a caliphate.
Ruoyah now lives in an internally displaced persons camp, she speaks to Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
Archive: Channels Television.
(Photo: Boko Haram. Credit: AFP)
In April 1999 Nato bombed the Serbian state TV station in Belgrade, killing 16 people.
It was part of a military campaign to force Serbia to withdraw from Kosovo.
Mike Lanchin has been speaking to one of the survivors, Dragan Šuković, a TV technician, who was working at the station that night.
This programme was first broadcast in 2015.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The Radio Television of Serbia building. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2008, Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest at America's occupation of Iraq.
George W Bush had been giving a joint press conference in Baghdad with Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki at the time. He was in his final months as president as Barack Obama was due to take over.
As he threw the first shoe, Muntadhar yelled: “Here is your goodbye kiss, you dog."
He tells Vicky Farncombe how he prepared for the moment and what happened to him next.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: President Bush ducks after Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw a shoe. Credit: Reuters)
Charles Norman Shay was a field medic in the United States Army when he landed on the Normandy beach codenamed Omaha on D-Day.
On June 6, 1944, the US 1st Infantry Division faced a bombardment of machine gun fire from the German soldiers on surrounding cliffs.
More than 1,700 men died on Omaha alone. Aged just 19, Charles risked his own life to save his comrades from drowning, for which he was awarded the US silver star for gallantry.
Although he had served his country, as a native American, he was deprived the right to vote until 1954.
Aged 99, he tells Josephine McDermott his remarkable account.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Charles Norman Shay in October 1944 in Germany. Credit: Charles Norman Shay)
In 1944, a young Irishwoman called Maureen Flavin drew up a weather report that helped change the course of World War Two.
Maureen was working at a post office in Blacksod on the far west coast of Ireland. Her duties included recording rainfall, wind speeds, temperature and air pressure.
On 3 June, she sent one of her hourly reports to Dublin, unaware that the figures were being passed on to the Allied headquarters in England. It was the first indication of bad weather heading towards the coast of France - and it was a huge blow.
Hundreds of thousands of British, American and Canadian servicemen had already gathered for the most ambitious operation of the war, the assault of the Normandy beaches on 5 June.
But after reading Maureen’s report, chief meteorologist Group Captain James Stagg advised a delay of 24 hours.
US General, Dwight Eisenhower, gave the order, and D-Day was finally launched on 6 June, 1944. A date that went down in history.
Maureen's son Edward Sweeney tells Jane Wilkinson about the family's pride in their mother.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Maureen Sweeney. Credit: Sweeney family photo)
In 1984, Russian engineer Alexey Pajitnov invented the popular computer game Tetris. But it was not until American businessman Henk Rogers joined him that the game became an all-time favourite in video game consoles across the world.
Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to both of them about how the idea of the game originated and the challenges of exporting it from the Soviet Union. This programme was first broadcast in 2011.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Tetris 99. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2008, panda-mania hit Taiwan when China gifted the country two giant pandas.
This practice known as ‘panda diplomacy’ is thought to date back as far as the 7th Century.
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan flew into Taiwan and became instant celebrities.
Eve Chen, curator of the Giant Panda House at Taipei Zoo says: “They were extremely cute and adorable. You could call them like the handsome and the beauty, like the Barbie and Ken in a panda.”
Eve tells Gill Kearsley about their arrival and what it meant to Taiwan.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan in China. Credit: Visual China Group via Getty Images.)
Forty years ago, a Hollywood director, some tech revolutionaries and a group of London skinheads created a commercial that would rock the advertising world.
Based on George Orwell’s dystopic novel ‘1984’, and launched in the same year, the ad was like nothing that had been seen before.
But its road to being shown was rocky, and the beleaguered advert almost never made it air.
Mike Murray was Apple marketing manager at the time, he speaks to Molly Pipe.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Steve Jobs in a room of computers in 1984. Credit: Michael L Abramson/Getty Images)
Flint was once one of the richest cities in the United States. But in the 1980s, it was badly affected by the downturn in car manufacturing and by 2014 it was nearly bankrupt. To save money, the city switched its water supply away from Lake Huron to its own Flint River, but state officials failed to treat the river water properly. As a result lead, a powerful neurotoxin, was released into the drinking water.
Despite mounting evidence, officials denied anything was wrong and it took them a year and a half to switch water supply back to Lake Huron. But many residents of Flint –a majority African-American city with high rates of poverty– have been left fearful about the long term impacts on their children.
Rob Walker speaks to lifelong Flint resident Jeneyah McDonald who had two young children at the time. He also hears from Dr Mona Hanna-Attisha – a paediatrician and professor of public health– who helped bring the scandal to national attention after showing that lead had found its way into the bloodstreams of the city’s children.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Bottled water donations to help with the Flint Michigan water crisis in 2016. Credit: Dennis Pajot via Getty Images)
A warning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners - this programme contains the names and voices of people who have died.
In 1971, Neville Bonner became the first Aboriginal person to become a member of the Australian Parliament.
In 1979, he was named Australian of the Year in recognition of his work fighting for the rights of indigenous Australians - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
His great niece Joanna Lindgren shares her memories of 'Uncle Neville' with Vicky Farncombe.
"He was gentle, he was a terrific listener. It didn't matter that you were 13 years old, you never felt that he was not interested in what you had to say," she says.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Old Parliament House, in Canberra. Credit: Getty Images)
Ninety years ago, the first surviving quintuplets were born in a small village in northern Canada.
The Dionnes grew up in a specially-adapted nursery where millions of people could visit them.
But, years later they struggled to adapt to life back with their parents which led to a fight for compensation.
This programme was produced and presented by Simon Watts in 2012 using BBC archive.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The quintuplets on their fourth birthday. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)
In 1964, João Goulart, the president of Brazil, was overthrown in a military coup.
In the repression which followed, hundreds of people were disappeared or killed, and many more detained and tortured.
Carlos Lamarca was a captain who deserted the army and joined in the armed struggle against the military regime. He was shot dead in 1971.
His friend and fellow fighter, João Salgado Lopes, tells Vicky Farncombe about their time together hiding in the Caatinga, the Brazilian outback.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Wanted poster of Carlos Lamarca. Credit: Memories of the Dictatorship)
In 1984, Nike signed rookie basketball player Michael Jordan and created a shoe in his name – the Air Jordan.
The unprecedented deal would change sports marketing forever.
Former executive Sonny Vaccaro was the man who persuaded his bosses to put all their marketing budget on one untried player.
He became convinced of Michael’s talent after seeing him make the winning shot in a college game.
He tells Vicky Farncombe about the challenges of persuading Michael – an Adidas fan – to sign, and how the Air Jordan's controversial black and red colour scheme upset the National Basketball Association (NBA).
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Air Jordans. Credit: Getty)
In 2001, more than 700 pairs of Imelda Marcos’s shoes were put on display at the Marikina Shoe Museum in the Philippines.
The wife of the dictator President Ferdinand Marcos, became famous for buying shoes, while millions of Filipinos were living in poverty. It’s thought she had in around 3,000 pairs.
Ella Rule has been through the archive to tell the story of Imelda and her shoes.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Imelda Marcos' shoe collection. Credit: Christophe LOVINY/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
How the Dassler brothers created two global sportswear firms.
In 1948, Adi and Rudi Dassler who lived in a small German town fell out. They went on to set up Adidas and Puma.
Adi Dassler played a crucial role in West Germany's victory in the 1954 World Cup with his game-changing footwear.
In 2022, Reena Stanton-Sharma spoke to Adi's daughter Sigi Dassler, who remembers her dad’s obsession with sports shoes and talks about her fondness for rappers Run-DMC, who paid tribute to her dad’s shoes in their 1986 song My Adidas.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Adi Dassler in his shoe factory in the 1920s. Credit: ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
In 1962, a new brand of footwear launched that would become one of Brazil’s most successful and best-known exports: Havaianas. As the country’s footwear industry started to expand, one company wanted to make something that was comfortable, inexpensive, and ideal for South America's long hot summers.
Havaianas soon became the favourite of the working class because of their affordability. Fast forward almost forty years and they featured on catwalks in Paris and Oscar goody bags in Hollywood, a surprisingly journey from their modest beginnings as the choice of farmers, builders, and tyre fitters.
Johnny I’Anson has been speaking to former employee and author Sergio Sanchez about the birth of a humble flip-flop, and how they became a global success story selling 250 million pairs a year.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Rows of brightly coloured Havaianas flip-flops. Credit: Miguel Schincariol/AFP via Getty Images)
Bata was a Czech company which pioneered assembly line shoemaking and sold affordable footwear around the world.
The factory near London was opened in 1933 and it became key to its expansion.
In 2018, Dina Newman spoke to one of its senior engineers, Mick Pinion, about the company's remarkable history, including how it sold millions of shoes in Africa and Asia.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: mobile shoe shop selling Bata shoes. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2001, the American Ana Montes, who was working for the United States Defense Intelligence Agency was arrested for espionage.
Although the FBI knew that there was a spy they didn't know who it was. The Cubans always referred to Ana by a man's name.
Former FBI agent, Pete Lapp, tells Gill Kearsley the fascinating story of how he and his team tracked down and arrested Ana, who is known as ‘Queen of Cuba’.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Ana Montes in 2001. Credit: FBI )
In the late 1990s, a heavy metal band called Acrassicauda formed in Iraq, when the country was under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.
Over the next decade, the pioneering band found themselves on a collision course with the dictatorship militants and the west.
The band was able to get inspiration from various bootleg tapes of heavy metal's greatest acts.
Acrassicauda performed under Saddam's regime, but because of censorship restrictions, they had to write a song that praised the dictator.
Johnny I'Anson speaks to bass player, Firas Al-Lateef.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Acrassicauda perform in Iraq in 2004. Credit: Getty Images)
It's 20 years since elections in French Polynesia in 2004, where the independence movement stunned the France-aligned government of the day, propelling pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru to the presidency.
It was a landmark in the country's politics, where protests against French rule had increased due to the practice of using Polynesian islands for nuclear tests.
Antony Geros, who helped lead the independence movement, recounts that night to Lizzy Kinch.
This is a Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Antony Geros. Credit: Getty Images)
On 14 May 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed.
Tears and applause met the declaration, witnessed by 200 dignitaries, but fighting intensified in the days that followed.
In 2010, Arieh Handler and Zipporah Porath spoke to Lucy Williamson about that day and its fallout.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Young Jewish people celebrate the new state. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
In 1948, tens of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes in the Middle East.
The period after World War Two in the region was tense, at times violent and politically complex.
For Israeli Jews it was a chance to build their own nation after the genocide of the Holocaust. But for Arab Palestinian Muslims and Christians it was a time of loss.
Many were intimidated by the violence and changing demographics.
Rebecca Kesby speaks to Hasan Hammami who was 15-years-old when his family was forced out off Palestine.
The interview was recorded before the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and subsequent Israeli military operation.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Palestinians forced from their homes in 1948. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1992, a photograph of Princess Diana alone on a bench in front of the Taj Mahal became one of the most famous photos in the world.
Anwar Hussein was a photographer who documented the lives of the British royal family. His first visit to the Taj Mahal was to photograph Prince Charles in 1980.
He tells Gill Kearsley about his relationship with the royal family and about taking the iconic photograph.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Princess Diana alone outside the Taj Mahal. Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)
In 2009, the Indian government embarked on an ambitious task to register all of the country's billion-plus citizens with a unique digital ID.
Aadhaar - which means foundation in many Indian languages - became the world's largest ever biometrics project.
It allowed millions of people to open bank accounts or access a mobile connection for the very first time.
But the project also attracted considerable opposition from privacy advocates and civil rights groups, who brought a case that went all the way to India's Supreme Court.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Nandan Nilekani, who chaired the Aadhaar project.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Aadhaar system. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1963, Dr Jose Ignacio Barraquer Moner performed the first surgery on a human eye aimed at correcting short-sightedness.
The ophthalmologist had been developing his technique for years, believing that there was a better solution for blurry vision than wearing glasses.
But he had to move from Spain to Colombia to begin his experimental surgery which involved dry ice, a watchmaker’s lathe and rabbits. The idea was to change the shape of the cornea – the front layer of the eye - to focus vision.
First, he sliced off the patient’s cornea then dunked it in liquid nitrogen, before using a miniature lathe to carve the frozen cornea into the right shape. Next, he thawed the disc and sewed it back on.
Jose’s initial surgery was performed on rabbits, but in 1963 he carried out the first procedure on a human patient, a 9 year old girl. It was a success, and soon doctors from around the world were flocking to Colombia to find out more.
Barraquer called this procedure keratomileusis, from the Greek words for “carving” and “cornea.” The technique was the forerunner of Lasik eye surgery when the lathe was replaced with lasers.
Jose’s daughter, Carmen Barraquer Coll followed her father into ophthalmology and tells Jane Wilkinson, how he inspired her.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Lasik eye surgery in 2009. Credit: BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images)
In the 1980s, a thirst for caffeine caused an unusual global collaboration.
Coffee-loving East Germans were left without after a crop failure in the world’s biggest exporter of the drink, Brazil.
So the East Germans hatched a scheme, linking up with fellow communist state Vietnam to create a mass of coffee plantations.
The man behind the plan, Siegfried Kaulfuß, tells Michael Rossi about the scale and success of the endeavour.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Siegfried Kaulfuß with Vietnamese coffee farmers. Credit: Siegfried Kaulfuß)
When a new show called Friends hit American TV screens in September 1994, it made household names of its cast.
Over 10 series, it charted the lives of six young New Yorkers, through marriages, divorces, births and deaths.
The final episode was broadcast on 6 May 2004.
In 2014, executive producer Kevin Bright told Farhana Haider how the show was born - and how it became one of the biggest comedies of all time.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The cast on the last day of filming. Credit: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
Thirty years on from the opening of the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, we look at the moment the two halves of the tunnel were connected in 1990.
Graham Fagg was the man who made the breakthrough, and the first person to cross by land between the two countries in 8,000 years.
In 2010, he told Lucy Williamson about the festivities of that day.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The moment of breakthrough Graham Fagg greets Frenchman Philippe Cozette. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
In February 2014, Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych fled the country.
His estate was abandoned by security guards, so for the first time ordinary people got to see inside Mezhyhirya, the extraordinarily extravagant home of the former president.
Denys Tarakhkotelyk was one of those early visitors, and went on to take charge of the estate. He tells Gill Kearsley his remarkable story, and how the house became known as a ‘museum of corruption’.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: People wander around President Viktor Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya estate. Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
In 1936, Dale Carnegie wrote one of the world’s most popular self help books - How to Win Friends and Influence People.
The idea was suggested by a book editor who had attended one of Dale’s public speaking courses in New York.
The result was a mix of psychology, philosophy and good old-fashioned common sense. Dale offered advice like: Smile. Give praise. Be a good listener. And remember people’s names.
The book went on to become a best seller. Today, more than 30 million copies have been sold worldwide, and it has been translated into 36 languages. Even the title is part of popular culture.
Dale’s daughter Donna Dale Carnegie tells Jane Wilkinson about the secret of its success.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1955. Credit: Frederic Hamilton/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 1961, the American psychologist Stanley Milgram began a series of controversial experiments on ‘obedience to authority’.
His study aimed to show how ordinary people could be capable of committing evil acts, if ordered to do so.
He wanted to understand the psychology behind genocide, telling the BBC: “How is it possible that ordinary people who were courteous and decent in everyday life, can act callously, inhumanely, without any limitations of conscience?”
During the tests, participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to another person.
These fake shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been harmful had they been real volunteers.
Vicky Farncombe looks back at the experiment, using BBC archive.
This programme includes original recordings of the experiments which listeners may find disturbing.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Stanley Milgram beside the shock generator. Credit: BBC)
It’s 70 years since General Alfredo Stroessner seized power in Paraguay in a military coup.
Stroessner remained in power for almost 35 years, before being toppled in 1989.
More than 450 people were murdered under Stroessner's rule, with the fate of thousands more unknown. They are remembered as 'the disappeared' of Paraguay.
One man has dedicated his life to finding the victims of Stroessner's dictatorship, including the remains of his own father.
Rogelio Goiburu shares his story with Matt Pintus.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Rogelio Goiburu digging for the remains of Paraguay's 'disappeared'. Credit: Getty Images)
On 13 December 1990, the anti-apartheid politician Oliver Tambo returned to South Africa after 30 years in exile.
As the president of the banned African National Congress (ANC), he had lived in Zambia building the liberation movement while other key ANC members including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were political prisoners.
By lobbying around the world and attracting talented South African exiles such as Thabo Mbeki, he built the organisation into a legitimate contender for government.
When President FW de Klerk unbanned the ANC, Oliver Tambo was finally able to return home where he was greeted by a crowd of thousands at the airport.
Oliver Tambo’s son, Dali Tambo, recalls to Josephine McDermott how his father and other ANC exiles danced in the aisle of the plane as they crossed into South African airspace.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Oliver Tambo at Jan Smuts Airport. Credit: AP/John Parkin)
Brenda Fassie was one of South Africa's biggest pop stars in the late 1980s. The singer’s career nosedived in 1990, but her comeback saw her dubbed the 'Madonna of the townships' by Time magazine.
Yvonne Chaka Chaka, born a year after Brenda, was perhaps the only South African pop star who could rival her popularity.
Twenty years ago, in 2004, Brenda died.
Yvonne celebrates Brenda's life with Ben Henderson.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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo Brenda Fassie, a South African pop star, performing on stage. Credit :ALEXANDER JOE/AFP via Getty Images.)
In August 2002, the remains of an indigenous South African woman called Sarah Baartman were returned to South Africa after almost 200 years away. Sarah died in Paris in 1815 after being forced to perform in European 'freak shows' where people considered to be biological rarities were paraded for entertainment. She had been subjected to racist and degrading treatment and her remains were exhibited at a French museum until 1976.
When Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa in 1994, he requested that Sarah's remains be returned to her homeland. However, by 1998 that had not happened. Poet Diana Ferrus decided to write about Sarah’s limbo. Her poem became so popular that it was noticed by politicians in France. Diana shares her memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
This programme contains discriminatory language.
(Photo: Sarah Baartman likeness at French museum. Credit: Getty Images)
When South African schoolchildren marched in protest against having to study Afrikaans in 1976, they were gunned down by the police.
The killings sparked a cycle of protests across the country against the racist apartheid regime.
In 2010, march organiser Bongi Mkhabela told Alan Johnston about her memories of the Soweto uprising.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Protestors on the march. Credit: Bongani Mnguni/CityPress/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
On 18 March 1992, white South Africans overwhelmingly backed a mandate for political reforms to end apartheid and create a power-sharing multi-racial government.
It was a high-stakes referendum coming on the back of three by-elections where the ruling National Party had lost to the right wing Conservative party.
In a speech after the polling victory, President FW de Klerk said: “Today we have closed the book on apartheid”. His communications adviser, David Steward speaks to Josephine McDermott.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: President FW de Klerk with news of the referendum win. Credit: AP)
Major Charity Adams was the first African-American woman to lead a World War Two battalion. It was known as the Six-Triple-Eight (6888).
The 6888 was a majority African-American women’s unit, the women sorted through mountains of post across Europe, using the motto: 'No Mail, Low Morale'.
Charity went on to become lieutenant colonel, the highest possible rank for women in her unit. She died in 2002.
Her son, Stanley Earley, speaks to Marverine Cole.
This was a Soundtruism production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: American Women's Army Corps Captain Mary Kearney and American Commanding Officer Major Charity Adams inspect the first arrivals to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion Credit. Archive Photos/Getty Images)
On 18 April 2014, an avalanche on Mount Everest killed 16 men, who were carrying supplies for commercial expeditions to higher camps.
The sherpas were on the Khumbu Icefall, just above Base Camp in Nepal, when the avalanche happened.
It resulted in the climbing season being cancelled and sherpas demanding better working conditions on the mountain.
Lakpa Rita Sherpa helped dig bodies of his dead colleagues out of the ice, before transporting them home to their families.
He speaks to Laura Jones.
(Photo: The south-west face of Mount Everest and the Khumbu icefall. Credit: Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The 2014 Ebola outbreak devastated West Africa, killing more than 11,000 people over a two year period. One country that suffered was Sierra Leone.
The disease started in Guinea, but quickly spread to neighbouring countries.
Before May 2014, there had never been an outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone. By autumn that year, burial teams were struggling to keep up with the number of corpses that needed burying.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Yusuf Kabba, an Ebola survivor from Sierra Leone.
(Photo: Headstones in the Waterloo Ebola Graveyard, Sierra Leone. Credit: HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/AFP via Getty Images)
When the train service between India and Bangladesh was suspended in 1965, following war between Pakistan and India, it lay dormant for 43 years.
But in a day of celebration in 2008, the Maitree (or Friendship) Express rumbled into life and connected the two countries once more.
In 2020, Farhana Haider spoke to Dr Azad Chowdhury who was on the inaugural train journey.
(Photo: Crowds line the tracks for the train’s first journey. Credit: STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)
A group of men known as the ‘Cairo 52’ were arrested in Egypt in May 2001. They were on board the Queen Boat, a floating gay nightclub on the River Nile.
Omer, not his real name, was arrested and imprisoned for habitual debauchery.
There is no explicit law against homosexuality in Egypt and Omer was released early following the orders of US president at the time, George W Bush.
Omer speaks to Dan Hardoon about the arrest and its aftermath – in graphic detail.
This programme has been updated with the correct trial date.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Some of the 'Cairo 52', dressed in white with their faces covered, being escorted by security into a court in Cairo. Credit: Marwan Naamani/Getty Images)
Hiroo Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who spent nearly 30 years in the Philippine jungle, believing World War Two was still going on.
Using his training in guerilla warfare, he attacked and killed people living on Lubang Island, mistakenly believing them to be enemy soldiers.
He was finally persuaded to surrender in 1974 when his former commander, Yoshimi Taniguchi, found him and gave him an order.
In a televised ceremony, Hiroo presented his sword to the then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos.
President Marcos returned the sword and gave him a full presidential pardon and told him he admired his courage.
Hiroo died in January 2014 at the age of 91.
This programme was produced and presented by Vicky Farncombe, using BBC archive.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Hiroo Onoda steps out of the jungle. Credit: Getty Images)
After winning the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Franco's dictatorship began. During the war, he acquired St Teresa of Avila's severed hand and kept it for spiritual guidance, it was returned when he died in 1975.
The hand was initially stolen by General Franco's opposition from a convent in Ronda, but Franco’s nationalist soldiers took it for themselves when they won the Battle of Malaga.
Sister Jennifer is the Mother Superior of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, Ronda, where the hand is kept on display for people to see.
She tells Johnny I’Anson who St Teresa was, why her hand was cut off, and what made the relic special.
(Photo: Monument of Saint Teresa of Avila, Spain. Credit: Digicomphoto/Getty Images)
When Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream was stolen in 1994, an undercover operation was launched to get it back.
Thirty years on from its recovery, hear from the art detective at the centre of the story.
In 2013, Charley Hill told Lucy Burns how his task saw him take on a fake identity, rub shoulders with criminals and encounter the Thai kickboxing champion of Scandinavia.
(Photo: The Scream on display in Oslo in 2008, after being stolen for a second time. Credit: Scanpix Norway/AFP/Getty Images)
Lake Karla supported hundreds of families in Thessaly, providing fish for all of the region and beyond.
Christos and Ioanna Kotsikas grew up on the shores of the wetland and have mixed memories of the lake. They too lived off its fish, but they were also victims of its floods.
The lake was drained by the Greek Government in 1962, destroying a vital ecosystem.
In 2023, when torrential rain poured over Thessaly, the lake was restored – but the region was devastated.
Christos and Ioanna Kotsikas speak to Maria Margaronis.
(Photo: Lake Karla. Credit: Maria Margaronis)
Music: “Platani apo to Metsovo,” used by permission of ERT, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.
In July 2010, two bombs went off at a rugby club in Uganda's capital Kampala. It was where hundreds had gathered to watch the football World Cup final.
The attack killed 74 people and injured 85 others.
The militant Islamist group al-Shabab staged the attack, as revenge for Uganda's efforts to fight it in Somalia.
Kuddzu Isaac, who witnessed the explosions, tells George Crafer the graphic details of what he saw.
(Photo: The moment after the blasts, survivors look on in shock. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
A bonus episode from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast – The Black 14. Sport, racism and protests are about to change the lives of “the Black 14” American footballers. It’s 1969 in the United States. They’ve arrived on scholarships at the University of Wyoming to play for its Cowboys American football team. It was a predominantly white college. The team is treated like a second religion. Then, the players make a decision to take a stand against racism in a game against another university. This is episode one of a four-part season from the Amazing Sport Stories podcast. Content warning: This episode contains lived experiences which involve the use of strong racist language
Sweden’s most beloved pastry is the cinnamon bun and every year on 4 October, locals celebrate the sweet, spiced snacks.
The country’s first official Cinnamon Bun Day (or Kanelbullens dag in Swedish) took place in 1999.
The woman behind the idea, Kaeth Gardestedt, tells Maddy Savage how the Swedish public embraced the event and turned it into a huge annual tradition.
A PodLit production for BBC World Service
(Photo: Traditional Swedish cinnamon buns. Credit: Natasha Breen/Getty Images)
In the 1990s, Bluetooth was invented in a lab in Lund, Sweden.
The technology is used today to wirelessly connect accessories such as mice, keyboards, speakers and headphones to desktops, laptops and mobile phones.
It’s named after Harald Bluetooth, a Viking king who was said to have blue teeth.
Sven Mattisson, one of the brains behind the technology, tells Gill Kearsley how the name Bluetooth came about following some drinks after a conference.
(Photo: A mobile phone with the Bluetooth logo. Credit: Westend61 via Getty images)
Fifty years ago Sweden became the first country in the world to offer paid parental leave that was gender neutral.
The state granted mothers and fathers 180 days that they could divide between them however they saw fit.
The pioneering policy was designed to promote gender equality, but it wasn’t an instant success.
Later governments decided to increase the number of leave days available and ring-fenced some specifically for each parent.
Maddy Savage went to meet Per Edlund who was one of the first fathers in his town, Katrineholm, to embrace the new benefit.
A Bespoken Media production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: Per Edlund with his youngest daughter Märta Edlund. Credit: Maddy Savage)
In 1958, the late Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt for cars. It's estimated to have saved more than one million lives around the world.
In 2022, Nils's stepson Gunnar Ornmark told Rachel Naylor about the inventor’s legacy.
(Photo: Nils Bohlin modelling his invention. Credit: Volvo Cars Group)
It's 50 years since Swedish pop group Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.
The victory provided a platform for the band to become one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time.
Abba's current manager, Görel Hanser, has been with them every step of the way.
In a rare interview, she speaks to Matt Pintus about the band's meteoric rise to stardom.
She also talks about Abba's break-up, the rumour that they were offered $1 billion to get back together and whether Abba Voyage will move to a new country.
(Photo: ABBA pictured in 1974. Credit: Getty Images)
April 1994 was the start of the Rwandan genocide, 100 days of slaughter, rape and atrocities.
As part of the Tutsi ethnic group, Antoinette Mutabazi’s family were a target for the killings.
So her father told her to run, leaving her family behind. She was just 11 years old.
As a survivor of the genocide, she speaks publicly about reconciliation and forgiveness. She tells Rosie Blunt her story.
(Photo: Antoinette as an adult. Credit: HMDT)
Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - was formed in 1949 by 12 countries, including the US, UK, Canada and France.
Its aim was to block expansion by the then Soviet Union - a group of states which included Russia.
The UK’s foreign secretary at the time, Ernest Bevin, played a key role in persuading the US to join the alliance.
This programme, produced and presented by Vicky Farncombe, tells the story of Nato's founding using archive interviews.
(Credit: Ernest Bevin signs the North Atlantic treaty. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1980, the seaside town of Brighton opened a very unusual attraction.
It was the first British beach dedicated to nudists.
The opening followed a passionate battle between two local politicians and caused controversy among some locals.
In 2011, Madeleine Morris spoke to nudist enthusiasts and those who preferred to keep their clothes firmly on.
(Photo: Deckchairs on Brighton beach. Credit: Then and Now Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
Since its adoption as a first aid method, the Heimlich Manoeuvre has saved untold numbers of lives around the world.
Developed by American physician Dr Henry Heimlich as a way to save choking victims from dying, his manoeuvre would become famous just weeks after it was written about in a medical journal.
But as well as his namesake manoeuvre, Heimlich was responsible for several other medical innovations throughout his life.
Ashley Byrne hears from Janet Heimlich, one of Dr Heimlich's children.
A Made In Manchester/Workerbee co-production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: Dr Henry Heimlich demonstrates the Heimlich manoeuvre on host Johnny Carson in 1979. Credit: Gene Arias/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
In 1967, a dam was built in Mirpur, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, that would spur a huge global migration. Water diverted by the dam forced around 100,000 people to leave their homes.
Thousands migrated to the UK and today between 60% and 70% of Britain’s Pakistani community descend from Mirpur, approximately one million people.
Riyaz Begum was one of those who left Mirpur for London. She speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Riyaz Begum at the Mangla Dam. Credit: Sabba Khan)
In 1985, the British band Wham! became the first Western pop act to play in China.
Around 12,000 fans packed into the Worker’s Gymnasium in Beijing to hear such hits as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Freedom.
Wham!’s manager Simon Napier-Bell tells Vicky Farncombe how the strangeness of the event affected singer George Michael’s nerves.
(Photo: Wham! perform in China. Credit: Getty Images)
It's 50 years since a chance find by Chinese farmers led to an astonishing archaeological discovery.
Thousands of clay soldiers were uncovered in the province of Shaanxi after being buried for more than 2,000 years.
They were guarding the tomb of the ancient ruler Qin Shi Huang, who ruled the Qin Dynasty.
In 2013, archaeologists Yuan Zhongyi and Xiuzhen Li told Rebecca Kesby about the magnitude of the dig, and how unearthing the incredible statues shaped their careers.
(Photo: Terracotta soldiers stand to attention. Credit Marica van der Meer/Arterra/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
Between 1932 and 1945, hundreds of thousands of women and girls across Asia were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army.
Referred to as "comfort women", they were taken from countries including Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia to be raped by Japanese soldiers.
Today, the issue remains a source of tension between Japan and its neighbours, with continuing campaigns to compensate the few surviving victims.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Chinese survivor Peng Zhuying who, along with her elder sister, was captured and taken to a "comfort station" in central China.
This programme contains disturbing content.
(Photo: People visit a museum dedicated to the victims, on the site of a former comfort station in China. Credit: Yang Bo/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images)
In 1968, Jingyu Li and her parents were among hundreds of thousands of Chinese people sent to labour camps during Mao Zedong’s so-called cultural revolution.
The aim was to re-educate those not thought to be committed to Chairman’s Mao drive to preserve and purify communism in China.
Jingyu’s parents – both college professors - were put to work among the rice and cattle fields, and made to study the works of Chairman Mao. Fearful for their daughter’s safety, they disguised six-year-old Jingyu as a boy.
Over the next six years, the family were sent to four different camps. Not everyone could cope, as Jingyu tells Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Reading Mao's little red book in 1968. Credit: Pictures from History/Getty Images)
In 1958, a brand new writing system was introduced in China called Pinyin. It used the Roman alphabet to help simplify Chinese characters into words.
The mastermind behind Pinyin was a professor called Zhou Youguang who'd previously worked in the United States as a banker.
Pinyin helped to rapidly increase literacy levels in China. When it was introduced, 80% of the population couldn't read or write. It's now only a couple of percent.
Despite being responsible for such an important tool in China's development, Zhou was subjected to re-education as part of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. He was forced to work on a farm in rural China.
In 2017 Zhou Youguang died aged 111. Matt Pintus has been going through archive interviews to piece together Zhou's life.
This programme contains archive material from NPR and the BBC.
(Photo: Zhou Youguang. Credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images)
The Mount Vesuvius eruption that buried Pompeii in 79AD is well known, but far fewer people know about the last time the volcano erupted in 1944.
It was World War Two, and families in southern Italy had already lived through a German invasion, air bombardment, and surrender to the Allies.
And then at 16:30 on 18 March, Vesuvius erupted. The sky filled with violent explosions of rock and ash, and burning lava flowed down the slopes, devastating villages.
By the time it was over, 11 days later, 26 people had died and about 12,000 people were forced to leave their homes.
Angelina Formisano, who was nine, was among those evacuated from the village of San Sebastiano. She’s been speaking to Jane Wilkinson about being in the path of an erupting volcano.
(Photo: Vesuvius erupting in March 1944. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
Winifred Atwell was a classically-trained pianist from Trinidad who became one of the best-selling artists of the 1950s in the UK.
She played pub tunes on her battered, out-of-tune piano which travelled everywhere with her.
Her fans included Sir Elton John and Queen Elizabeth II.
She was the first instrumentalist to go to number one in the UK.
This programme, produced and presented by Vicky Farncombe, tells her story using archive interviews.
(Photo: Winifred Atwell. Credit: BBC)
In 1992, Guarani was designated an official language in Paraguay’s new constitution, alongside Spanish.
It is the only indigenous language of South America to have achieved such recognition and ended years of rejection and discrimination against Paraguay’s majority Guarani speakers.
Mike Lanchin hears from the Paraguayan linguist and anthropologist David Olivera, and even tries to speak a bit of the language.
A CTVC production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: A man reads a book in Guarani. Credit: Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1992 off the coast of Ireland, a Swiss geology student accidentally discovered the longest set of footprints made by the first four-legged animals to walk on earth.
They pointed to a new date for the key milestone in evolution when the first amphibians left the water 385 million years ago. The salamander-type animal which was the size of a basset hound lived when County Kerry was semi-arid, long before dinosaurs, as Iwan Stössel explains to Josephine McDermott.
(Picture: Artwork of a primitive tetrapod. Credit: Christian Jegou/Science Photo Library)
A regular morning turned into a day of nightmares for Spanish commuters on 11 March 2004.
In the space of minutes, 10 bombs detonated on trains around Madrid, killing nearly 200 people and injuring more than 1,800.
With a general election three days away, the political fall-out was dramatic.
In 2014, two politicians from opposite sides told Mike Lanchin about that terrible day – and what happened next.
(Photo: The wreckage of a commuter train. Credit: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images)
On 8 March 2014, a plane carrying 239 passengers and crew disappeared.
What happened to missing flight MH370 remains one of the world's biggest aviation mysteries.
Ghyslain Wattrelos’ wife Laurence and teenage children Ambre and Hadrien were on the plane, which was on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur.
He was on a different flight at the time and only found out the plane was missing when he landed.
A decade on, Ghyslain tells Vicky Farncombe how he’s no closer to knowing what happened to his family.
“I am exactly at the same point that I was 10 years ago. We don't know anything at all.”
(Photo: Ghyslain Wattrelos. Credit: Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In 2002, a Catholic nun arrived in Gulu, a town in northern Uganda, to help set up a sewing school for locals.
For years, the town had been the target of brutal attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army, led by the warlord Joseph Kony.
The rebel group was known for kidnapping children and forcing them into becoming soldiers.
As the LRA was being chased out of Uganda, those who were captured arrived at the school seeking refuge.
Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe shares the shocking stories of those who escaped captivity with George Crafer.
(Photo: Sister Rosemary at St Monica's. Credit: Sewing Hope Foundation)
25 April is Freedom Day in Portugal. Five decades ago on that date, flowers filled the streets of the capital Lisbon as a dictatorship was overthrown.
Europe’s longest-surviving authoritarian regime was toppled in a day, with barely a drop of blood spilled.
In 2010, Adelino Gomes told Louise Hidalgo what he witnessed of the Carnation Revolution.
(Photo: A young boy hugs a soldier in the street. Credit: Jean-Claude Francolon/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images)
In August and September 1939, tens of thousands of children began to be evacuated from Paris.
The move, part of France's 'passive defence' tactic, aimed to protect children from the threat of German bombardment.
Colette Martel was just nine when she was taken from Paris to Savigny-Poil-Fol, a small town more than 300km from her home.
She’s been speaking to her granddaughter, Carolyn Lamboley, about how her life changed. She particularly remembers how she struggled to fit in with her host family, and how it all changed because of a pair of clogs.
(Photo: Colette (left) with her sister Solange in 1939. Credit: family photo)
Uruguay was one of the first countries in the world to introduce anti-smoking laws.
But in 2010, the tobacco giant Philip Morris took the country to court claiming the measures devalued its investments.
The case pitted the right of a country to introduce health policies against the commercial freedoms of a cigarette company.
Uruguay’s former Public Health Minister María Julia Muñoz tells Grace Livingstone about the significance of the ban and its fallout.
(Photo: An anti-tobacco installation in Montevideo, Uruguay. Credit: Pablo La Rosa/Reuters)
In 1984, a diplomatic dispute broke out between Canada and Denmark over the ownership of a tiny island in the Arctic.
The fight for Hans Island off the coast of Greenland became known as the Whisky War. Both sides would leave a bottle of alcohol for the enemies after raising their national flag.
What could be the friendliest territorial dispute in history came to an end in 2022, with the agreement held up as an example of how diplomacy should work.
Janice Fryett hears from Tom Hoyem and Alan Kessel, politicians on either side of the bloodless war.
A Made in Manchester Production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: Tom Hoyem with a Danish flag on Hans Island. Credit: Niels Henriksen)
In 1987, Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva received a call from the police urging him to look at ancient artefacts confiscated from looters.
The seized objects were so precious that Walter decided to set up camp in Sipan, the site where they were found. There, he dug and researched what turned out to be the richest tomb found intact in the Americas: the resting place of an ancient ruler, the Lord of Sipan.
Walter tells Stefania Gozzer about the challenges and threats he and his team faced to preserve the grave.
The music from this programme was composed by Daniel Hernández Díaz and performed by Jarana & Son.
(Photo: Walter beside the discovery. Credit: Walter Alva)
On 5 February 1964, an unusual delivery was made to a synagogue in London. More than 1,500 Torah scrolls, lost since the end of World War Two, were arriving from Czechoslovakia. The sacred Jewish texts had belonged to communities destroyed by the Nazis. Alex Strangwayes-Booth talks to Philippa Bernard about the emotional charge of that day.
A CTVC production for the BBC Radio 4. (Photo: Philippa Bernard beside the scrolls in Westminster Synagogue. Credit: BBC)
Artek, on the shores of the Black Sea in Crimea, was a hugely popular Soviet holiday camp.
Maria Kim Espeland was one of the thousands of children who visited every year.
In 2014, she told Lucy Burns about life in the camp in the 1980s.
(Photo: A group of children attending Artek. Credit: Irina Vlasova)
In 2014, Russia annexed the strategic Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, a move seen by Kyiv and many other countries as illegal.
The crisis it caused was so acute the world seemed on the brink of a new cold war.
In 2022, one Crimean woman told Louise Hidalgo what it was like to live through.
(Photo: A soldier outside the Crimean parliament in 2014. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2003, Whistler Blackcomb won its bid to host the Winter Olympic Games for the first time.
It was sixth time lucky for the Canadian ski resort which had been opened to the public in 1966.
The mountain – which is named after the high-pitched whistle of the native marmot – has been through a lot of iterations and one man has been there to see nearly all of them.
Hugh Smythe, known as one of the ‘founding fathers’ of Whistler, has been sharing his memories of the mountain with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Whistler mountain. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1992, Columbus Lighthouse opened in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic.
It was designed to house the ashes of explorer, Christopher Columbus.
The huge memorial is built in the form of a horizontal cross and has 157 searchlight beams that when turned on project a gigantic cross into the sky. The light is so powerful it can be seen from over 300km away in Puerto Rico.
Tour guide and historian, Samuel Bisono tells Gill Kearsley about the struggle to get the monument built.
(Photo: Columbus Lighthouse. Credit: Gill Kearsley)
In June 2009, transgender sex worker and activist Vicky Hernandez was murdered in the Honduran city of San Pedro Sula.
The killers were never identified or punished, but in 2021 the Inter-American Human Rights Court found the Honduran state responsible for the crime. It ordered the government to enact new laws to prevent discrimination and violence against LGBT people.
Mike Lanchin hears from Claudia Spelman, a trans activist and friend of Vicky, and the American human rights lawyer Angelita Baeyens.
A CTVC production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: A protestor holds a sign saying “Late Justice is not Justice”. Credit: Wendell Escoto/AFP/Getty Images)
In October 1975, 90% of women in Iceland took part in a nationwide protest over inequality.
Factories and banks were forced to close and men were left holding the children as 25,000 women took to the streets.
In 2015, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, later Iceland's first female president, told Kirstie Brewer about the impact of that day.
(Photo: Women take to the streets. Credit: The Icelandic Women's History Archives)
In the 1950s, Soviet scientist Dr Vladimir Demikhov shocks the world with his two-headed dog experiments.
He grafts the head and paws of one dog onto the body of another. One of his creations lives for 29 days.
He wants to prove the possibilities of transplant surgery, which was a new field of medicine at the time.
Consultant cardiothoracic surgeon, Igor Konstantinov, tells Vicky Farncombe about the "difficult emotions" he experiences when he looks at photos of the creatures.
This programme includes a description of one of the experiments which some listeners may find upsetting.
(Photo: Vladimir Demikhov. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1972, a food supplement used by soldiers during the Nigerian civil war was turned into a popular malt drink by a brewery in the Danish town of Faxe.
It was called Supermalt and it became so popular that the Nigerian government decided to ban all imports of malt into the country.
Peter Rasmussen created the drink and he has been sharing his memories with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Supermalt. Credit: Royal Unibrew Ltd)
Gort in the west of Ireland is known by the nickname ‘Little Brazil’ because it’s home to so many Brazilians.
They first came to Ireland in the late 1990s to work in the town’s meat factory.
Lucimeire Trindade was just 24-years-old when she and three friends arrived in the town, unable to speak a word of English or Irish.
Nearly 25 years later, Lucimeire considers Gort her true home.
She tells Vicky Farncombe how being in Ireland changed her outlook on life.
“I learned that a woman can have their own life, especially going to the pub alone without their husbands!”
(Photo: Traditional Brazilian carnival dancers strut their stuff in Gort. Credit: John Kelly, Clare Champion)
The Juliet Club is in Verona, Italy, a place known throughout the world as being the city of love.
The club has been replying to mail addressed to Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, Juliet since the early 1990s.
The story of the Juliet letters started in the 1930s when the guardian of what is known as Juliet’s tomb began gathering the first letters people left at the grave and answering them.
The task was taken on by the Juliet Club which was founded by Giulio Tamassia in 1972. His daughter, Giovanna, tells Gill Kearsley that thousands of love letters from around the world are each given a personal response.
(Photo: Letters to the Juliet Club. Credit: Leonello Bertolucci/Getty Images)
When wealthy newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by far-left militants in February 1974, America saw her as a victim.
But two months later, she announced she had decided to join the group. Soon, she was accompanying it on an attempted bank robbery.
In 2010, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Carol Pogash, a journalist who followed the story.
(Photo: Patty being led to her trial. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)
In 1940 a daring rescue operation began to help Allied servicemen escape from Nazi-occupied France.
French resistance fighter Roland Lepers was among those who guided stranded Allied soldiers and airmen to neutral Spain during World War Two. The 1,000 km route became known as the Pat O’Leary Escape Line - or the Pat Line.
It’s estimated 7,000 Allied personnel escaped through this route and similar escape lines, thanks to a network of people who clothed, fed and hid them. Peter Janes was one of those British servicemen.
Roland’s daughter Christine and Peter’s son Keith, speak to Jane Wilkinson about their fathers’ adventures.
(Photo: German-controlled checkpoint in France, 1940. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
In 1973, a fashion show was held in France which became known as the Battle of Versailles, a duel between designs from modern America and the capital of couture, Paris.
Five American designers, including Oscar de la Renta and Halston, were invited to show their work alongside five of France’s biggest names, including Yves Saint Laurent and Hubert de Givenchy.
The aim was to raise money to help restore Versailles, a 17th Century palace built by King Louis XIV, but the media billed it as a competition between the two countries.
By the end, the Americans were declared the winners. The show also highlighted their industry’s racial diversity on an international stage, with 10 women of colour modelling work by US designers. Bethann Hardison, one of the models, talks to Jane Wilkinson about the lasting impact of the astonishing show.
(Photo: Bethann Hardison at Versailles in 1973. Credit: Jean-Luce Hure/Bridgeman Images)
Rosa Parks was brought up in Alabama during the Jim Crow era, when state laws enforced segregation in practically all aspects of daily life.
Public schools, water fountains, trains and buses all had to have separate facilities for white people and black people.
As a passionate civil rights activist, Rosa was determined to change this.
In December 1955, she was travelling home from the department store where she worked as a seamstress.
When a white passenger boarded the bus, Rosa was told to give up her seat.
Her refusal to do so and subsequent arrest sparked a bus boycott in the city of Montgomery, led by Dr Martin Luther King.
Using BBC interviews with Rosa and Dr King, Vicky Farncombe tells how Rosa’s story changed civil rights history and led to the end of segregation.
This programme includes outdated and offensive language.
(Photo: Rosa Parks sitting on a bus. Credit: Getty Images)
Lucha Reyes was one of Peru’s greatest singers. She was born into poverty in 1936 and fought terrible health problems and racism throughout her life. But it didn’t stop her becoming a star of Peruvian Creole music - a fusion of waltzes, Andean and Afro-Peruvian styles.
In the early 1970s she recorded hits including Regresa and Tu Voz. One of the few black Peruvian celebrities of her era, she was a trailblazer for black women in the country.
Polo Bances played the saxophone in her band, accompanying her on many of her greatest records. He celebrates her life with Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Lucha Reyes. Credit: Javier Ponce Gambirazio)
In March 2002, a young Nigerian Muslim woman was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and conceiving a child out of wedlock.
Amina Lawal’s case attracted huge international attention and highlighted divisions between the Christian and Muslim regions in the country.
Hauwa Ibrahim, one of the first female lawyers from northern Nigeria, defended Amina and helped her secure an acquittal.
The case would have very personal consequences for Hauwa who went on to adopt Amina’s daughter.
She tells Vicky Farncombe how the ground-breaking case also changed attitudes in Nigeria towards defendants from poor, rural communities.
(Photo: Hauwa Ibrahim (left) with Amina Lawal, Credit: Getty Images)
In May 1986, 16-year-old Charlotte Mensah went to work in the UK’s first luxury Afro-Caribbean hair salon, Splinters.
In London’s glamorous Mayfair, Splinters had earned a world-class reputation and hosted the likes of Diana Ross.
Charlotte says it looked more like a five-star hotel than a salon and that its owner, Winston Isaacs expected no less than perfection from all his staff.
Now a giant of the hair care industry in her own right, Charlotte has become known as the 'Queen of the 'fro'.
She tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty about her roots and how training at the legendary Splinters changed her life.
This programme includes an account of racial bullying.
(Photo: Young Charlotte in the salon. Credit: Charlotte Mensah)
The first commercial internet cafe opened in London on 1 September 1994.
Eva Pascoe, from Poland, is one of the founders of Cyberia. She claims that Kylie Minogue was amongst the famous visitors and learnt how to use the internet at the cafe.
Eva tells Gill Kearsley the story of how cakes, computers and Kylie came together to make this new venture a success.
(Photo: Surfers at the Cyberia cafe. Credit: Mathieu Polak/Sygma via Getty Images)
In January 2008, seeds began arriving at the world's first global seed vault, buried deep in a mountain on an Arctic island, 1,000km north of the Norwegian coast.
The vault was built to ensure the survival of the world's food supply and agricultural history in the event of a global catastrophe.
In 2019, Louise Hidalgo spoke to the man whose idea it was, Dr Cary Fowler.
(Photo: Journalists and cameramen outside the entrance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in 2008. Credit: Hakon Mosvold Larsen/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1980, poor rural workers set up camp on land owned by the rich at Encruzilhada Natalino in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Brazil's government sent in the army to evict them and violent clashes followed. It was a formative moment in the history of one of Latin America's biggest social movements, Brazil's Landless Workers Movement (MST).
Maria Salete Campigotto was a teacher living in the camp with her husband and young son. She speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Brazil's Landless Workers Movement meeting. Credit: Patrick Siccoli/Getty Images)
In September 1984, the Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff was summoned to Rome, facing accusations that his writing and teachings were "dangerous to the faith".
He is a leading proponent of liberation theology, which says the Church should push for social equality. Leonardo was called to appear before the Roman Catholic Church’s highest tribunal.
A year later, he was banned from writing, teaching or speaking publicly. Now in his late 80s and no longer a priest, he tells Mike Lanchin about that turbulent time.
A CTVC production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Leonardo Boff preaching outside a church to followers of Liberation Theology. Credit: Bernard Bisson/Sygma/Getty Images)
During the 1970s, the US and Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War.
The US, along with other Western countries, was a member of Nato, while the Soviet Union joined forces with central and eastern European countries in the Warsaw Pact.
After becoming frustrated with the way the Soviets controlled his country, Ryszard Kukliński, a Polish colonel, wrote to the US Embassy in Bonn, West Germany.
For the next 10 years, he would feed the CIA tens of thousands of pages of classified military secrets.
Aris Pappas, a CIA agent who analysed Ryszard's intel, speaks to George Crafer about his memories of this forgotten hero.
(Photo: Jack Strong aka Ryszard Kukliński. Credit: AP)
The Magnificent Magyars were Hungary’s golden football team of the 1950s.
But behind their shine lay a dark secret.
In 1951, defender Sándor Szűcs was executed for trying to defect from the communist regime.
The married centre-back had wanted to leave Hungary with his lover, singer Erzsi Kovács, who was also married.
The pair had been told to end their illicit relationship or face imprisonment.
They were arrested near the border after being set up by a double agent.
This programme has been made by Vicky Farncombe, using an interview Erzsi gave in 2011 to Hungarian journalist Endre Kadarkai on the Arckép programme, on Zuglo TV.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Sándor Szűcs. Credit: Arcanum/Nemzeti Sport)
In 1937, Japan invaded China committing atrocities including the Nanjing Massacre. Wang Jingwei was a Chinese national hero and second-in-command of China’s ruling Nationalist Party. He wanted to negotiate with Japan but his colleagues wouldn’t listen. So he defected, and in 1940 he agreed to lead a Japanese-controlled puppet government in Nanjing.
Many Chinese have hated him ever since – his name is synonymous with the word ‘Hanjian’, a traitor to China.
But Pan Chia-sheng’s memories of living under Wang Jingwei’s government tell a very different story. He speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Wang Jingwei. Credit: Wang Wenxing via Wang Jingwei Irrevocable Trust)
In 1949, Mildred Gillars – otherwise known as Axis Sally – became the first woman in American history to be convicted of treason.
The former Broadway showgirl broadcast antisemitic Nazi propaganda on German State Radio during World War Two.
Her weekly shows were heard by thousands of American servicemen who gave her the nickname Axis Sally.
After her capture, she denied being a traitor, but a jury in Washington convicted her of treason, and she served 12 years in prison. Jane Wilkinson has been looking through the BBC archives to uncover her story.
(Photo: Mildred Gillars. Credit: Bettmann, Getty Images)
In December 1939, fascist Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling travelled to Berlin from Oslo for a secret meeting with Adolf Hitler.
Quisling suggested to Hitler that the British were planning to move into Norway for their own strategic needs. Norway hadn’t been a concern for the Nazis but the meeting alarmed Hitler and within months Germany started its invasion of Norway.
From that moment, Quisling was consigned into history as a traitor. So much so that in the time since, his name has become a byword for traitor in numerous languages.
Matt Pintus hears from Norwegian journalist, Trude Lorentzen, who decided to study Quisling’s life after stumbling across his suitcase in an online auction.
As part of her voyage of discovery, Trude interviewed Quisling’s Jewish neighbour Leif Grusd who was forced to flee to Sweden when the Nazis took over Norway.
Leif Grusd's interview was translated from the NRK podcast "Quislings koffert" - Quisling's suitcase - released in 2021. It was made by production company Svarttrost for NRK.
(Photo: Vidkun Quisling and Adolf Hitler. Credit: Getty Images)
In the early 2000s, a woman called Jamuna Tudu set out on a mission to protect her home state of Jharkhand's forests from India's so-called timber mafia.
She inspired thousands of people to care for their natural environment and established an army of women to fight back against the illegal cutting down of trees.
Her conservation efforts have led to the country's media dubbing her 'Lady Tarzan', and she is now known across India for her bravery.
She speaks to George Crafer about her run-ins with the mafia and her hero status.
(Photo: Jamuna Tudu amongst the trees she loves. Credit: Jamuna Tudu)
British zoologist Bob Golding turned the University of Ibadan's zoo into one of Nigeria's biggest tourist attractions in the 1970s.
The zoo was famous for two gorillas he rescued from traffickers. And Bob's animal kingdom even had its own TV show.
His wife, Peaches Golding, tells Ben Henderson how he did it.
(Photo: Bob Golding. Credit: bobgolding.co.uk)
In June 2009, millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest against what they considered a rigged presidential election.
The hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won 62% of the vote. All three defeated candidates disputed the results.
The protests gave rise to the 'Green Movement', named after its signature colour, which opposed Ahmadinejad.
Journalist Maziar Bahari was accused of being a Western spy and spent 118 days being interrogated in Iran's Evin Prison. He tells Dan Hardoon about the torture he endured.
(Photo: Maziar Bahari in 2015. Credit: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
On 6 November 1975, tens of thousands of Moroccans poured into Spanish Sahara in a bid to claim it for their own.
They danced, waved flags and played music as they faced off, unarmed, against gun-carrying Spanish soldiers.
The so-called Green March led to a diplomatic victory for Morocco's King Hassan, but sparked a guerrilla war and decades of instability.
In 2013, TV cameraman Seddik Maaninou and North Africa expert Francis Gillies told Simon Watts about that momentous protest.
(Photo: Protestors on the Green March. Credit: Jacques Haillot/Apis/Sygma/Sygma/Getty Images)
In Bolivia, on 25 October 1984, President Hernán Siles Zuazo announced he was going on hunger strike.
He was trying to stop the booming cocaine industry in his country. It was the second time he had taken the job of president and he had been on hunger strike several times before.
His daughter Marcela Siles, tells Laura Jones about her father.
(Photo: President Zuazo. Credit: Getty Images)
For two years, José Luis Peñas risked his life making secret recordings that revealed one of Spain's biggest corruption scandals.
It forced the ruling party from power and brought down Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in 2018.
José Luis Peñas speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Mariano Rajoy (right) moments after resigning. Credit: Pierre-Philippe Marcou/Pool via Getty Images)
On the 11 January 1998 in Mumbai, India, the first World Laughter Day took place.
It was the idea of Dr Madan Kataria, a medical doctor who wanted to test the theory that laughter is the best medicine.
He tells Gill Kearsley how this unusual event started.
(Photo: World Laughter Day in Mumbai in 2016. Credit: Arijit Sen/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
In 1970, Natalia Makarova became the first female ballet star to defect to the West from Russia.
The dancer claimed asylum during a UK tour, nine years after another Russian dancer, Rudolf Nureyev, had defected.
Natalia later joined the American Ballet Theatre in New York. She wouldn’t return to her home country for almost 20 years.
Jane Wilkinson has been looking through the archive to discover the reasons behind her defection.
(Photo: Natalia Makarova in New York, 1980. Credit: Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty Image
The fate of Louis-Charles, son of the last king of France, was for years shrouded in rumour.
The little boy was said to have died in prison in 1795. But for years, rumours spread that he had been swapped with an imposter.
It wasn't until a team of scientists took DNA samples from the heart of the imprisoned boy in 2000 that the mystery could be laid to rest.
In 2021, Prof Jean Jacques Cassiman and historian Deborah Cadbury told Claire Bowes about the extraordinary tale.
(Photo: Drawing of Louis-Charles being separated from his mother Marie Antoinette in 1793. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
On 1 April 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world 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 tell Dan Hardoon about the wedding they thought they'd never have.
(Photo: The four happy couples cut the cake. Credit: Marcel Antonisse/ANP/AFP/Getty Images)
On 13 March 1989, the Canadian province of Quebec suffered a nine-hour electricity blackout.
Much of the state's infrastructure was damaged, but the power companies couldn't find any obvious cause.
Physicist Aja Hruska was one of the only people in the country that knew the answer to Quebec's problem. A solar flare ejected by the sun had hit the earth's magnetic field, creating electrical havoc.
And the damage could have been avoided if her warnings had been properly acknowledged.
Aja shares her memories of that day with Eva Runciman.
(Photo: A solar flare erupts from the sun. Credit: Photo 12/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
In 1937, the Hindenburg airship burst into flames during its mooring in New Jersey, in the US, killing 35 of the 97 passengers and crew.
The wingsuit is the ultimate in extreme sports clothing. The aerodynamic outfit allows base jumpers and skydivers to free-fall for longer before opening a parachute.
The road to creating it was littered with casualties, but in 1999 skydivers Jari Kuosma and Robert Pecnik developed the first commercial wingsuits.
In 2019, Jari told Jonathan Coates how exciting, but also how dangerous they can be.
(Photo: Jari in his wingsuit. Credit: BBC)
In 1985, British scientists made what would turn out to be one of the most important environmental discoveries of the 20th century - finding a hole in the earth’s ozone layer.
The British Antarctic Survey, based in Cambridge, had been monitoring ozone levels for more than 30 years using the Dobson Ozone Spectrophotometer.
But it was only when they compared previously uncharted figures from the 1980s with the previous decade that they made the shocking finding, as Jonathan Shanklin, the man who compiled the data, told Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Ozone hole in September 2006. Credit: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
In February 1990, Nasa space probe Voyager took a famous photo of Earth as it left the Solar System.
Seen from six billion kilometres away, our planet appears as a mere dot lit up by the sun, giving a sense of humanity's small place in the universe.
In 2020, Darryl Morris spoke to Nasa planetary scientist Candice Hansen, who worked on the Voyager programme. A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Earth - a pale blue dot. Credit: Nasa/JPL-Caltech)
In 1982, after a two-year global search, the BBC auditioned Ken Hom to be the star of a new Chinese cookery TV series.
In the show, called Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery, he introduced viewers to dishes like dim sum and spicy braised aubergine. He also gave advice on choosing and using a wok.
He tells Josephine McDermott about his sudden rise to celebrity and how he brought Chinese dishes to new audiences.
(Photo: Ken Hom. Credit: Chris Ridley/Radio Times/Getty Images)
It’s one of the most popular dishes in South East Asian cooking and for many it’s seen as Thailand’s national dish. However, the origins of pad Thai are disputed.
Some believe it was created and taken to the country centuries ago by Chinese immigrants. Others believe it was invented during the rule of military dictator, Plaek Phibunsongkhram, as a way of cementing Thai nationalism in the 1940s.
Thai food writer Chawadee Nualkhair dissects all the theories with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Pad Thai. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1994, biotech company Calgene brought the world's first genetically-modified food to supermarket shelves.
The Flavr Savr tomato kept fresh for 30 days and could be shipped long distances without going off.
Yet the world was wary of this new food, and it took 10 years and $100m of investment to get it to market.
In 2017, the firm's then-CEO Roger Salquist told Claire Bowes about his mission to revolutionise the world's food.
(Photo: Roger Salquist with a crop of Flavr Savrs. Credit: Richard Gilmore)
The kiwi fruit is synonymous with New Zealand in the minds of most European and American shoppers.
But the hairy fruit actually comes from China and was once known as the Chinese gooseberry.
So how did New Zealand hijack a Chinese fruit and turn it into their biggest horticultural export?
Former fruit exporter Don Turner tells Vicky Farncombe how his family named the kiwi fruit in the 1950s and created a global industry.
In 1946, Italian confectioner Pietro Ferrero set out to bring chocolate to the masses. His recipe evolved over the years to become a world-famous product.
Thomas Chatenier from the manufacturer tells Uma Doraiswamy how the chocolate and hazelnut formula spread across the globe.
(Photo: The famous spread. Credit: Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images)
In the 1960s, the singer Dafydd Iwan started campaigning for the Welsh language to gain official status in Wales.
For years, Dafydd received little support. In January 1969 he decided to up the pressure, defacing a police station sign written in English with paint.
He ended up in prison, but soon young people across the country were picking up paint pots and taking up the cause.
Today, the Welsh language is found in schools, on documents and on police station signs. Dafydd tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty about his activism and singing.
(Photo: Dafydd after his release from Cardiff prison. Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
In 2014 three journalists were sentenced to seven years in jail in Egypt.
Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed became known as the Al Jazeera Three.
The jail terms handed out to them led to an international outcry as protesters called for press freedom.
Peter Greste tells his compelling story to Gill Kearsley.
(Photo: Peter Greste inside the defendants’ cage. Credit: Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)
In late 1973, Chile was in turmoil. General Augusto Pinochet had led a military coup deposing the socialist president Salvador Allende who was now dead.
The army was rounding up leftists; torturing, imprisoning and killing them.
In the capital Santiago, the country’s best-known poet Pablo Neruda was lying in a hospital bed. He was 69 and had cancer.
As a prominent member of the Communist Party his life was in danger. He had to get out.
With him was his driver and personal assistant Manuel Araya who spoke to Gideon Long.
(Photo : The poet in 1963. Credit: Angelo Cozzi/Mondadori/Getty Images)
On 25 March 1975, Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal was murdered, shot by his nephew as he bent to kiss him as a greeting.
The king’s oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani was standing beside him when the gun went off.
In 2017, Ahmed’s daughter, Dr Mai Yamani, told Louise Hidalgo of her father’s pain at witnessing the death.
(Photo: King Faisal in 1967. Credit: Pierre Manevy/Getty Images)
On 29 September 2009, a devastating tsunami hit Samoa, killing 149 people and leaving a trail of destruction. For Lumepa Hald it was a terrifying day which resulted in a tragic loss. She tells her story to Gill Kearsley.
(Photo: The devastation in Samoa after the tsunami in 2009. Credit: Phil Walter/Getty Images)
On 15 December 2013, South Africa held the funeral of Nelson Mandela who led the struggle in defeating apartheid and became the country’s first black president.
His ancestral home in the village of Qunu in South Africa’s Eastern Cape hosted 60 world leaders including four United States presidents and two UN secretary generals.
It was the first state funeral held by the country.
Nelson Mandela’s eldest child Dr Makaziwe Mandela tells Josephine McDermott how it took eight years to plan and why it makes her proud to remember that day.
(Photo: Candles are lit under a portrait of Nelson Mandela at his funeral service. Credit: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1983, the disappearance of a teenage girl who was a citizen of Vatican City led to a scandal.
When Pope John Paul II made a public appeal to the people holding Emanuela Orlandi captive, the world took notice and her case was treated as a suspected kidnapping.
Forty years on, the reason she vanished is still unclear.
Emanuela’s brother, Pietro Orlandi, speaks to Daniel Gordon about his life-long mission to find out what really happened to his sister.
(Photo: A protester holds a photo of Emanuela. Credit: Stefano Montesi/Corbis/Getty Images)
The great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova lived through some of the darkest chapters of Soviet history, but never stopped writing even though the communist regime repeatedly tried to silence her. One of Anna's most famous poems, Requiem, is about her son's arrest and the Stalinist terror.
In 2022, art historian Era Korobova told Tatyana Movshevich about the poet's tumultuous relationship with her son.
(Photo: Anna Akhmatova (second from right, at a Soviet writers' conference in 1965. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1998, Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin shocked the nation with a last-minute decision to speak at the reburial of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, 80 years after their murder.
“We must end an age of blood and violence in Russia,” he said, as he called for the country to face up to the crimes of its communist past.
Lilia Dubovaya, a reporter for the state news service, told Robert Nicholson about the emotional weight of the day. A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Image: President Yeltsin at the reburial of Tsar Nicholas II. Credit: Reuters)
As civil war raged in Russia, on 17 July 1918, the imprisoned royal family were told they were to be taken to a place of refuge.
But the move was a trick and half an hour later Tsar Nicholas II, his wife and his children lay dead, gunned down and bayonetted.
In 2018, his great niece Olga Romanov told Olga Smirnova about that night, and the family’s reburial 80 years later.
(Photo: The room where the Romanovs were murdered. Credit: Getty Images)
In December 1993, the release of a new video game captivated gamers around the world. It was called DOOM.
Set on a Martian military base overrun by zombified soldiers and demons, DOOM saw players take control of a nameless soldier called ‘The DOOM guy’ as he fights the demonic enemies to stop them taking over Earth.
The game was released at a time when violence in video games was big news and a topic of discussion in the United States Senate.
Kurt Brookes speaks to John Romero, one of the game’s developers, and remembers the release of what went on to become one of the most influential games ever.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: John Romero. Credit: Made in Manchester)
Between 1976 and 1983 in Argentina, the military ruled the country. Thousands of mainly young, left-wing Argentinians went missing.
Known as 'the disappeared', they were taken to detention centres, such as Escuela Superior de Mecanica de la Armada, known as ESMA in the capital, Buenos Aires. Around 5,000 prisoners passed through its gates. Most were killed.
As well as the murders and torture, hundreds of babies were taken from pregnant prisoners and given away to military personnel and families who supported the government.
In December 1983 the Argentinian president Raul Alfonsin signed a decree putting the military junta responsible on trial.
In 2010, Candice Piete spoke to one of the survivors, Miriam Lewin.
(Photo: ESMA. Credit: Reuters)
On 21 April 1967, a group of right-wing army officers seized power in Greece to prevent the election of a social democratic government led by veteran politician George Papandreou.
The dictatorship, backed by the United States, lasted for seven years. Thousands of people were imprisoned, exiled and tortured.
The grandson of that politician, also called George, was 14 at the time. He went on to be elected as Greece’s prime minister in 2009.
In February 2012, George Papandreou Junior spoke to Maria Margaronis about the night when tanks rolled through Athens and soldiers came to arrest his father. Archive audio is used by permission of ERT, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.
Archival audio used by permission of ERT, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.
(Photo: The younger George Papandreou in 2011. Credit: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
In 1945, two Danish scientists opened an institute to study mental illnesses.
In the four decades until it closed, almost 10,000 brains were collected from dead psychiatric patients and stored in plastic buckets.
However, they were removed during autopsies without seeking permission from relatives. Following much debate in the 1990s, it was decided they should be used for research.
Now based in the University of Southern Denmark, the collection is believed to be the world’s largest brain bank. Scientists hope it can help our understanding of mental illness and brain disease.
Adrienne Murray speaks to pathologist and caretaker of the brains, Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen.
(Photo: Brains stored in plastic buckets at the University of Southern Denmark. Credit: BBC)
In 1993, film director Mathieu Kassovitz started work on what would become a cult cinema classic, La Haine.
La Haine would follow three friends from a poor immigrant neighbourhood in the Paris suburbs 24 hours after a riot.
The film was released in 1995 to huge critical acclaim and Mathieu won best director at the Cannes Film Festival.
It was heavily critical of policing in France and it caught the attention of high profile politicians in the country, including then Prime Minister, Alain Juppé.
Thirty years on, Mathieu has been sharing his memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Vincent Cassel "Vinz" in La Haine. Credit: Studio Canal+)
In December 1948, a family of Hungarian refugees moved into the world's first home to be heated entirely by solar power.
What made the Dover Sun House, in Massachusetts, United States, even more special was that it had been created by three women at a time when men dominated the fields of science and engineering.
Heiress Amelia Peabody funded it, architect Eleanor Raymond designed it and biophysicist Maria Telkes created the heating system. Andrew Nemethy, who grew up in the house, tells Vicky Farncombe how it felt to live in an "elongated cheese wedge".
This programme has been updated since its original broadcast. It was edited on 6 December 2023.
(Photo: The Dover Sun House. Credit: Getty Images)
After Tanzania, then called Tanganyika, became independent from Britain in 1961, the country's leader, Julius Nyerere, made Swahili the national language to unite its people.
Walter Bgoya tells Ben Henderson about his conversations with Nyerere and how the policy changed Tanzania.
(Photo: Julius Nyerere. Credit: Keystone via Getty Images)
On 21 August 1986, hundreds of villagers in a remote part of Cameroon mysteriously died overnight, along with 3,500 livestock.
In the weeks-long investigation that followed, scientists tried to work out what had happened. How had hundreds died, but hundreds of others survived?
In 2011, scientists Peter Baxter and George Kling told Tim Mansel how they cracked the case.
(Photo: Dead cattle by the shore of Lake Nyos, Cameroon. Credit: Eric Bouvet/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images)
In 1969, a Peruvian farmer called Gustavo Del Solar received an unusual assignment - finding a bird called the white-winged guan that had been regarded as extinct for a century.
After years of searching, he found the bird deep in Peru’s wilderness in 1977. He then made it his life’s mission to save the species, setting up a zoo in his family home.
Thanks to Gustavo's discovery, the Peruvian government protected the white-winged guan and its population continued to grow. His son, Rafael Del Solar, tells Ben Henderson about his dad's love for the 'chicken-sized' birds.
(Photo: Gustavo Del Solar with a white-winged guan. Credit: Rafael Del Solar/El Comercio)
In 1983, all hell broke loose when a new toy hit stores in the United States.
Cabbage Patch Kids were so popular that people were getting injured when they tried to buy them.
But Martha Nelson Thomas, whose original design she said inspired the dolls, received little credit.
She watched on as sales of the toys generated hundreds of millions of dollars.
Martha’s close friend, Meredith Ludwig, told Madeleine Drury the story of how the strange-looking dolls became such a sensation.
This programme has been updated since it was first broadcast.
(Photo: Martha Nelson Thomas with her doll babies. Credit: Guy Mendes)
On 26 November 2008, 10 gunmen from the Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyiba carried out coordinated attacks on Mumbai's busiest hotspots including the Taj and Oberoi hotels, a train station, hospital, and Jewish community centre.
One hundred and sixty-six people were murdered in the attacks, which lasted for three days. The city was locked down as police searched for the gunmen.
Only one, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive by police. He was sentenced to death and executed in 2012.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Devika Rotawan and Arun Jadhav, who came face to face with the militants.
(Photo: Buildings under attack. Credit:Getty Images)
In August 2003 Europe was hit by the hottest heatwave for hundreds of years. Tens of thousands of people died.
Not built to withstand two weeks of extreme heat, Paris turned into a death trap for its most vulnerable citizens.
The temperature reached 40C. Many elderly people died in their apartments alone.
The government was criticised for its handling of the crisis. The head of the national health authority resigned shortly after the end of the heatwave.
Emergency doctor, Patrick Pelloux, who was working at St Antoine Hospital in Paris, tells George Crafer what he encountered.
(Photo: Paris looking hot. Credit: Getty Images)
On 22 November 1963, United States President John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
Lucy Williamson looks back to 8 November 1960, when Richard Nixon and JFK went toe to toe at the polls in a battle to become the next president. The narrow success made Kennedy the youngest man ever elected to the role.
Close aide and speechwriter Ted Sorensen was with the politician on the night of the election. This programme was first broadcast in 2010.
(Photo: US President-elect John F Kennedy shortly after his election in 1960. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
In 1987, a tea shop in Taiwan named Chun Shui Tang began selling pearl milk tea, or bubble tea, as it’s often called.
It would revolutionise the tea-drinking world.
Ben Henderson speaks to Liu Han-Chieh, the shop owner, and Lin Xiuhu, who first added the drink’s signature tapioca balls.
(Photo: Bubble tea. Credit: Chun Shui Tang)
In 1964, Zambia became a republic. It was the ninth African state to leave British colonial rule.
Simon Kapwepwe was one of the leaders in the fight for independence, along with his childhood friend Kenneth Kaunda, who became President in 1964.
Simon’s daughter, Mulenga Kapwepwe, speaks to Laura Jones about her father’s role in naming the country and her memories of that time.
(Photo: Sign welcoming people to Zambia in 1965. Credit: Lambert/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 2000, the pioneering underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio made one of the greatest ever submerged discoveries.
He found evidence that the remains he had found off the coast of Egypt were from Thonis-Heracleion, an ancient Egyptian port lost without trace.
Before the foundation of Alexandria, it had flourished at the mouth of the Nile between the 6th to 2nd centuries BC, a city twice the size of Pompeii.
He tells Josephine McDermott about the incredible artefacts he has found including the moment he realised he was at the foot of a five-metre tall statue of a pharaoh.
(Photo: The pharaoh statue discovered off the coast of Egypt. Credit: Christoph Gerigk, Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation)
The Bolivian Water War was a series of protests that took place in the city of Cochabamba in 2000 against the privatisation of water.
People objected to the increase in water rates and idea that the government was “leasing the rain”.
In April 2000, President Hugo Banzer declared a "state of siege" meaning curfews were imposed and protest leaders could be arrested without warrant.
During a violent clash between demonstrators and the military, teenager Victor Hugo was shot dead by an army captain.
Union official Oscar Olivera tells Vicky Farncombe how Hugo’s death motivated the protesters and brought about an end to the privatisation.
(Photo: Demonstrators wave the Bolivian flag as they participate in a strike against water utility rate increases. Credit: Reuters)
In 1951, Rosalind Franklin began one of the key scientific investigations of the century. The young British scientist produced an X-ray photograph that helped show the structure of DNA, the molecule that holds the genetic code that underpins all life.
The discovery was integral to the transformation of modern medicine and has been described as one of the greatest scientific achievements ever.
Farhana Haider spoke to Rosalind's younger sister, Jenifer Glynn, in 2017.
(Photo: Dr Rosalind Franklin. Credit: Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images)
In 2010, a previously little-known Icelandic volcano erupted twice, sending a huge plume of volcanic ash all over Europe.
The ash cloud grounded flights for days, causing disruption for millions of passengers.
Reena Stanton-Sharma talks to Icelandic geophysicist and Eyjafjallajökull-watcher, Sigrun Hreinsdottir. This programme was first broadcast in 2022.
(Photo: The awesome power of Eyjafjallajökull. Credit: Getty Images)
In the 1970s, engineer Sheldon Kaplan and his colleagues were tasked with creating an auto-injector pen to be used by US soldiers needing a nerve agent antidote.
The Pentagon called it the ComboPen but, in 1987, it was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the EpiPen, for patients with allergies.
The device is carried by millions of people all over the world as it can quickly and easily deliver a shot of adrenaline to anyone at risk of death from anaphylactic shock.
Sheldon Kaplan died in 2009 and was inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2016.
Sheldon’s son Michael Kaplan and colleague Michael Mesa tell Vicky Farncombe the story behind the pen.
Following the devastating tsunami of 2004, a baby hippo named Owen was rescued from the sea off the coast of Kenya.
He was taken to Haller Park in Mombasa, home of a 130-year-old giant tortoise called Mzee.
Owen and Mzee formed an unusual friendship and their story gained worldwide fame.
Dr Paula Kahumbu tells their story to Gill Kearsley.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Owen and Mzee. Credit: Peter Greste/AFP/Getty Images)
On 9 November 1993, one of Bosnia's most famous landmarks, the historic bridge in Mostar, was destroyed by Croat guns during the Bosnian war.
Built by the Ottomans in the 16th Century, the bridge was a symbol of Bosnia's multicultural past.
In 2014, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Eldin Palata, who filmed the destruction of the bridge, and Mirsad Behram, a local journalist.
(Photo: A temporary bridge where Mostar's historic bridge previously stood. Credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Liaison via Getty Images)
In the 1980s, a brother and sister from Pakistan topped the charts in countries all over the world with their dancefloor filler, Disco Deewane.
Nazia and Zoheb Hassan were the first teenagers ever to make a hit record in India.
Zoheb tells Vicky Farncombe about their rise to fame.
(Photo: Nazia and Zoheb Hassan. Credit: BBC)
In 1978, British showbusiness star, Debbie McGee was a dancer with the Iranian National Ballet Company.
Debbie was living in the capital, Tehran, at the start of the Iranian revolution.
She tells Gill Kearsley the story of how she dealt with the unrest and escaped the country.
Debbie, who went on to marry British magician Paul Daniels, said: "I would never have met my late husband if that hadn't happened... so I've got the ayatollah to thank for that."
(Photo: Debbie McGee in 2018. Credit: Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Old Vic Theatre)
In August 2004, more than 300 people died when a supermarket caught fire in Paraguay's capital, Asunción.
It is seen as the country's worst peacetime disaster.
Tatiana Gabaglio escaped the fire. She speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Mourners gathering after the Ycuá Bolaños fire. Credit: Norberto Duarte/AFP via Getty Images)
On 5 November, 1985 some of the world's top designers and music stars joined together in a special event at London’s Royal Albert Hall to raise money for drought-hit Ethiopia.
The rock star Freddie Mercury and the actress Jane Seymour were chosen to model the bridal collection of David and Elizabeth Emanuel.
Jane Seymour tells Josephine McDermott what it was like to play the role of Freddie Mercury's bride for a fashion spectacular.
(Photo: Jane Seymour and Freddie Mercury at Fashion Aid. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1986 Dr Aleida Guevara, the daughter of revolutionary icon Che Guevara, went to Angola to work as a paediatrician.
Dr Aleida was one of a number of medics Fidel Castro’s Cuban government sent to their fellow communist country in southern Africa as it emerged from Portuguese colonialism into civil war.
Marcia Veiga hears how Dr Aleida treated children with cholera in a hospital in the Angolan capital Luanda.
Dr Aleida also reveals how, during downtime from working as Cuba’s minister of industries, her tired father played with her by carrying her on his back as if he were a horse.
The music for this programme is from Dadifox and Receba.
(Photo: Dr Aleida Guevara with a patient at Luanda’s Josina Machel Hospital. Credit: Dr Aleida Guevara)
On 23 March 1962, a prototype of the first cockpit flight recorder, the black box, was tested in Australia.
In the early 1950s, fuel scientist David Warren, who worked in the Australian government’s aeronautical research laboratories, attended a talk about the reasons for a recent plane crash.
David thought that if only he could speak to a survivor, he’d have a much better idea of what caused the crash and could prevent future ones.
This led him to develop a recorder that would collect vital information of the last few hours before a plane goes down.
Today the modern equivalent of the black box is compulsory equipment on passenger planes all over the world.
In 2015, David’s children, Jenny and Peter Warren, and a former colleague, Bill Schofield, spoke with Catherine Davis about how his idea changed air travel forever.
(Photo: The flight data recorder known as a black box used in aircraft. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1983, scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris became the first to identify the HIV virus. It was a vital step in fighting one of the worst epidemics in modern history, AIDS.
The Pasteur had been asked to investigate after reports of a mystery disease that was spreading rapidly, particularly among the gay community.
Two weeks later, scientist Françoise Barré-Sinoussi detected the virus while working on a biopsy sample in the laboratory. She and the team leader, Luc Montagnier were later awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.
But the discovery could easily have been missed, as she tells Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: French virologists Jean-Claude Chermann, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier. Credit: Michel Philippot/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
In 2010, a $3.6billion fund was launched to stop oil drilling in the most biodiverse place on the planet: the Yasuni national park in Ecuador.
The Yasuni covers 10,000 square kilometres of Amazon rainforest and is home to thousands of species of plants and animals but underneath the soil lies another important resource - 20% of Ecuador’s oil reserves.
It was feared that any drilling would cause pollution, deforestation and soil erosion so in a pioneering deal – known as the Yasuni ITT iniatitive - rich nations were asked to pay Ecuador not to remove the oil.
Chief negotiator Ivonne A-Baki was put in charge of raising funds from around the globe but securing money was not an easy task, as she tells Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: A brown woolly monkey in the Yasuni National Park. Credit: Pablo Cozzaglio/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2013, environmental protests in Gezi Park, Istanbul led to civil unrest across Turkey.
For one protestor, a post he made on social media led to a dramatic outcome.
Memet Ali Alabora, was an activist and a famous actor in Turkey. He tells his story to Gill Kearsley.
(Photo: Protestors construct a barricade in Istanbul. Credit: Ayman Oghanna/Getty Images)
In November 2008, Johns Hopkins University calculated Zimbabwe’s year-on-year inflation rate as 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000% – one of the worst cases of hyperinflation in history.
Professor Gift Mugano was a government economist at the time.
He tells Vicky Farncombe what it was like to live through those times when wages were worthless and there was no food to buy in the shops.
“It was a very painful period. It is a year which one would not want to remember,” he said.
(Photo: Harare shoppers in an almost empty supermaket. Credit: Desmond Kwande/AFP via Getty Images)
On 25 October1993, a Nigerian Airways flight from Lagos to Abuja was hijacked by four teenagers calling themselves the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD).
They demanded the removal of the military-backed government, who had annulled the results of that year's election.
The plane was forced to land in Niger and later stormed after a protracted hostage crisis.
Obed Taseobi was a passenger on the flight. He tells his story to Jill Achineku.
A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Picture: Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. Credit: Getty Images)
On 12 September 1980, the army took control in Turkey.
It was not the first time they had done so. It was the third coup d'état in the history of the Republic of Turkey, the previous having been in 1960 and 1971.
The coup followed growing street fighting between left and right-wing groups. Politicians were arrested and parliament, political parties and trade unions were dissolved.
Following the coup at least 50 people were executed and around half a million were detained. Many were tortured and hundreds died in custody.
In 2011 Jonathan Head spoke to Vice Admiral Isik Biren, who was an official in the defence ministry, and a former student activist, Murat Celikkan, about their different memories of that time.
(Photo: Portraits of people killed or tortured during the coup displayed in a courthouse in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Credit: Adem Atlan/ Getty Images)
In 1973, the Bosphorus Bridge was completed connecting Europe and Asia.
The suspension bridge was the first of three spanning the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey.
Wayne Wright speaks to Harvey Binnie who was an important member of the design team.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: The Bosphorus Bridge. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
On 21 October 1973, American heartthrobs The Osmonds were met by hysterical crowds when their plane landed at London's Heathrow Airport.
A surge by some of the 10,000 fans caused a viewing balcony to collapse.
Eighteen people were injured. Four fans were treated in hospital. The term "Osmondmania" was used across the newspapers.
Donny Osmond shares his memories of it with Josephine McDermott.
(Photo: Fans wait for The Osmonds on the viewing balcony at Heathrow Airport before the collapse)
In 2011, models, stylists and fashionistas gathered for Lagos Fashion Week’s debut which would put Nigerian style on the global map.
Omoyemi Akerele founded the event which helped to launch the careers of designers internationally.
The annual event has become a major fashion occasion attracting Africa's biggest celebs and collections are sent around the world. Omoyemi Akerele speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.
(Photo: A model prepares backstage at Lagos Fashion Week in 2013. Credit: Per-Anders Pettersson)
In 1993 young women began disappearing in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juárez.
Hundreds were reported to have been kidnapped and killed.
Some of the first victims weren’t discovered until nearly 10 years later.
In 2013, Mike Lanchin spoke to Oscar Maynez, a forensic scientist who used to work in the city and to Paula Flores, the mother of one of the murdered girls.
(Photo: Wooden crosses in a Mexican wasteland. Credit: Jorge Uzon/Getty Images)
In April 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-storey building on the outskirts of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, collapsed.
More than 1,000 people died and many others were injured.
The building contained five garment factories which manufactured clothes for well-known international brands.
It was the worst industrial disaster in Bangladesh's history.
Parul Akhter, a sewing machinist who survived the collapse, talks to Dan Hardoon.
(Photo: An injured victim of the Rana Plaza disaster at the site. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1992, the first peace walk was held in Cambodia aimed at uniting a country torn apart by years of conflict.
Buddhist monks, Cambodian refugees and aid workers set out on the 415 km journey which became known as the Dhammayietra – or the pilgrimage of truth.
The hope was to reunite Cambodian refugees who had fled into Thailand during Pol Pot’s brutal Marxist rule, with those people still living within Cambodia.
Distrust and fear had built up on both sides but that began to melt away during the 30-day trek, as organiser Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan tells Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Dhammayietra, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Credit: Romeo Gacad/AFP via Getty Images)
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 by acid thrown over her body.
The attack changed Laxmi’s life and scarred her face. In 2006, she took legal action demanding a ban on the sale of acid and more help for survivors.
But it took seven years of campaigning before the court made a ruling, as Laxmi tells Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Laxmi Agarwal. Credit: Deepak Gupta/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
In February 1966, Kwame Nkrumah, one of Africa's most famous leaders, was ousted from power in Ghana.
While he was out of the country, the Ghanaian military and police seized power in a coup.
Ghanaian film maker Chris Hesse worked closely with Nkrumah and was with him at the time.
In 2021, Chris spoke to Alex Last about his memories of the coup and his friendship with the man who led Ghana to independence.
(Photo: Kwame Nkrumah after Ghana's independence from Britain. Credit: Bettman, Getty Images)
In March 1957, Ghana became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence and a new flag was unveiled marking a fresh start for the former British colony known as the Gold Coast.
The woman behind the design was Theodosia Okoh, an artist and former teacher who won a government competition for a new emblem which would signify the end of British rule.
Her flag had red, gold and green horizontal stripes with a black star in the centre and it replaced the symbol of an elephant encircled in front of a palm tree below the Union Jack.
Theodosia’s son Kwasi Okoh was a young boy at the time of independence, he speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma about the inspiration behind his mother's creation.
(Photo: Ghanaian football fans with the flag at the 2006 World Cup. Credit Joerg Koch/DDP/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2004, Kimani Maruge became the oldest man to start primary school when he enrolled at the Kapkenduiywo Primary School in Kenya.
The 84-year-old student was a former soldier who had fought against colonial rule in the Mau Mau independence movement.
He missed out on school as a child so when the Kenyan government scrapped all fees for state primary education, he saw his chance to finally learn to read and write.
Kimani's former teacher Jane Obinchu tells Vicky Farncombe how his story inspired people all over the world.
(Photo: Kimani Maruge attends class at Kapkenduiywo Primary School in Kenya. Credit: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya)
On 24 May 2010, artist Yinka Shonibare unveiled Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, on the fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square.
The piece was the world’s largest ship in a bottle, but it wasn’t just any vessel.
It was a replica of HMS Victory, commanded by Admiral Lord Nelson in the Battle of Trafalgar, except Yinka had made an eye-catching change.
The ship’s plain sails had been replaced with colourful Dutch wax sails. Dutch wax is a fabric typically sold in West Africa.
Yinka’s work captivated crowds and left people wondering what it meant.
“Some people were like ‘oh great we are celebrating Britishness. Fantastic’, and then some other groups said ‘Oh this is a critique of Britain. Fantastic’. I love it when the work does that!”, says Yinka.
He tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how his artwork was created and what it means to him.
In 2003, an oil company entered the indigenous Sarayaku community’s territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon in search of oil.
Neither the government nor the firm had consulted the community beforehand.
The locals responded by filing a lawsuit against the company. The ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights would go onto become an important case for indigenous communities all over the world.
Former Sarayaku president Jose Gualing and community leader Ena Santi recall the landmark case.
A Munck Studios production for BBC World Service presented by Isak Rautio.
(Photo: Ecuadorian rainforest. Credit: Fabio Cuttica/Reuters)
In 1978, the Amoco Cadiz tanker ran aground off the coast of France.
The supertanker split, releasing more than 220,000 tonnes of crude oil into the sea.
It was the largest oil spill caused by a tanker at the time.
Marguerite Lamour is the former secretary to Alphonse Arzel, the mayor of Ploudalmézeau in Brittany. He played a crucial role in the region's campaign for compensation.
Marguerite shares her experiences in this programme presented by Esther Egbeyemi.
(Photo: The Amoco Cadiz shipwreck. Credit: Pierre Vauthey/Getty Images)
In 1956 commercial quantities of oil were discovered in the Nigerian village Oloibiri.
It marked the start of a huge oil industry for Nigeria but came at a cost for villages in the Niger Delta.
Chief Sunday Inengite was 19-years-old when prospectors first came to his village in search of crude oil.
In 2018 he spoke to Alex Last about the impact of the discovery.
(Photo: An oil worker at an oil well in Nigeria. Credit: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
In the wake of the USSR breaking up, Kazakhstan was wrestling with the challenges of independence; hyperinflation, the economy collapsing and food shortages.
But three-and-a-half kilometres underground on the north-east shore of the Caspian Sea, a giant financial opportunity was lying dormant – The Tengiz Oil Field. Less than two years after gaining sovereignty, the government signed the “deal of the century”.
The state partnered with American company Chevron and started drilling to access the estimated 25 billion barrels of oil in the ground.
Tengiz is the sixth largest oilfield in the world, and its resources would change Kazakhstan from a fledgling state, to one of the largest oil producers in the world.
Johnny I’Anson speaks to Bruce Pannier, a news correspondent in Central Asia for over 30 years, who saw first-hand the chaos of independence and the growth of wealth in the country.
(Picture: Tengiz Oil Field. Credit: Getty Images)
In October 1973, Arab nations protested the American support of Israel in its war against Egypt and Syria by slashing oil production, causing prices to sky rocket.
Dr Fadhil Chalabi was deputy secretary general of Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries). In 2014 he spoke to Alex Last about the embargo.
(Picture: Empty gas pump in 1973. Credit:Getty Images)
The world's first cat cafe opened in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1998.
It started with just five street cats.
For the first few months they hardly had any visitors. Then a film crew made a TV programme about the cafe, and it eventually became a global tourist destination.
Cat cafes have become a worldwide phenomenon.
Tracy Chang, founder and owner, tells her story to Gill Kearsley.
(Photo: Inside the first cat cafe. Credit: Tracy Chang)
On 3 October 2013, a fishing boat taking more than 500 migrants from Libya sank 800 metres off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy’s southernmost island.
It was one of the worst migrant shipwrecks on the Mediterranean Sea. As it happened so close to the shore, hundreds of dead bodies were recovered and their coffins were put on show for the world to see.
The tragedy led to a joint European effort to tackle the migrant crisis, but the numbers embarking on the journey, and dying, continued to rise.
One of the survivors, Ambesager Araya, and the man who rescued him, Vito Fiorino, speak with George Crafer.
(Photo: Vito Fiorino and Ambesager Araya. Credit: Vito Fiorino)
In the early 1990s, the soap opera or telenovela craze was sweeping the world. One of the most popular was Kassandra made in Venezuela, about a girl switched at birth and raised in a travelling circus. The show was broadcast all over the world, including Bosnia. In 1997, ravaged by war, people found escape in the make-believe world of Kassandra. When supporters of Washington-backed president Billiana Plavšić took over a local TV station and turned the show off, there was outrage. The United States State Department was so worried that the loss of Kassandra could hurt Plavšić's popularity and even undermine her government, they hatched a plan to get it back on the air. Johnny I’Anson speaks to the star of Kassandra, Coraima Torres, along with Tony Paez who distributed the show across the world.
(Photo: Coraima Torres and Osvaldo Ríos. Credit: Circulo Rojo)
On 26 September 1973, Concorde, the supersonic passenger aircraft, made her first non-stop flight across the Atlantic.
The droopy-nosed plane took to the skies for the first time four years earlier.
Some campaigners believed that the speed of the aircraft might damage buildings.
In 2012 André Turcat, the French pilot of Concorde's first flight, spoke to Mike Lanchin.
(Photo: Concorde. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1975, during the final days of the Vietnam War, most of the world was unaware that the North Vietnamese were advancing a new breed of nuclear reactor, gifted to the South by the United States government.
Not only was it technology the North's Russian allies did not yet have, it was also a source of weapons-grade nuclear fuel.
As a last resort, the US discussed bombing the facility, risking nuclear fallout, rather than risk the technology falling into Soviet hands.
To avoid humanitarian and environmental disaster, a physicist from Idaho in the US, called Wally Hendrickson, volunteered to be dropped into the front line to remove the fuel rods from the reactor.
He speaks to Ramita Navai. A Two Degrees West production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Dalat nuclear institute. Credit: Diane Selwyn)
The vuvuzela was notorious during the 2010 football World Cup.
It became the subject of debate when it was labelled as 'the world's most annoying instrument'. Freddie 'Saddam' Maake claims to have invented the horn.
He became known as 'Mr Vuvuzela'. He tells Gill Kearsley his story.
(Photo: Football fans play vuvuzelas during a World Cup match in 2010. Credit: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2013, gunmen from a Somali Islamist group known as Al-Shabab attacked a shopping centre in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
They took hundreds of people hostage during the siege which lasted four days. More than 60 people were killed, with many more injured.
In 2021, Rebecca Kesby spoke to Daniel Ouma who was a paramedic on duty at the time.
(Photo: A Kenyan police officer deployed near the Westgate mall. Credit: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)
In November 2013 George Kourounis arrived in the Turkmenistan desert.
He was determined to become the first person to enter the Darvaza Crater.
The crater is a burning natural gas field that has been on fire for at least 50 years and has become known as the 'Gates of Hell.'
On 6 November, George put on a giant silver aluminium suit and began his descent into the crater.
He says he felt like a giant baked potato!
George shares memories of the adventure with Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.
(Photo: George Kourounis in the Darvaza Crater. Credit: George Kourounis)
In 1978, campaigners won their long fight to legalise abortion in Italy. Emma Bonino and other members of the Radical Party went on hunger strike and were even jailed, after helping women access illegal abortions across the country.
But they faced fierce opposition in the Catholic country, as the church was heavily integrated into Italian politics.
Emma Bonino was so passionate about the cause that it led her to become a politician. She speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma about her role in the campaign.
(Photo: Emma Bonino in 1976. Credit: Vittoriano Rastelli/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
In July 1933, the new German Chancellor, Adolf Hitler, passed 'The Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases'.
It required the sterilisation of Germans with physical and mental disabilities. Helga Gross was one of those sterilised.
Ben Henderson uncovers archive interviews from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, recorded in 2003.
(Photo: Helga Gross as a child. Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)
In August 2005, an unusual orchestra performed an extraordinary concert in the city of Ramallah.
The West-Eastern Divan orchestra was founded in 1999 by Israeli conductor, Daniel Barenboim and Palestinian literary critic and philosopher, Edward Said.
Their belief was that music has the power to bring people together.
Violinists, Tyme Khelefi and Daniel Cohen tell their stories to Gill Kearsley.
(Photo: The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra perform in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Credit: Abbas Momani/AFP via Getty Images)
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is on the site believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
But in 2002, it was at the centre of one of the most dramatic sieges of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
For almost six weeks, Palestinian gunmen and civilians were holed up in the church.
In 2015 Louise Hidalgo spoke to Father Amjad Sabbara, a Franciscan friar who lived in the compound, and to Carolyn Cole, an American photojournalist who managed to get inside the church in the last days of the siege.
(Photo: Journalists stand behind barricades guarded by Israeli soldiers metres away from where Palestinians are holed up in the Church of the Nativity. Credit: Gali Tibbon/ AFP via Getty Images)
Rioting broke out in 2000 after the Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon made a controversial visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s old city.
In 2012, Mike Lanchin spoke to an Israeli and a Palestinian who were there that day.
(Photo: Ariel Sharon is flanked by security guards as he leaves the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Credit: AWAD AWAD/AFP via Getty Images)
In 2000, President Bill Clinton led a major effort to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The two sides were brought together at the leafy presidential retreat in Maryland. The Israeli leader, Ehud Barak and the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, failed to reach any agreement and the summit ended in failure.
In 2017, Farhana Haider spoke to senior American diplomatic interpreter and policy adviser, Gamal Helal, who attended the Camp David summit.
(Photo: US President Bill Clinton with Israeli leader, Ehud Barak and the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, at Camp David. Credit: Getty Images)
In September 1993, a peace agreement was signed between Israel and the Palestinians after months of secret negotiations.
The historic handshake between Chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin took place on the lawn of the White House.
Mona Juul and her husband were part of the team that planned and orchestrated top-secret meetings that culminated in the signing of the Oslo Accords.
She spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2010.
(Photo: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres signs the historic Oslo Accords looked on by (from left) Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, unidentified aide, US President Bill Clinton and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. Credit: J David Ake/AFP via Getty Images)
On 11 September 1973, General Augusto Pinochet deposed Chile's President Salvador Allende in a military coup.
Thousands of people were tortured and killed in the months after the coup, including the folk singer Victor Jara. His widow, Joan Jara, spoke to Gideon Long in 2013.
(Photo: Victor Jara. Credit: Gems/Redferns via Getty Images)
On 11 September 1973, General Augusto Pinochet deposed Chile's democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, in a violent military coup.
Hermógenes Pérez de Arce was a politician and helped organise the coup. He speaks to Jane Chambers.
(Photo: Hermógenes Pérez de Arce. Credit: sourced)
In 2003, Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh was stabbed to death in a department store in the middle of Stockholm.
The 46-year-old member of the ruling Social Democratic party, was tipped as successor to Swedish Prime Minister Göran Person, and an important international career was likely around the corner. Her murder caused national trauma in Sweden.
Her press secretary and best friend, Eva Franchell, witnessed the murder. She speaks to Marie Fjellborg.
An SMT production for BBC World Service, produced by Anna Iverson.
(Photo: Anna Lindh in 2001. Credit: Getty Images)
In the 1980s, Bi Kidude burst onto the international music scene, when she was in her 70s. She was one of the first women from Zanzibar to sing in public without wearing the veil, in the traditional Muslim country.
She was born Fatuma binti Baraka, known as Bi Kidude or "little madame" in Swahili, and fondly referred to as the "golden grandmother of music".
Maryam Hamdani was one of her oldest friends and helped launch Bi Kidude's career globally. Maryam spoke to Reena Stanton-Sharma about the charismatic musician who died in 2013.
(Photo: Bi Kidude at the Sauti za Busara Music Festival. Credit: Mwanzo Millinga/AFP via Getty Images)
On 14 September 2013, the Arctic Sunrise - a ship belonging to the environmental group Greenpeace - embarked on an Arctic expedition.
Its aim was to disrupt the first day of drilling on a newly built oil rig.
This would be the first to drill for Arctic oil - something that had only been made possible in recent years by melting ice in the region.
Frank Hewetson, a Greenpeace campaigner, was on board. He tells the story of the protest and arrest of 30 people by the Russian authorities.
A Falling Tree production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Sign asking for Frank Hewetson's release. Credit: In Pictures Ltd/Corbis via Getty Images)
Launched in 1966 by Communist leader Mao Zedong, the Cultural Revolution plunged China into a decade of chaos. The education of millions of young people was disrupted and China was cut off from the rest of the world.
When students first started venturing out, it was still a country feeling the after effects of the Cultural Revolution.
Farhana Haider spoke to writer Zha Jianying in 2021. She was one of the first batch of Chinese students to arrive in the USA in the early 1980s.
(Photo: Zha Jianying. Credit: Simon Song/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
In 2000, an expedition to the Mexican island of Guadalupe launched a fight to save its ecosystem from being eaten by goats.
Russian whalers had introduced the goats to the island in the 19th Century and the population exploded as they ate their way through Guadalupe’s plants, shrubs and trees.
Several species of birds were already extinct when a group of scientists, from the San Diego Natural History Museum, visited to inspect the damage.
Their expedition would begin the campaign to save the island’s wildlife from extinction, as Professor Exequiel Ezcurra tells Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Goats on Guadalupe Island. Credit: Northern Light Productions)
On 14 August 2013, Egypt's army killed hundreds of protestors in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.
They were protesting against a military coup that had taken place a month earlier, in which the democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted.
Sameh Elbarky was in the square that day. He speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: A poster of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, among debris in Rabaa Square. Credit: NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images)
In June 2000, a historic meeting took place between South Korean president Kim Dae-jung and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il.
This was the first inter-Korean summit since the Korean War, almost 50 years earlier.
Professor Chung-in Moon from South Korea was a special delegate at the summit.
He told Gill Kearsley about his experience in North Korea.
(Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. Credit: Newsmakers)
Sixty years ago, there was a boycott of local bus services in the English city of Bristol. The bus company had specified that it did not want to employ black bus drivers.
The boycott ended on 28 August 1963 and the campaign helped to bring about Britain's first laws against racial discrimination.
In 2013, Louise Hidalgo heard from Paul Stephenson and Roy Hackett, who died in 2022.
This programme contains some racist language, used at the time.
(Photo: Bus on Park Street in Bristol in the early 1960s. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images)
The Forty Foot is a famous sea swimming spot in Ireland’s capital city of Dublin. For hundreds of years, only men had the privilege of bathing in its deep, icy waters – naked if they chose.
That was until one day in the summer of 1974, when a group of women decided to plot an invasion.
At a time when Irish women couldn’t even access contraception, why did this group of hardy feminists decide to fight this particular battle for equality?
Rosie Blunt speaks to poet, writer, women’s rights activist, and swimmer Mary Dorcey.
(Photo: Woman diving at the Forty Foot in 2019. Credit: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
In 2006, Michele Burke and her fiancé William were looking forward to moving into their dream home in the picturesque town of Killaloe, in Ireland.
But when Ireland's economic boom - known as the Celtic Tiger - ended and the global financial crisis of 2008 hit, construction on Michele and William's new house abruptly stopped.
The couple were stuck paying a mortgage on a home they couldn't move into. They were not the only ones struggling. During the recession, there were more than 1,000 abandoned 'ghost estates' in Ireland.
Michele tells Vicky Farncombe about her eight-year fight to move into her house.
(Photo: Michele Burke outside her abandoned home in Killaloe in 2013. Credit: BBC)
In 1959, Tralee, in Ireland, hosted a festival to promote the town and build Irish connections around the world.
It became known as the Rose of Tralee and is now one of Ireland’s oldest and largest festivals, as well as one of the most watched TV programmes.
Last year, more than 30 international ‘roses’ or contestants took part, including representatives from Toronto, Sydney and Dubai.
Rachel Naylor speaks to the first woman to be crowned the Rose of Tralee, an unofficial ambassador of Ireland, Alice O’Sullivan, from Dublin.
(Photo: Alice O'Sullivan at the Rose of Tralee in 1959. Credit: George Doyle, Paudi Cronin (Neustock Media). From Kerry County Museum’s photo library, created with support from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht through their 2020 Audience Engagement Fund)
In May 1948, Canon John Hayes flicked a switch and brought electricity to the parish of Bansha, in Ireland.
The village was the first in County Tipperary to be connected to the grid, under the Rural Electrification Scheme.
The ambitious programme ran from 1946 to 1964 and saw 300,000 homes powered up.
Vicky Farncombe produced this episode of Witness History using archives from Irish electricity board, the ESB.
(Photo: Erecting electricity poles in rural Ireland. Credit: ESB Archives)
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.
Simon Watts brings together eye-witness accounts of the Easter Rising.
(Photo: Irish rebels lying in wait on a roof getting ready to fire during the Easter Rising. Credit: Mondadori via Getty Images)
The ruby slippers from the 1939 movie 'The Wizard of Oz' are some of the most treasured film memorabilia of all time. There are thought to be four pairs from the film that have survived.
This is the story of the slippers that were stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Minnesota, USA in 2005. John Kelsch is one of the people who started the museum. He tells Gill Kearsley the story of the stolen slippers.
(Photo: Publicity still from 'The Wizard of Oz', Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)
Judy Garland ended her long and glitzy stage and screen career at a London theatre club in January 1969. She was booked for five weeks of nightly shows at the 'Talk of the Town', but by that time, the former child star of the 'Wizard of Oz' was struggling with a drug and drink addiction.
In 2019, Mike Lanchin heard the memories of Rosalyn Wilder, then a young production assistant, whose job was to try to get Judy Garland on stage each night.
(Photo: Judy Garland performing in one of her final shows. Credit: Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
In 2004, a chance encounter in Nigeria led to the return of two of the country’s ancient artworks, the looted Benin Bronzes.
The treasures were among thousands stolen from Benin City by the British Army in 1897, and acquired by museums around the world.
More than a century later, Tim Awoyemi and Steve Dunstone were on a charity trip when they were approached by campaigners demanding the bronzes return.
The two men vowed to help, but it took them 10 years before they were able to fulfil that promise, as Tim Awoyemi tells Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Benin Bronzes, Nigeria, 2014. Credit: Kelvin Ikpea/AFP via Getty Images)
The coup of 1953 changed the course of Iranian history. The USA - with British help - overthrew a nationalist prime minister and installed the Shah in power.
In 2010, Alan Johnston heard archive recordings of the CIA officer who played a part and spoke to Hedayat Matine-Daftary, the grandson of Mohammed Mossadeq, the deposed prime minister.
(Photo: crowds of people protest against the Iran coup in 1953. Credit: Getty Images)
On 15 August 2008, nine-year-old Matt Berger tripped over a fossil that would lead to one of the most important discoveries in the history of human evolution.
The young adventurer had been exploring the Cradle of Humankind, in South Africa, with his father Lee, a paleoanthropologist.
"I didn't really know what was happening. I was just there for fun. But my dad was so excited. So obviously that made me excited too," said Matt.
The fossil turned out to be from a new species of hominid called Australopithecus sediba.
Matt speaks to Vicky Farncombe about his memories of the day.
(Photo: Matt Berger, son of Prof Lee Berger, found the fossil of a new hominid species that lived 1.95 million years ago. Credit: Foto24/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
In the early 1980s, the young black graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat took the New York art world by storm. Soon, his paintings were selling for huge sums of money, but he would die before the decade was out on the 12th August 1988.
Tom Esslemont hears from Patti Astor who knew him in his heyday.
This programme was first broadcast in 2014.
(Photo: Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1985 Credit: Getty Images)
In 1979, French journalist Claude Angeli and his colleagues discovered Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the French President, received gifts of diamonds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from the grisly and deposed former Emperor Bokassa of the Central African Republic.
The scandal damaged Giscard d’Estaing’s reputation and contributed to him losing the French Presidential election in 1981.
Ben Henderson speaks to Claude Angeli.
(Photo: Giscard d'Estaing and Bokassa in 1975. Credit: William Karel/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
After the collapse of former Yugoslavia, Bosnian Serb forces laid siege to the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, in 1992. More than a quarter of a million people lived under almost constant bombardment and sniper fire for more than four years. Over 10,000 were killed.
Hunger and destitution took hold quickly. So, a small Jewish charity stepped in to provide essential food and medicine and evacuate elderly people and children from all sides of the conflict. In peace time, Sarajevo’s Jewish community had maintained good relations with Bosnian Muslims, Serbs and Croats. This enabled them to provide a haven of peace for everyone.
In this episode, Jacky Rowland hears from Jakob Finci, who was the vice president of the Jewish community at the time. Part of their motivation, he says, was that many Jews in Sarajevo had been sheltered by Bosnian Muslims during the Nazi occupation in the 1940s.
This is a CTVC production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: members of the Jewish community being evacuated by bus to Croatia in 1993. Credit: Getty Images)
On 8 August 1963, a gang of thieves held up a British Royal Mail train on its journey from Glasgow to London.
They stole more than £2 million.
It was the biggest ever raid on a British train.
Most of the robbers ended up behind bars, but most of the money has never been recovered.
The robbery still occupies a unique place in the history of British crime.
In 2012 Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to Reginald Abbiss who was a young BBC journalist who covered the story.
(Photo: The train involved in the robbery. Credit: Getty Images)
In the 1950s, self-made businesswoman Brownie Wise transformed the fortunes of Tupperware by inspiring thousands of housewives to sell it at parties.
Her methods for motivating staff included selling the dress off her back and holding annual parties at the company's headquarters.
But as she became a star - appearing on magazine covers and chat shows - Brownie's relationship with her boss, Earl Tupper, soured.
Author Bob Kealing speaks to Vicky Farncombe about Brownie's rise and fall from grace.
(Photo: Brownie Wise tosses a bowl filled with water at a Tupperware party. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2012 a dinosaur skeleton became the subject of both a restraining order and a court case.
Mongolian palaeontologist, Dr Bolortsetseg Minjin helped stop the dinosaur falling into the hands of a private buyer after spotting a photo of the skeleton on TV in the United States.
The case became known as United States v One Tyrannosaurus Bataar Skeleton.
She told Gill Kearsley her extraordinary story.
(Photo: The 70-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus bataar on display in Ulan Bator. Credit: Byambasuren Byamba-Ochir/AFP via Getty Images)
In the 1980s, a Turkish worker in Germany, Osman Kahlin, provoked controversy when he turned a patch of disputed land against the Berlin Wall into a makeshift farm.
The land was owned by East Germany, but lay on the Western side of the wall due to a quirk in the wall's hurried construction.
Kahlin fought a running battle with both East and West German police to keep hold of the land, and kitted it out with a fully functioning treehouse that became a local symbol of resistance to authority.
Alex Eccleston speaks to Osman's son, Mehmet. A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Osman's treehouse. Credit: Schlemmer/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
In the early 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a completely new sign language of their own.
It was a remarkable achievement, which allowed experts a unique insight into how human communication develops.
In 2020, Mike Lanchin spoke to an American linguist Judy Shepard-Kegl, who documented this process.
(Photo: Sign language class in Nicaragua. Credit: INTI OCON/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1982, nests of dinosaur eggs were identified for the first time in India.
They were found in Jabalpur, on a historic fossil site and former British military cantonment.
The eggs were from Titanosaurs, living at the end of the Cretaceous Period.
Palaeontologist Professor Ashok Sahni made the discovery, he’s been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Photo: Ashok Sahni at home with fossilised dinosaur eggs. Credit: BBC)
In the 1960s and '70s, José Mujica was a leading member of a notorious left-wing militant group in Uruguay called the Tupamaros. He survived multiple bullet wounds, torture, and executed a daring prison escape.
After years held in solitary confinement, Mujica was released from prison in 1985 and entered politics. He became Uruguay’s president in 2009. He speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: José Mujica at home in Montevideo. Credit: Ricardo Ceppi/Getty Images)
It’s been 50 years since a popular Nigerian fast food chain which later became known as Mr Bigg's was first launched.
The restaurants began as coffee shops in department stores in the 1960s and were later rebranded in 1986.
Mr Bigg's currently has more than 170 locations in 40 cities around Nigeria, and there were also restaurants in other African nations at one time.
Justice Baidoo spoke to Emmanuel Osugo, one of the pioneers of the chain.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: A Mr Bigg's restaurant. Credit: Adebola Familusi)
In December 1960, there was an attempt to dethrone the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie and replace him with his son.
While the emperor was out of the country, the crown prince was taken to the headquarters of the military unit, the Imperial Bodyguard.
The conspirators, led by the troops' commander and his brother, also took top government officials hostage.
In 2015, Alex Last spoke to Dr Asfa-Wossen Asserate, the grandnephew of Haile Selassie, about the failed coup.
(Photo: Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. Credit: Terry Fincher via Getty Images)
In 1983 Pope John Paul II visited Nicaragua as part of an eight-day tour of Central America.
His trip came at a time of heightened tensions between the ruling Sandinista revolutionaries and the country’s Roman Catholic hierarchy.
The Pope, a staunch anti-communist, condemned members of the Nicaraguan clergy serving in the left-wing government and was heckled by Sandinista supporters during a large open-air mass in the capital, Managua.
Mike Lanchin has been hearing the memories of Nicaraguan Carlos Pensque, who turned out to protest as the Pope passed by, and of former US Catholic News Service reporter, Nancy Frazier O’Brien, who covered the papal visit. A CTVC production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Pope John Paul II. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)
'Welcome to the dungeon' was the message that flashed up on computer screens in 1986.
This was thought to be the first virus for personal computers and became known as 'Brain'.
'Brain' spread around the world and became infamous when it was featured in newspapers and magazines.
Amjad Farooq Alvi tells Gill Kearsley how he and his brother, Basit, came to develop this accidental virus from their shop in Lahore, Pakistan.
(Photo: The 'Brain' computer virus. Credit: Amjad and Basit Alvi)
The Greek city of Thessaloniki, or Salonica, was once known as the Jerusalem of the Balkans.
It was previously home to a large and thriving Sephardi Jewish population whose ancestors had been expelled from Spain in 1492.
However, the Nazi occupation of Greece from 1941 to 1944 almost completely wiped out that culture and community.
More than 90% of the approximately 50,000 Jews living in Salonica in 1943 were deported to Auschwitz and killed.
Yeti Mitrani was a young teenager at the time.
She speaks to Maria Margaronis about her family's escape and her childhood.
(Photo: Yeti as a child. Credit: Doris Mitrani)
In 1966, at the height of the Cold War, American singer Dean Reed became the first western rock and roll star to tour the Soviet Union.
His visit was such a success that over the next two decades Dean became known as ‘Red Elvis’.
His concerts behind the Iron Curtain were sell-outs and he was mobbed by fans.
But when he wanted to return home to the United States, the reaction he faced was very different, as Dean’s daughter Ramona told Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Dean Reed in East Berlin, 1976. Credit: Getty Images)
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 been turned into a live action film starring Margot Robbie which hits the cinemas on Thursday 20 July.
Ruth and husband Elliot Handler spoke to the BBC’s Alan Dein in a 1990s documentary which Claire Bowes used to make this programme first broadcast in 2014.
(Photo: A Barbie doll from 2009. Credit: Victor Chavez/WireImage via Getty Images)
In the autumn of 1945, World War II surrender ceremonies took place across the Japanese Empire. The one in China was held at the Forbidden City in Beijing bringing an end to eight years of occupation. Thousands of people watched the incredible moment Japanese generals handed over their swords. The United States, China, Russia and the United Kingdom were all represented. John Stanfield, now 103, is the last surviving British person who was there. He recalls to Josephine McDermott how he signed the surrender declaration documents on behalf of the British.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
In January 1991, more than half a million people protested in Riga, the capital city of Latvia. They wanted to stop Soviet troops taking over important landmarks, so they built barricades and camped out on the streets.
Vents Krauklis was among the demonstrators. He’s been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Photo: People filling the streets of Riga during the Barricades. Credit: 1991 Barricades Museum, Riga/Ilgvars Gradovskis)
The story of how tamoxifen went from a failed contraceptive pill, to being used to prevent and treat breast cancer around the world.
It was the first ever targeted cancer drug.
Laura Jones speaks to Professor V. Craig Jordan, who helped bring it to the world’s attention in the 1970s.
In 1999, Japanese software developer Shigetaka Kurita created the first emoji.
The umbrella was one of 176 original images, featuring weather, transport signs, numbers and emotions.
He was inspired after noticing the popularity of a pager, aimed at teenagers, that used a heart symbol. The idea took off.
Now, more than 10 billion emoji are sent by people across the world every day, and World Emoji Day is celebrated each year on 17 July. It's the date marked on the emoji calendar.
Shigetaka told Jane Wilkinson of his pride in the creation.
(Photo: Umbrella emoji, 1999. Credit: Copyrighted by NTT DOCOMO)
In 1947, after the birth of her third child, Valerie Hunter Gordon, from Surrey decided she was sick of the drudgery of cloth nappies. She came up with a solution – a reusable outer garment, initially made out of parachute material, with a disposable, biodegradable pad inside. She named it the Paddi and once her friends saw it, they all wanted one, so she went into business. Rachel Naylor speaks to Nigel Hunter Gordon, Valerie’s son, who modelled them as a baby in the first adverts.
In 1974, a Hungarian architect, Ernő Rubik invented his very popular puzzle.
Nearly 50 years later, more than 450 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide.
In 2015, Ernő told Dina Newman how he came up with the idea and how it became a global phenomenon.
(Photo: Rubik's Cube. Credit: BBC)
In 1938, László Bíró, a Hungarian journalist, invented the ballpoint pen, because he was sick of smudging the ink from his fountain pen.
Inspired by the rollers of the printing press at his newspaper, he came up with the idea for a small ball at the end of the pen, which would stop ink from leaking.
Thanks to a chance meeting with the Argentine president Agustín Justo, László was invited to Argentina to manufacture his pen.
They soon took off and now around 15 million of them are sold every day around the world.
Rachel Naylor speaks to László’s daughter, Mariana Bíró.
(Photo: Ballpoint pens. Credit: Bernard Annebicque/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
The tale of an extraordinary night at a legendary British gay pub.
Princess Diana, disguised as a man, along with star broadcaster Kenny Everett and Queen singer Freddie Mercury enjoyed a drink in London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern one night at the height of their fame in 1988.
The veracity of the event has been questioned but Cleo Rocos, who co-starred with Kenny in his hit TV show, described the celebrity night out in her in her book The Power of Positive Drinking.
Cleo tells her story to Alex Collins.
(Photo: Kenny Everett and Cleo Rocos. Credit: Tom Wargacki/WireImage via Getty Images)
In 1972 the first tourists arrived in the Maldives.
They stayed in humble lodgings in three houses, looked after by young Maldivians including Ahmed Naseem, Mohamed Umar Maniku and their friends.
Perfect for sunbathing, swimming and fishing. Tourists loved it.
Italian travel agent George Corbin promised to bring more travellers if they had a place to stay.
On 3 October 1972, the first hotel resort called Kurumba opened, changing the islands forever.
Now, more than 1.5 million visitors enjoy the Maldives every year.
Ahmed Naseem, one of the pioneers of the industry, shares his memories with Nikola Bartosova.
(Photo: Kurumba in the 1970s. Credit: Kurumba)
On 5 July 1948, the UK’s National Health Service began as part of a series of reforms with the aim of supporting and protecting Britain's citizens from the “cradle to the grave”.
The architect of the NHS was the health minister in the post-war Labour party government, Aneurin Bevan. The care was to be free for all and paid for by taxation.
The birth of the NHS was not without controversy, the British Medical Association worried that doctors would be turned into civil servants.
On the same day that the NHS was born, John Marks qualified as a doctor.
Dr Marks spoke to Louise Hidalgo about the early days of the NHS in this programme first broadcast in 2009.
(Photo: Prime Minister Aneurin Bevan meets staff at Park Hospital, Manchester on the opening day of the NHS Credit: Trafford Healthcare NHS/PA Wire)
In 1977 what was to become the world’s longest-serving democratically elected communist government came to power in eastern India.
Poverty and absolute rule by the central government led to West Bengal embracing a different political ideology to the rest of the country. Their rule lasted until 2011 when they were voted out.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) official Mohammad Salim shares his memories of when his party came to power with Rumella Dasgupta.
(Photo: Mohammed Salim. Credit: Biswarup Ganguly/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In 1986 a car factory worker from the United States was accused of being ‘Ivan the Terrible’, a notorious concentration camp guard at Treblinka during the Holocaust.
John Demjanjuk was extradited from the United States to Israel.
His trial became one of the most high profile cases in Israel’s history.
He was convicted, then later acquitted and then re-convicted in a German court for having worked in a different camp, Sobibor.
Lawyers for the defence, Yoram Sheftel, and prosecution, Eli Gabay, in the Israeli trial tell Dan Hardoon about the process of trying Demjanjuk, and the impact it made on their country’s society.
A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: John Demjanjuk in the Supreme Court of Israel. Credit: David Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
On 12 September 2010 Lady Gaga, won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year.
She accepted the award in a dress made entirely out of beef.
13 years later Franc Fernandez, the man behind the meat dress, speaks to Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty about his memories of designing the fleshy frock.
He says, pulling apart the flesh and stitching it back together, had "serial killer vibes"!
(Photo: Lady Gaga in the meat dress. Credit: Getty Images)
The Hungarian city of Budapest's communist statue 'graveyard' opened on 29 June 1993.
Statues representing communism were not destroyed, instead they were relocated to a specially designed park on the outskirts of the city.
Laura Jones has been speaking to Judit Holp, who runs Memento Park.
This programme has been updated since the original broadcast. In the original version, we said Budapest is in Eastern Europe. We should have said that it is in Central Europe.
(Photo: Republic of Councils Monument in Memento Park Credit: Getty Images)
On 29 June 1995, the Sampoong Department Store in Seoul, South Korea, collapsed due to structural failures.
The disaster killed 502 people and injured more than 900. It provoked national outrage as the building's construction was riddled with corruption and malpractice.
Sun Minh Lee was working at the shop that day. She speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Sampoong Department Store after the collapse. Credit: Choo Youn-Kong/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1976 in a small Belgian missionary hospital in a village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, then known as Zaire, people were dying from an unknown disease which caused a high temperature and vomiting.
It was the first documented outbreak of Ebola the virus.
About 300 people died.
Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann worked to bring the outbreak under control.
Claire Bowes spoke to them in this programme first broadcast in 2009.
(Photo: Residents who were being examined during the Ebola outbreak in Zaire in 1976. Credit: Public domain/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
United States President John F Kennedy gave a speech in Berlin 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.
Tom Wills speaks to Gisela Morel-Tiemann, who attended the speech as a student.
A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: John F Kennedy making his speech in Berlin. Credit: Lehnartz/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Alan Shepard played golf on the moon in 1971.
He became the first and only person to enjoy the sport on the lunar surface.
The astronaut golfer’s daughter Laura Shepard Churchley was inspired by her father’s big journeys and later travelled to space herself, although she didn’t pack golf clubs.
Tricia Penrose hears Laura’s recollections of life with her father and his unique sporting space trip.
A Moon Road production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Alan Shepard on the moon. Credit: NASA)
The Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in England on 22 June 1948 with 802 people on board from the Caribbean.
The former passenger liner's arrival on that misty June day is now regarded as the symbolic starting point of a wave of Caribbean migration between 1948 and 1971 known as the "Windrush generation".
Sam King was one of the passengers.
He describes to Alan Johnston the conditions on board and the concerns people had about finding jobs in England.
In this programme first broadcast in 2011, Sam also talks about what life was like in their adopted country once they arrived.
(Photo: Empire Windrush at Tilbury docks in 1948. Credit: Daily Herald Archive/SSPL/Getty Images)
In the early hours of 7 August 1994, police raided Tasty, a gay nightclub in downtown Melbourne, Australia. On the hunt for drugs they strip-searched more than 450 people in a raid that lasted hours. Many people felt what happened was homophobic and that the police had abused their powers.
Some of those searched took legal action.
Damages were awarded and years later Victoria Police gave a formal apology. Gary Singer who was in Tasty when the raid happened and was the organiser of the class-action lawsuit tells Alex Collins about how his night out on the town went from joy to despair once the police entered the club.
(Photo: People being searched by police in Tasty)
At the end of May 1988, rebels from the Somali National Movement launched a series of lightning attacks on cities in northern Somalia - the area that today is the self-declared republic of Somaliland. The rebels were fighting against the military dictatorship of President Siad Barre.
By the start of June, they had taken control of most of Hargeisa, the biggest city in the north. Government forces fell back to Hargeisa airport and other areas on the outskirts and were ordered to begin the indiscriminate bombardment of the city. At the time Ahmed Mohamed Hassan was a fighter pilot in the Somali air force.
He now faced a choice: join other pilots in bombing the city or refuse and face the prospect of being shot.
He’s been talking to Rob Walker. (Photo: Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in 2023. Credit: Ahmed Mohamed Hassan)
East German workers went on strike in protest at Soviet rule on 16 June 1953.
Demonstrations spread throughout the country but were soon crushed by communist troops. Martial law followed.
In 2011, Nina Robinson spoke to Helmut Strecker who was a 21-year-old student and the son of communist party supporters.
Helmut was on the streets of East Berlin trying to persuade marchers to go home.
(Photo: East Germany demonstrators march through Brandenburg Gate. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)
In 1979, The Museum of Modern Art, (MoMA) purchased photographs from an African-American woman for the first time in its history.
Ming Smith was famous for capturing her subjects with slow shutter speeds and using oil paints to layer colour onto her black and white photos.
She worked as a model in New York in the 1970s, while pursuing her passion for photography and was friends with Grace Jones.
Ming took a powerful image of Grace performing at the iconic Studio 54 nightclub in 1978 after meeting her at an audition.
Ming was also a backing dancer in Tina Turner’s music video for What’s Love Got to Do with It, where she captured Tina glancing away from the camera, in front of Brooklyn Bridge wearing a leather skirt, denim jacket and patent stilettos with huge spiky hair.
Ming speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma about graduating with a degree in microbiology, modelling and struggling to make a living, and then becoming a famous photographer with a retrospective at MoMA in 2023.
(Photo: Tina Turner, What’s Love Got to Do with It. Credit: Ming Smith)
In 1968, British photographer Sir Don McCullin travelled to Vietnam for his second ever war assignment.
His graphic photographs of the fighting made his reputation and influenced public opinion in the West.
Sir Don produced some of his most powerful work during the visit including 'Shell-Shocked US Marine, The Battle of Hue'.
The photograph shows an American soldier, gripping his rifle whilst the carnage of one of the war’s most intense battle surrounds him.
Speaking to Louise Hidalgo in 2012, Sir Don describes how he took several frames of this man and how the soldier didn’t blink once.
(Photo: Sir Don McCullin in front of his photographs including 'Shell-Shocked US Marine, The Battle of Hue'. Credit: Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images)
The Malian photographer, Malick Sidibé, is one of Africa’s most celebrated artists.
His most famous photographs show black and white scenes of young people partying in the capital Bamako in the joyful, confident era after Mali’s independence from France in 1960.
In the 1990s, a chance encounter with a French curator brought Sidibé’s work international acclaim.
The wider world had been used to seeing a narrow range of images from Africa, so when Sidibé’s work went on show in Western galleries, audiences were stunned by the exuberant world they revealed.
In 2022, Manthia Diawara, the Malian filmmaker and professor at New York University, who knew Malick when he was a roving nightlife photographer spoke, to Viv Jones.
(Photo: Danser le Twist, 1963 by Malick Sidibé. Credit: Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris)
It's 65 years since aspiring photographer Art Kane persuaded 58 of the biggest names in jazz, including Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk to line up for a photo outside a townhouse in Harlem.
The resulting photo officially called Harlem 58 became known as 'A Great Day in Harlem' and appeared in Esquire magazine's Golden Age of Jazz edition.
But making it wasn't easy. Jonathan Kane, Art Kane's son, tells Vicky Farncombe the obstacles his late father had to overcome to create the iconic image.
(Photo: Harlem 58. Credit: Art Kane)
Vogue's war correspondent Lee Miller found herself in Adolf Hitler's Munich apartment when the news broke that he was dead.
Earlier that day, she and fellow photographer David Scherman had witnessed the harrowing scenes at the liberated Dachau concentration camp.
Lee Miller's son and biographer, Antony Penrose, explains to Josephine McDermott the significance of the photograph taken in the final days of World War II in Europe.
(Photo: Lee Miller in Hitler's bathtub. Credit: David E. Scherman © Courtesy Lee Miller Archives)
On 11 June 1955, more than 80 people were killed and 100 injured at the Le Mans 24-hour race.
A car driven by Pierre Levegh crashed into the crowd of around 300,000 causing the deaths.
John Fitch was an American racing driver on the Mercedes team at the centre of the tragedy.
After the crash, racing was banned in several countries.
John Fitch spoke to Claire Bowes in 2010.
(Photo: Crash at Le Mans. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images)
On 25 January 1933 the last legal communist march was held in Berlin.
Just a few days later Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany.
Soon the Communist Party was banned and the Nazi grip on power was complete.
Eric Hobsbawm was a schoolboy communist at the time. He spoke to Andrew Whitehead in 2012.
(Photo: Communist rally 1932. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 1975, British forensic artist Richard Neave used a pile of modelling clay, two prosthetic eyes and a woman’s wig to reconstruct the face of an Egyptian mummy.
It was to be the start of a 40-year career recreating the faces of the dead using the pioneering ‘Manchester technique’ that he invented.
And as his reputation spread worldwide, the police came calling. They needed Richard’s skills to help catch a killer, as he told Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Richard Neave in 2012. Credit: Bethany Clarke/Getty Images)
In the early 1960s, the Canadian government launched an experimental programme to take academically promising Inuit children from their homes to be educated in Canada’s cities.
The aim was to produce administrators who could spearhead development in the north of the country, but the project came at a great cost for the children and their families.
Adamie Kalingo, born and raised in Nunavik, Northern Quebec, speaks to Maria Margaronis about being taken away at the age of 12 in 1964, his years living with a white family in Ottawa, and his eventual return.
(Photo: Adamie Kalingo in 1963. Credit: Maureen Bus)
As a child, Bachendri Pal never dreamt of conquering mountains but a chance meeting with a climber changed all that.
She applied for a mountaineering course and was chosen to be part of India’s first mixed-gender team to climb Mount Everest.
On the journey, she faced icy winds, freezing temperatures and an avalanche that destroyed the camp.
But finally, on 23 May 1984, Bachendri became the first Indian woman to reach the summit of Everest. It was an achievement that changed her life, as she told Jane Wilkinson.
(Photo: Bachendri Pal, pictured on right, on Everest 1984. Credit: Sonam Paljor)
Michael Groom is one of the survivors of a tragic climbing expedition to Mount Everest in Nepal.
In 2010, Jonny Hogg spoke to Michael Groom about the moments that went badly wrong when a storm struck the world's highest mountain on 10 May 1996.
(Photo: Michael Groom on Everest in 1993. Credit: Guy Cotter)
In 1999 the body of the legendary British mountaineer, George Mallory, was found on Mount Everest. Mallory disappeared on the mountain in 1924 after making a final push for the summit with his fellow climber Andrew Irvine. They were never seen again. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Jochen Hemmleb one of the original members of the team that discovered George Mallory's remains.
Photo: George Mallory. Credit: Getty
Sherpa Tenzing Norgay had tried to climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, six times before his successful climb with Edmund Hillary in 1953.
His son, Jamling Norgay, spoke to Louise Clarke about the spiritual importance of the mountain for his father, and how Tenzing Norgay saved Hillary’s life when he fell down a crevasse on the mountain.
(Photo: Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. Credit: BBC)
On 29 May 1953 Edmund Hillary, climbing with sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to reach the summit of Everest.
The two men instantly became famous all over the world.
Edmund Hillary’s son, Peter Hillary, tells Louise Clarke about his father's heroic climb.
(Photo: Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. Credit: BBC)
On 31 May 1970, the Huascarán avalanche, caused by the Ancash earthquake, destroyed the town of Yungay, in Peru.
Only 400 people, out of a population of 18,000, survived.
A clown, named Cucharita, saved approximately 300 children, who were at a circus performance, by leading them to higher ground.
Rachel Naylor speaks to his son, Christian Peña.
(Photo: Statue of Christ at the cemetery overlooking Yungay, after the avalanche. Credit: Science Photo Library)
On 25 May 1963, leaders of 32 newly-independent African nations came together for the first time in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
At stake was the dream of a united Africa.
In 2013, Alex Last spoke to Dr Bereket Habte Selassie who took part in that first gathering.
(Photo: Haile Selassie, centre, and Ghana's first President Kwame Nkrumah, left, during the formation of the Organisation of African Unity. Credit: STR/AFP via Getty Images)
On 31 May 2013, a huge tornado hit an area close to El Reno in the US state of Oklahoma.
It was the widest tornado ever recorded and produced extreme winds of more than 400 kilometres an hour.
Eight people were killed, including three storm chasers.
One of the people tracking the storm was Emily Sutton, a meteorologist with KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City.
She’s a member of the station’s storm chasing team and was caught in the tornado.
She tells Rob Walker about the impact that day had on her and other storm chasers.
Archive: KFOR-TV/Nextstar Media Group
(Photo: Cars damaged by the El Reno tornado. Credit: Joe Raedle via Getty Images)
In August 1992, a shocking photograph of a starving, emaciated man behind a barbed wire fence of a Bosnian concentration camp stunned the world.
The picture, taken from an ITN TV report was of Bosniak Muslim Fikret Alić.
Reporter Ed Vulliamy was there when the photograph was taken.
Ed reunites with Fikret and hears how the picture, which was published around the world, eventually helped Fikret flee to safety.
This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.
It was produced by Anna Miles. (Photo: Fikret Alic in a Bosnian refugee camp. Credit: ITN/Shutterstock)
In 1980, a group of 16 army sergeants, led by Dési Bouterse, seized power in the small South American country of Suriname, overthrowing the government in a swift and violent coup d’état.
The coup came just five years after the country was granted independence from the Netherlands.
The country’s first president, Johan Ferrier, was forced to leave Suriname after the coup.
Rosemarijn Hoefte, professor of the history of Suriname at the University of Amsterdam, and Johan Ferrier's daughter, Cynthia, have been sharing their memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Johan Ferrier. Credit: Alamy)
In Stockholm in 1941, Astrid Lindgren made up a story for her seven-year-old daughter, Karin, about a young girl who lived alone and had super-human strength.
Karin named her Pippi Långstrump, or Pippi Longstocking in English.
Four years later, Astrid submitted her story into a competition and it won.
Her book, Pippi Långstrump, was published and became an overnight success.
It’s now been translated into more than 70 languages, as well as being made into more than 40 TV series and films.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Astrid’s daughter, Karin Nyman.
(Photo: Astrid Lindgren. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2011 a 3,000 km long walking trail was opened in New Zealand.
Geoff Chapple had spent years lobbying for the creation of Te Araroa. He’d written articles in newspapers and tested out routes in the country's rugged landscape.
The process of exploring where it could go sometimes put him in danger as he tells Alex Collins.
(Photo: Geoff wading in the Waipapa River in the far north of New Zealand while on the Te Araroa trail. Credit: Amos Chapple)
In the early hours of 17 May 1943 a bold World War II attack destroyed two dams in the Ruhr Valley in Germany's industrial heartland, causing 1,600 casualties and catastrophic flooding which hampered the German war effort.
The dams were highly protected but 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force had a new weapon – the bouncing bomb.
Invented by Barnes Wallis, the weapon was designed to skip over the dams' defences and explode against the sides.
The Dambusters mission was a huge propaganda success for Britain and later inspired a famous film.
In 2013, Simon Watts spoke to George "Johnny" Johnson, the last survivor of the Dambusters squadron.
(Photo: Squadron Leader George "Johnny" Johnson. Credit: Leon Neal via Getty Images)
Beginning in 1940 thousands of German children were evacuated to camps in the countryside to avoid the bombs of World War Two.
These camps were seen as safe places where they could continue their education but also where Nazi beliefs could be taught.
Alex Collins has listened to archive recordings from "Haus der Geschichte der Bundersrepublik Deutschland" in Bonn one of Germany's national history museums and hears the stories of former camp residents Gunter Stoppa and Klaus Reimer.
You may find some of the contents distressing.
(Photo: German children being evacuated to Prussia. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1995, the execution of Flor Contemplacion caused protests, a government resignation and a diplomatic crisis between the Philippines and Singapore.
Flor, who worked in Singapore, was convicted of killing another domestic helper, Delia Maga, and the four-year-old boy Delia looked after, Nicholas Huang. While Singapore stood by the conviction, millions of Filipinos believed Flor was innocent and had been let down by their government as an overseas worker.
Flor’s daughter Russel Contemplacion, who was 17 at the time, and Flor's lawyer Edre Olalia give Josephine McDermott their account.
(Photo: The coffin of Flor Contemplacion is carried to church prior to her funeral. Credit: Getty Images)
Peter Royle, 103, endured a month of solid fighting in the hills outside of Tunis in 1943. Eventually the Allies prevailed and took more than 250,000 German and Italian prisoners of war. They declared victory in Tunisia on 13 May.
Peter came close to dying many times. He recalls how he once hummed God Save the King to prevent himself being shot by friendly fire. He was under the command of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, fresh from victory in the North African desert, and recalls him being inspirational to the troops.
This episode is presented by Josephine McDermott. 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.
(Photo: Peter Royle in battle kit in 1941. Credit: Peter Royle's family)
In May 1943, the uprising in the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw in Poland came to an end.
The Germans had crushed the uprising and deported surviving ghetto residents to concentration camps.
Simha "Kazik" Rotem was one of the Jewish fighters who survived to tell his story.
He spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2010.
(Photo: Warsaw Ghetto. Credit: HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
In 1998, one of Hong Kong’s best known landmarks, Kai Tak airport, closed after 73 years. Kai Tak, which was built between the mountains and the city, was world-famous for its unique landing approach that became known as 'the Kai Tak heart attack’. Captain Kim Sharman was the pilot of the last commercial flight out of Kai Tak.
During his career he landed at the airport more than 1,000 times. Twenty-five years on he shares his memories with Gill Kearsley.
(Photo: Boeing 747 landing at Kai Tak Airport. Credit: Russ Schleipman via Getty Images)
On 23 November 1942, in the middle of the Second World War, a ship called the SS Tilawa was carrying more than 950 passengers and crew from India to East Africa when it was sunk by Japanese torpedoes.
Two hundred and eighty people died. The ship became known as the 'Indian Titanic'.
Ben Henderson speaks to the last two known survivors, Arvind Jani and Tej Prakash Mangat.
(Photo: Arvind Jhani and Tej Prakash Mangat. Credit: their families)
In 1999, NATO carried out a bombing campaign in Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War.
On 7 May, five American bombs hit the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and damaging relations between China and the West.
Ben Henderson speaks to Hong Shen, a Chinese businessman, who was one of the first on the scene.
(Photo: Protesters hold pictures of Chinese journalists killed in the embassy bombing. Credit: Stephen Shaver/AFP via Getty Images)
On Christmas Eve 1950, four young Scottish students took the 'Stone of Destiny' from Westminster Abbey in London.
The symbolic stone had been taken from Scotland to England centuries earlier and had sat beneath the Coronation Chair in the abbey ever since.
In 2018, Anya Dorodeyko spoke to the late Ian Hamilton who took part in the daring escapade in order to draw attention to demands for Scottish home rule.
(Photo: Ian Hamilton. Credit: BBC)
In June 2001, more than half a century after being driven into exile by communists, Bulgaria’s former King Simeon II made a dramatic comeback by winning the country’s parliamentary election.
In 2018, Farhana Haider spoke to Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha about his remarkable journey from child king to prime minister.
(Photo: Former King Simeon II of Bulgaria. Credit: Luc Castel/Getty Images)
In 1661 in England, following the restoration of the monarchy, the body of Oliver Cromwell was dug up for ritual execution.
Cromwell had overthrown King Charles I and ruled as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.
In 2014, Vincent Dowd spoke to civil war historian Charles Spencer.
(Photo: The death mask of Oliver Cromwell. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Republic in a lavish ceremony on 4 December 1977.
He'd already been president for several years since taking power in a military coup - but he wanted more.
In 2018, Janet Ball spoke to his son Jean-Charles Bokassa.
(Photo: Jean-Bédel Bokassa at his coronation. Credit: Pierre Guillaud / AFP via Getty Images)
In 2012, archaeologists from the University of Leicester discovered the lost grave of King Richard III under a car park in Leicester in the English East Midlands.
Richard was the King of England more than 500 years ago and for centuries was portrayed as one of the great villains of English history.
He was killed in 1485 leading his army in battle against a rival claimant to the throne, Henry Tudor.
After the battle, King Richard III's corpse was stripped naked and paraded around before being hastily buried in a church within a friary in Leicester.
In 2020, Alex Last spoke to Dr Richard Buckley who led the archaeological team that dug up the remains.
(Photo: Remains of King Richard III. Credit: BBC)
Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation in 1953 was a watershed moment for television as millions watched the ceremony live.
But it nearly never happened as the UK Government initially refused to allow TV cameras inside Westminster Abbey.
The late Peter Dimmock, the BBC’s former head of outside broadcasts, looks back on the challenges the corporation faced.
Former maid of honour Lady Jane Rayne Lacey also shares her memories of the day with Vicky Farncombe, including the part that felt “too sacred” to televise.
(Photo: Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: Getty Images)
The Met Gala takes place annually on the first Monday in May.
In 1995, Vogue’s editor-in-chief Anna Wintour chaired the huge fashion celebration for the first time that takes place at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Anna changed the date of the celebrity bash from December to May and is the driving force that transformed the event from a society dinner to the star-studded affair labelled “fashion’s biggest night”.
The shindig has been attended by stars including Rihanna, Beyoncé and Madonna.
Fashion podcaster and former Vogue International editor Suzy Menkes tells Alex Collins about her memories of the gala as it became a global sensation.
(Photo: Rihanna at the 2015 Met Gala wearing a dress designed by Guo Pei. Credit: Getty Images)
On 26 April 1998 leading human rights campaigner, Bishop Juan Gerardi, was attacked and killed in his home, just two days after presenting the conclusions of a major investigation into abuses committed during Guatemala’s civil war.
Bishop Gerardi’s report blamed the country’s military and paramilitary forces for the deaths of most of the 50,000 civilians killed during the conflict.
Ronalth Ochaeta, who worked alongside Bishop Gerardi, tells Mike Lanchin about the murdered bishop’s life-long quest for justice.
A CTVC production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Bishop Juan Gerardi. Credit: ODHAG)
James Watson and Francis Crick first published their discoveries about the structure of DNA on 25 April 1953.
Their findings were to revolutionise our understanding of life.
We hear archive recordings of their memories, 70 years on.
This programme, presented by Louise Hidalgo, was first broadcast in 2010.
(Photo: James Watson and Francis Crick. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1966, the artist Althea McNish designed fabrics for the Queen's tour of the West Indies when she visited Trinidad and Tobago.
Althea, who was born in Trinidad and moved to England in 1950, had her vibrant designs turned into the Queen's dresses and they were even used for curtains and cushions for the royal residence.
Rose Sinclair, a lecturer in textile design at Goldsmiths, University of London, speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.
(Photo: Althea McNish. Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 1994, Russian conceptual artist Oleg Kulik posed naked, pretending to be a guard dog, attacking passers by in Moscow.
He was protesting conditions in post-Soviet Russia. He claimed Russians had lost their ability to relate to each other, and were reduced to living like animals.
In this programme, first broadcast in 2014, Dina Newman speaks to Kulik about his protest performance, which made him famous around the world.
(Photo: Oleg Kulik dressed as dog on car bonnet. Credit: Oleg Kulik)
In 1944, Bill Wynne who was serving with the U.S. Army during World War II, adopted a tiny Yorkshire terrier called Smoky.
When Bill caught dengue fever and was sent to hospital, his friends brought Smoky to see him.
Soon the nurses were taking Smoky to visit other patients who had been wounded in the Biak Island invasion. She had a powerful healing effect on the soldiers and is believed to be one of the world’s first therapy dogs.
Reena Stanton-Sharma talks to Bill's friend Adrian Brigham about Smoky, her role in World War II, and her TV career.
Archive: University of Tennessee, PDSA, WCPN.
(Photo: Bill Wynne and Smoky (centre) at the Vaughan General Hospital, in Illinois. Credit: Smoky War Dog, LLC)
After the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001, a New York guide dog called Roselle was hailed as a hero for helping her owner safely down 78 flights of stairs and away from the Twin Towers before they collapsed.
In this programme, first broadcast in 2017, Simon Watts speaks to Roselle's owner, Michael Hingson.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Roselle and Michael Hingson, right, meeting a 9/11 rescue team. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1989, Australian dog breeder Wally Conron was tasked with finding a suitable dog for a blind woman in Hawaii whose husband was allergic to pet hair.
By breeding together a poodle and a Labrador, he inadvertently created the world’s first ever labradoodle.
More than three decades on, Wally believes he created Frankenstein’s monster.
He has been sharing his memories of Sultan the labradoodle with George Crafer.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Wally Conron with Sultan the first ever labradoodle. Credit: Getty Images)
Laika the Russian stray was the first dog to orbit the Earth. She was sent into space on a flight in 1957 which had been timed to mark the anniversary of the Russian Revolution. She died after orbiting Earth four times.
Professor Victor Yazdovsky's father was in charge of the dogs in the Russian space programme.
In 2017, Professor Yazdovsky spoke to Olga Smirnova about playing with Laika, before her flight, when he was just nine-years-old.
(Photo: Laika. Credit: Getty Images.)
The BBC’s Richard Dimbleby was the first reporter to enter the liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
His report describing the unimaginable horror he found was for many listeners around the world the first time they had heard the truth of what it was like to have endured life and death under the Nazis.
An estimated 70,000 people died in the camp. The broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby reflects on the impact of the report on his father and why the BBC was reluctant to broadcast it at first.
Produced by Josephine McDermott.
This programme contains distressing details.
(Photo: Prisoners at Belsen. Credit: Getty Images)
On 15 April 2013, brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev set off two bombs at the Boston Marathon and killed three people.
After the attack they disappeared, only to resurface three days later in the quiet city of Watertown, Massachusetts.
The local police force were dispatched to catch the terrorists. An eight-minute gun fight followed, and pressure cooker bombs were hurled down the street at officers. Watertown’s chief of police, Edward Deveau, was in charge of detaining the brothers.
Ten years later, he speaks to Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.
(Picture: Chief of police Edward Deveau. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1990, archaeologist Richard Wright flew half way around the world to unearth a mass grave in Sernyky, Ukraine as part of an Australian Nazi war crimes investigation.
The site contained more than 500 bodies of Jewish people who had been killed in a mass execution.
Richard's findings were used in the war crimes trial of Ivan Polyukhovich. He had fled to Australia after World War Two.
Decades later Richard recounts his experience to Alex Collins.
This programme contains destressing details.
(Photo: Mass grave in Sernyky. Credit: Sydney Jewish Museum)
In 1970, American architecture student Gary Anderson won a competition, to mark the first Earth Day on 22 April, to design a logo for recycled paper products.
His design of three arrows in a triangle shape remains in the public domain and is now used to mean recycling around the world.
He spoke to Rachel Naylor.
(Photo: Rubbish for recycling on a doorstep for collection. Credit: Getty Images)
Emperor Tewodros II is one of the towering figures of modern Ethiopian history.
He tried to unify and modernise Ethiopia but his reign was also marked by brutality.
He faced a rising tide of rebellion inside the country and then in 1868 a British military expedition marched into the Ethiopian highlands.
Its aim was to free British diplomatic envoys the Emperor had imprisoned.
Tewodros II made a last stand at Magdala, his mountain top fortress.
In 2016, Rob Walker spoke to historian Philip Marsden.
(Picture: Tewodros II. Credit: Getty Images)
On 22 May 1998, a referendum was held in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland asking voters if they supported the Good Friday Agreement.
In both, the majority of the electorate voted in favour of adopting the peace deal.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Jane Morrice, from the Yes campaign, and Lee Reynolds, from the No campaign.
(Photo: A poster in Belfast ahead of the referendum. Credit: Gerry Penny via Getty Images)
In 2001, Colombian born choreographer Beto Perez created Zumba, a fitness craze which would go on to become a global phenomenon. The aerobic workout was inspired by Latin dance moves including Merengue and Salsa, and it was all created by accident.
Now classes are held in 185 countries from Indonesia to Iceland, and 15 million people take part each week according to the company. Beto Perez shares his story with Reena Stanton-Sharma.
(Photo: Beto Perez by Daniel Perez Garcia-Santos. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1982, a Japanese businessman unveiled one of the tallest statues in the world called the World Peace Giant Kannon in Awaji Island, Japan.
At 100 metres tall, the statue was visible from all across the island.
Despite healthy visitor numbers when it first opened, the statue fell into disrepair and locals believed it was haunted.
Emily Finch speaks to local resident Yusuke Natsukawa about the impact of the statue on the island, and Goro Otsubo who visited the statue in 2002.
A Whistledown production for the BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Picture: Awaji Kannon. Credit: Shutterstock)
In 1989, a picnic was held on the border between Austria and Hungary, as a demonstration for peace and European integration.
It prefigured the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union and finished with hundreds of East Germans escaping to the West through the Iron Curtain.
In 2011, Rob Walker spoke to one of the organisers, Walburga Habsburg Douglas.
(Picture: A leaflet from the Pan European picnic. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2002, the Eritrean government extended its programme of compulsory national service to make it open-ended.
Instead of serving 18 months as the government had originally decreed, most students finishing secondary school would be conscripted and forced to remain in government service indefinitely - either serving in the army or in civilian jobs.
The Eritrean government said conscription was necessary because the recently ended war with neighbouring Ethiopia could break out again.
But the prospect of working for the state for an indefinite period, without a proper salary, prompted many young Eritreans to begin trying to escape to neighbouring countries and to Europe.
Over the past 20 years hundreds of thousands have left. It’s an exodus that continues to this day.
Rob Walker speaks to Semhar Ghebreslassie who began her national service working as a teacher in 2008.
This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.
(Picture: Eritrean migrants. Credit: Getty Images)
A Brief History of Time, the best-selling book written by the renowned theoretical physicist Prof Stephen Hawking, was published in March 1988.
In this programme first broadcast in 2018, Louise Hidalgo talks about physics, existence and the universe that made the book so popular.
The editor who published it, Peter Guzzardi, is her guest.
(Picture: Prof Stephen Hawking. Credit: Getty Images)
On 11 June 1997, French software engineer Philippe Kahn shared the first ever photo from a mobile phone.
It was of his newborn daughter, Sophie.
He created a prototype of a camera phone by connecting his digital camera to his flip phone and his laptop.
He speaks to Rachel Naylor.
(Photo: Baby Sophie. Credit: Philippe Kahn)
In November 1975, Vietnamese Navy commander Minh Nguyen, left behind his macho military life and retrained as a manicurist. He migrated from Vietnam to the United States during the fall of Saigon.
He went on to open a beauty school in Little Saigon, California and encouraged thousands of Vietnamese refugees to become nail technicians. Today, more than 40,000 students have graduated from Minh’s beauty schools and they have helped establish Vietnamese-Americans as the mainstay of the nail salon industry.
Minh’s wife Kien talks to Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.
(Photo: Minh Nguyen. Credit: Minh Nguyen)
The city of Bengaluru in southern India, previously called Bangalore, is renowned for its huge technology companies and buzzy start-up culture.
But, 50 years ago it was a technological backwater.
Entrepreneurs like Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys, which is one of India’s biggest tech companies, were right at the heart of the city’s remarkable transformation into India’s Silicon Valley. He tells his story to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Narayana Murthy and Infosys colleagues in 2004. Credit: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1978, with energy prices rocketing due to the oil crisis, a group of volunteers in Denmark took matters into their own hands and built a wind turbine to power the town's school.
They called it Tvindkraft and its design revolutionised the wind industry.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Britta Jensen, a teacher from the school, who worked on the turbine.
(Photo: Tvindkraft. Credit: Tvindkraft)
In 1998, Keiko became the first ever killer whale to be released back into the wild after a life of captivity.
Keiko shot to fame as the star of the 1993 Hollywood blockbuster, Free Willy.
A multimillion dollar campaign to free Keiko began following the success of the movie and he was flown back to his native country, Iceland.
Dave Phillips was in charge of making it all happen. He has been sharing his memories with Matt Pintus.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: Keiko in Iceland. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1988, Mehran Karimi Nasseri, from Iran, flew into Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris intending to transfer onto a flight to London.
But he wasn’t allowed to board, as he didn’t have a passport.
Caught in diplomatic limbo, he ended up staying at the airport for 18 years.
Rachel Naylor speaks to his biographer, Andrew Donkin, who spent nearly three weeks with him at his ‘home’, in the departures lounge of Terminal 1.
(Photo: Mehran Karimi Nasseri on his red bench at the airport in 2004. Credit: Eric Fougere via Getty Images)
In 1995, Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was released to critical acclaim.
It premiered at the Maratha Mandir cinema in Mumbai. It's been screened there every day since then for the past 27 years, stopping only briefly because of the Covid pandemic, and has become the longest-running film in Indian cinema history.
Actress Kajol starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan; following its release, they became superstars overnight. Kajol, who played Simran in the film, spoke to Reena Stanton-Sharma about her memories of shooting the iconic movie.
(Photo: Kajol (r) in Hindi film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Credit: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images)
In June 1962 three prisoners escaped from the maximum security US jail on the island of Alcatraz.
They achieved this using a homemade raft, papier-mâché and... spoons.
In 2013, Ashley Byrne spoke to Jolene Babyak who was living on the island at the time.
A Made in Manchester production for the BBC World Service.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Picture: Alcatraz. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1974, legendary Vietnamese actress Kieu Chinh found herself on a farm in Canada cleaning up after chicken.
She had narrowly escaped the fall of Saigon and a jail sentence in Singapore but Kieu was determined to get back to doing what she loved... making movies.
How would she do it?
Well, it involved Hollywood stars Burt Reynolds, William Holden and Tippi Hedren!
Kieu tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty of her cinematic survival.
(Picture: Kieu Chinh and Tippi Hedren. Credit: Getty Images)
It has been 20 years since the start of the Iraq War.
On 16 September 2007, private security guards employed by the American firm Blackwater opened fire on civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Seventeen Iraqis were killed, and another 20 injured.
The Blackwater guards, who were escorting a convoy from the American embassy, claimed that they had come under attack from insurgents, but eye-witnesses and Iraqi officials quickly dismissed that version of events.
Mohammed Kinani's nine year old son, Ali, was one of the victims.
In this programme, first broadcast in 2020, Mohammed shares his story with Mike Lanchin.
(Photo: An Iraqi looks at a burnt car on the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians in Baghdad. Credit: Ali Yussef/AFP via Getty Images)
It has been 20 years since the start of the Iraq War.
On 13 December 2003 the deposed president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was captured by US forces.
Muwafaq al Rubaie was asked to help to identify the former dictator, face-to-face.
In this programme, first broadcast in 2012, he shares his memories of that time with Louise Hidalgo.
(Picture: Saddam Hussein shortly after being captured. Credit: Getty Images)
It has been 20 years since the start of the Iraq War.
In April 2003, the US military unveiled a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein's government.
The cards were first revealed to the world by Brigadier General Vincent K Brooks at a press conference on 11 April 2003.
He has been sharing his memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
(Picture: Vincent K Brooks holds up the 'most wanted' playing cards. Credit: Getty Images)
It has been 20 years since the start of the Iraq War.
Millions of citizens attempted to flee the country after America and its allies invaded in March 2003.
One of those people was Baghdad resident, Yasir Dhannoon.
He has been sharing his story with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Refugees fleeing from the fighting zone around Baghdad in 2003. Credit: Getty Images)
It has been 20 years since the start of the Iraq War.
In March 2003, the United States launched its invasion, dropping bombs on Iraq's capital Baghdad.
For Iraqis it marked the beginning of three weeks of helplessness as the US and its allies overwhelmed Saddam Hussein's forces.
In this programme, first broadcast in 2012, Robin Lustig speaks to Lubna Naji who was a schoolgirl in Baghdad when the war broke out.
(Photo: Bombs fall on Baghdad. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2000, when Chanira Bajrycharya was just five years old, she was chosen to be a Kumari - a child goddess in Nepal. For the next 10 years, she remained inside her Kumari house, receiving worshippers and giving blessings. She tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty about being a living deity, and how her life changed after losing her status as a goddess aged 15. Chanira now works for a mortgage broker in Kathmandu.
Monica McWilliams played one of the most pivotal roles in the Northern Ireland peace process.
She spent two years at the negotiating table which finally resulted in the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998.
That made her a joint signatory to an international peace accord – something that very few women in the world manage to be.
She speaks to Alys Harte about the representation of women in the historic retelling of Northern Ireland’s peace process and why women are so often written out of the history they make.
(Picture: Monica McWilliams. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2007, the UN deployed its first all-female contingent of peacekeepers in Liberia in West Africa.
The country was still recovering from its long civil war when the Indian policewomen arrived.
In this programme first broadcast in 2019, Jill McGivering hears from Seema Dhundia of India’s Central Reserve Police Force who led the unit.
(Photo: Seema Dhundia. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1982, human rights campaigner Rosario Ibarra became the first woman and first political outsider to stand for president in Mexico.
Her presidential bid was a direct challenge to the country’s long-established male-dominated political system. Ibarra’s motivation to stand was both political and highly personal. She wanted to draw attention to the country’s “disappeared” political prisoners, among them her own son.
Mike Lanchin has been hearing about Rosario Ibarra from her eldest daughter, Rosario Piedra.
This is a CTVC production for BBC World Service.
(Picture: Rosario Ibarra campaigning. Credit: The Rosario family)
In 1995, Octavia E Butler became the first author to receive a MacArthur “genius” award for science fiction writing.
From a young age she dreamed of writing books, but faced many challenges, including poverty, sexism and racism in the publishing industry.
She died aged 58 in 2006. Alex Collins speaks to her friend and fellow author Nisi Shawl.
(Photo: Octavia E. Butler. Credit: Getty Images)
Zoran Djindjic, the prime minister of Serbia, was assassinated on 12 March 2003. He was murdered by an associate of former president, Slobodan Milosevic.
Gordana Matkovic served in Djindjic's cabinet.
Two decades on from the murder, she shares her memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Zoran Djindjic poster held up during remembrance gathering. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1992, the late zoologist Nigel Bonner opened one of the world's most remote museums, the South Georgia Whaling Museum, on South Georgia, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic.
Despite its isolated location, 1,400km east of the Falkland Islands, it remains open today and gets around 15,000 visitors a year.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Jan Cheek, a friend of the founder and former trustee of the museum.
(Photo: South Georgia Museum. Credit: Richard Hall for SGHT)
In 2004 Jason deCaires Taylor started building the world's first underwater gallery.
He wanted to attract divers away from fragile coral reefs, so he submerged life-sized, human cement models in the Caribbean Sea.
Within a few days the art was covered in purple and blue sponges, orange fire coral and green algae... and was even home to a few octopuses.
Nineteen years later, Jason tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty about his memories of building the park.
Archive Credit: Grenada Broadcasting Network.
(Photo: ‘Viscissitudes’ - A sculpture installed in Grenada. Credit: Jason deCaires Taylor)
In 2009, Rudolf Brazda, one of the last known survivors of the Pink Triangles, returned to the former site of Buchenwald concentration camp where he’d been imprisoned during World War Two, for being gay in Nazi Germany.
In never previously broadcast recordings, taped by Jean-Luc Schwab, who wrote Rudolf’s biography, we hear Rudolf’s reaction to returning as a 95-year-old man.
Jean-Luc Schwab who became friends with Rudolf in the last few years of his life, speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.
This programme contains distressing details.
(Photo: Rudolf Brazda. Credit: Frederick Florin/ Getty Images)
Fifty years ago, indigenous American activists staged a historic protest against the US authorities.
A siege began which lasted for two months and resulted in the violent deaths of two tribal members and the injuring of a US marshal.
In 2011 Russell Means, the former national director of the ‘American Indian Movement', spoke to the programme.
(Photo: Russell Means in 1973. Credit: Getty Images)
How did an estimated 900 million people come to witness Her Majesty the Queen apparently parachuting from a helicopter with James Bond?
Frank Cottrell-Boyce who wrote the scene for the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games explains how it came about.
Josephine McDermott hears how corgis, a clothes line and the Queen’s dresser all played important parts.
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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.
(Photo: The moment the Queen and James Bond appeared to jump out of a helicopter above the Olympic Stadium in London. Credit: Getty Images)
Despite facing malnutrition, starvation and disease, Christopher John Huckstep's father set up a school in the Japanese internment camp where his family was sent in 1943.
Herbert Huckstep ensured the 350 children of Lunghwa Civilian Assembly Centre were taught a wide range of subjects using brown paper bags to write on. The school was called Lunghwa Academy and it had its own badge, motto and certificates. A syllabus was followed, exams were taken and there were even evening classes for adults.
The Japanese set up more than 20 internment camps in China and Hong Kong holding an estimated 14,000 people, but it is not believed that such a sophisticated schooling system was established elsewhere.
In spite of the many hardships, educational standards were kept so high that qualifications taken in the camp were later recognised by the Cambridge exam board when the exam scripts were taken to England after the war.
Christopher John Huckstep shares his memories with Josephine McDermott.
(Photo: Christopher John Huckstep and other children at Lunghwa Civilian Assembly Centre, Shanghai, in 1945. Credit: Oscar Seepol. Image courtesy of Susannah Stapleton and Special Collections, University of Bristol Library)
In 1958, Stanislav Brebera invented Semtex.
It was a malleable, odourless and stable plastic explosive which became the choice weapon for those seeking to spread terror.
In 2018, Maria Jestafjeva spoke to Mirisov Brebera, the brother of the chemist who created it.
(Photo: Semtex. Credit: Getty Images)
Mauritian musician Kaya, who pioneered a new genre called seggae, fusing reggae and sega, died in police custody on 21 February 1999.
His death sparked three days of rioting. People believed Kaya had been beaten to death.
Veronique Topize, Kaya's widow demanded an independent autopsy and President Cassam Uteem travelled into the heart of the disorder to appeal directly to the rioters to put down their weapons and go home.
Veronique Topize and Cassam Uteem shared their memories with Reena Stanton-Sharma.
(Photo: Painting of Kaya (left). Credit: BBC)
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and Germany had to decide which city would be the new capital.
The contenders were the West German city of Bonn and the East German city of Berlin and the two fought it out in a ferocious political battle that would help define the country.
Ilona Toller hears from Bonn citizen Jürgen Nimptsch, who would later become the mayor of the city and Wolfgang Schäuble who fought on the side of Berlin.
(Photo: Bundestag 2023. Credit: Getty Images)
On 17 February 1980, the first people climbed Everest in winter.
John Beauchamp hears from Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki from Poland who were the men who did it.
It was at the height of the Cold War, when Poland was behind the Iron Curtain.
The two climbers decided that they had to show the world that their country was still capable of doing extraordinary things.
Despite a lack of money and equipment and using whatever they could lay their hands on – including welding goggles – they made it to the top of the world’s tallest mountain.
A Free Range and Overcoat Media co-production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Leszek Cichy (left) Krzysztof Wielicki (right). Credit: Krzysztof Wielicki)
On 16 February 1923, the sealed burial chamber of ancient Egypt’s most famous pharaoh Tutankhamun was opened for the first time.
Mike Gallagher takes us back to the Valley of the Kings and the discovery of the ancient Egyptian ruler king’s resting place in 1922 by the English archaeologist Howard Carter.
This programme was first broadcast in 2010.
(Photo:The opening of Tutankhamun's tomb. Credit: Getty Images)
On 27 February 1996, gamers were first introduced to characters Pikachu, Eevee, and Charmander when the first Pokémon games were released in Japan.
Known as Pocket Monsters Red and Pocket Monsters Green, the games were released simultaneously on the Nintendo Game Boy hand-held console.
In a matter of years the franchise would make the leap from an ageing games console to television animation and beyond, making it a worldwide pop culture powerhouse.
Kurt Brookes speaks to game developer Akihito Tomisawa about the development, release, and success of the game series.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Pikachu. Credit: Made in Manchester)
In January 1972, King Frederick IX of Denmark died after a short illness at the age of 72.
He was succeeded by his daughter Margrethe who became the first Queen of Denmark in 600 years.
Watching her proclamation as Margrethe II of Denmark in the room next to the balcony of the Christiansborg Palace was the country’s former Foreign and Defence Minister Kjeld Olesen.
He’s been remembering that day with Ashley Byrne at his home in Copenhagen.
A Made in Manchester Production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Margrethe II of Denmark in 1970. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1969 and 1970, thousands of workers in Italy went on strike, protesting against low pay and poor working conditions. It became known as the ‘Hot Autumn’.
Renzo Baricelli represented tyre workers at the Pirelli rubber factory in Milan, one of the main centres of protest.
He tells Vicky Farncombe how he had to step in when angry workers with hammers were threatening to smash up the factory.
(Photo: Workers protesting in Milan during the 'Hot Autumn'. Credit: Getty Images)
On 11 February 2013, Benedict XVI shocked the world by becoming the first pope in nearly 600 years to quit. All other popes in the modern era had held the position from election until death.
He said he was resigning because of old age. Little known journalist Giovanna Chirri got the world exclusive on the story. She shares her memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Pope Benedict XVI. Credit: Getty Images)
In April 1986, Pope John Paul II made a historic visit to a Rome synagogue.
It was aimed at healing centuries of deep wounds between Jews and Catholics.
Giacomo Saban, who welcomed the pontiff to the synagogue, tells his story to Alan Johnston.
This programme was first broadcast in 2014.
(Photo: Pope John Paul II at the synagogue. Credit: Getty Images)
Cardinal Albino Luciani became Pope John Paul I on 26 August 1978. He died unexpectedly 33 days later.
He was discovered in the early morning lying on his bed, a collection of sermons in his hand.
He was considered an excellent communicator, and his warm personality earned him the nickname of "the smiling Pope". But his death shook the Catholic Church.
Rebecca Kesby spoke to Cardinal Beniamino Stella who knew him well.
This programme was first broadcast in 2017.
(Photo: Pope John Paul I. Credit: Getty Images)
In January 1959, Pope John XXIII announced a council of all the world's Catholic bishops and cardinals in Rome.
It led to sweeping reforms, including allowing Mass to be said in languages other than Latin and an attempt to build relationships with other denominations and faiths.
But not everyone was happy with the changes.
Monsignor John Strynkowski was a student priest in Rome at the time and told Rebecca Kesby about the excitement and controversy surrounding the council that became known as Vatican II.
This programme was first broadcast in 2019.
(Photo: Pope John XXIII. Credit: Getty Images)
Following the death of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005. He was elected after four ballots of the papal conclave.
The late Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor took part and told Rebecca Kesby the story of how the new leader of the Catholic Church was chosen by 115 cardinals.
This programme was first broadcast in 2013.
(Photo: Pope Benedict XVI. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1981, Rita Marley’s brother Leroy Anderson aka Lepke launched the Dread Broadcasting Corporation (DBC), Europe’s first dedicated black music station.
Frustrated by the lack of airtime for reggae music in the UK, Lepke setup a mast in his back garden and began to broadcast to a small area of West London every Sunday afternoon.
DBC soon expanded to cover all styles of black music and with its unmistakable logo featuring a dread with headphones and a spliff became a trailblazer for the future of black British radio in the UK.
Neil Meads speaks to former DBC station manager Michael Williams about the early days of the station, and DJ Carmella Jervier explains how inspiring it was to finally hear black female DJs on the radio.
(Photo: Dread Broadcasting Corporation. Credit: BBC)
In July 1993, Melchior Ndadaye became Burundi’s first democratically elected president.
He was also the first president to come from the country’s Hutu majority.
For decades up to that point, Burundi had been ruled by a small group of individuals drawn from the among the Tutsi minority. President Ndadaye had come to power promising a new vision for Burundi.
But within months he was murdered by soldiers.
Rob Walker hears from Jean-Marie Ngendahayo who was Minister of Communications in President Ndadaye’s government.
(Photo: A relative of Melchior Ndadaye holding a photo of him at his funeral. Credit: Getty Images)
The US space shuttle Columbia broke up on its way back to Earth on 1 February 2003.
It had been in use since 1981.
Iain Mackness spoke to Admiral Hal Gehman who was given the job of finding out what went wrong. The admiral’s report led to the ending of the American space shuttle programme in 2011.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service first broadcast in 2019.
(Photo: Space shuttle Columbia. Credit: Getty Images)
30 years ago this month, Czechoslovakia split into the separate states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
It was a rare instance of a state separating without a single life being lost. Thanks to this it became known as the ‘Velvet Divorce’.
Rather than putting it to a vote, the country and its assets were divided behind closed doors by the Czech and Slovak leaders, Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar, who became the Prime Ministers of their newly independent states. Ben Henderson speaks to both of them about their memories from the time.
(Photo: Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar negotiate the split. Credit: Zehl Igor/ČTK)
Mordechai Chertoff was the foreign editor on the Palestine Post (precursor to the Jerusalem Post) when it was bombed on 1 February 1948.
He tells Lucy Williamson how, despite the attack, the newspaper still came out the next morning.
This programme was first broadcast in 2010.
(Photo: Palestine Post bombing. Credit: Getty Images)
Professor Karlheinz Brandenburg from Germany spent more than a decade developing MP3 technology, which was developed to convert audio into digital form.
He had been working on it since 1982.
It compressed music into a file size that made it easier to transmit, leading to the first MP3 players and fast music sharing.
Laura Jones has been speaking to Professor Brandenburg.
(Photo: Karlheinz Brandenburg wearing headphones, with his team. Credit: Fraunhofer IIC)
Using archive recordings, Alex Last tells the story of Britain's most famous hangman.
During the 1940s and 1950s, Albert Pierrepoint was responsible for the execution of some of Britain's most notorious murderers and was sent to Germany to hang more than 200 Nazi war criminals after World War Two.
He said he was always determined to treat prisoners with dignity and respect whatever their crime.
This programme was first broadcast in 2015.
(Photo: Albert Pierrepoint. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2010, a plane carrying the Polish president, Lech Kaczyński, crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing everyone on board.
It was one of the most tragic moments in modern Polish history.
The country’s minister of foreign affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski was one of the first people to hear about it. He’s been sharing his memories of the disaster with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Smolensk air crash wreckage. Credit: Getty Images)
Yoshikuni Noguchi spent time as a guard in one of the prisons in Japan that would carry out the death penalty, and witnessed the hanging of a condemned prisoner in 1971, before going on to become a lawyer. He describes in detail what he saw.
Yoshikuni began speaking out to cast light on the reality of what death row inmates go through, as Japan continues to resist the calls to ban the practice, which is no longer in use in most countries. He tells his story to Dan Hardoon.
A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Yoshikunu Noguchi. Credit: Alamy)
Frontman of punk-rock band The Undertones, Paul McLoone, recalls the “weird, slightly funny, slightly sad, slightly surreal” time he was the voice of IRA commander-turned-politician, Martin McGuinness.
It was during the so called ‘broadcasting ban’ in the UK which came into force in 1988. It saw organisations believed to support terrorism forbidden from directly broadcasting on radio or television.
Paul tells Alys Harte how the legislation led to extra work for him.
(Photo: Paul McLoone during a performance. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2009, hundreds of teenagers’ lives were changed forever, when a vaccine designed to protect them against swine flu appeared to trigger a sleep disorder.
It affected people in various countries including Sweden.
Maddy Savage speaks to Christopher Tyvi from Stockholm, who is one of those who experienced problems.
A Bespoken Media production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Swine flu vaccine. Credit: Getty Images)
Between 1960 and 1966, France carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara.
High levels of radioactivity, and a failure to safely dispose of nuclear waste, have left a dangerous legacy.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Abdelkrim Touhami, who was just a teenager when the French authorities announced a nuclear test near his home.
A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Dummies at the nuclear testing site in the Algerian Sahara. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1990s Kosovo, a generation of Albanians received their education crammed into thousands of private homes.
When Slobodan Milosevic’s Serb nationalist regime forcibly evicted them from schools and universities, Kosovan Albanians responded with improvised house schools in their apartments, attics and cellars.
The spontaneous reaction to their ethnic exclusion quickly evolved into a nationwide education system that would endure for the best part of a decade.
Linda Gusia, a pupil in the house schools, and university professor Drita Halimi speak to Jack Butcher. A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: A Kosovan house school. Credit: Shyqeri Obërtinca)
In 2013, horse meat was discovered in Irish beef burgers. The scandal snowballed and within six weeks horse meat was found in beef products in more than a dozen European countries.
The story revealed how complex and unregulated Europe’s meat industry was, making it a target for fraudsters.
Ben Henderson speaks to Alan Reilly, former Chief Executive of the Irish Food Safety Authority, who uncovered the scandal.
(Photo: Meat inspection in a French supermarket. Credit: Sebastien Bozon via Getty Images)
On 15 January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River in New York, after geese struck both its engines shortly after take off.
All 155 people on board survived.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Dave Sanderson, the last passenger to be rescued.
(Photo: Passengers and crew aboard US Airways Flight 1549 await rescue. Credit: AP)
The world’s first tidal power station is on the estuary of the River Rance in France.
It was opened in 1966 by President Charles de Gaulle and has been capturing the natural power of the oceans’ tides and turning it into electricity ever since.
Alex Collins hears how the project to build it was a cause for national pride and how the facility is now a tourist attraction, as he speaks to Brittany historian Marc Bonnel.
(Photo: La Rance tidal power station. Credit: Getty Images)
A boom in demand for sea cucumbers in Asia in the 1990s set off a confrontation between fishermen and conservationists in the waters off the Galápagos Islands, where the protein-rich ocean creature was found in abundance.
The high price being paid for the sea cucumbers led to a gold rush on the South American archipelago, a chain of 21 islands home to many unique species.
In 2020, Mike Lanchin spoke to a Galapagos fisherman Marcos Escaraby and conservationist Alan Tye, who found themselves on opposite sides of the dispute.
(Picture: Sea cucumber. Credit: Getty Images)
In September 1956, a telephone cable called TAT-1 was laid under the Atlantic Ocean, making high-quality transatlantic phone calls possible for the first time.
Eight months later in May 1957, 1,000 people squeezed into St Pancras Town Hall in London to listen to a transatlantic concert.
The person performing, Paul Robeson, was a globally renowned singer, but he’d been banned from travelling outside the USA. So, he made use of the new transatlantic telephone line to perform to his fans in the UK.
Ben Henderson speaks to John Liffen, who curated an exhibition on TAT-1 and the concert at the Science Museum in London.
(Photo: Engineers build repeaters used in TAT-1. Credit: Russell Knight/BIPs via Getty Images)
In 1953, a winter storm combined with high tides breached sea defences in the Netherlands, more than 1,800 people drowned.
Ria Geluk, remembers the once-in-a-lifetime flood.
In this programme first broadcast in 2011, Ria tells Trish Flanaghan what happened when water overwhelmed the farm she lived on.
(Photo: A man walking a flooded street. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. )
In 1971, marine biologist Edward Carpenter made a shocking discovery finding small bits of plastics floating thousands of miles of the east coast of America in the Atlantic Ocean.
More than 50 years later he tells the story of how he had to fight hard to get the scientific world to take notice of his discovery.
He also tells Alex Collins about when plastics in oceans went viral.
(Photo: Plastic floating in water. Credit: Getty Images)
In February 2012, Diana Burkot and other members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot protested inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour against the church and its support for Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Some members were arrested and put on a trial which made the news inside Russia and around the world.
Diana kept her participation in the protest secret and avoided going to prison. She shares her memories with Alex Collins.
(Photo: Diana Burkot on stage. Credit: Getty Images)
After the 1973 military coup in Chile, Miguel Enriquez led resistance against the dictatorship. The secret police were ordered to track him down and assassinate him.
His wife Carmen Castillo remembers the day in October 1974 when she was six months pregnant and the military finally caught up with one of Chile’s most wanted men. Carmen tells her story to Jane Chambers.
(Picture: Admiral Toribio Merino, General Augusto Pinochet and Air Force General Leigh in 1973. Credit: Getty Images)
On 6 January 1992, the US Government ordered a suspension of all procedures involving silicone breast implants. More than 2,000 women had complained of poor health and pain after receiving implants.
Among the issues were ruptures of the implants, connective tissue diseases, and even fears of a possible link with cancer. The story raised concerns around the world.
Iain Mackness talks to plastic surgeon Alan Matarasso about the time the US banned silicone filled breast implants.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Silicone breast implant. Credit: Getty Images)
Tété-Michel Kpomassie grew up in West Africa but he was obsessed with the Arctic. When he was 16 years old he ran away from his village in Togo determined to reach Greenland.
It took him eight years but in 1965, he finally arrived. He then went north to fulfil his dream of living among the indigenous people.
Years later, he wrote an award-winning account of his odyssey, An African in Greenland, which has been translated into eight languages. In this programme, first broadcast in 2019, he tells Alex Last about his journey.
(Photo: Tété-Michel Kpomassie in Greenland in 1988. Credit: BBC)
In 1996, Scotland took to the field for a football World Cup qualifying tie in the Estonian capital city of Tallinn. The only problem was that there was no opposition on the other side.
Paul Lambert was one of the Scottish players who had to take part in the so-called match.
He has been sharing his memories of that time with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Scotland kick off the match. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1986, thousands of people gathered in the middle of Rome to protest against the opening of Italy’s first McDonalds fast food restaurant. One of the opponents to the opening of McDonalds was journalist Carlo Petrini.
Soon after, he founded a new organisation called the Slow Food Movement. Its main aim was to protect traditional foods and cooking.
He has been sharing his story with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Carlo Petrini. Credit: Slow Food International)
In August 1958, the Japanese entrepreneur, Momofuku Ando, came up with the idea of a brand new food product that would change the eating habits of people across the world.
In 2018, Ashley Byrne spoke to Yukitaka Tsutsui, an executive for the company founded by Ando, about the birth of the Instant Noodle.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Momofuko Ando holding noodles. Credit: Getty Images)
In February 1977 the bakers of Malta went on an unprecedented strike.
It sent shock waves through the Maltese people who couldn’t imagine life without their favourite food… bread.
Before long the military was guarding bakeries, the panicked population had created a bread black market and local prisoners were enlisted to bake for the public.
Forty-five years later Maltese cultural historian Noel Buttigieg shares his memories of the time, with Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.
(Photo: A queue outside of a bakery during the 1977 strike. Credit: Noel Buttigieg)
Chef Nelson Wang created his signature dish Chicken Manchurian in 1975. It was the birth of modern Indo-Chinese cuisine which went on to become hugely popular around the world.
He went on to open China Garden, a Chinese restaurant in Mumbai that would draw in Bollywood's glitterati.
Nelson's son Edward Wang, who is also a chef, speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.
(Photo: Chicken Manchurian. Credit: Paul Yeung/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)
In 1982, rally driver Arnaldo Cavallari created ciabatta bread in Adria, in northern Italy.
His family owned a flour mill and he wanted to invent a loaf to rival the French baguette.
Rachel Naylor speaks to his close friend and fellow baker, Marco Vianello.
(Photo: Ciabatta. Credit: Getty Images)
On 5 August 2010, 33 miners were trapped underground after a rockfall in the San José copper and gold mine in Chile.
They were rescued 69 days later.
Rachel Naylor speaks to one of the miners, Mario Sepúlveda, who was nicknamed Super Mario by the media.
(Photo: Mario Sepúlveda, in the centre, celebrates being rescued from the mine on 13 October 2010. Credit: Rodrigo Arangua / AFP via Getty Images)
In December 1994, Russian forces began the siege of Chechnya’s capital Grozny.
Dr Aslan Doukaev was a university teacher when the first Chechen war started.
In this programme first broadcast in 2010 he tells Ed Butler about surviving months of conflict.
(Photo: Russian soldier during the siege of Grozny. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2008, it was revealed that Colombia’s army had been executing civilians and pretending they were rebels killed in the country’s ongoing civil war. At least 4,600 innocent people were murdered in this way. They became known as the ‘false positives’.
Ben Henderson speaks to Jacqueline Castillo, whose brother was one of the victims, and Carlos Mora, who was ordered to execute civilians when he was a soldier.
(Photo: Families of 'false positives' victims. Credit: Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
It is the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service. Broadcasting to countries behind the Iron Curtain without a free or independent media between 1947 and 1991 was arguably the service’s finest hour.
The corporation was on the front line of the information war as the BBC’s former Moscow correspondent Bridget Kendall recalls.
Programmes such as the German Service’s Letters Without Signatures created a sense of community among isolated East Germans who could not air their views publicly at home.
Meanwhile, Peter Udell, the former controller of European Services, had the challenge of trying to overcome the Soviet censors. Produced and presented by Josephine McDermott.
Archive recordings of former employees in the BBC Oral History Collection were used courtesy of Sussex University.
(Photo: A West Berlin policeman looks at an East German watchtower at night, 1961. Credit: Getty Images)
To mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service, we trace the development of the Caribbean Service.
Its beginnings go back to the early 1940s when the BBC’s first black producer, Una Marson was employed.
She created Caribbean Voices, which gave future Nobel laureates such as Derek Walcott their first international platform.
In 1969, one of the UK’s best known newsreaders, Sir Trevor McDonald, left Trinidad to join the BBC Caribbean Service as a producer.
He reflects on its legacy. Produced and presented by Josephine McDermott.
Archive recording of West Indies Calling from 1943, is used courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. Una Marson's poem Black Burden is used courtesy of Peepal Tree Press and the BBC Caribbean Service archive material was provided by the Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies.
(Photo: Sir Trevor McDonald and Una Marson. Credit: BBC)
In October 2012, skydiver and former Austrian paratrooper Felix Baumgartner was watched live by millions as he ascended into the stratosphere in a helium balloon. He then jumped an estimated 38km from space back to earth.
In doing so, he broke the speed of sound and the highest skydive record that had lasted more than 50 years. Felix tells Dan Hardoon about his big leap.
A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Felix Baumgartner jumping from space. Credit: Getty Images)
Slava Zaitsev was the first designer to create high fashion collections in the Soviet Union.
He tells Dina Newman about the challenges he faced working under communism.
This programme was first broadcast in 2018.
(Photo: A sketch of a dress designed by Slava Zaitsev. Credit: Slava Zaitsev)
When Zahra Nordien was forced out of District Six in Cape Town in 1977, she vowed to one day return.
She was one of the 60,000 people who were forcibly removed from the neighbourhood because of the racist South African apartheid government.
What seemed like a pipe dream became a reality when Zahra set up the District Six Working Committee campaigning to get former residents into newly rebuilt homes.
In 2013 her elderly mother moved back into District Six with Zahra, more than three decades after they were expelled.
Zahra tells Reena Stanton-Sharma about her ongoing fight for restitution.
(Photo: Cape Town, South Africa in the 1970s. Credit: Gallo Images / Juhan Kuus)
Shopkeeper Louisa Gould risked her life to hide a Russian prisoner who had escaped from the Nazis during the German occupation of Jersey in World War Two. She was later betrayed and died in Ravensbrück, a concentration camp, in 1945. Vicky Carter speaks to her great-niece Jenny Lecoat.
(Photo: Louisa Gould. Credit: Courtesy of the Channel Islands Occupation Society (Jersey) Collection held at Jersey Archive)
In 1990, a peaceful revolution brought democracy to Mongolia after almost 70 years of Soviet backed rule.
University lecturer Ganbold Davaadorj was one of the lead figures in bringing together the Mongolian people. He went on to be the first deputy prime minister of Mongolia.
He shares his story with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Protestors occupy Sükhbaatar Square in 1990. Credit: Getty Images)
It’s 1994 and the BBC is looking for a brand-new children’s TV series.
TV producer Anne Wood decides she’s going to make a show aimed at an audience that’s never had programmes made for it before – two and three-year-olds.
She tells Melanie Stewart-Smith the fascinating story of how spacemen and technology inspired the creation of one of the most popular kids TV shows of all time, Teletubbies.
(Photo: Teletubbies. Credit: Ragdoll Productions for the BBC/Wildbrain)
In November 1975, the Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, was controversially sacked by an unelected official in the country's biggest constitutional crisis.
Many Australians were outraged and rumours spread that Buckingham Palace was involved. It became known simply as 'The Dismissal'.
Paul Kelly was a political correspondent in the Australian parliament that day. He shares his memories with Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Gough Whitlam in 1975. Credit: George Lipman/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
On the 22 July 2005, unarmed Brazilian man Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by anti-terrorism police in London.
He was shot because he was mistaken for terrorist Hussain Osman who had been involved in a failed suicide attack just 24 hours previously. The killing made headlines all over the world, and Jean Charles’ family demanded justice.
Matt Pintus has been speaking to Jean Charles’ cousin and best friend, Patricia da Silva.
(Photo: Patricia da Silva in front of mural of Jean Charles de Menezes. Credit: Getty Images)
Hindu extremists demolished a 16th century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya in December 1992 prompting months of communal violence across India.
Photojournalist Praveen Jain witnessed rehearsals for the demolition the day before the activists stormed the mosque.
He spoke to Iknoor Kaur in 2019.
(Photo: Hindu extremists rehearsing the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Credit: Praveen Jain)
In October 1995, the people of Quebec went to the polls to decide whether the province should declare independence from Canada.
Kevin Caners hears the first-hand testimony of Jean-François Lisée and Stephane Dion, who represented opposite sides of a debate which nearly split the country in two.
A Whistledown Production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Voters at the 1995 Quebec referendum. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1970, feminists stormed the stage at the Miss World pageant in London.
They were protesting against the objectification of women.
Sally Alexander was one of the young protesters who was arrested for her part in the demonstration. She spoke to Andrew Whitehead in 2014.
(Photo: Protestors outside the 1970 Miss World pageant. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, Bulgaria was a strictly controlled communist dictatorship.
It was also facing a wave of infection and death caused by a mysterious new virus. The authorities refused to recognise the threat of HIV and AIDS, so one of Bulgaria’s virologists took the initiative.
In this programme for World Aids Day, Professor Radka Argirova tells Janet Barrie how she smuggled the live HIV virus back from Germany to start testing in Bulgaria for the first time.
(Photo: Professor Radka Argirova in her laboratory. Credit: BBC)
In 1947, thousands of Japanese families were expelled from their island homes by Soviet troops. They were taken from the Northern Territories, also known as the Southern Kurils, after the Soviet Union took control of the islands.
Japan and Russia have failed to sign a peace agreement after World War Two because of the dispute.
Yuzo Matsumoto, who's now 81, has been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Photo: Yuzo Matsumoto with photos of his parents, standing in front of a map of Etorofu. Credit: BBC)
In 2000, an American personal trainer invented CrossFit.
They now have gyms around the world and hold an annual international competition.
Rachel Naylor speaks to two-time world champion Annie Thorisdottir, from Iceland.
(Photo: Annie Thorisdottir. Credit: CrossFit LLC)
In 2002, journalist Kelly Hartog was on a press trip in Mombasa, in Kenya, when suicide bombers drove a car packed with explosives into the hotel where she was staying.
The attack killed 18 people and injured 80.
Almost at the same time, terrorists tried to bring down an Israeli charter jet using surface-to-air missiles – but narrowly missed.
Kelly tells Vicky Farncombe about her ordeal.
(Photo: People stand outside the Paradise Hotel after it was attacked by suicide bombers. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1934, the late Percy Shaw almost crashed while driving home from the pub on a foggy night in West Yorkshire, in England.
He was saved when his headlights were reflected in the eyes of a cat and it gave him a brilliant idea.
He invented reflective studs for the road and called them cat’s eyes.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Percy's great-niece, Glenda Shaw.
(Photo: Percy Shaw holding one of his cat's eyes, outside his factory in Halifax, England, in 1958. Credit: Getty Images)
On 20 September 1998, the former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, was arrested and charged on suspicion of committing fraud and sodomy.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia but charges are rare and the case was internationally condemned as being political motivated. Anwar believed that he was being framed by his former boss, the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Almost 25 years on, Anwar shares his memories of the time with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. Credit: Getty Images)
In September 1967, all Swedish traffic had to change the habit of decades and swap to driving on the right-hand side of the road.
It brought them into line with most of the rest of Europe except for Britain and Ireland but caused a day of chaos. In 2016, Ashley Byrne spoke to Bjorn Sylven who remembered that day.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: First day of driving on the right-hand side in Stockholm. Credit: Keystone-France/Gemma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Iran’s first ever minister for women’s affairs was appointed in 1975.
Mahnaz Afkhami was the first person in the Muslim world to hold that position. While she was in that role, the government granted women equal divorce rights, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 and supported women’s employment with maternity leave and childcare.
In 2018, Farhana Haider spoke to her about being the only woman in the pre-revolutionary Iranian cabinet.
(Photo: Mahnaz Afkhami at the UN in 1975. Credit: Mahnaz Afkhami)
In 1958, the late Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt for cars.
It's estimated to have saved more than one million lives around the world.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Nils' stepson, Gunnar Ornmark.
(Photo: Nils Bohlin, in 1959, modelling his invention. Credit: Volvo Cars Group)
In 1978, Kaltham Jaber published her first book – a collection of short stories. She is an assistant professor and acclaimed writer from Qatar. Her success as an author came just two decades after girls were first allowed to go to school in the oil-rich state.
Kaltham became a really important figurehead for women in the country as she campaigned for gender equality.
She shares her story with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Kaltham Jaber. Credit: Kaltham Jaber)
It was rare for women in what is now the United Arab Emirates to go to school in the 1960s.
At the time, the future country was a collection of emirates under British protection. The Sheikdoms were traditional societies.
This is the story of a young woman who was among the first to graduate from high school. She went on to become the first teacher there. Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi tells Farhana Haider about her trailblazing experience.
(Photo: Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi with her students at Fatima Al Zahra School, Sharjah, 1970. Credit: Shaikha Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi)
In 2003, a Qatari engineer came up with the idea for a robot jockey, to replace child jockeys in camel racing.
Two years later, the robot was approved for use. The tiny gadgets, which wear caps and hold whips, are now used all over the Middle East.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Esan Maruff, who helped develop them.
(Photo: Robot jockeys riding camels. Credit: Getty Images)
The tallest building in the world opened in 2010. There was a glitzy firework display to celebrate the occasion.
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is nearly three times the height of the Eiffel Tower.
The statement building cemented the reputation of the city as a place for luxury tourism and high-end real estate.
Alex Collins speaks to chief architect Adrian Smith about his creative vision and the challenges he faced on such a huge project.
(Photo: Burj Khalifa. Credit: Getty Images)
A new country, the United Arab Emirates, was formed in 1971. It’s a federation of seven states that has grown from a quiet backwater to one of the Middle East’s most important economic centres.
Laura Jones speaks to businessman Mohammed Al-Fahim about his country’s dramatic transformation.
(Photo: Mohammed Al-Fahim as a child. Credit: Mohammed Al-Fahim)
The 1 September 1939 was Kitty Baxter’s ninth birthday, it was also the day her life and millions of other people’s changed with the beginning of World War Two.
Kitty was among the hundreds of thousands of children taken out of UK cities and into the countryside, away from the risk of German bombs. She’s been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Photo: Child evacuees leaving a London train station. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1981, the South African rugby tour of New Zealand was disrupted by Māori anti-racism campaigners who invaded pitches.
They wanted to highlight the injustice of apartheid in South Africa and the discrimination Maoris were suffering in New Zealand.
Ripeka Evans organised and took part in the protests. She tells Alex Collins about the direct action she took to sabotage high-profile matches.
(Photo: Protesters form a circle in the middle of the pitch at Rugby Park, Hamilton. Credit: John Selkirk)
It has been 20 years since one of the most controversial politicians in Europe was assassinated just days before a general election. On 6 May 2002, Pim Fortuyn was shot dead by an animal rights activist because of his anti-Islamic views.
It was the first time a Dutch politician had been murdered since the 17th century. TV journalist Dave Abspoel was one of the first people on the scene. He has been sharing his memories with Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Pim Fortuyn pictured in 2002. Credit: Getty Images)
1972 was a time of feminist action in the US. People were talking more openly about rape and sharing their experiences. It led to rape crisis centres being set up, which offered support for women.
Activist Sue Lenaerts taught women self-defence and worked on the helpline at the first centre in the capital, Washington DC. She’s been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Photo: Sue Lenaerts in the early 1970s. Credit: Sue Lenaerts)
In the early 1970s, New Zealand’s government cracked down on Polynesian migrants who had overstayed their work permits.
They carried out what became known as the Dawn Raids, when police raided Polynesian households in the early hours of the morning looking for overstayers.
The Polynesian community felt targeted and formed a resistance group, the Polynesian Panthers, in June 1971. Ben Henderson spoke to founding member, Melani Anae.
(Music credit: Thou We Are - Unity Pacific)
(Photo: Protestors. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1975, President Juvénal Habyarimana introduced Umuganda in Rwanda, where citizens had to help with community projects like planting trees and building schools, every Saturday morning.
Rachel Naylor speaks to former minister Jean Marie Ndagijimana, who loved taking part.
(Photo: Residents of the village of Mbyo, in Rwanda's Eastern Province, taking part in Umuganda in 2014. Credit: Getty Images)
Dame Carmen Callil, who died in October this year, founded feminist publisher Virago Press in 1972 to promote women’s writing.
In this programme first broadcast in 2019, she tells Claire Bowes how she hoped to put women centre stage at a time when she and many others felt side-lined and ignored at work and at home.
Music: Jam Today by Jam Today courtesy of the Women’s Liberation Music Archive.
(Photo: Dame Carmen Callil 1983. Credit: Peter Morris/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
Over the last 50 years an estimated 46 million girls have been aborted in India.
The cultural preference for boys and the development of pre-natal sex determination tests like ultrasound in the 1980s, meant an increase in the number of girls being aborted.
Activist Manisha Gupte describes how she campaigned, as part of the feminist movement, against sex-selective abortion - including the use of sit-ins and rallies - eventually raising enough awareness to bring about a national law in 1994 - the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act.
The legislation has had limited effect in a complex society with entrenched male preference and poverty.
Manisha has been speaking to Josephine McDermott.
(Photo: Campaigners rally against fetal sex selection in Mumbai in the 1980s. Credit: Dr Vibhuti Patel)
In the 1970s, Albania’s Stalinist leader, Enver Hoxha, launched a new series of purges against government ministers and officials, following numerous purges in previous decades.
Those accused of being ‘enemies’ of the ruling Party of Labour were executed or received lengthy prison sentences. Their families were punished too. Many were sent into internal exile and forced to work in the fields.
Rob Walker speaks to Kozara Kati whose father was imprisoned in 1975. She spent 15 years in a camp with her mother, brother and sister.
Rob also hears from Fred Abrahams, long term researcher and writer on Albania, who is the author of ‘Modern Albania: From Dictatorship to Democracy in Europe’.
(Photo: Enver Hoxha embraces Chinese Leader Yao Wen-Yuan 1967. Credit: Keystone-France, Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
In 1985, Carol Taylor wrote a survival guide for young black men in the Unites Stated who were stopped by the police.
Her son, Laurence Legall, tells Ashley Byrne the story of the small and important book created by his mum to help young black men stay safe on the streets of New York.
It all began when Laurence went shopping and was robbed but the police didn’t take his complaint seriously.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Carol Taylor. Credit: Laurence Legall)
In October 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard made an impromptu speech in the Australian parliament setting out the misogyny she endured for years as a prominent female politician.
Ten years on, she discusses with Alex Collins her career defining-speech which has been viewed online by millions of people.
(Photo: Julia Gillard giving her misogyny speech. Credit: PA)
In 1991, a law was introduced in Sudan which was used to control how women acted and dressed in public. It resulted in arrests, beatings and even deaths during the 30 years it was in place.
Amiera Osman Hamed was arrested and fined for wearing trousers in 2002. She’s been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Photo: Amiera Osman Hamed. Credit: Amiera Osman Hamed)
It is 20 years since heavily-armed Chechen rebels took an entire theatre full of people hostage.
They threatened to kill them all if the Russian government didn't call off the war in Chechnya. When Russian special forces stormed the theatre they let off gas to stun the Chechens - it killed many of the hostages as well. In this programme first broadcast in 2012 Dina Newman speaks to one of the survivors, Prof Alex Bobik.
(Photo: Chechen rebel on Russian TV. Credit: Getty Images)
Many women supported Iran’s 1979 revolution against the monarchy but some later became disillusioned.
Islamic rules about how women dressed were just one of the things that women objected to. Sharan Tabari spoke to Lucy Burns in 2014 about her experiences during, and after, the Iranian Revolution.
(Photo: Iranian women at the 1 May 1979 protest. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1998 President Suharto of Indonesia resigned after more than thirty years of military rule. It meant people from indigenous communities were finally free to speak out after years of being ignored.
Tribal leaders seized their chance to gather together at the first ever Congress of Indigenous People of the Archipelago in Jakarta in 1999.
Laura Jones has been speaking to Rukka Sombolinggi.
(Photo: People in tribal dress at the Congress of Indigenous People of the Archipelago in 1999. Credit: Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara, the Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago)
We go back to 1959 when Cuba’s most famous ballet dancer Alicia Alonso turned her back on a successful career on the world stage and returned home to form Cuba’s National Ballet Company.
She spoke to Mike Lanchin in 2015.
(Photo: Alicia Alonso. Credit: Alicia Alonso)
Earlier this year, Cuba lifted a 60-year ban on professional boxing, which Fidel Castro imposed in 1962.
Before then, amateur boxers who wanted to turn pro, had to risk everything in order to defect.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Mike ‘The Rebel’ Perez, who escaped in 2007 with the assistance of Mexican gangsters, a fishing boat and an Irish promoter.
(Photo: Mike Perez (right) and Bryant Jennings during their heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden on 26 July 2014 in New York. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1961, Fidel Castro launched a nationwide campaign aimed to eradicate illiteracy in Cuba.
An ‘army’ of volunteers known as brigadistas equipped with books and pencils travelled across the country to teach people how to read and write.
Alex Collins spoke to Rosa Hernandez Acosta who taught many adults even though she was a 10-year-old schoolgirl herself.
(Photo: Rosa Hernandez Acosta. Credit: Kian Seara)
Jo Fidgen hears what was happening in the Pentagon and the Kremlin in the final days of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev finally offered to withdraw the missiles as the crisis came to a head.
In 2012, his son Sergei remembered those fraught few days.
(Photo: Nikita and Sergei Khrushchev. Credit: Sergei Khrushchev)
In 1962, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Jo Fidgen spoke to American Intelligence officer Dino Brugioni who played a crucial role as the crisis unfolded. Dino was a CIA expert whose job was to interpret the photographs of missiles in Cuba. This programme was first broadcast in 2012.
(Photo: Dino Brugioni. Credit: The Washington Post/Getty Images)
In the 1960s, a wave of strikes and protest marches by Mexican-American farm workers inspired Latinos across the US.
The movement was led by Cesar Chavez - a man now regarded by his community as a civil rights hero.
Dolores Huerta, who coined the slogan “yes we can!”, worked closely with Chavez. She spoke to Simon Watts in this programme first broadcast in 2012.
(Photo: Cesar Chavez pointing in front of a crowd at a protest. Credit: Getty Images)
Park Heongjun takes us back to May 1980, when a strike in the city of Gwangju became one of the most divisive moments in South Korea’s history and led to the imprisonment of activist Bae Ok Byoung.
She worked in a factory making wigs and along with other female employees, went on strike to demand better working conditions.
In this programme first broadcast in 2021, Bae recalls the brutal crackdown by authorities and describes the torture she suffered after her arrest.
This is a 2 Degrees West production for BBC World Service. This programme contains descriptions of torture.
(Photo: Labour activist Bae Ok Byoung talking to some of the workers at the wig factory in Seoul where she worked in 1980. Credit: Bae Ok Byoung)
Walt Disney cartoonists went on strike for nine weeks in 1941. They were led by Art Babbitt, Disney’s top animator who created Goofy.
The picket line was remarkable for its colourful artwork and support from Hollywood actors.
The confrontation was rooted in the paranoia of the day – the infiltration of communism into American life, as Art Babbitt explains in BBC archive recordings presented by Josephine McDermott.
(Photo: Art Babbitt leads Disney animators holding placards with cartoon characters at a film premiere. Credit: Kosti Ruohomaa, a former Disney worker, courtesy of Cowan-Fouts Collection)
In 1979, British public sector workers went on strike over pay. Among those taking industrial action were gravediggers.
But the media, politicians and even their own families turned against them at the thought of bodies being left unburied.
Claire Bowes spoke to the gravediggers’ convener Ian Lowes in 2011.
(Photo: Protestors during the 'Winter of Discontent'. Credit: Getty Images)
On 30 January 1959, the late Trinidadian activist Claudia Jones held a Caribbean party in St Pancras Town Hall in London, planting the seeds for the famous carnival.
She wanted to bring Caribbeans across the UK's capital together for dancing, singing and steel bands.
Rachel Naylor hears from her best friend, Corinne Skinner-Carter.
(Photo: A woman having a good time at Claudia Jones' Caribbean carnival, at St Pancras Town Hall in London, 1959. Credit: Daily Mirror via Getty Images)
In 1972, a low-budget Jamaican film and its legendary soundtrack helped popularise reggae music in the world.
Ben Henderson speaks to one of the most famous reggae artists ever, Jimmy Cliff, who played the film's protagonist and wrote a number of the songs.
Jimmy explains why the film was so popular and how it reflected his own life.
'The Harder They Come' was produced by International Films Inc.
(Photo: Jimmy Cliff in 'The Harder They Come'. Credit: Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images)
On 5 October 2000, protests in the Yugoslav capital Belgrade spiralled into an attack on the parliament building. Hours later President Slobodan Milosevic stood down. Mark Lowen spoke to Srdja Popovic - one of the leaders of the student-led opposition movement - in 2010.
(Photo: Demonstrators and police at the Belgrade parliament. Credit: Getty Images)
On 18 October 2011, Israeli solider Gilad Shalit was freed after spending over five years in captivity in Gaza.
His release was part of a controversial prisoner exchange which saw more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli jails.
Alex Collins talks to Israeli spy, David Meidan, who was successful in negotiations where others had failed.
(Photo: Gilad Shalit and David Meidan standing directly behind him. Credit: IDF via Getty Images)
In 1962, Nigerian man Phil Magbotiwan opened a brand new nightclub in Manchester, England.
In part because of his own personal experiences of racism, Phil wanted to create somewhere where everyone would be welcome – Manchester’s first racially inclusive nightclub. The Reno was born.
The nightclub became a particularly important space for Manchester's mixed heritage community, who felt unwelcome in city centre venues.
Phil’s youngest daughter, Lisa Ayegun shares her memories, of the Reno and her dad, with Matt Pintus.
This programme contains descriptions of racial discrimination.
(Photo: Phil Magbotiwan (right) standing in front of the Reno nightclub in Manchester. Credit: The Magbotiwan family)
In 1948, brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler who lived in a small German town fell out. They went on to create globally renowned sportswear firms Adidas and Puma.
Adi Dassler played a crucial role in West Germany's victory in the 1954 World Cup with his game-changing footwear.
Reena Stanton-Sharma hears from Adi Dassler’s daughter Sigi Dassler, who remembers her dad’s obsession with sports shoes and talks about her fondness for rappers Run-DMC who paid tribute to her dad’s shoes in their 1986 song My Adidas.
(Photo: Adi Dassler. Credit: Brauner/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
It’s 40 years since a wrecked English Tudor warship was brought back to the surface. On 11 October 1982, 60 million people worldwide watched the extraordinary feat live on television – the raising of the 400-year-old Mary Rose – from the seabed off the south coast of England. Susan Hulme spoke to Christopher Dobbs, one of the archaeologists who helped excavate the Mary Rose. This programme was first broadcast in 2017.
(Photo: The Mary Rose is raised above the water by a crane near Portsmouth Harbour, 11 October 1982. Credit: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
When drug kingpin Pablo Escobar died in 1993 having built a billion dollar cocaine empire, he left behind a zoo. While his rhinos, giraffes, elephants and kangaroos were re-housed, the hippos were left in Escobar’s abandoned ranch in the Colombian countryside.
In 2007 they started turning up 100 kilometres away, frightening fishermen. Vet Carlos Valderrama was called in to tackle the problem. He describes to Josephine McDermott his experience of the first ever castration of a hippo in the wild.
(Photo: Carlos Valderrama castrating the hippo. Credit: Carlos Valderrama)
In the 1970s, Sharad Rao was Kenya’s assistant director of public prosecutions, working closely with Kenyan leader Jomo Kenyatta who was seen as ruthless and unpredictable.
Rao took the unusual step of defying Kenyatta’s orders by refusing to jail students after they rioted about chapatis in 1972.
Rao also tells Alex Collins how he witnessed Kenyatta chasing a British diplomat with a stick.
(Photo: Jomo Kenyatta. Credit: BBC)
In September 1971, Christians from all over the UK held the Nationwide Festival of Light to protest against what they saw, as increasingly liberal attitudes to sex and the change in traditional family values.
Katie Edwards hears from three people who attended the event - organiser Peter Hill, Christian activist Celia Bowring and LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell who protested against the event.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Nationwide Festival of Light. Credit: Getty Images)
The Iran-Iraq war began on 22 September 1980. It lasted for eight years and became one of the bloodiest wars in recent history.
Pooneh Ghoddoosi was just a child when it started - a teenager when it ended. She told her story to Alan Johnston in 2010.
(Photo: Iranian artillery, tanks, arms and munitions. Credit: AFP via Getty Images)
In the 1960s, popes rarely left the Vatican City. So it was a major event when Pope Paul VI accepted an invitation to visit Uganda in 1969.
Hugh Costello talks to Mobina Jaffer, whose Ismaili Muslim family played an enthusiastic role in welcoming the Pope to the family’s hotel.
A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Pope Paul VI meets President of Uganda Apollo Milton Obote. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1967, a major breakthrough was made in our understanding of the evolution of the world. A student discovered fossils at Mistaken Point in Newfoundland, Canada.
The fossils give us a record of the oldest multi-cellular organisms to inhabit the earth.
Catherine Harvey has been speaking to Dr Shiva Balak Misra about his ground-breaking find.
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Image of Newfoundland's shores. Credit: Getty Images)
The 1 September 1939 was Kitty Baxter’s ninth birthday, it was also the day her life and millions of other people’s changed with the beginning of World War Two.
Kitty was among the hundreds of thousands of children taken out of UK cities and into the countryside, away from the risk of German bombs.
She’s been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Photo: child evacuees leaving a London train station. Credit: Getty Images)
Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. In this programme from 2010, Claire Bowes looks back on the monarch’s last days.
She speaks to the author Tony Rennell and hears recollections from the BBC archive.
(Photo: Queen Victoria. Credit: Press Association)
Queen Elizabeth II first opened her London home to the paying public on 7 August 1993. Tourists were allowed to look round Buckingham Palace while the Royal family was staying elsewhere for the summer.
In 2018, Ashley Byrne spoke to former royal press secretary Dickie Arbiter. This is a Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: Buckingham Palace. Credit: BBC)
In November 1992, a fire devastated Windsor Castle - a symbol of the British monarchy and Queen Elizabeth II’s weekend home. Coming at the end of a year of family problems, the blaze upset the Queen deeply and led her to declare 1992 her ‘annus horribilis’.
In 2012, Simon Watts spoke to Sir Hugh Roberts, one of Her Majesty’s art experts.
(Photo: Windsor Castle on fire. Credit: Press Association)
A few days after Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, she had her best chance of owning the winner of the Derby, but first the horse would have to beat the British public’s favourite jockey.
Peter O’Sullevan talked to Julian Bedford in this programme first broadcast in 2012.
(Photo: Champion jockey Sir Gordon Richards being led in after winning the Coronation Derby on 'Pinza'. Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images)
In June 1953, the young Queen Elizabeth II was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Two of her Maids of Honour, Lady Anne Glenconner and Lady Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart, share their memories of Coronation Day.
This programme, presented by Claire Bowes, was first broadcast in 2013.
(Photo: Queen Elizabeth II in a carriage during the Coronation. Credit: Getty Images)
Since its launch in the 1950s, the Brazilian version of the VW Beetle has had a special place in the nation's heart. Cheap, charismatic and virtually indestructible, it was many Brazilians' first car and is affectionately known as the Fusca.
The Fusca played a key role in the development of Brazil's economically and politically vital national car industry.
In 2014, Candace Piette spoke to two Fusca superfans, Silio Boccanera and Edivaldo Fernandes.
(Photo: A Fusca in the colonial town of Paraty. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1993, eight homeless children were murdered outside the Candelaria church in Rio De Janeiro.
The murders caused international outrage and put a spotlight on corrupt policing in Brazil.
Matt Pintus has been speaking to Yvonne Bezerra de Mello, a social worker and teacher who had worked with the Candelaria children for years before the massacre.
(Photo: Yvonne Bezerra de Mello with the Candelaria children, Credit: courtesy of Yvonne Bezerra de Mello)
In 1960, Brazil opened a new capital city in its remote central plains.
The city was designed by modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer and was supposed to symbolise Brazil's future ambitions.
In 2014, Claire Bowes spoke to Osorio Machado, an engineer who worked on the city's construction.
(Photo: The building of Brasilia. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2002, an investigative journalist called Tim Lopes was brutally killed by a drug gang in Rio de Janeiro. The murder sent shockwaves throughout Brazil.
His son, Bruno Quintella, spoke to Mike Lanchin in 2014.
This programme contains descriptions of violence and some listeners may find parts of it distressing.
(Photo: Tim Lopes and his son, Bruno, courtesy of the family)
In March 1985, Brazil experienced the most traumatic moment in its transition to democracy when the first civilian president-elect in more than 20 years was rushed to hospital on the eve of his inauguration.
Tancredo Neves, who had led political opposition to military rule in Brazil, eventually died 38 days later. He is now regarded as a hero in Brazil.
In 2018, Simon Watts spoke to Tancredo Neves' press secretary, Antonio Britto.
(Photo: Tancredo Neves, centre, on a visit to Spain. Credit: Getty Images)
Mikhail Gorbachev - the last leader of the Soviet Union - has died aged 91. On the eve of an important summit on nuclear disarmament between the Soviet Union and America in October 1986, Gorbachev ordered the release of a dissident poet called Irina Ratushinskaya.
In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Irina about her imprisonment, her poetry, and the day she was set free.
(Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)
Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died aged 91.
Gorbachev came to power in 1985 at a time when the Soviet economy was on the brink of collapse. He introduced a radical reform programme called Perestroika.
25 years on from Perestroika, in 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to three people who remembered those exciting days in Moscow.
(Photo: Mikhail Gorbachev (centre right) meets with participants of the Warsaw Pact Foreign Ministers' Committee in Moscow on March 25, 1987 Credit: AFP / Getty Images)
It's the 25th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in an underground tunnel in central Paris on the 31st August 1997.
She was one of the most famous and glamorous women in the world - a mega star.
In 1985, Princess Diana and Prince Charles made their first joint visit to the US. The highlight of the tour was a gala dinner at the White House where the young princess danced with the star of Saturday Night Fever John Travolta.
Speaking in 2011, the Daily Mirror’s royal correspondent James Whitaker told Kirsty Reid about the glamorous night.
Image: John Travolta dances with Princess Diana at a White House dinner, November 9th 1985 (Credit: Reuters/File photo)
In 1911, a mysterious Native American man called Ishi emerged from the North Californian forest after more than three decades in hiding. He is thought to be the last survivor from the Yahi tribe. Ishi became a tourist attraction in San Francisco and many recordings were made of his stories and music.
In 2012, Louise Hidalgo retraced his story. She spoke to the author Ursula Le Guin and filmmaker Jed Riffe.
(Photo: Ishi. Credit: Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California)
On 16 August 2012, police shot dead 34 striking miners at a platinum mine in Marikana, South Africa.
It was one of the bloodiest police operations since apartheid.
Rachel Naylor speaks to one of the survivors, Mzoxolo Magidiwana, who was shot nine times.
(Photo: Miners on strike in Marikana, demanding a pay rise, on 16 August 2012. Credit: AFP/GettyImages)
In January 1980, Indira Gandhi's Congress (I) party was voted into power in India.
Before the election, inflation meant that onions were unaffordable for many Indians and became a big election issue.
Indira Gandhi used the issue to appeal to voters during her campaign which would help to secure her victory that year.
Reena Stanton-Sharma speaks to Suda Pai, a former professor of political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Image: Vendor Pushing Cart With Onions On Road. Credit: Venkataramana Allam / EyeEm
In 1971, inflation was a huge problem in the USA so the President, Richard Nixon, made one of the most drastic moves in economic history: abandoning the Gold Standard. It became known as the 'Nixon Shock' and nearly caused a trade war between America and its allies. But, it also saved the US' economy from a crisis. Ben Henderson spoke to Bob Hormats, an economic adviser in the Nixon administration, who was at the heart of decision-making. (Picture from Bettmann via Getty Images: President Nixon with his economic advisers in 1971)
It has been 40 years since the first ever Gay Games were held in San Francisco. Attracting a large crowd and featuring more than 1,000 athletes from more than 100 countries, the event was organised by a group of LGBT activists, including former Olympians, to raise awareness about homophobia in sport. The Gay Games are now held every four years at venues around the world. In 2019, Ashley Byrne spoke to organiser Sara Waddell Lewinstein and athlete Rick Tomin. A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
Photo: An athlete at the first Gay Games. Credit: Getty Images.
Ten years ago, Syrian government soldiers surrounded Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, bombing buildings and searching for people opposed to President Assad. Hundreds of people died over four days. Mohamad Zarda was there and has been speaking to Laura Jones. This episode contains descriptions of violence.
(Image shows a Syrian government tank in Darayya in 2016 during the four year siege. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1997, Bulgaria was in financial meltdown with hyperinflation making money in the country worth a lot less. Bulgaria had emerged out of communism following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989.
Like other post-Soviet regimes in eastern Europe, the country found the transition from communism to capitalism harder than expected. The President of Bulgaria, Petar Stoyanov, knew he had to do something and a recovery plan from one of Ronald Reagan’s former economic advisers was on the table. But would it work?
Matt Pintus has been speaking to the economist, Steve Hanke.
Photo: Steve Hanke and Liliane Hanke meet Petar Stoyanov. Credit: Steve Hanke
In August 1941, one of the greatest poets India has ever produced died.
Known as the "Bard of Bengal", Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.
Farhana Haider spoke to Professor Bashabi Fraser, Director of the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies, in 2017.
Photo: June 1921, Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore in London. Credit: Getty Images
In May 1964 India's first prime minister and the man who led India to independence, Jawaharlal Nehru, died.
On the 50th anniversary of his death in 2014, Nehru's niece, the writer Nayantara Sahgal, shared memories of her famous uncle with Louise Hidalgo.
Photo: Indira Gandhi paying her respects at the body of her father, Jawaharlal Nehru.(AFP/Getty Images)
The daughter of the last British Viceroy in India, Lord Mountbatten, remembers the transfer of power in 1947. Lady Pamela Hicks accompanied her father as he attended celebrations in both Karachi and Delhi. She remembers encounters both with Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, and Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India. Lady Hicks spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2012.
Photo shows Lord and Lady Mountbatten travelling by carriage and shaking hands with crowds in the streets of New Delhi on the 15th August 1947. Credit: Getty Images.
The partition of India led to millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs fleeing their homes during horrific religious violence. This is the second of two programmes remembering that time.
Lucy Williams spoke to Chandra Joashi, was only 12-years-old when his family was caught on the wrong side of the dividing line.
This episode was first broadcast in 2010.
Photo: Millions of families became refugees after the partition of India in 1947 Credit: Keystone-France / Contributor
The partition of India led to millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs fleeing their homes amid horrific violence. This is the first of two programmes remembering that time.
Listen to the story of Saleem, who was only five-years-old when his family tried to escape to the new Muslim country of Pakistan. This programme was first broadcast in 2010.
Photo: Wrecked buildings after communal riots in Amritsar, Punjab, during the Partition of British India, March 1947 Credit: Keystone Features / Stringer
In June 1973, the nightclub Pacha opened in Ibiza. Other clubs with the capacity to fit thousands of people on the dancefloor opened in the years after, turning Ibiza into a destination for music and party lovers from around the world. Vicky Carter speaks to Carlos Martorell who organised Pacha’s opening party and Francis Van Orden, a Dutch hippy who danced all night on the opening night.
(Photo: Sunset over the sea with boats in the distance. Credit: BBC and Minnow Films)
Hale Bopp is one of the most widely observed comets of the 20th century. Its discovery in 1995 resulted in huge advances in science. Russell Crewe spoke to astronomer Dr Alan Hale who discovered the comet alongside Tom Bopp. This is a Made in Manchester production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: Hale Bopp Comet in the night sky. Credit: Getty Images)
Twenty five years ago in Indonesia, some of the worst forest fires in history devastated the environment and resulted in a smog which engulfed South East Asia for months. The fires, which were set deliberately, burned out of control for months. Mesdiono Matali Samad, known as Memes, worked on the Indonesian Red Cross relief effort helping people in East Kalimantan, Borneo. He's been speaking to Laura Jones.
Sweden has a long history of championing LGBTQ+ rights. But campaigners spent years battling to get the gender-neutral personal pronoun ‘hen’ included in Swedish dictionaries. The word was finally added in 2015. Maddy Savage spoke to Nasim Aghili from the "queer" art collective Ful, which rallied to get the word recognised. This is a Bespoken Media production for the BBC World Service.
(Photo: Nasim Aghili. Credit: Thomas Straub)
On 8 August 1974 Richard Nixon became the first US president in history to resign from office, following the Watergate scandal. In 2014, Farhana Haider spoke to journalist Tom DeFrank, who watched the drama unfold minute by minute.
(Photo: Nixon announces his resignation on national television. Credit: Getty Images)
When President Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986, he encouraged exiled Asians to return to Uganda and reclaim their homes and businesses to help rebuild the country. The economy had collapsed under the dictator Idi Amin after he expelled the Asian population in 1972. Dr Mumtaz Kassam went back to Uganda years after arriving in the UK as a refugee. She talks to Reena Stanton-Sharma about returning to her birthplace. Caption: Dr. Mumtaz Kassam receiving a Golden Jubilee Presidential medal at the 56th independence celebrations. Credit: Dr Mumtaz Kassam The following programme has been updated since its original broadcast.
Thousands of Asians who were expelled from Uganda in 1972, settled in the UK and many made Leicester their home. Their arrival in the East Midlands helped to shape its identity and now Leicester plays host to the largest Diwali celebrations outside of India. Nisha Popat was nine-years-old when she arrived in the city with her family who later opened up a restaurant in the area that became known as the Golden Mile. Reena Stanton-Sharma spoke to her about moving there in the 70s as a child. This programme contains descriptions of racial discrimination. Caption: Nisha Popat at the Bobby's deli counter Credit: Nisha Popat
In 1972, the dictator Idi Amin announced that all Asians had just 90 days to leave Uganda. Teacher Nurdin Dawood, who had a young family, didn't at first believe that Amin was serious. But soon he was desperately searching for a new country to call home. Farhana Dawood spoke to her father Nurdin Dawood in 2011. This programme contains descriptions of racial discrimination.
Caption: President of Uganda Idi Amin. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images
Many South Asians migrated to Kenya in the early 20th century. They lived in a society divided by race and experienced discrimination from the white rulers, and after Independence, from black Kenyans too. Saleem Sheikh’s parents fled South Asia for Kenya to escape the violence of partition. His family joined a thriving Asian community there. But, they were forced to leave in 1967 after a rise in violence against the Asian population. This programme contains descriptions of racial discrimination. (Photograph of Saleem Sheikh (bottom right) with his brothers and sisters in Nairobi, Kenya in the 1960s)
In the early 20th century, South Asians migrated to Uganda in search of a better life. Jamie Govani’s grandparents married in Gujarat, India, in the 1920s. They were excited by the economic prospects in Uganda so they moved there with their young family. Jamie told Ben Henderson how it was a wonderful place to grow up, but racial segregation lingered in the background, and things began to change after Ugandan independence in 1962. (Picture of Jamie Govani's family in Uganda in the 1950s) The following programme has been updated since its original broadcast.
In 1971, young communist Bob Newland left the UK and headed to South Africa to take part in a secret mission to support the African National Congress. Known as one of the London Recruits, he took gunpowder from the UK to make bombs that would scatter leaflets on the streets containing information that a post Apartheid South Africa was possible. Bob has been speaking to Alex Collins.
On 28 July 1976, one of the deadliest earthquakes in modern history hit the city of Tangshan in north-eastern China - killing hundreds of thousands of people. Lucy Burns spoke to eye-witness Yu Suyun in 2016.
(Photo: A building in Tangshan after the earthquake. Credit: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
By the 1990s, nicotine patches became commercially available all over the world but their origins go back to the early 1980s, when Dr Daniel Rose suggested to his brother Professor Jed Rose, to look into creating a nicotine patch. The idea turned into an invention with the help of Murray Jarvik. Professor Rose tells his story to Ashley Byrne. A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.
(Photo: image of a nicotine patch on a man's chest. Credit: Getty Images)
In 2016, Ukrainian hackers leaked thousands of emails belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin's right hand man, Vladislav Surkov.
They provided a rare glimpse into the inner workings of the Kremlin and fresh insight into the invasion in Ukraine.
Rachel Naylor speaks to Alya Shandra, the journalist who read them all.
(Photo: Vladislav Surkov in 2008. Credit: DMITRY ASTAKHOV/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1990, Ukrainian students went on a hunger strike that helped bring down the Soviet regime there. It took place in Kyiv’s central square and inspired later protests against Russian influence in Ukraine: the 2004 Orange Revolution and the 2014 Maidan Revolution. The granite floor of the square provided its name: the ‘Revolution on Granite’. Ben Henderson spoke to Oksana Zabuzhko, an award-winning Ukrainian author, who participated in the protest when she was a recent university graduate. (Photo: Oksana Zabuzhko wearing a red jumper at the Revolution on Granite in 1990)
In 1996, sitcom Papa Ajasco first hit Nigerian TV screens. Following the ups and downs of the Ajasco family – it quickly became one of the most successful TV shows in Nigerian history. Alex Collins speaks to its creator Wale Adenuga ( photo - The cast of Papa Ajasco - credit Wale Adenuga.)
The most successful TV spy series ever to be broadcast in the USSR, went on air in 1973. The central character was a Soviet secret agent in Nazi Germany, Max Otto von Stierlitz. In 2017, Dina Newman spoke to actor Eleonora Shashkova who played Stierlitz's wife.
(Photo: the script-writer Julian Semenov (l) and actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov, who played Stierlitz (r), on set in Moscow in 1972. Credit: courtesy of Julian Semenov Foundation.)
Dallas was already a hit American TV series in 1980. But when its leading man, JR, was shot, the reaction worldwide was extraordinary. Claire Bowes spoke to Larry Hagman, who played JR, in 2010.
(Picture: Larry Hagman leaning out of a car window. Credit: Getty Images)
A ground-breaking Indian cookery programme broadcast on the BBC, launched 40 years ago. It was presented by actor turned food writer, Madhur Jaffrey. She’s been speaking to Farhana Haider about the programme.
(Photo: Madhur Jaffrey in front of a table of food. Credit: BBC)
In 1987, broadcaster Televisa set up a drama school in Mexico City to train actors for its hugely popular telenovelas, Mexican soap operas. The Centro de Educación Artística became one of the most successful drama schools in Latin America.
Rachel Naylor speaks to the founder and director, Eugenio Cobo, and one of its first students, Alexis Ayala.
(Image: Eugenio Cobo. Credit: Televisa)
The contraceptive pill first was approved for use in the US in 1960. But it wasn't until 1999, that women in Japan were allowed to take oral contraceptives. In 2020, Rebecca Kesby spoke to politician Yoriko Madoka, who fought for the right for Japanese women to take the pill.
(Photo: A collection of contraceptive pills. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1951, in a lab in Mexico City, Austrian chemist Dr Carl Djerassi created a synthetic hormone from wild yams. It would go on to become the Pill's active ingredient.
Rachel Naylor brings together archive interviews with Dr Djerassi.
PHOTO: Carl Djerassi in 1992 (BBC Copyright)
In 1956, Tunisia became the first country in the Muslim world to legalise civil divorce and abortion. President Bourguiba also gave women the vote and widened access to education. In 2019, Nidale Abou Mrad spoke to Saida El Gueyed, a founding member of the Tunisian Women's Union.
(Image shows Tunisian Women’s Union speaking at an event. Credit: Courtesy of Saida El Gueyed)
In 1993 Poland introduced some of the most stringent abortion laws in Europe. It followed the fall of Communism in 1989. Ewa Kowaleska was among those who campaigned for the new law, she’s been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Image: Ewa Kowaleska speaking at an event. Credit: Ewa Kowaleska)
In the 1960s, a young mother, Diane Munday became well-known in Britain for her work demanding abortion rights for women. She and others in the campaign faced fierce opposition, but in 1967 abortion was legalised in England, Scotland and Wales under certain circumstances. Diane has been speaking to Laura Jones.
(Image: Diane Munday at her desk in the 1960s. Credit: Diane Munday)
In 1961 the first openly gay person ran for public office in the United States. He was called Jose Sarria and he was a drag queen. He was determined that gay people would no longer be second-class citizens and paved the way for future openly gay candidates, such as Harvey Milk. Josephine McDermott speaks to Jose’s friend and fellow drag performer Mike Michelle.
(Photo: Jose Sarria in drag. Credit: The Jose Sarria Foundation)
Credits: Jose Sarria archive material from the documentary, Nelly Queen: The Life and Times of Jose Sarria by kind permission of its director Joseph Castel. Black Cat monologue recorded by Ball Records.
In 1928 Dr George Papanicoloau, a Greek immigrant living in New York, discovered he could detect pre-cancerous cell changes in the cervix. This led to the development of the smear test which has meant millions of women worldwide have not had to face cancer.
Dr Papanicoloau's great niece Olga Stamatiou speaks to Laura Jones.
(Image shows Dr Papanicoloau examining a slide in a laboratory. Credit: Getty Images)
The south-east region of Nigeria declared itself to be the independent state of Biafra. In response, Nigerian forces invaded the state on 6 July 1967, beginning the Nigerian civil war. More than a million people died before the fighting stopped. We bring you one child’s story of getting caught up in the frontline. In 2021 Paul Waters spoke to Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe, now better known as TV and music star Patti Boulaye, who was 13 years old when she had to try to escape the conflict.
(Photo: The 13-year-old Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe, courtesy of Patti Boulaye)
In 1968 and early 1969 university students across Japan fought pitched battles with riot police after they barricaded themselves into their lecture halls and went on strike. They were protesting about the poor quality of their education and the inequalities of Japanese society in a period of rapid economic change. Emily Finch talks to Kazuki Kumamoto who was a young student who joined the protests. This is a Whistledown production for BBC World Service.
(Photo of a policeman looking at Tokyo University Building. Credit: Getty Images)
It is 10 years since scientists in Geneva said they believed they had found the Higgs boson - known by some as the God particle. In July 2012 after more than 40 years of searching, two teams on different experiments at the Large Hadron Collider confirmed the existence of the particle which gives everything mass. Dr André David from CERN speaks to Laura Jones.
(Image: Artistic view of the Brout-Englert-Higgs Field. Credit: CERN)
In the 1950s and '60s hundreds of thousands of Chinese people fled to the British colony of Hong Kong to escape famine. Conditions for the arrivals were so desperate that some families chose to abandon their children in the streets so they would be taken in by orphanages. Many were adopted in homes in Britain and other English-speaking countries. Laura FitzPatrick talks to one of the adopted children, now known as Debbie Cook.
(Photo: The young Debbie Cook with kind permission from the family)
A unique way of life came to an end in Hong Kong in 1993 when Kowloon Walled City was demolished. When the rest of Hong Kong was a British colony, the seven acres of the Walled City were still nominally under the control of mainland China - but it became a lawless world of its own. At one point it was one of the most of the most densely populated places the world has ever seen. Lucy Burns speaks to Albert Ng, who grew up in Kowloon Walled City, and urban designer Suenn Ho, who studied it before its demolition.
(Photo: Credit: Getty Images)
In May 1985 Hong Kong inflicted an unexpected footballing defeat on their neighbours and rivals China in a World Cup qualifying game in Beijing. The disappointed Chinese fans rioted and the Hong Kong team had to flee to the safety of their hotel. They later returned home to a heroes welcome. Ashley Byrne talks to Hong Kong manager, Lawrence Kee Yu Kam.
(Photo: Lawrence Kee Yu Kam with a photo of his team celebrating in their hotel in 1985. Credit: Private Collection of Lawrence Kee Yu Kam)
A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service
In 1997 Hong Kong was handed back to China after more than 150 years of British rule. There were ceremonies and fireworks to celebrate the end of colonialism - but some residents were not happy. Emily Lau was a leading democracy campaigner at the time and tells Mike Gallagher about that day.
(Photo: Getty Images)
In 1997 Hong Kong was a buzzing hub of capitalism surrounded by a communist state. It was also a colonial relic - still ruled largely from Britain. It was the job of former Governor General, Chris Patten, to hand it over to China. He tells Louise Hidalgo about it.
(Photo of Chris Patten handing over flag at ceremony in Hong Kong. Credit: Getty Images)
The UK’s first official gay Pride march took place 50 years ago - 1st July 1972. Alex Collins talks to Ted Brown who took part in the London march. Photo - Ted Brown taken in 1971
In June 2012, Egypt held its first ever free democratic presidential election. Mohamed Morsi, representing the Muslim Brotherhood, emerged victorious. Ben Henderson spoke to Rabab El-Mahdi, Chief Strategist to one of Morsi’s rival candidates. She described what it was like to be involved in the first election of its kind, how Morsi tried to recruit her, and the personal impact of political campaigning in such a polarised country. (Photo of Mohamed Morsi in 2012 by Ed Giles/Getty Images)
In June 1982 a young Chinese-American engineer was murdered with a baseball bat by two white men in the US city of Detroit. The lenient sentences the perpetrators received sparked an Asian-American civil rights movement with protests across the US. At the time, America was going through an economic depression and many were blaming Japan which was perceived to be flooding the US with its cars. For Asian-Americans it was a time of fear. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Helen Zia, one of the activists leading the fight for justice. This programme was first broadcast in 2017.
Photo: Helen Zia addressing a 10th anniversary commemoration event New York City, 1992. Credit: Helen Zia.
In 1985 the first robot-assisted medical surgery took place in Vancouver, Canada. It’s now become a standard feature of operating theatres worldwide. The original gadget was named Arthrobot. A key member of the original project team Geof Auchinleck tells his story to Kurt Brookes. A Made in Manchester production.
Photo: Arthrobot in action (Credit: Geof Auchinleck)
In 2003 Dr Nayana Patel, who ran her own fertility clinic in the state of Gujarat in India, carried out her first surrogacy procedure. It was a purely altruistic case and involved a surrogate mother and her own daughter. Dr Patel's clinic would go on to become one of the biggest in India attracting Western couples in a country where women were paid to become surrogates. It was legalised in 2002 but due to growing criticism, the government banned couples from the West from paying Indian surrogates to bear their children in 2015, arguing that the industry was exploiting poor women. Reena Stanton-Sharma spoke to Dr Nayana Patel.
In 2009, a UN-backed war crimes tribunal opened in Cambodia to try the senior Khmer Rouge commanders responsible for the genocide of an estimated two million people during Pol Pot’s regime in the late 1970s. Josephine McDermott talks to New Zealander Rob Hamill, who testified against the notorious prison camp chief known as Comrade Duch. Rob Hamill’s brother Kerry was killed by the Khmer Rouge after mistakenly sailing into Cambodian waters.
(Photo: Kerry Hamill aboard his boat. Credit: Rob Hamill)
This year is the 100th anniversary of Ulysses by James Joyce, a landmark modernist novel and one of the most influential works of the 20th century. Ulysses is the story of one day in the life of a young Irishman in Dublin; that day, June the 16th, is now known as Bloomsday. To mark Bloomsday, Simon Watts brings together the memories of some of Joyce’s friends, as recorded in the BBC archives. The programme was first broadcast in 2012.
PHOTO: James Joyce in 1930 (Roger Viollet via Getty Images)
In 1985, a unique High School opened in New York to provide a safe environment for LGBT students needing specialised education. The publicly-funded Harvey Milk High School was founded by former social worker, Steve Askinazy. Initially, it faced some opposition from the media and Christian groups, but the school eventually expanded and currently takes about 60 students a year. Alex Collins talks to Steve Askinazy.
PHOTO: A protest outside the Harvey Milk High School in 1985 (Getty Images)
It’s 50 years since Kim Phuc's village in Vietnam was bombed with napalm. The photograph of her, running burned and crying away from the attack, became one of the iconic images of the Vietnam War. Christopher Wain was one of the journalists who witnessed the attack, and who helped save her. This programme brings Kim Phuc and Christopher Wain together in conversation. It is a Made in Manchester production.
Photo: Vietnamese-Canadian Phan Thi Kim Phuc delivers her speech before her June 8, 1972 Pulitzer-Prize-winning photograph during the Vietnam war, during a lecture meeting in Nagoya, Aichi prefecture on April 13, 2013. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.
A violent sectarian dispute took place outside Holy Cross primary school in Belfast in 2001. Loyalist protesters tried to block Catholic pupils and their parents going to school for months. Rachel Naylor spoke to one of the parents, Elaine Burns.
(Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Image)
In the early 2000s, Sampat Pal Devi, a villager from a remote part of India's Uttar Pradesh state, started a women's rights group which now has thousands of followers across the country. The Gulabi Gang were originally vigilantes who fought back with sticks against wife-beaters, rapists and corrupt police officers. Now a more mainstream organisation, the Gulabi Gang are known for wearing pink saris and have even inspired a Bollywood film. Sampat Pal Devi talks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.
In 2006, Sri Lanka’s current president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, came within metres of death when he was targeted in a suicide bomb attack in Colombo. The attack was orchestrated by the Tamil Tigers during what was supposed to be a ceasefire in Sri Lanka’s long-standing civil war. Matt Pintus has been speaking to former Sri Lankan foreign minister, Pali Palihakkara, who was injured in the blast.
Photo: Burning car after explosion (Getty Images)
In 2002 Omar Bongo, the president of Gabon, set up a network of national parks to protect the country's forests from logging and help save its population of forest elephants. He was responding to pressure from campaigners worried by a surge in logging over the previous decade. Among them was a British biologist called Lee White, who went on to become Gabon's Minister of Forests and the Environment. Lee White talks to Laura Jones.
Photo: A forest elephant in Gabon (Getty Images)
In June 1947, one of the most powerful accounts of the Holocaust - the Diary of Anne Frank - was published for the first time. In her diary, the teenager described her life in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands up until shortly before she was arrested and sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In 2012, Mike Lanchin spoke to Anne Frank's cousin, the late Buddy Elias.
PHOTO: Anne Frank (Press Association)
In June 1968, US presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy was assassinated shortly after addressing his supporters at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. It was less than five years after his older brother, President John F Kennedy, had also been assassinated. Sirhan Sirhan was convicted of the crime, but many - including Kennedy's friend Paul Schrade - suspect a second gunman was involved. Schrade was shot himself that night and he told Rebecca Kesby about why he’s campaigning for the case to be reopened.
PHOTO: Robert Kennedy speaking at the Ambassador Hotel shortly before his assassination (Getty Images)
As the Queen celebrates her Platinum Jubilee weekend, Claire Bowes takes us back to her Coronation in London's Westminster Abbey in June 1953. In 2013, she brought together the memories of two of the Maids of Honour, Lady Anne Glenconner and Lady Jane Vane-Tempest-Stewart. (Photo by Bela Zola/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
In 2013, more than a thousand people are thought to have died in a chemical weapons attack on a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus called Ghouta. It was the single deadliest attack of the Syrian civil war and the UN later confirmed that the nerve agent Sarin had been used. Louise Hidalgo speaks to Angela Kane, the former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. Her team of chemical weapons inspectors reached the site in Ghouta just days after the attack.
PHOTO: A UN inspector at work in Ghouta in August 2013 (AFP/Getty Images)
It's 10 years since Za’atari refugee camp was set up in Jordan to take in the thousands of people fleeing Syria because of the civil war. It's now the biggest camp for Syrian refugees. Mayada Masalmeh and her family arrived in 2013 from their hometown just over the border, thinking it would be a short stay. Laura Jones hears from Mayada and her daughter.
With thanks to BBC Arabic's Diala Al-Azzeh and Randa Darwish.
Photo: Za'atari Refugee Camp in 2021 by Getty Images.
In March 2022 a law was passed in the United States making lynching a federal crime - nearly 120 years after the first attempts to introduce legislation. The pioneering African-American journalist Ida B Wells first campaigned for the change in the 1890s after realising the horror of lynching taking place across the country. Laura Jones has been speaking to her great-granddaughter Michelle Duster.
PHOTO: Ida B Wells in 1920 (Chicago History Museum/Getty Images)
In May 1972, Japanese gunmen attacked Lod airport in Tel Aviv, Israel. They were left-wing militants working for a Palestinian organisation. Twenty-six people were killed that day and more than 70 others were injured. In 2011, Simon Watts spoke to Ros Sloboda, one of the survivors of the shooting.
PHOTO: Kozo Okamoto, one of the Japanese gunmen, on trial in Israeli in 1972 (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Georgia O'Keeffe was one of the world's most influential female artists - in 2014, her painting "Jimson Weed" sold for the highest price ever paid for a work by a woman. Famous for her vivid oil paintings of flowers, landscapes and animal skulls, she lived and worked in the wild dry canyons and deserts of New Mexico in the southern United States. Lucy Burns speaks to her former assistant Agapita Judy Lopez.
PHOTO: Georgia O'Keeffe's "Cow skull" on display at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2014 (Getty Images)
in April 1966 thousands of artists and performers from all over Africa descended on the Senegalese capital, Dakar, for the first World Festival of Black Arts. Ibrahim el-Salahi and Elimo Njau are two leading African artists who took part in that first festival. The spoke to Ashley Byrne in 2016
Photo: Poster from the first World Festival of Black Arts.
In 1966, a Russian painter and archaeologist, Igor Savitsky, created a museum in the remote desert of Uzbekistan, where he stored tens of thousands of works of art that he had saved from Stalin's censors. The Savitsky museum, in Nukus, is now recognised as one of the greatest collections of Russian avant-garde art in the world. In 2016, Louise Hidalgo spoke to the son and grandson of one of the artists, Alexander Volkov, whose work Savitsky saved.
(Photo:the Karakalpak Museum of Art, home of the Savitsky art collection. Credit: Chip HIRES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
The great Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, died in 1954, at the age of 47. The art critic, Raquel Tibol, lived in Frida's house during the last year of the artist's life. In 2014 she spoke to Mike Lanchin about the pain and torment of Kahlo's final days.
PHOTO: Frida Kahlo at her home in Mexico City in 1952 (Getty Images)
In the summer of 1951 a young art historian called John Richardson met one of the greatest painters of the modern era. Richardson was part of Picasso's circle in the South of France for the rest of the 1950s and then spent the rest of his life writing the definitive biography of the Spanish artist. John Richardson spoke to Laura Sheeter in 2011. He died in 2019.
PHOTO: Pablo Picasso in Cannes in 1955 (Getty Images)
In May 1959, Kelso Cochrane, a carpenter who'd emigrated to Britain from Antigua, was knifed to death by a gang of white youths in West London. The unsolved murder came at a time of racial tension in the area and led to the first official inquiry into race relations in British history. For its part, the large Caribbean community in West London responded by creating the cultural festival that became the Notting Hill Carnival. Claire Bowes talks to Victoria Christian, a friend of Kelso Cochrane.
PHOTO: The funeral of Kelso Cochrane in 1959 (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
The former president of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos Senior is thought to have plundered a huge amount of public money during military rule in the 1970s and '80s. He spent the fortune on foreign properties and the luxury lifestyle enjoyed by his wife, Imelda Marcos. American lawyer Robert Swift has spent decades trying to recover that money so it can paid out as compensation to the thousands of Filipinos who were imprisoned or tortured during martial law. He spoke to Matt Pintus.
(Photo: Imelda Marcos and Ferdinand Marcos Senior in Manila in 1977. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1937, Japanese forces entered Shanghai - spelling the end of a period when the Chinese city had been a thriving commercial centre governed by international powers and known as the "Paris of the East". During the eight-year Japanese occupation, local people in Shanghai endured starvation and brutal treatment; while foreigners scrambled to escape as their lifestyle of servants and glamourous parties slowly disappeared. Josephine McDermott speaks to Liliane Willens, who lived through the invasion and occupation of Asia's most international city.
PHOTO: Japanese troops in Shanghai in 1937 (Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)
Following the closure of McDonald’s in Russia, we’re going back to January 1990 when the global fast food giant opened its first restaurant in Moscow. In 2015, Mike Lanchin spoke to George Cohon, the man who brought the Big Mac to what was then the communist USSR, and to Sveta Polyakova, one of the first locals to work there.
PHOTO: A Soviet police officer outside the first McDonald's (Getty Images)
In 1986, four days of huge public protests brought down President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines. Kate McGowan, in Manila, talks to the leading Filipino novelist, Jose Dalisay, about the demonstrations. This edition of Witness History was first broadcast in 2011.
PHOTO: Filipino troops celebrating the fall of President Marcos (Getty Images)
With speculation mounting that President Putin might mount an attack on Moldova, we're going back to the early 1990s and a war between the Moldovans and Russian-backed separatists in the disputed region of Transnistria. Several hundred people died in a conflict which ended in a stalemate in 1992. Matt Pintus speaks to former journalist and Moldovan defence minister, Viorel Cibotaru.
PHOTO: Russian-speaking Transnistrian fighters during the war (Getty Images)
In 2010, a previously little-known Icelandic volcano erupted twice, sending a huge plume of volcanic ash all over Europe. The ash cloud grounded flights for days, causing inconvenience for millions of passengers. Reena Stanton-Sharma talks to Icelandic geophysicist and Eyjafjallajökull-watcher, Sigrun Hreinsdottir.
(Photo: The awesome power of Eyjafjallajökull. Credit: Getty Images)
In May 1980 China allowed capitalist activity for the first time since the Communist Revolution, in four designated cities known as the Special Economic Zones. The most successful was Shenzhen, which grew from a mainly rural area specialising in pigs and lychees to one of China's biggest cities. In 2017 Lucy Burns spoke to Yong Ya, a musician who has lived in Shenzhen since the 1980s, and to ethnographer Mary Ann O'Donnell.
PHOTO: A giant poster of Chinese patriarch Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen, the first of China's special economic zones (Getty Images)
In 1983, during a tense period of the Cold War, Soviet nuclear officials received a computer warning suggesting that the United States had fired five nuclear missiles towards Moscow. Fortunately, the officer on duty, Lieutenant Colonel Stanislav Petrov, realised the warning was a false alarm and advised his commanders against a retaliatory strike against America. Alex Last hears his story, as told in 2008 to the BBC's Jonathan Charles. Stanislav Petrov died in 2017.
PHOTO: Stanislav Petrov pictured in 2004 (Getty Images)
In the 1980s, the minority Uyghur community in China staged some of the first protests against the all-powerful Communist Party. The Uyghurs were demanding that the Chinese government keep its promises to protect their culture and grant them political autonomy in Xinjiang region. In 1989, many Uyghur students enthusiastically supported the pro-democracy demonstrations centred on Beijing's Tiananmen Square. One of them was Aziz Isa Elkun, who talks to Josephine McDermott.
PHOTO: A Uyghur yurt on the Xinjiang steppe (Getty Images)
The Israel scientist Raphael Mechoulam has been researching what’s thought to be the world’s most popular drug since the 1960s. In 1964, he isolated Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC – the compound that gets cannabis-users high. Later, professor Mechoulam discovered another compound called CBD, or Cannabidiol, which has medical benefits without any kind of psychoactive effect. Recently, CBD has had a revolutionary impact on treating health conditions such as epilepsy. Prof Mechoulam talks to Claire Bowes.
(Photo: A marihuana plant in India. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1973, a landmark decision was made in the US Supreme Court which made abortion legal. The late Sarah Weddington brought the case, even though she was fresh out of law school at the time. She spoke to Chloe Hadjimatheou in 2012. Sarah Weddington died in December 2021.
(Photo: Sarah Weddington pictured in 1979. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1982 British soldier Simon Weston was severely burned when Argentine planes bombed his ship, the Sir Galahad, as it unloaded troops in the Falkland Islands. Scott Wright hears how Weston was not initially expected to survive, and how he later met and forgave one of the Argentine pilots who caused his life-changing injuries. The interview was produced by Alan Hamilton and the programme is a Moon Road Production.
PHOTO: Simon Weston (Getty Images)
The Argentine ship, General Belgrano, was sunk by a British submarine during the Falklands War on 2nd of May 1982. 323 people died in the attack. Dario Volonte, now an opera singer, was one of the survivors and in 2014 he spoke to Louise Hidalgo about the attack.
Photo: The General Belgrano. (Credit: Getty Images)
During Algeria's War of Independence, a group of Algerian players secretly left their clubs in France to form their own national team. Some had already been selected to play for France in the upcoming World Cup Finals in 1958. In 2014, Saint Etienne striker, Rashid Mekhloufi, spoke to Mike Lanchin about the day that changed his footballing life.
Photo: The 1958 Algerian revolutionary team, reunited 30 years later. Rashid Mekhloufi is second from the right, front row
More than 200,000 Algerians fought for France during the war of independence, becoming known as Harkis. After Algeria's independence in 1962, the Harkis were treated badly by both the Algerians and the French. The FLN regarded the Harkis as traitors; while the French washed their hands of them after losing the war. Brahim Sadouni was one of the Harkis. He spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2010 about how he was rejected by his own father.
PHOTO: Harki forces in 1959 (Jean-Louis SWINERS/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
During their country's War of Independence, Algerian fighters from the FLN also targeted the French mainland, killing police officers in Paris and other cities. In October 1961, French police turned against Algerian demonstrators in the capital who'd been called out onto the streets by the FLN. Dozens were shot, others drowned in the River Seine. For decades, the killings were not officially acknowledged. In 2011, Jannat Jalil heard from one man whose sister died that day.
Photo: Algerian demonstrators under arrest after a rally in Paris in October1961 (AFP/Getty Images)
In the late 1950s a young Frenchman, who now goes by the name Ted Morgan, was conscripted to fight for France against Algeria's independence fighters. He served as an intelligence officer during the Battle of Algiers, and over sixty years later he is still haunted by what he saw, and did. This included involvement in the systematic torture by the French of members of Algeria's National Liberation Front or FLN. Ted Morgan spoke to Roger Hardy in 2010.
(Photo: French soldiers in the Casbah of Algiers in 1960. Credit: Getty Images)
Zohra Drif was 21 years old when she planted a bomb that exploded at a busy ice-cream parlour in Algiers. The Algerian student targeted the venue in 1956 during her country’s war of independence with France, because she knew it would be frequented by European settlers. Dozens of civilians were maimed by the blast, which marked the start of a new phase of urban conflict known as the Battle of Algiers. Nick Holland hears from Zohra Drif about what happened that day, and from Danielle Chich, who was enjoying a cold treat at the café when the bomb went off.
PHOTO: Zohra Drif after her arrest in 1957 (AFP/Getty Images)
It's 90 years since hundreds of walkers organised a mass trespass on a mountain in the English Peak District called Kinder Scout. It was a major step in the fight by workers in the northern industrial city of Manchester for access to the surrounding countryside, much of which was in private hands. In 2012, Simon Watts brought together the memories of survivors of the Trespass as recorded in the BBC archives.
PHOTO: The countryside around Kinder Scout (Getty Images)
The story of a boy caught up in the forgotten war for Kurdish autonomy in Iran in 1979. During the Iranian revolution, Kurdish groups had joined the struggle to end the rule of the Shah. They wanted greater autonomy for Iran's Kurdish minority. But after the revolution, the new Islamic regime rejected that demand. A conflict erupted between government forces and Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, which lasted for years and left thousands dead. Kameel Ahmady is an anthropologist and researcher. At the time he was a boy living in the ethnically-mixed town of Naqadeh in northwest Iran. He tells Alex Last how, as demands for autonomy grew, his town became the scene of bitter ethnic fighting.
Photo: Armed Kurdish villagers after the revolution in Iran, March 1979. (François LOCHON/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
In 1971 during the Cold War, the UK expelled 90 Soviet diplomats suspected of spying. They'd been allowed into Britain in an attempt to improve relations, but it was later discovered that they'd been carrying out espionage instead. George Walden was a young diplomat working on the Soviet Desk in the Foreign Office at the time. He spoke to Dina Newman in 2018.
PHOTO: British Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home (left) shakes hands with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko (right) at Heathrow Airport, 26th October 1970. (credit: Ian Showell/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 2006 after the US-led invasion of Iraq, women in the southern city of Basra were persecuted by militant Islamists forcing them to cover up, stay at home, and adopt an ultra-conservative Islamic code of behaviour, banning them from driving or going out alone. Some women were even killed. Mike Lanchin has spoken to one of the Basra women affected. The producer in Baghdad was Mona Mahmoud. The programme is a CTVC production.
PHOTO: Women queuing to vote in Basra in 2005 (Getty Images)
Since 1987, million of students have been able to live and study in other countries in Europe thanks to the Erasmus student exchange programme. The scheme was the result of 18 years of campaigning by Italian academic, Sofia Corradi, who saw the benefits of studying abroad herself back in the 1950s. Sofia Corradi, now known as "Mamma Erasmus", talks to Rachel Naylor, along with Lucio Picci, one of the first students to go on the programme.
PHOTO: Erasmus students based in Italy at a celebration in Rome in 2017 (Getty Images)
The World Wide Web was created in 1989 by a young British computer scientist called Tim Berners-Lee. It's been called one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and has revolutionised the way we live and interact with each other and the world, and share information and knowledge. Louise Hidalgo talks to fellow computer scientists Ben Segal and Jean Francois Groff who worked at the European scientific research centre, Cern, where Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web, and helped him realise his vision.
Picture: abstract world map with glowing networks (credit: Imaginima/Getty Images)
It’s 10 years since the dating app Tinder was set up. It sparked a revolution in online romance by offering singletons a swipe function and the possibility of viewing the profiles of potential soulmates based nearby. The app has now been downloaded by tens of millions of users worldwide. Rachel Naylor speaks to Chris Gulczynski, one of the co-founders of Tinder.
Image: The Tinder logo on a billboard in the US in 2016 (Getty Images)
In 1941, Greece was occupied by Germany and its allies. The economy quickly collapsed and food shortages spread across urban areas with terrifying speed. By the winter of that year tens of thousands were dying. Rob Walker speaks to 94 year old Athina Cacouri who was living in Athens at the time, and to the historian, Mark Mazower.
PHOTO: Two starving boys eating out of a can in Athens in 1943 (Getty Images)
In 2002 the former Serbian president, Slobodan Milosevic, went on trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague on war crimes charges relating to the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia. The man once known as the 'Butcher of the Balkans' would die in prison before the trial had concluded. In 2017, Louise Hidalgo spoke to two lawyers, Zdenko Tomanovic and Steven Kay QC, who worked on Slodan Milosevic's defence.
PHOTO: Slobodan Milosevic on trial in The Hague in 2002 (PAUL VREEKER/AFP/Getty Images)
When war broke out in Kosovo in 1998, Nato intervened with air strikes to prevent atrocities by Serbian forces. The late Madeleine Albright was then the US Secretary of State and the main proponent of action. In 2018, she explained to Rebecca Kesby why she argued for military intervention, and how it was motivated, in part, by her family's experiences as Jews in Czechoslovakia during World War Two.
PHOTO: An F-16 jet at Nato's Aviano base in Italy during the air strikes on Kosovo (Getty Images)
With fears rising that the war in Ukraine might spark a big rise in global food prices, we're going back 50 years to the story of how a drought in the bread basket of the Soviet Union led to a catastrophic trade deal between Moscow and Washington. The Nixon White House unwittingly signed a grain financing contract that crippled American farmers, fuelled inflation and sent world cereal prices through the roof. Laura Jones speaks to investigative journalist Martha Hamilton and former Soviet crop scientist, Dr Felix Kogan, about what became known as "The Great Grain Robbery".
PHOTO: Golden wheat on a farm in the US state of Nebraska in the 1970s (Denver Post/Getty Images)
In 1975, Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts met up in space and shook hands. Millions watched on TV as the two spacecraft docked together and the door between the ships opened. The handshake between the two Cold War superpowers was hailed as a symbol of efforts towards peace and stability. Nick Holland tells the story with the help of former NASA chief historian, Bill Barry.
(Photo The Handshake in Space. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
In late December 1979, the world held its breath as thousands of Soviet troops were sent into Afghanistan. Moscow said the troops would be there six months, to help bring peace to the country. In fact, the Soviet army stayed almost ten years, and Afghanistan came to be seen as the Soviet Union's Vietnam. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to journalist Andrei Ostalski and former soldier Vyacheslav Ismailov about that time.
Picture: Soviet tanks in front of the Darulaman Palace in Kabul (Credit: Henri Bureau/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
In our second programme on the Falklands War, Witness History hears from an Argentine soldier who fought in the conflict. Miguel Savage recalls the atrocious weather conditions faced by Argentine conscripts, as well as their mistreatment by officers. And he remembers a terrifying final attack by British troops shortly before the Argentine surrender. Presented by Simon Watts; original interview conducted in 2012 by Tim Sturtridge.
PHOTO: Argentine troops in the Falklands shortly after the invasion (Getty Image)
In 2013, three women escaped from a cult that had been based in an ordinary house in Brixton, South London, since the 1970s. The cult was led by Aravindan Balakrishnan, a former student at the London School of Economics, who claimed to be a Maoist revolutionary, but actually brainwashed his followers and kept them prisoner in cruel and violent conditions. The Metropolitan Police said it was the worst case of its kind they had ever seen. Reena Stanton-Sharma talks to Katy Morgan-Davies, one of the women who escaped the cult.
PHOTO: Aravindan Balakrishnan in 2015 (Getty Images)
Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" was sold at auction at Christie's in London in March 1987 for 39.9 million dollars - then a world record and more than double the previous top price paid for an artwork at auction. The sale made front-page headlines and is now seen as the moment the international art market went through the roof. Uma Doraiswamy talks to Lord Charles Hindlip, then the chairman of Christie's and the man who auctioned the painting.
PHOTO: "Sunflowers" arriving in Japan in 1987 after its sale at Christie's (Getty Images)
Aina-E-Zan, the first women's newspaper in Afghanistan, was launched in 2002. Edited by Shukria Barazkai, the newspaper covered women's rights issues in depth, as well as criticizing the warlords who controlled much of the country at the time. Even though this was a relatively open period in Afghan history, the women journalists still faced death threats and at one point Aina-E-Zan was even banned by the Afghan parliament after it printed an article about a woman being stoned. Shukria Barazkai talks to Laura Jones.
PHOTO: Shukria Barazkai in 2005 (Getty Images)
World-renowned street artist Banksy started spray-painting the walls of his home city of Bristol in the 1990s. It is widely believed that his first large mural was a piece called Mild, Mild West painted on a wall next to a record shop. Jim Paine owned the shop and has been telling Bethan Head how he played a pivotal role in getting Banksy to do the artwork in the first place.
(Graffiti street art, entitled Mild, Mild West, by British street artist Banksy, is pictured on the side of a building in Bristol, south west England, on May 8, 2019.. Credit: Geoff Caddick/Getty Images)
Starting in late 2011, tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets to try to stop what they saw as a power grab by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The demonstrators wanted to stop what they considered a fraudulent parliamentary election and a surprise announcement that Putin would run for president for a third time. The movement was not successful, but analysts say it worried the Russian leader so much that he launched a crackdown on dissent that has lasted to this day. Rachel Naylor talks to Russian rock journalist, Artemy Troitsky, who composed a song that became an anthem of what was sometimes called the "Snow Revolution".
(Photo: An anti-Putin rally in Moscow in December 2011. Credit: Getty Images)
Artek, on the shores of the Black Sea in Crimea, was the Soviet Union's most popular holiday camp. Thousands of children visited every year. Maria Kim Espeland went there in the 1980s. She spoke to Lucy Burns in 2014.
Photo: Group of children attending Artek. (Credit: Irina Vlasova)
During World War Two, Ukraine was occupied by Nazi Germany and on 29th September 1941, the organised massacre of Ukrainian Jews began. In the capital Kyiv, most of the victims were taken to a ravine on the outskirts of the city called Babi Yar, and shot. In 2011, David Stern spoke to Raissa Maistrenko, who escaped the shooting as a three-year-old girl, and to Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny, whose mother survived the Holocaust outside the city.
PHOTO: The memorial at the Babi Yar site near Kyiv (Getty Images)
Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited the Soviet-era atomic weapons on its soil and became - for a few years - the world's third biggest nuclear power. After months of tense diplomacy, the newly independent Ukraine agreed to give up the weapons in return for what were termed "assurances" about its future security and territorial integrity. These "assurances" were agreed by Russia, the USA and Britain in the Budapest Memorandum, signed in December 1994. They are now controversial given the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 and then the rest of Ukraine in 2022. Louise Hidalgo talks to Steven Pifer, a senior American diplomat involved in the talks.
PHOTO: Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators in London in 2022 (Getty Images)
In April 1986 a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, in the USSR, causing the worst nuclear accident ever. Sergii Mirnyi was in charge of a monitoring unit which measured radiation levels in the 30 km exclusion zone around the plant.
(Photo: The Chernobyl plant shortly after the explosion in 1986. Credit: Getty Images)
The Shard - one of the dominant features of the London skyline - opened to the public in February 2013. Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the skyscraper divided public opinion: it features tall, fractured slivers of glass rising in a pyramid-like shape to a jagged spire. The Shard is also home to London's highest viewing gallery. Reena Stanton-Sharma talks to engineer, Roma Agrawal, who helped build the Shard.
PHOTO: The Shard towering over South London (Getty Images)
When the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati opened to the public in 2003 it wowed both the public and critics. With its undulating curves and galleries that interlock, it was the first major project that the renowned architect had completed, and also the first American museum to be designed by a woman. The New York Times hailed the Contemporary Arts Center as the most important building to be completed in the US since the Cold War. Farhana Haider has been listening to archive interviews with the late Zaha Hadid and speaking to Jay Chatterjee, Dean Emeritus at the college of Design Architecture, Art and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. He was on the panel that chose her ground-breaking design.
Photo Credit Courtesy of the Contemporary Arts Center
A vast new monument was opened to the public in Tehran in early 1972. It was called Shahyad and was dedicated to centuries of Iranian royalty. After the Islamic revolution of 1979 the monument's name changed to the Azadi or Freedom Tower, but it has remained a centrepiece for public events and demonstrations in the city. In 2016, Rozita Riazati spoke to Hossein Amanat, the young architect hired to design it.
PHOTO: The Azadi tower in 2016 (Getty Images)
After the trauma of Partition in 1947, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru persuaded the maverick Swiss-French architect, Le Corbusier, to build a new capital city for the province of Punjab. He hoped the project would symbolise a newly-independent, forward-looking India. Le Corbusier had revolutionised architecture and urban planning in the first half of the twentieth century. He was loved and hated in equal measure for his modernist approach, favouring flat roofs, glass walls and concrete. In 2016, Claire Bowes spoke to Sumit Kaur, former Chief Architect and lifelong resident of Chandigarh, about the legacy left by Le Corbusier.
(Photo: The Chandigarh Legislative Assembly building. 1999. Credit: John Macdougall/AFP)
In 2005 Dresden’s Lutheran church, the Frauenkirche, opened its doors to the public for the first time in 60 years. The Frauenkirche in the East German city of Dresden was destroyed in 1945 by British and American bombing. The church remained in ruins for over 40 years. Then, in 1993, a painstaking project began to piece the church back together and restore it to its former glory. Josephine Casserly talks to Thomas Gottschlich who was one of the architects leading the reconstruction.
PHOTO: Ruins of the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany after the WWII bombing in 1945. (Probst/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)
They called it "The only work you never retire from, the only work you never get paid for" and in 1972 the Italian Marxist Feminist group Lotta Feminista tried to change that. Inspired by the work of feminist theorist Mariarosa Dalla Costa, they launched an international campaign for women to be paid for housework. The movement argued that if home-making stopped, our entire economic system would grind to a halt. Claire Bowes speaks to one of the leaders of Wages for Housework, Leopoldina Fortunati, about their revolutionary campaign and how its roots go back as far as the 19th century.
PHOTO: Wages for Housework leaders Mariarosa Dalla Costa (left) and Leopoldina Fortunati (centre) at a rally in the 1970s.
In 2003, human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi became the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Six years later, she was forced into exile from Iran. Dr Ebadi has been talking to Louise Hidalgo about the award, her work and the personal price she's had to pay for it.
Picture: Dr Shirin Ebadi arriving back at Tehran airport after hearing that she'd been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, October 2003 (credit: Mohamad Eslami Rad/Getty Images)
Five Australian women made front-page news when they were sent to Melbourne's Fairlea Prison for protesting against the Vietnam War in 1971. The women were part of the Save Our Sons movement, which campaigned to stop Australians being conscripted to fight in the conflict. Their jailing sparked protests outside the prison and across Australia, and is credited with helping turn public opinion against conscription. Jean McLean -- nicknamed the "Blonde Bombshell" by the Australian tabloids -- was one of the Fairlea Five. She tells Josephine McDermott about their campaign - and the time she and a would-be conscript got in a car chase with military security.
PHOTO: A protest by the Save Our Sons movement (Getty Images)
In August 2008, Russia went to war with another former Soviet republic, Georgia. The conflict began after Georgia attempted to recapture the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which had fought a separatist war with Tbilisi during the 1990s. As fighting escalated, Russia sent in troops - seizing control of South Ossetia and also of Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia. The five-day war ended in humiliation for Georgia - several towns, a Black Sea port and military airfields were bombed by the Russian air force. Several hundred people were killed and thousands of ethnic Georgians displaced. Nick Holland reports.
PHOTO: Russian troops on their way to South Ossetia in 2008 (Getty Images)
NTV, the only nationwide independent TV channel in Russia, was taken over in April 2001. It lost its independence despite a vigorous protest campaign mounted by its staff. In 2017, Dina Newman spoke to the head of NTV at the time, Yevgeny Kiselev.
PHOTO: An NTV broadcast in 2001 (Getty Images)
On New Year's Eve 1999 the Russian President went on TV and announced he was leaving office. Tired and emotional, he apologised to the people for the state of the country. Boris Yeltsin's departure paved the way for his chosen successor, Vladimir Putin. Dina Newman spoke to the former Russian president's widow, Naina Yeltsina, about that day.
PHOTO: Boris Yeltsin in 1999 (Getty Images)
When Vladimir Putin was appointed prime minister in August 1999, he was a political unknown. He quickly made his name by ordering Russian Federation forces to re-take control of the breakaway republic of Chechnya, which just years earlier had fought and won autonomy from Moscow. It would herald the start of a brutal conflict known as the Second Chechen war. We hear an eyewitness account of the war and its brutal aftermath.
Photo: A Russian soldier walks through the streets of the destroyed Chechen capital Grozny, February 25, 2000. (Photo by Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images)
President Vladimir Putin came onto the Russian political scene in 1999 after a decade of chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union. This included a disastrous experiment with free market reforms in 1992, which led to an increase in poverty for ordinary Russians and the emergence of an elite of super-wealthy Oligarchs. In 2018, Dina Newman spoke to one of the architects of this “shock therapy” - Andrei Nechaev, who was then the Minister for Economic Development.
(Photo: Old women selling cigarettes on the streets of Moscow in 1992. Credit: BBC)
In 2014, Russia annexed the strategic Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Although Crimea was also home to a large Russian naval base, the annexation was seen by Kyiv and the world as illegal. The crisis it caused was so acute, the world seemed on the brink of a new cold war. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to one Crimean woman who lived through it.
PHOTO: A soldier without identifying insignia outside the Crimean parliament in 2014 (Getty Images)
In February 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot dead by a member of a Neighbourhood Watch group who claimed he was acting suspiciously. The unarmed black teenager was returning to a gated community in Florida after buying some snacks from a nearby convenience store His death sparked national outrage in the US over racial profiling and the first use of the slogan "Black Lives Matter". Rachel Naylor talks to Trayvon Martin's high school friend, Ashley Burch.
PHOTO: A protest demanding justice for Trayvon Martin in 2013 (Getty Images)
In World War 2, US Marines fighting in the Pacific needed to be able to communicate securely on the battlefield. Early in the war, the Japanese had been able to decode some of their encrypted messages. So the Marines turned to members of the Navajo tribe. An unbreakable code based on the Navajo language was quickly developed. And the Navajo Code Talkers went on to participate in all the major Marine operations in the Pacific, helping the Allies to victory. Rob Walker has been listening back to the story of one of the Code Talkers, Samuel Tso, and also speaking to Laura Tohe who is the daughter of a Code Talker and who has written a book about them, ‘Code Talker Stories’. The interview with Samuel Tso was reproduced with the kind permission of George Colburn. Details of his documentary about the Code Talkers can be found here: https://www.thenavajocodetalkers.com/
The full interview with Samuel Tso is available on C-SPAN, along with interviews with other Code Talkers: https://www.c-span.org/video/?459728-1/navajo-code-talker-samuel-tso-oral-history-interview
Photo: 'Code Talker' U.S. Marines George H. Kirk (left) of Ganado, Arizona and John V. Goodluck (right) of Lukachukai, Arizona, both of the Navajo Nation, are photographed before their shelter on a hillside following the American victory of the Battle of Guam, September 1944. (Photo by: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
It is 50 years since US President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China in February 1972. The visit - which included a meeting with Chairman Mao - normalised relations between the two countries for the first time in a quarter of a century. American diplomat Winston Lord was there when the two leaders came face-to-face. He spoke to Lucy Williamson for Witness History in 2009.
PHOTO: President Nixon during his visit to China (Getty Images)
In 1975 hundreds of French sex workers took refuge in churches across France to protest against police harassment, in their first ever collective action. The strike began at Saint Nizier church in Lyon but spread to other cities, including Paris, where it was reported that all sex workers were on strike. In Lyon police had begun systematically issuing fines in a crackdown on the women who found customers on the streets. Those who couldn't pay were often imprisoned for days at a time and separated from their children. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Pere Christian Delorme who helped the women and stayed with them at Saint Nizier church till police forced the women to leave after ten days protest.
Photo: June 1975, Lyon, a hundred women prostitutes occupy the church of Saint-Nizier (Alain Nogues/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
In 1989, Denmark became the first country to celebrate same-sex civil unions. In 2014, Farhana Haider spoke to Ivan Larsen and Ove Carlsen, who were one of the first couples to sign on the dotted line
The Bollywood film "Fire" was the first in Indian history to depict a lesbian relationship. Released in 1998, the movie sparked a row over censorship and then a wider debate about LGBT rights in a country where homosexuality was then illegal. In 2015, Lucy Burns met Bollywood superstar, Shabana Azmi, who played a lesbian in "Fire".
PHOTO: Shabana Azmi (AFP)
In the 1990s, doctors in Berlin began a cutting-edge treatment programme that led to a patient being cured of HIV/AIDS. The so-called "Berlin patient" was Timothy Ray Brown: he was suffering from leukemia as well as HIV/AIDS, and was given a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a rare genetic mutation which killed off the HIV virus. Timothy Ray Brown was a campaigner for AIDS research until his death, from leukemia, in 2020. Ashley Byrne speaks to his partner, Tim Hoeffgen.
PHOTO: Timothy Ray Brown in 2012 (Getty Images)
LGBT servicemen and women in the US armed forces had to keep their sexuality secret until the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy was repealed in 2011. Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack served under the policy for most of her military career. She spoke to Rachael Gillman about her experiences. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack (l) with her wife Ashley (r) and their two children. (Courtesy of Heather Mack)
How the ground-breaking film "Marble Ass" was made amid the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Petra Zivic talks to acclaimed Serbian director Zelimir Zilnik about his film which played a role in the struggle for greater recognition and rights for the LGBT community in the war-torn country.
Photo: The Serbian trans star Merlinka with Nenad Rackovic as Johnny in the Serbian film "Marble Ass" in 1994 (Credit: Zelimir Zilnik)
In late April 1972, Hutu rebels launched an insurgency in the south of Burundi with the aim of overthrowing the Tutsi led government. They brutally murdered government officials and civilians, targeting mostly Tutsi. Estimates from the time suggest at least a thousand people were killed. The army quickly contained the insurgency but then began reprisals against Hutu civilians. Hutu elites in particular were targeted – those with education or with government jobs. The killing lasted for more than 3 months. Human Rights Watch estimates as many as 200,000 were killed. Rob Walker speaks to Jeanine Ntihirageza who was an 11-year-old schoolgirl at the time and whose father went missing at the start of the reprisals.
(Photo: National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation officials inspect remains of people at a mass grave existing from 1972 in Mwaro, Burundi. Credit: Renovat Ndabashinze/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Throughout the winter of 2013/14 protesters built barricades and camped out in the centre of Kyiv demanding change. The focus was the Maidan, Kyiv's central Square of Independence. The demonstrators wanted the government of Viktor Yanukovych to move politically towards the EU and away from Russia, but when he refused to sign an agreement with the EU tensions spilled over. In February government forces, and snipers, shot dead 103 protesters and injured many others. Shortly afterwards President Yanukovych fled Ukraine and went to Russia. Elvira Bulat was a businesswoman from Crimea when the protests began. She tells Rebecca Kesby why she packed up her business, to spend that snowy winter in the barricades of the Maidan, and why she still believes Ukraine belongs in Europe.
Photo: Kyiv, Ukraine - December 9th 2013. Anti-government protesters stand guard at one of the barricades defending Maidan Square against police. Credit: Etienne De Malglaive/Getty Images.
How a young designer from the Canary Islands became one of the most famous shoe-makers in the world. Manolo Blahnik was studying art and set design in Paris when in 1969 he was introduced to the editor of American Vogue, who said he should concentrate on shoes. He got his first break in fashion three years later, and so began a 50 year career that has seen his name become synonymous with what have been described as the sexiest shoes in the world. In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Manolo Blahnik about his life and work.
Picture: Manolo Blahnik at the opening of a new boutique in Dublin (credit: PA)
In 2005, a revolutionary online mapping service called Google Maps went live for the first time. It introduced searchable, scrollable, interactive maps to a wider public, but required so much computing power that Google's servers nearly collapsed under the strain. Lars Rasmussen, one of the inventors of Google Maps, talks to Ashley Byrne. The programme is a Made-in-Manchester Production.
PHOTO: Google Maps being used on a mobile phone (Getty Images)
In December 1991 the leaders of three Soviet Republics - Russia, Ukraine and Belarus - signed a treaty dissolving the USSR. They did so without asking the other republics, and against the wishes of the USSR's overall President Mikhail Gorbachev. By the end of the year, Gorbachev had resigned and the Soviet Union was no more. In 2016, Dina Newman spoke to the former President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, and former President of Belarus, Stanislav Shushkevich, who signed that historic document alongside Boris Yeltsin.
PHOTO: The breakaway leaders signing the treaty the dissolved the Soviet Union (Getty Images)
In the 1960s, it was extremely rare for women in what is now the United Arab Emirates to go to school. At the time the future country was a collection of Emirates under British protection. The Trucial states, as they were known, were run by Sheikhs. The Sheikdoms were acutely traditional societies. This is the story of a young woman who was among the first to graduate from high school. She went on to become the first teacher there. Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi, has been telling Farhana Haider about her trailblazing experience.
Image: Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi with her students at Fatima Al Zahra School, Sharjah, 1970. Credit: Shaikha Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi
In June 2012 one of the solar system’s rarest of astronomical events took place, when it was possible to see the planet Venus fly past the face of the Sun. It appears when the orbits of Earth and Venus momentarily line up, but that happens only four times every 243 years. Astronomers in Australia, London and Hawaii tell Nick Holland what it was like watching the sight, one they will never get to see again because they won’t be alive when it next reappears in the year 2117.
(Image: SDO satellite captures an ultra-high definition image of the transit of Venus. Credit Nasa/Getty Images)
In February 2002 a videotape was released by extremists in Pakistan showing the murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter. Daniel Pearl had been investigating the 9/11 attacks. He was kidnapped in Karachi while on his way to interview a radical cleric. In 2015 Farhana Haider spoke to Asra Nomani, Daniel Pearl's friend and colleague.
PHOTO: Daniel Pearl and Asra Nomani in 1995. (Credit: Asra Nomani)
In 1998, the political parties in Northern Ireland reached a peace agreement that ended decades of war. But the Good Friday Agreement, as it became known, was only reached after days of frantic last-minute negotiations. In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Paul Murphy, the junior minister for Northern Ireland at the time.
PHOTO:Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern (L) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) pose with the mediator of the agreement, Senator George Mitchell. (AFP/Getty Images)
How an undercover FBI agent bust an IRA gun-running plot in New York in 1981. We hear from retired FBI agent, John WInslow, who posed as a gun dealer to infiltrate a network of Americans supplying weapons to the Northern Irish paramilitary group, the IRA. The United States was a key source of money and guns for the Irish republican cause.
Photo:
On 30 January 1972 British troops opened fire on a civil rights march in Northern Ireland. Thirteen people were killed that day, which became known as Bloody Sunday. Tony Doherty was nine years old at the time. In 2012 he spoke to Mike Lanchin about his father and the events that changed his life forever.
Photo: A British soldier grabs hold of a protester by the hair. (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
In August 1969 the British Army was first deployed in Northern Ireland. Their job was to keep the peace on the streets of Londonderry where sectarian violence had broken out. To begin with the soldiers were welcomed by residents, but attitudes soon changed and what became known as 'The Troubles' got underway. Louise Hidalgo reports.
Picture: Armed British soldiers on the streets of Northern Ireland, 15th August 1969 (Credit: Press Association)
The East German authorities built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to keep their people in. Thousands had been streaming westwards. But a few people went the other way. Frauke Naumann was one of them. She grew up in West Germany but fell love with her cousin who lived on the other side of the border. So, in 1986, at the age of 22 she left home to join him. Frauke tells Tim Mansel about the joys and the miseries of making a new life in a foreign country under the watchful eye of the secret police.
PHOTO: The Brandenburg Gate in the 1980s with the Berlin Wall passing in front (BBC)
In the mid-1960s a Dutch engineer called Luud Schimmelpennink came up with a scheme to share bikes, and cut pollution. He collected about ten old bicycles, painted them white and left them at different points around Amsterdam. The first scheme didn't last, but it was hugely influential and became part of popular culture; Luud Schimmelpennink himself would go on to invent an early computerised sharing scheme for cars, and to consult on the bike-sharing schemes we see around the world today. In 2019, he spoke to Janet Ball.
Photo: Activists with one of the original white bikes from the first scheme. Credit: Luud Schimmelpennink.
This week Americans have been observing the Martin Luther King Jr Day national holiday, which marks the birthday of the late civil rights leader. The campaign to have Dr King formally recognized in the US was led by his widow, Coretta Scott King. The holiday was finally signed into law in 1983. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Dr King’s youngest daughter, Dr Bernice King, about the long and fraught campaign, and the crucial role her mother played in supporting her father’s legacy.
Photo: Coretta Scott King speaking at the White House. (Credit: White House)
How a small Nigerian Islamist group launched one of the deadliest insurgencies in Africa. In 2002, a new radical sect emerged in Maiduguri in north eastern Nigeria led by a charismatic preacher, Mohammed Yusuf. He preached against anything he deemed un-Islamic or having a western influence. Locals gave the group a nickname, Boko Haram - meaning "western education is forbidden". In 2009, the group launched co-ordinated attacks on police across northern Nigeria. Maiduguri saw the fiercest fighting. It was the start of an insurgency that would devastate the region. We hear from Bilkisu Babangida who was the BBC Hausa service reporter in the city at the time.
Photo: A suspected Boko Haram house in Maiduguri set ablaze by Nigerian security forces, 30th July 2009 (AFP/Getty Images)
30-year-old Texan Timmie Jean Lindsey was the first woman in the world to have silicone breast implants. In 1962, she was offered the operation free of charge by two pioneering surgeons. It's gone on to become one of the most popular cosmetic procedures in the world. In 2012, Timmie Jean Lindsey spoke to Claire Bowes.
PHOTO: A silicone breast implant (Getty Images)
Costa Concordia hit submerged rocks off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012, leaving a fifty-metre-long gash in the hull. More than four thousand passengers and crew were on board. Ian and Janice Donoff were hoping to get away in a lifeboat, but it got stuck as it was being lowered into the sea, so they had to find another way off. Thirty-two people died in the disaster. The captain was later found guilty of manslaughter for needlessly navigating the ship too close to the shore of an island it was sailing past. Produced and presented by Nick Holland
PHOTO: The Costa Concordia lying aground off Giglio (2012)
The Malian photographer, Malick Sidibé, is one of Africa’s most celebrated artists. His most famous photographs show black and white scenes of young people partying in the capital Bamako in the joyful, confident era after Mali got its independence from France in 1960. In the 1990s, a chance encounter with a French curator brought Sidibé’s work international acclaim. The wider world had been used to seeing a narrow range of images from Africa, so when Sidibé’s work went up on show in Western art galleries, audiences were stunned by the exuberant world they revealed. Viv Jones talks to someone who knew Sidibé back when he was a roving nightlife photographer - Manthia Diawara, Malian filmmaker and Professor at New York University.
(Photo: Malick Sidibé. Photo by BILLY FARRELL/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
After its independence, Kazakhstan had to deal with the legacy of being one of the centres of the Soviet Union's huge nuclear arsenal and nuclear weapons industry. There were particular concerns about the former nuclear testing site at Semipalatinsk, a vast swathe of contaminated land where there were tunnels with spent plutonium. When the Soviet Union ended in 1991, the site was left open to scavengers. Louise Hidalgo talks to the former head of America's nuclear weapons laboratory, Dr Siegfried Hecker, about the secret operation by Russian and American scientists to make the site safe; it's been called the greatest nuclear non-proliferation story never told.
PHOTO: The Semipalatinsk site in 1991 (Getty Images)
In 2022, India is holding a series of events to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the birth of the independence campaigner, Subhas Chandra Bose. Unlike Mahatama Ghandi, Bose believed violence against the British Empire could be justified, and during World War Two he supported an alliance with Nazi Germany and Japan. Claire Bowes speaks to Bose’s great-niece, Madhuri Bose, about why many think he could have changed the course of India’s history. She also hears from Mihir Bose, author of Raj, Secrets, Revolution: A Life of Subhas Chandra Bose.
PHOTO: Subhas Chandra Bose giving a speech in Nazi Germany in 1942.
On February 3rd 1969, Eduardo Mondlane - the founder of FRELIMO, Mozambique’s Liberation Front against Portuguese colonial rule - was assassinated in a bomb attack in Tanzania. Mondlane started out as a teacher and academic, but his daughter Nyeleti Brooke Mondlane has been telling Rebecca Kesby why he swapped the university library for guerrilla warfare - and how it cost him his life.
PHOTO: Eduardo Mondlane in 1966 (Getty Images)
In 2022, France is marking the centenary of the death of the novelist Marcel Proust, the author of the 20th century masterpiece Remembrance of Things Past. In this archive edition of Witness History, Proust's friend, Prince Antoine Bibescu, recalls his conversations with the author, and Proust's maid, Celeste Albaret, remembers his final hours. The programme also hears from Professor Michael Wood, an expert on Proust at Princeton University.
PHOTO: Marcel Proust (Getty Images)
In 1990 Albania’s communist government agreed to allow independent political parties following a wave of protests. Lea Ypi was an 11 year old schoolgirl at the time and watched events with consternation – she was a firm believer in what she had been taught about communism at school, and an admirer of Stalin. But she soon discovered that her parents had a secret past that they had been afraid to reveal to her before 1990. Lea talks to Rob Walker about her life growing up inside the world’s last Stalinist state.
Picture: Lea Ypi as a child in Albania with her grandmother. (Credit: Photo provided by Lea Ypi)
In 1904, a left-wing American feminist called Lizzy Magie patented a board game that evolved into what we now know as Monopoly. But 30 years later, when Monopoly was first marketed in the United States during the Great Depression, it was an out-of-work salesman from Pennsylvania who was credited with inventing it. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to American journalist Mary Pilon about the hidden history of one of the world's most popular board games, and to the economics professor Ralph Anspach who unearthed the story.
Picture: A family playing a game of Monopoly in the 1930s (Credit: SSPL/Getty Images)
The Lego brick, one of the world's most popular toys, was invented in the small Danish town of Billund in 1958. Created by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, the plastic bricks can be combined in countless combinations and have sold in the billions. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the inventor's son, was ten at the time. He used to play in the company workshop and helped test early Lego models. Olga Smirnova spoke to Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen for Witness History.
PHOTO: A boy playing in a Lego display in 1981 (Getty Images)
A new action-adventure computer game - designed in Scotland - became a surprise global hit in 1997. But Grand Theft Auto also courted controversy and sparked debate over violence and drugs in video games. Paul Schuster spoke to Brian Baglow - one of the original team behind the launch.
PHOTO: A gamer using a Playstation controller (Getty Images)
In 1984 Tetris, one of the most popular computer games ever, was invented in Moscow. Chloe Hadjimatheou speaks to its creator, Alexey Pajitnov, and to Henk Rogers, an American businessman who helped bring Tetris to the world. This programme was first broadcast in 2011.
PHOTO: Tetris being played on a mobile phone (Getty Images)
In 1973, a video game was invented which would change the way we play. An on screen version of table tennis, Pong was initially only played in arcades. But later a home version was created which gamers could plug into their televisions. Louise Hidalgo spoke to Nolan Bushnell, one of the creators of Pong.
Photo credit: BBC.
Rovaniemi, a small town in Lapland, is home to dozens of Christmas tourist attractions and is widely considered the unofficial home of Santa Claus. The town had to re-invent itself after being flattened during the Arctic campaign in World War Two, and was inspired to become a Christmas destination by a visit from the American first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Rovaniemi now gets more than half a million visitors a year. Petra Zivic talks to two local residents.
PHOTO: Father Christmas in his "office" near Rovaniemi (Getty Images)
In 2011, thousands of protestors occupied Pearl Roundabout near the centre of Bahrain’s capital, Manama. Many of them were from the country's Shia religious majority. They were demanding political freedoms and calling for an end to what they said was years of discrimination by the Sunni monarchy that rules the country. Rob Walker spoke to Asma Darwish, a 20 year old student who joined the protests.
Photo: Demonstrators in Manama. Credit: Reuters/Caren Firouz.
In 2011, cybersecurity expert Manal Al-Sharif helped found the Women2Drive movement. It was designed to force the Saudi Arabian government to overturn its ban on women driving cars - one of the many restrictions on women in the Kingdom. Inspired by the mood of the Arab Spring, Saudi women got behind the wheel and then posted videos of themselves all over social media. The movement attracted international attention and the ban on women drivers was eventually lifted in 2017. Manal Al-Sharif talks to Petra Zivic.
PHOTO: Manal Al Sharif in Dubai in 2013 (Getty Images)
In 1961 the great ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev stunned the world by defecting from the Soviet Union. Nureyev escaped his KGB minders at an airport in Paris - with the help of French dancer Pierre Lacotte. Pierre Lacotte spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2011.
PHOTO: Rudolf Nureyev at a press conference in the 1960s (Getty Images)
How opposition politician Salum Barwany overcame discrimination and fear to become the first albino elected to office in Tanzania in 2010. Albinism is a genetic condition caused by a lack of the pigment Melanin, which affects the colour of the skin, hair and eyes. Though rare it is more common in parts of Africa, and particularly in Tanzania. There, albinos have long faced social stigma but in recent years many have been brutally murdered. The killings are carried out to harvest their body parts for witchdoctors who claim they can be used in magic potions to bestow wealth. Salum Barwany MP talks about growing up with albinism and his struggle to change attitudes. This episode is produced by Alex Last and Esther Namuhisa
Photo: Tanzania's first elected albino lawmaker Salum Khalfan Barwany gets a hug from a supporter as he walks through the town market in Lindi, just days after winning office in 2010. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
In December 1971, Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan after nine months of war.
Dr Kamal Hossain, a leading political figure, was jailed during the conflict and only released shortly after the Bengali fighters claimed victory.
Dr Hossain told Farhana Haider his feelings as his country won its freedom.
Photo: Kamal Hossain (l) with the founder of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Credit Dr Kamal Hossain collection.
When Bangladesh fought for independence from Pakistan, thousands of Pakistani troops were sent to fight in what was then called East Pakistan. In 1971, Shujaat Latif was sent to the town of Jassore where he fought, and then surrendered. He spent two and a half years as a prisoner-of-war. Hear his story.
Photo: Indian army soldiers fire on Pakistani positions, December 15th 1971. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.
During the war of independence in Bangladesh in 1971, Pakistani troops and their local collaborators used systematic rape as deliberate tactic. It's estimated that hundreds of thousands of Bengali women were victims of one of the worst instances in the 20th century of rape being used as a weapon of war. Farhana Haider speaks to one of the women, and to the Bengali playwright and filmmaker Leesa Gazi, who has documented their suffering in her work.
PHOTO: Filmmaker Leesa Gazi with a ‘Birangona', one of the women who was raped during Bangladesh’s war of independence (Leesa Gazi/ Shihab Khan)
In December 1970, Pakistan held its first democratic elections since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. The results would lead to war, the break-up of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. Farhana Haider spoke to Rehman Sobhan, an economist and leading figure in the Bengali independence movement.
(Image: The flag of Bangladesh is raised at the Awami League headquarters in 1971. Credit: Getty Images)
In February 1952 thousands of people marched in Dhaka in defence of the Bengali language. Eight of the protesters were shot dead by police. It became known as Bangladesh's Language Movement Day. We hear from Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, one of the demonstrators, whose song about the protests became the anthem of the movement.
(Photo: Student demonstrators gather by Dhaka University, February 1952. Courtesy of Prof Rafiqul Islam and Liberation War Museum).
In 2005 thousands of tonnes of petrol ignited at a fuel depot 40 kilometres North-West of London. The explosion was the largest in the UK since the end of the WWII. The blast, which severely damaged surrounding homes and properties, was reportedly heard in Holland. Despite the enormous amount of damage, nobody was killed. The fire destroyed large parts of the depot, leading to shortages of fuel at petrol stations in the weeks that followed. Five firms were eventually fined millions of dollars for safety failures that led to the blast. Greg Smith tells Witness History what it was like to be inside the depot at the time of the explosion.
Produced and presented by Nick Holland.
Image: Fire at Buncefield oil depot on 12th December 2005. Credit: Peter MacDiarmid/Getty Images
The abduction of Theo Albrecht, who co-founded the discount supermarket chain ALDI with his brother Karl. The brothers shunned publicity and there were few photos of them. So, when two armed men confronted Theo outside his company headquarters in late 1971, they demanded to see ID. They needed to be sure they were taking the right man. Albrecht later tried to claim tax back on the ransom paid to secure his release. He died in 2010, worth an estimated 16 billion dollars. Image: Theo Albrecht in 1971. Credit: EPA
In November 2001 a group of British aircraft enthusiasts were arrested and put on trial in Greece. Unfamiliar with their hobby, the Greek authorities had assumed they must be spies. The plane-spotters were initially jailed but later released after their case turned into a diplomatic incident. In 2011, Chloe Hadjimatheou talked to Paul Coppin, who was one of the group.
PHOTO: The plane-spotters returning to the UK (PA)
Using eyewitness accounts from the BBC archives, we hear how the Nazis developed the world's first modern ballistic missile that killed thousands during World War Two. The Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun was the principal architect of this revolutionary secret weapon. After the war he was recruited to work for the United States to develop its own missile programme and famously built the NASA rockets which put men on the Moon.
Photo: The launch of a captured German V2 rocket at the US military test site at White Sands, Nevada in 1946 (PhotoQuest/Getty Images)
In the early 2000s, Sri Rumiati, a brigadier-general in the Indonesian police, began campaigning against intrusive examinations of female recruits to her force. Rumiati had experienced a so-called "virginity test" herself when she joined up two decades earlier. She spoke to Petra Zivic.
(Photo: Indonesian policewomen in 2007. Credit: Getty Images)
One of the first high-profile artists to speak openly about having Aids was the British experimental film-maker, Derek Jarman. Jarman had made his name in the 1970s by directing Sebastiane, the first openly gay film in British cinema history. Vincent Dowd speaks to Keith Collins who lived with Jarman during his final years, and cared for him up to his death in 1994.
(Photo: Derek Jarman. Credit: Getty Images)
At the end of the 1990s, hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa were still dying from HIV/Aids because effective drug treatments were prohibitively expensive for a developing country. Under pressure from Aids activists, the government of Nelson Mandela took the big international pharmaceutical companies to court over the right to import cheaper versions of Aids drugs. Bob Howard talks to Bada Pharasi, a former negotiator at South Africa’s department of health.
(Photo: HIV/Aids activists demonstrate in front of an American consulate in South Africa in 2010. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1987 the first successful drug treatment was developed for Aids. AZT went from initial test to approval in just over two years - at the time it was the fastest approval in US history. Claire Bowes talks to Dr Samuel Broder, the co-developer of AZT.
Picture: Dr Samuel Broder and President Ronald Reagan. Credit: Ronald Reagan Library
The HIV virus was first identified by medical experts in a journal article in 1981. In the early days of the epidemic, carriers of the virus were stigmatised and treatment was in its infancy. Alan Johnston talks to Ugandan-born Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma about her experiences of having HIV back in the 1980s.
PHOTO: Winnie Ssanyu Sseruma
In the early days of Aids, a misunderstanding made one man the face of the epidemic. Canadian air steward Gaetan Dugas developed the symptoms of HIV/Aids in the early 1980s, but a misreading of scientific data led to him being identified as 'patient zero', giving the mistaken impression he was responsible for the spread of the disease. Lucy Burns speaks to researcher William Darrow, who worked on the epidemic, and to Gaetan Dugas' friend Rand Gaynor.
Photo: Gaetan Dugas. (Credit: Rand Gaynor)
The three Mirabal sisters were leading figures in the Dominican Republic's opposition movement against the dictator, General Rafael Trujillo. Patria, Maria Teresa and the most prominent of the three, Minerva, were all killed on the 25th of November 1960. They were dragged from their car and beaten to death on the orders of General Trujillo. Their murders sparked outrage in the Caribbean country, and are thought to have been a motivating factor in the assassination of Trujillo himself six months later. In 2016, Rebecca Kesby spoke to Minerva's daughter, Minou Tavarez Mirabal, who explained why her mother and aunts were called 'the butterflies' and how to this day people still decorate their houses with three butterflies in tribute to them.
Photo: The three Mirabal Sisters, Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa (Credit: Mirabal family collection)
Estonia started connecting all its schools to the internet very early. In 1996 less than two percent of the world’s population had access to the web but Estonia’s initiative, known as ‘Tiger Leap’ captured the imagination and the hopes of the whole country. Estonians became early adopters of all sorts of digital services, from online banking to digital ID cards. However, a decade later Estonia was one of the first places in the world to suffer a sustained cyber attack. Caroline Bayley has been speaking to one of the founders of ‘Tiger Leap’- former government minister Jaak Aaviksoo. Photo credit: Getty images
In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise voluntary euthanasia: although the new law was ground-breaking, it was based in part on the result of a dramatic criminal trial that happened nearly three decades earlier, in 1973. The case concerned a doctor who helped her elderly and terminally ill mother to die after her mother had repeatedly begged her to do so. Dr Truus Postma was put on trial for carrying out voluntary euthanasia and was facing a sentence of up to 12 years if found guilty. Her dilemma as both a doctor and a daughter triggered a national debate about whether her actions were murder or mercy. The case broke taboos and led to the founding of the NVVE, a Dutch organisation which began to campaign for voluntary euthanasia to be made legal. Viv Jones speaks to Dr Postma’s daughter, Marga Postma, and to Klazien Albeda, founder of the NVVE.
(Photo: Dr Truus Postma outside court. Bert Verhoeff / Anefo. National Archives of the Netherlands.)
Eighteen million people were vaccinated against smallpox in the former communist Yugoslavia in only a month and a half in 1972. The mass vaccination campaign succeeded in containing the last smallpox epidemic in Europe. Dr Ana Gligic was a virologist who detected the first cases of the disease and helped tackle the outbreak. PHOTO: A smallpox patient in Yugoslavia in 1972 (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
'The Woman in Gold' was one of Gustav Klimt's most famous paintings. It was a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, but it was taken from her family by the Nazis and only returned to them after a long legal battle. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Randol Schoenberg the young lawyer who took on the case.
Picture: Adele Bloch-Bauer I, or 'The Woman in Gold', painted in 1907 by Gustav Klimt, from the collection of the Neue Galerie in New York. (Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
A first-hand account of how Sudanese civilian protesters first brought down a military regime in 1964. The protests began after a student was shot and killed by police during a confrontation at the prestigious University of Khartoum. Demonstrations and a nationwide general strike followed which forced the military to hand over power. Alex Last hears from historian Professor Abdullahi Ibrahim who was a prominent member of the Student's Union at Khartoum University at the time.
Photo: People celebrate the fall of the military regime in Khartoum, November 1964 (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
How a particular form of psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, became a common treatment for anxiety and depression. CBT was first developed by Professor Aaron T Beck in the USA. It has been rolled out as an option for people with mental health problems in the UK. Professor David Clark has been speaking to Kirsty Reid about why, and how, it works.
Photo credit: Getty Images.
In 2008, one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, was arrested in Belgrade for war crimes. Karadzic had been in hiding for more than a decade, pretending to be an alternative medicine healer called "Dr Dabic". Serbia’s former war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vuckevic remembers the tense days that led to Karadzic’s capture.
PHOTO: Radovan Karadzic in 1992 (Getty Images)
After the end of the Gulf War in 1991, retreating Iraqi forces set light to oil wells in the desert. Specialist firefighters were drafted in by the Kuwaiti government to help put them out. Simon Watts spoke to one of those firefighters, Richard Hatteberg, in 2010.
This is a rebroadcast.
Photo: an oil fire in Kuwait. March 1991. Credit:Getty Images.
In November 1971 a young American artist decided to get a friend to take a shot at him - in the name of art. His name was Chris Burden and the shooting would go down in the history of performance art. He spoke to Lucy Burns in 2012 about the ideas behind the event.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo: Chris Burden just after being shot. Courtesy of Chris Burden)
Eudy Simelane was a star of the South African women's national football team and a gay rights activist. In 2008, she was pursued by a group of men after leaving a pub close to her home in the township of Kwa-Thema. She was gang raped and stabbed to death. She was 31 years old. Her family, friends and campaigners say that her sexuality made her a target for this brutal hate crime. Viv Jones speaks to Mmapaseka 'Steve' Letsike, an LGBTI activist who was a friend of Eudy’s. They became friends when they played football together as teens. Steve describes how Eudy's murder became the focus of a campaign to draw attention to attacks on gay South Africans, and black lesbians in particular. It also started a national conversation about the horrific crime of so-called 'corrective rape', where lesbians are raped to ‘cure’ or punish them.
Photo: Eudy Simelane’s parents sat at the bridge named in their daughter’s honour. Credit: BBC
At the height of the Cold War the German city of Berlin was known as the spy capital of the world. Spies were operating on both sides of the Berlin Wall as tensions between democratic West Germany and communist East Germany meant governments on both sides of the ideological divide were desperate to find out what the other side was planning. In the early 1980s Nina Willner became the first female US army officer to lead intelligence missions into East Germany. For her there was an added poignancy to her work, as her mother’s family were living in East Germany while Nina was operating in East Berlin. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the divided family was reunited and Nina wrote a memoir, ‘Forty Autumns’ about their very different lives. Caroline Bayley spoke to Nina Willner for Witness History about her experiences of the Cold War in Berlin.
Photo by Régis BOSSU/Sygma via Getty Images - The frontier between West and East Berlin.
In 1921, one of the most famous perfumes in the world was launched in France. Chanel No. 5 was created for Coco Chanel, the fashion designer and good-time girl, who wanted something modern and fresh to suit the times.
(Photo: A young Coco Chanel. Credit: Getty images)
In 1960s mainstream schooling in Britain was failing many black immigrant children. A disproportionate number were being sent to schools for those with low intelligence. Black educationalists like Gus John and others set up supplementary Saturday schools for black children to try to mitigate the problem. Claire Bowes has been hearing how some police and headteachers tried to shut them down.
Photo: photo of an early black supplementary school courtesy of the George Padmore Institute, London.
In 2001, the Eritrean government suddenly arrested prominent critics and journalists, and shut down the country's independent press. None of those detained have been seen since. Eritrea, once hailed as a model for Africa, was accused of becoming one of the most repressive states in the world. We hear the story of Eritrean journalist Semret Seyoum, who'd set up the country's first private newspaper. He went into hiding and later tried to escape.
Photo: Getty Images
On November 4th 1956 Soviet tanks rolled into the Hungarian capital Budapest, crushing the country's short-lived popular uprising against Soviet rule. Nick Thorpe spoke to Miklos Gimes who was just six years old when the end of the revolution sent his father to his death, and Miklos and his mother into exile.
This programme is a rebroadcast. Photo: Soviet tanks on the streets of Budapest. Credit: Getty Images.
The evil criminal mastermind Fu Manchu was a recurring character in Hollywood films for decades. He epitomised racist stereotypes about China and the Chinese which shaped popular thinking in the West. Vincent Dowd has been talking to writer Sir Christopher Frayling and academic Amy Matthewson about his long-lasting influence.
Photo: Christopher Lee as Fu Manchu in film The Vengeance of Fu Manchu. 1967.
It's 75 years since verdicts were delivered on leading German Nazis at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg for their instrumental role in the Second World War and the killing of millions of Jews. The trial, which lasted almost a year, made history and the principles of international criminal law first established there are still fundamental to international justice today. Robby Dundas is the daughter of the British judge at the trial, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence. She was in court, watching the proceedings and talks to Caroline Bayley about her memories of the trial.
(Photo: View of the judges bench in Nuremberg International Military Tribunal (IMT) court in September 1946. Credit AFP/Getty Images)
An American doctor, Ignacio Ponseti, revolutionised the treatment of children born with 'club foot' - where their feet are turned in and under, and which had previously been treated with surgery. His method, which relied on physiotherapy and the use of braces, was less invasive and more successful long-term. Caroline Wyatt has been hearing from one of Dr Ponseti's early patients.
This is a CTVC production.
Photo: Dr Ignacio Ponseti.
The mountains of East Africa are losing their glaciers. At 5,895 metres, Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain on the continent, but it has lost about 90% of its glacial ice in the past 100 years, and scientists believe the process is accelerating. They say climate change is the cause, and that some glaciers could disappear completely within the next few years. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to Prof Clavery Tungaraza from Tanzania, and Dr Doug Hardy from the US, who was one of the first scientists to research Kilimanjaro. Simon Mtuy has climbed the mountain many times, and his family has farmed on its slopes for centuries. He tells Rebecca that, within his own life time, he has witnessed massive changes in the mountain and the climate.
(Photo: Giraffes, fog, Kilimanjaro and acacia trees in the morning. Credit: Getty Images)
Long before Greta Thunberg, there was 12-year-old Severn Cullis-Suzuki, the girl who stood in front of world leaders and implored them to take action to save our environment. Speaking at the 1992 UN Earth Summit in Rio De Janeiro, Severn caught the attention of the media with her passion and anger. Severn has been speaking to Phil Marzouk about her feelings then and how they’ve changed over the intervening decades.
Photo: Severn Cullis-Suzuki (2nd left) and her friends at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. Courtesy of Severn Cullis-Suzuki.
Professor James Hansen finally got US politicians to listen to his warnings about climate change in June 1988 after years of trying. He and fellow NASA scientists had first predicted global warming almost a decade earlier. Professor Hansen spoke to Ashley Byrne about his discoveries in 2018.
This programme is a rebroadcast.It is a Made in Manchester production.
Image: Map of the world. Credit: Science Photo Library.
The first international conference on the problems of the environment took place in Stockholm in 1972. It didn't concentrate on climate change but on the damage that was being done to animals and forests by the encroachment of humans and industry. It also highlighted some of the splits between rich and poor nations over who should make the greatest changes to save the planet. Maurice Strong, who organised the gathering, spoke to Claire Bowes about why it was so difficult to get the countries of the world to agree on change.
Photo: Maurice Strong (right) shakes hands with Brazilian indigenous chief Kanhok Caiapo. AFP/Getty.
A young American scientist began the work that would show how our climate is changing in 1958. His name was Charles Keeling and he started meticulously recording levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. He would carry on taking measurements for decades. His wife Louise and son Ralph spoke to Louise Hidalgo about him and his work.
(Photo: Thick black smoke blowing out of an industrial chimney. Credit: John Giles/PA)
In January 1978 a London newspaper revealed how several British lesbians had conceived babies using donor sperm with the help of a respected gynaecologist. The doctor hadn’t broken any laws in providing the fertility treatment but the stigma surrounding homosexuality at the time meant the revelations started a media frenzy and a heated national debate. There were discussions in the press, in the streets and in Parliament. One MP called for a ban on the practice and called it ‘evil’, ‘selfish’ and ‘horrific’. Dr Gill Hanscombe had used artificial insemination to start a family with her two lesbian partners. When the press found out about them she was terrified that they were about to lose their jobs, and potentially their child. Produced and presented by Viv Jones.
(PHOTO: Gill Hanscombe (left) with her partners Dee and Pru, and their son. Courtesy of Gill Hanscombe.)
The anti-nuclear weapons protest was the biggest women-led movement in the UK since the Suffragettes. It began in 1981 when Ann Pettitt from Wales organised a women-led peace march from the Welsh capital Cardiff to the airbase at Greenham Common, where American nuclear-tipped cruise missiles were being kept. A small group of women decided to set up camp outside the fences of Greenham Common to continue their protest. Women from all over the UK joined the demonstrations, some travelled from Europe and beyond to lend their support. At its peak, thousands of women camped around the base, and some form of protest camp remained for 19 years until all the nuclear weapons were moved and the airbase was decommissioned. It's now an open nature reserve. Ann Pettitt has been telling Rebecca Kesby why the women were prepared to leave jobs and families to sleep out in the cold to try to stop a nuclear war.
Photo: Women from the Greenham Common peace camp blocking Yellow Gate into RAF Greenham Common , 1st April 1983 . (Photo by Staff/Reading Post/MirrorpixGetty Images)
During World War Two, close to 20,000 Polish people found refuge in Africa. They arrived after surviving imprisonment in Soviet labour camps and a harrowing journey across the Soviet Union to freedom. Casimir Szczepanik arrived as a child in a refugee camp in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia). He talks to Rob Walker about his life there and the impact the war still has on him.
Photo:Casimir Szczepanik and his mother in the refugee camp. Credit:Casimir Szczepanik
When the socialist leader of Mozambique and some of his senior advisers were killed in a plane crash on the border with South Africa, many were suspicious. It was 19 October 1986 and the two countries were divided over Apartheid. The plane made a sudden direct turn straight into a range of mountains, and one of the air crash investigators at the scene, Dr Alan Diehl, told Rebecca Kesby there are reasons to suspect the plane was deliberately diverted off course.
(Photo: The socialist leader of Mozambique Samora Machel delivers a speech. Credit: Getty Images.)
Sarah Jones is the first person who had undergone a gender change to be ordained in the Church of England. She has been talking to Phil Marzouk about her journey towards the priesthood. She says that in her early life she knew that although she had been born a boy, she wasn’t one. She also knew that she wanted to work in the church. She transitioned as a woman in 1991, and was first ordained as a deacon in the Church of England in 2004.
Photo: Sarah Jones.
In America, there are few issues as controversial as abortion. It’s a major fault line that runs through society, dividing families and even influencing elections. In the 1980s and 1990s, some groups within America’s anti-abortion movement became militant. There were hundreds of bombing and arson attacks on clinics. Some groups began to argue that to save the lives of what they called ‘pre-born babies’, it was morally justifiable to murder abortion providers. Journalist Amanda Robb tells Viv Jones how her uncle, Dr Barnett Slepian, was killed in 1998. An anti-abortion extremist shot him through his kitchen window in front of his wife and four young sons. His shooting followed years of harassment and intimidation.
(Photo: Portrait of Doctor Barnett Slepian, his wife and his four sons. Getty/Liaison)
Under legislation known as the Hudood Ordinances introduced in 1979, a nearly blind teenage girl who'd been raped by two men and then became pregnant, was jailed herself for having sex outside marriage. In 1983 Safia Bibi was sentenced to three years imprisonment, 15 lashes and a fine. There was public outrage and anger from Pakistani women against the verdict and draconian punishment. Farhana Haider has been speaking to leading Pakistani lawyer and human rights advocate, Hina Jilani, who helped overturn the verdict.
Eighteen-month-old Jessica McClure fell down a well-shaft while playing with other children in Texas in October 1987. It took almost three days to free her, and as the rescue effort got underway the American media became transfixed by her story. Susan Hulme has been talking Joe Faulkner, a neighbour who watched the drama unfold.
Photo: a policeman carries Jessica away from the well shaft. Credit: Barbara Laing/Liaison Agency/Getty Images.
In 1960s Britain extreme right-wing groups were on the rise. A schoolteacher called Colin Jordan led a Nazi rally in Trafalgar Square in central London. He openly praised Hitler and called for Britain to be freed from what he called 'Jewish control'. He was also a white supremacist who called for the repatriation of black people. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Gerry Gable, a Jewish anti-fascist activist who helped infiltrate Jordan's National Socialist Movement as well as helping secure the arrest of his former wife, Francoise Dior, for inciting arson attacks on two London synagogues.
(Photo: British neo-Nazi politician Colin Jordan and French socialite Francoise Dior, UK, 7 October 1963; she is wearing a swastika shaped pendant and behind them, a portrait of Adolf Hitler. Credit: Felkin/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Saudi author Raja Alem was a voracious reader from an early age and thanks to her liberal-minded father, grew up immersed in books. She was in her early teens when she began to write novellas and then articles in the cultural supplements of newspapers in her native Saudi Arabia. In 2011, she became the first woman to win the prestigious international Booker prize for Arabic fiction for her novel The Dove's Necklace - a murder mystery set in modern-day Mecca. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Raja about her writing and the influences that have made her unique among Saudi authors.
Photo by Leonardo Cendamo/Getty Images
Bermuda-born Clyde Best came to England as a teenager in 1968 and went on to play for West Ham United alongside the likes of Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. Best made a name for himself as a talented goal-scorer in more than 200 appearances for the Hammers, but he faced constant racist abuse from fans, and on occasion, from opposition players. Clyde Best told Mike Lanchin about how he stood up to the racists in English soccer.
(Photo: Clyde Best on the ball, 4 March 1972. Credit: Mirror Group Newspapers/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
In 1998, Christopher Alder, a black former soldier, choked to death in handcuffs on the floor of a British police station. CCTV footage showed the 37-year-old father-of-two gasping for air as officers chatted and joked around him. It took 11 minutes for him to stop breathing. An inquest found Christopher Alder was unlawfully killed but no-one has ever been held accountable for his death. Farhana Haider spoke to Janet Alder about her long fight to get justice for her brother.
Photo:Christopher Alder (Alder family handout)
In the early 20th century, many Somali seafarers made their way to Britain on merchant ships, establishing communities in cities such as Cardiff. One of them, Ibrahim Ismaa'il, made his way to the UK from the port of Aden. He then struck up an unlikely friendship with an eminent anthropologist who lived in an alternative community in the Cotswolds. The anthropologist later recorded Ismaa'il's remarkable life-story. Chloe Hadjimatheou reports.
PHOTO: A British liner in the port of Aden in the 1920s (Getty Images).
During World War Two, tens of thousands of African-American US servicemen passed through the UK as part of the war effort. The black GIs stationed in Britain were forced by the American military to abide by the racial segregation laws that applied in the deep south of the US. But that didn't stop relationships developing between British women and the black soldiers, some of whom went on to have children. Babs Gibson-Ward was one those children. She spoke to Farhana Haider about the stigma of growing up as mixed raced child in post-war Britain.
(Photo: Hoinicote House children, c.1948. Boys and girls whose parents of mixed ancestry met during WWII. Credit: Lesley York)
Norwell Roberts joined the Metropolitan police in 1967. He was put forward as a symbol of progressive policing amid ongoing tensions between the police and ethnic minorities in the capital. But behind the scenes, Norwell endured years of racist abuse from colleagues within the force. Norwell Roberts spoke to Alex Last about growing up in Britain and his determination to be a pioneer in the police.
(Photo: London's first black policeman PC Norwell Roberts beginning his training with colleagues at Hendon Police College, London, 5 April 1967. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In November 1987, the Romanian cargo ship, the Fundulea, was attacked by an Iranian gunboat in the Persian Gulf. It was just one of hundreds of merchant ships hit by missiles or mines in the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war, as both sides sought to damage each other's oil exports and trade. The conflict at sea became known as the Tanker War. Major naval powers deployed to the Gulf to protect their shipping, but many ships, like the Fundulea, ran the gauntlet unescorted. Alex Last has been speaking to Florentin Dacian Botta, who was on board the Fundulea when it was attacked.
Photo: Tug boats spray water to extinguish fires onboard the stricken Romanian freighter, the Fundulea, after it was attacked by an Iranian gunboat, 23rd November 1987 ( NORBERT SCHILLER/AFP via Getty Images)
In the early 1980s in West Germany, a radical new political party was on the rise. Die Grünen - the Greens - championed protecting the environment, scrapping nuclear power plants and nuclear missiles, and stopping pollution. A movement as well as a party, the Greens brought together disparate groups of environmentalists, conservative farmers and youthful anti-nuclear activists. Petra Kelly, the party’s most prominent spokesperson, was a charismatic speaker who became an international name. Her life was cut short when she was killed by her partner in 1992. Sara Parkin, friend and biographer of Petra Kelly, shares her memories of the Greens’ early successes and reflects on Kelly’s legacy today. Image: Petra Kelly. Credit: Mehner/ullstein bild via Getty Images
In 1996 the UK government said there was a link between BSE in cattle and Variant CJD in humans. It's believed that more than 100 people contracted the debilitating and ultimately fatal disease after eating infected beef during an outbreak in the 1980s and 1990s. Initially scientists had no idea what was causing their strange symptoms, until a link was found that traced CJD back to BSE or 'mad cow disease', as it became known, in cattle. Millions of cows were destroyed and feeding practices were changed to contain the outbreak. Roger Tomkins and Sarah Shadbolt both lost family members to Variant CJD and share their stories with Rebecca Kesby.
Photo: Cows. BBC.
In 1971 photographer Claudia Andujar began documenting the lives of a remote indigenous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon jungle. Claudia went on to take thousands of unique images of Yanomami men, women and children. Her photographs helped the campaign for recognition of the Yanomami's rights over their own land. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Claudia, now in her 90s, about how she was received by the indigenous group when she first arrived in the Amazon, and how she won them over with her smile, and her camera.
Photo:Antônio Korihana thëri, a young man under the effect of the hallucinogenic powder yãkoana, Catrimani, 1972-1976. © Claudia Andujar
The Taliban first started to gather support in the south of Afghanistan in the early 1990s. By September 27th 1996 they had taken control of the country's capital Kabul. Journalist and writer Ahmed Rashid watched their rise, from the religious schools in refugee camps on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, to their ultimate victory over the American-led coalition forces. He's been speaking to Zak Brophy.
Photo:Taliban fighters on the back of a vehicle in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 2021. Credit: EPA/STRINGER
Gunmen from the Somali Islamist group Al-Shabab attacked a shopping centre in Nairobi taking hundreds hostage. The group claimed it was in retaliation for Kenyan military action against them in southern Somalia. The siege lasted four days in September 2013 and more than 60 people were killed, but hundreds more were injured and traumatised. Daniel Ouma was a paramedic on duty at the scene and explains to Rebecca Kesby how his team tried to help people affected.
PHOTO: A police officer during a rescue operation at the site of the terrorist attack, Westgate Mall, on September 21, 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. Gunmen from the extremist group Al-Shabab entered the mall and opened fire at random on shoppers; 68 deaths have been confirmed. (Photo by Jeff Angote/Nation Media/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
As the 25th James Bond film hits cinema screens we look at the lasting appeal of the franchise. The original author, Ian Fleming, died in the 1960s but other writers took on the challenge of keeping Britain's most famous secret agent alive.
Photo:Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time To Die. Credit: Nicola Dove/PA Wire.
Alexander Litvinenko was a former colonel in the Russian secret service and a critic of Vladimir Putin's government. He fled to London seeking political asylum in 2000. In November 2006 he was poisoned with the highly radioactive substance Polonium-210. Rebecca Kesby spoke to his wife Marina, about his life and excruciating death.
This programme is a rebroadcast
(PHOTO: Alexander Litvinenko in a London hospital a couple of days before his death in November 2006. Credit Getty Images.)
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Thousands of people flocked to the village of Tlacote in central Mexico in 1991. They hoped to be cured by 'magical' water after rumours spread about its healing powers.Maria Elena Navas spoke to Edmundo Gonzalez Llaca who was an official in the local environment ministry in 1991 and who was sent to Tlacote to check out what all the fuss was about.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Hands under a stream of water (Getty Images)
In the late 1960s, the widow of President Kennedy had a secret romance with Aristotle Onassis, who was then the richest man in the world. Simon Watts spoke to Nico Mastorakis, a Greek journalist who visited Onassis’s yacht in disguise to confirm the relationship and secure a sensational scoop. Jackie Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis would go on to marry in October 1968 in a spectacular ceremony on the private island of Skorpios.
PHOTO:Jackie Kennedy with Aristotle Onassis in 1968. Credit: David Cairns/Getty Images.
In 1969 a satirical book, The Peter Principle, suggested that promotion led to incompetence. Written by a Canadian Professor of Education, Dr Laurence J. Peter and playwright Raymond Hull, the book was a parody of management theory but it's core message struck a chord with many. It became an instant classic, selling millions of copies around the world. We present a rare archive recording of Dr Peter, explaining his theory that “In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence". Photo: Dr Laurence J. Peter on the BBC in 1974 (BBC)
In 1971 a group of squatters, artists and activists took over a disused military barracks on the edge of Copenhagen. They established a self-governing hippy commune called Freetown Christiania, after the surrounding district of Christianshavn. Residents began to build houses along their own experimental designs and soon Christiania had its own theatre, bakery and kindergarten. The semi-autonomous enclave is still there today and is one of the oldest and largest communes in the world. Viv Jones speaks to Danish filmmaker Jon Bang Carlsen, one of Christiania’s first settlers.
Photo: Christiania (Getty Images)
In 2010 the Haitian capital and surrounding areas were hit by a catastrophic earthquake. Much of Port Au Prince was flattened and more than a hundred thousand people were killed. Amid the destruction and death people's first instinct was to pull together and help one another. Zak Brophy has been speaking to Kinsley Jean who was just a teenager when his family home collapsed around him.
Photo: Men gather to try to reach those still buried in the rubble beneath the Haitian Department of Justice building in January 2010.(Photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
King Louis XVI of France and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were killed during the French Revolution. Their son and heir was said to have died in prison in 1795 but did he in fact escape? The 10-year-old spent his last two years of life in solitary confinement with no human contact. During his final few months he neither talked nor walked, rumours spread that this was an imposter and that the real dauphin had been smuggled out in a laundry basket and replaced with another boy. Years later, dozens of men from all over the world were claiming they were Louis-Charles, the rightful heir to the French throne. It could never be proven one way or the other, but in 2000 a team of scientists took DNA samples from the heart of the boy, which had been recovered and kept in a royal crypt. Claire Bowes has been speaking to professor Jean Jacques Cassiman and historian Deborah Cadbury about the mystery.
(Photo: Illustration of Louis XVII - formally Louis-Charles, Dauphin of France in prison.Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In September 1971 prisoners in a high security jail in the USA turned on their guards taking 42 people hostage. After 4 days of negotiations, armed police retook the jail. By the time the siege ended 39 people were dead. Rebecca Kesby spoke to Carlos Roache, a former prisoner who took part in the uprising.
PHOTO: Attica prisoners making the black power salute (Getty Images)
In the Aftermath of the Al Qaeda attacks against America on September 11th 2001, many Muslims living in the US had their allegiance to America questioned. In the days after 9/11 all over America hate crimes against Muslims and anyone perceived to be Muslims soared. In 2001, according to crime statistics by the FBI, hate crimes against Muslims and Arabs in the US increased by 1,700 percent. Stories about Muslim women in hijabs and Muslim men with beards being attacked became commonplace. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Kevin James, a Muslim first responder who was at Ground Zero in New York immediately after the attacks.
Photo: Nadia Nawaz holds a sign remembering the victims of the attack. Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
In October 2001, just a month after the 9/11 attacks, the first airstrikes against Afghanistan began in what the US and its allies called Operation Enduring Freedom. The country was being targeted because it had provided a haven for al-Qaeda. In 2011 Louise Hidalgo spoke to two Afghans who were in Kabul the night the bombing started.
(Photo: The aftermath of a US airstrike on Kandahar. Credit: Getty Images)
The al-Qaeda attacks against America took place on the morning of September the 11th 2001. The news was broken to the US President, George W Bush by his Chief of Staff Andrew Card, as he was on a visit to an elementary school. Simon Watts reports. This programme was first broadcast in 2020.
(Photo: President George W. Bush shortly after learning of the 9/11 attacks. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
On the 9th of September 2001 the Afghan fighter Ahmed Shah Massoud who led the opposition to Taliban rule, was killed by a suicide bomber. Just two days later, Al Qaeda carried out their attacks in the USA. In 2011 Louise Hidalgo spoke one of Ahmed Shah Massoud's friends who was with him the day he died.
PHOTO: Ahmed Shah Massoud (Getty Images)
Throughout 2001 the US authorities were being given warnings that a terror attack was imminent. A Congressional Commission, FBI officers and the CIA were all worried. There were even specific warnings about planes being flown into buildings. Louise Hidalgo spoke to former Senator Gary Hart who co-chaired the Congressional Commission that tried to convince the government to take action.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Smoke pours from the World Trade Centre after it was hit by two passenger planes on September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Credit: Robert Giroux/Getty Images)
When World War Two ended and the Korean peninsula was divided, Soviet soldiers occupied the North, and US soldiers occupied the South. So how did one man, Kim Il-sung, take control of communist North Korea and create the long-lasting dynasty that still runs the country today? Kevin Kim has been hearing from Professor Kim Hyung-suk about his meeting with Kim Il-sung, and about the mystery behind his rise to power.
Photo: North Korean illustration of Kim Il-sung surrounded by happy citizens.
Palermo businessman Libero Grassi published an open letter in Sicily’s main newspaper denouncing the Mafia for constantly demanding extortion payments. Grassi was hailed as a hero, but his public refusal to pay was intolerable to the Mafia and a few months later, in the summer of 1991, he was executed in person by one of Cosa Nostra’s top bosses. Libero Grassi’s defiance is credited with inspiring a new grass-roots movement among businesses in Sicily that stands up to the Mafia. Simon Watts spoke to his daughter, Alice Grassi.
This programme is a rebroadcast
When South Vietnam fell in 1975, most could not escape. In the last days, the US airlifted its remaining personnel and some high ranking Vietnamese officials - but millions were left behind to await their fate. This is the account of one South Vietnamese veteran who remained in Saigon as North Vietnamese forces took the city. Dr Tran Xuan Dung served as a doctor in the South Vietnamese Marines. He would spend three years imprisoned in a "re-education" camp before fleeing with his family in 1978.
Photo: A South Vietnamese soldier helps his wounded friend during fighting with communist forces in Saigon, 28th April 1975 (Bettmann/Getty Images)
This electric car revolution is finally on the horizon: many car manufacturers have promised to make only electric vehicles in the near future, in response to the climate emergency. But the first mass-produced modern electric car, the General Motors EV1, was launched back in 1996. Within a few short years it was scrapped: almost every vehicle was recalled and crushed, and the car of the future disappeared in history’s rear-view mirror. Viv Jones hears the story from one of the car’s creators, research engineer Wally Rippel.
Photo: The GM EV1 (Kim Kulish/Sygma via Getty Images)
Muhammadu Buhari's military government launched an unusual campaign to clean up Nigeria in August 1984. Under the policy, Nigerians were forced to queue in an orderly manner, to be punctual and to obey traffic laws. The punishments for infractions could be brutal. Veteran Nigerian journalist Sola Odunfa spoke to Alex Last about the reaction in Lagos to the War Against Indiscipline.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: The Oshodi district of Lagos, 2008 (AFP/Getty Images)
The Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani was one of the most influential and famous Arab cultural figures of the 20th century. His enduring legacy has become contested territory in the conflict that has torn his homeland apart.
In the mid 2000s disability campaigners in Mexico were stepping up their efforts to secure changes in laws and attitudes in their country. They faced indifference from politicians and business leaders, and stereotypical portrayals in the media. For the estimated 4.3 million women with disabilities in Mexico, the situation was even more difficult. Maryangel Garcia-Ramos, who has become one of her country's leading disability activists, tells Mike Lanchin about her own personal struggle and the battle for recognition for women with disabilities, who she calls "the forgotten sisters."
Photo:Maryangel Garcia-Ramos at UN headquarters, New York, June 2019 (courtesy of Maryangel Garcia-Ramos)
When the RMS Titanic sank in 1912, after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic, roughly 700 passengers survived by escaping in the ship's lifeboats. Among them were six Chinese sailors travelling in third class. Unlike other survivors, their stories remained untold for decades. They faced racism and a hostile immigration system when they reached America. Viv Jones speaks to Tom Fong, the son of one of the Chinese sailors. He only found out what had happened to his father after his death.
Photo: Tom’s father, Fang Lang. Credit: LP Films.
The economist John Maynard Keynes transformed 20th century economic policy. Considered one of the great minds of his age, his seminal work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, sought to diagnose and find solutions to the misery and mass unemployment of the Great Depression. For decades his ideas were central to economic policy adopted across the western world and have made a comeback after the financial crash of 2008. Alex Last presents rare recordings of Keynes from the BBC archive and speaks to Lord Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at Warwick University and biographer of Keynes.
Photo :John Maynard Keynes, the famous economist pictured at his home in London, 1929 (Getty Images)
Nicolae Ceaușescu was the first communist leader to be given a full state visit to the UK, but it was controversial from the outset. The Romanian president was a known dictator who ran a brutal regime, but Britain was still cash-strapped after World War Two and was desperate to build new trading partners. Dorian Galbinski was one of the main translators for the visit and he explains to Rebecca Kesby some of the background to the event.
(Photo: June 1978: Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu rides in the state carriage with Queen Elizabeth II on his official visit to Britain. Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
In August 1990 following the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein’s invasion of neighbouring Kuwait hundreds of foreign nationals were held hostage by the Iraqi government. Among them were the Rahims, a British Muslim family who had been in Iraq on a religious pilgrimage. Sameer Rahim has been speaking to Farhana Haider about his time as Saddam's prisoner.
Image: Saddam Hussein with western hostages, Iraq 1990 Credit: Shutterstock
When Indian independence leaders, including Gandhi, were jailed in 1942, activists set up a secret radio station to carry the message of rebellion against British rule. Among the campaigners who worked at the station was Usha Mehta, who was later imprisoned for broadcasting anti-British news and playing patriotic music. Claire Bowes has been listening to archive material of Usha Mehta and speaking to her nephew, Indian film-maker Ketan Mehta. Image: Usha Mehta Credit:Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya, Mumbai
The last remaining US forces pulled out of Vietnam on April 30th 1975 as communist North Vietnamese troops took control of the country. There was a desperate scramble to evacuate US personnel and some Vietnamese colleagues who feared brutal reprisals at the hands of the communists for having helped the Americans. With the airport destroyed, they had to use helicopter airlifts from inside the US embassy compound to transport people to the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier waiting offshore. Rebecca Kesby speaks to two former US servicemen, Stu Herrington and Vern Jumper, who were involved in the mission.
(Photo: A CIA employee helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, a half mile from the U.S. Embassy. April 1975. Getty Images.)
Genocide has a long and grim history, but until the 1950s, the mass extermination of a people or a group was an atrocity without a name, a definition or an international law against it. One man did more than anyone else to change that: the Polish Jewish lawyer, Raphael Lemkin. He coined the term genocide and fought for decades to stop it. He also survived it, but lost his whole family in the Holocaust. Viv Jones hears his story from Israeli journalist Lili Eylon, who met him at the United Nations and witnessed his one-man lobbying campaign.
Photo: Raphael Lemkin in 1950 Credit: Bettmann / Getty Images.
Vera Lengsfeld was a prominent human rights activist in East Germany who was arrested and jailed for taking part in a peaceful protest. She was sent to Hohenschönhausen, the main political prison of the former East German Communist Ministry of State Security, the Stasi. There she was kept in solitary confinement until shortly before the Berlin Wall came down. Vera Lengsfeld spoke to Lucy Williamson about her time in jail.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: A cell inside Hohenschönhausen Prison which has now been made into a museum. Credit: Flickr Commons.
For years Germans have been bathing nude at the beach. Many are members of a naturist movement called the FKK, which was banned under the Nazis and faced official disapproval during the early years of communist rule in East Germany. Mike Lanchin spoke to one East Berliner who recalled the heyday of naked sunbathing beside the Baltic Sea.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Bathers enjoying the beach at Baerwalder See, Eastern Germany (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
East Germany's most famous singer-songwriter was exiled to the West in November 1976, causing an international outcry. Wolf Biermann was stripped of his GDR citizenship while on tour in West Germany.
Wolf Biermann spoke to Lucy Burns about his political songs and his fame on both sides of the Berlin Wall.
This programme is a rebroadcast
Picture: Wolf Biermann in concert. Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
How a young West German student helped East Berliners escape communism at the height of the Cold War. Volker Heinz told Robin Lustig how he worked with a Syrian diplomat to smuggle people across the Berlin Wall in the boot of the diplomat's car. From March to September 1966 the pair managed to help more than 60 people to make the crossing.
This programme is a rebroadcast
(Photo: East German border guards in 1966 scanning the Berlin Wall. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
In August 1961, communist East Germany began building the Berlin Wall, which divided the city for nearly three decades and became a symbol of the Cold War. Simon Watts introduces the memories of Germans from both sides of the Wall.
PHOTO: Soldiers at the Berlin Wall in the early 1960s (Getty Images)
In the early 1990s, when homosexuality was still a criminal offense in India, a group of gay men and lesbian women set up the Counsel Club in the city of Kolkata. It was one of the first queer support groups in India. Their first meetings took place in secret at the home of one of the members. Later, the group campaigned for gay rights in India and helped other gay people with family problems or anxieties over coming out. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Pawan Dhall, one of the club's founding members.
Photo credit: REUTERS/Jayanta Shaw
When the US led invasion of Afghanistan ousted the repressive Taliban regime in 2001, it was no longer illegal to listen to music or news on the radio. Afghan businessman Saad Mohseni returned to his home town of Kabul to launch Arman FM, a new radio station which played modern music and comedy programmes amongst other things which had been banned under the Taliban. He tells Rebecca Kesby why he wanted to help rebuild the cultural life of Afghanistan, how one radio station expanded into a multimedia company, and how persistent security problems have impacted his staff.
(Photo: Afghan radio DJ, Seema Safa, talks on Arman FM radio station in Kabul in 2014. WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
When the south-east region of Nigeria declared itself to be the independent state of Biafra, civil war broke out. More than a million people died before the fighting stopped. We bring you one child’s story of getting caught up in the frontline. Paul Waters hears from Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe, now better known as TV and music star Patti Boulaye, who was 13 years old when she had to try to escape the conflict. ‘We were told: Careless talk kills‘ Patricia remembers. ‘When you walked past dead bodies in the street, I didn’t want to look at their faces, because maybe it was someone I knew.’ Photo: 13-year-old Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe (Courtesy of Patti Boulaye)
The 1970s were a time of rapid development in the Indian Himalayas. New roads had recently been built, allowing logging companies greater access to the region’s vast, remote forests. Local people made a subsistence livelihood from these woods, and when the trees were cut down they endured erosion, poor farming conditions and catastrophic floods. A resistance movement was formed, named Chipko – Hindi for ‘hugging’ – after its trademark protest tactic of embracing the trees. Many of its first organisers were women. Environmentalist and ecological activist, Dr Vandana Shiva was a young student when she first learnt about Chipko. She tells Viv Jones how she was inspired to volunteer for the movement. (Photo by Bhawan Singh/ The India Today Group via Getty Images)
In 1961, the Washington Post newspaper hired an African American woman as a reporter for the first time. Dorothy Butler Gilliam was only 24 when she got the job. At the time there were hardly any women or minorities working in newsrooms. Most of her white colleagues wouldn’t speak to her, taxis wouldn’t stop for her. Dorothy has been speaking to Farhana Haider about the difficulties she faced as a black woman journalist in 1960s America and her fight to diversify the media in the US.
(Photo Dorothy Butler Gilliam Washington Post newsroom 1962. Copyright Harry Naltchayan, The Washington Post.)
Remembering the earthquake and tsunami which devastated Japan and triggered a nuclear emergency in 2011. Max Pearson, who reported from Japan at the time, presents eyewitness accounts of the disaster which left thousands dead and led to many questioning the future of the country's nuclear industry. Photo: Tsunami smashes into the city of Miyako in Iwate prefecture shortly after an earthquake hit the region of northern Japan, 11th March 2011 (JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images)
After decades of campaigning in Japan, the pill was finally legalised in 1999. In contrast, the male impotency drug Viagra was approved for use in just six months, and legalised before the contraceptive pill for women. Politician Yoriko Madoka pushed hard for the right to take the pill and told Rebecca Kesby that sexism and male dominance in Parliament is why it took so long.
(Photo: A collection of contraceptive pills. Getty Images)
In January 1972 a Japanese soldier was found hiding in the jungle on the Pacific island of Guam. He had been living in the wild there for almost 30 years unaware that World War Two had ended. His name was Shoichi Yokoi. Mike Lanchin spoke to his nephew and biographer.
This programme is a rebroadcast
Photo: Shoichi Yokoi on his arrival back in Japan in 1972. Credit: Getty Images.
Daisuke Inoue was playing keyboards in a band in Kobe, Japan, when he invented the Karaoke machine in 1971. He had a customer who wanted to impress business clients by singing along to his favourite songs. Ashley Byrne spoke to Daisuke Inoue about his invention in 2015.
(Photo: A group of women sing karaoke. Credit: Getty Images)
On 1 October 1964, the fastest train the world had ever seen was launched in Japan. The first Shinkansen, or bullet train, ran between Tokyo and Osaka, and had a top speed of 210km per hour. Lucy Burns spoke to Isao Makibayashi, one of the train's first drivers.
This is a rebroadcast
(Photo: Shinkansen, or bullet train. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
In the early 2000s, rebels in Sudan's Darfur region took up arms against the government. In response, the Khartoum regime launched a scorched earth campaign along ethnic lines. The Sudanese military allied to a local militia, the Janjaweed, laid waste to villages across the region, killing and raping as they went. Some 300,000 people are believed to have been killed in the conflict, more than 2 million displaced from their homes. We hear the story of Debay Manees, a young boy at the time, who's life was changed by the war.
Photo: A young Darfurian refugee walks past a Sudan Liberation Army Land Rover filled with teenage rebel fighters on October 14 2004 in the violent North Darfur region of Sudan. (Photo by Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images)
On 22 July 2011 Norway suffered its worst terror attacks in recent history. A far-right extremist, Anders Breivik, launched a bomb attack on government offices in Oslo, and then, two hours later, attacked a summer camp for young political activists on the island of Utøya, 38 kms from the Norwegian capital. In total 77 people were killed that day - the majority on the island. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to one of the camp's leaders Lisa Husby, who was 19-years-old at the time . Lisa hid under a bed in a small cabin as the gunman roamed the island looking for his next victim. 'It was 50-50 that day', she says. 'Either you found a good hiding place, or you didn't...it was just random'.
Photo:A wounded young woman is brought ashore after the attacks on Utøya island. (Credit: Svein Gustav Wilhelmsen/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1941, Italian colonial rule in East Africa ended when Mussolini’s soldiers made a dramatic final stand in the northern Ethiopian town of Gondar. After a bloody battle, General Guglielmo Nasi surrendered to troops from the British empire and Ethiopian fighters loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie. Simon Watts listens to an account in the BBC archive from Rene Cutforth, who was then a British army officer and later became a distinguished BBC war correspondent.
PHOTO: Italian soldiers surrendering in the build-up to the Battle of Gondar (Getty Images)
Ground-breaking legislation came into effect in Brazil in 2006. For the first time the courts were ordered to recognise different forms of domestic violence. The 'Maria da Penha law' was named after a women's rights activist who was left paralysed by her abusive husband. Maria told Mike Lanchin her chilling story.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Maria da Penha now.
In the summer of 2001 race riots gripped towns in the north of England. They began in Oldham in late May 2001, spreading to Burnley in June, and Bradford in July. All had their own specific local triggers, but all involved clashes between men of white and of South Asian background. A report into the violence found communities were living in complete segregation, brewing suspicion and hatred. Barnie Choudhury reported on the riots for the BBC. He speaks to Farhana Haider about how they unfolded and their repercussions for the UK today.
Photo: Two youths pass by a burnt out car wreck, Oldham 29 May 2001. (Credit: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Taliban fighters first took control of Afghanistan's capital city Kabul in late September 1996. They imposed their strict interpretation of Islam on Afghans, outlawing music and TV, banning the education of girls, and requiring men to grow beards. The Taliban ruled most of Afghanistan until 2001 when, following the 9/11 attacks against America, a US-led coalition drove them out of power.
Photo: Taliban gunners outside Kabul in November 1996.(Credit: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images)
In the 1960s a young Englishwoman made a discovery that changed our understanding of animal behaviour. Jane Goodall was living among wild chimpanzees in Tanzania when she observed them using sticks and grasses as tools to get food. Farhana Haider spoke to her about her life in 2014.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo: Jane Goodall with chimpanzeess. Credit: AFP)
As a schoolboy in communist China, Kim Gordon took part in huge rallies to praise Chairman Mao. But when Mao's so-called Cultural Revolution began to target intellectuals and foreigners, Kim's British parents came under suspicion despite being convinced communists. When they tried to leave the country they were arrested with Kim and locked up in a hotel room for two years. Monica Whitlock has been listening to Kim's story.
Photo: Kim Gordon as a schoolboy in China. Courtesy of Kim Gordon.
Using eyewitness recordings from the BBC archive we hear from the pioneers of the jet engine, Sir Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain, about the struggle to develop a revolutionary new engine in the 1930s. An invention which would change the world. Photo: Sir Frank Whittle (1907-1996) is pictured here with the Whittle WV engine at the Science Museum in London c 1988 (Getty Images)
On 9 July 1985 the Greenpeace campaign ship was bombed by French secret agents in Auckland, New Zealand. One environmental campaigner was killed and the Rainbow Warrior was sunk. Claire Bowes heard from the ship's captain Pete Willcox who was on board when the attack took place.
This programme is a rebroadcast
(Photo: Captain Pete Willcox, courtesy of Greenpeace)
Roma people from all over Europe met in England for a conference in 1971. The Roma, who migrated from India over a thousand years ago, often used to be called gypsies. Many Roma led a travelling life, moving from place to place doing seasonal work. They suffered persecution and prejudice for centuries, and many died in the Holocaust during World War Two. But their common language and culture brought them together. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Grattan Puxon who organised the Congress. Image: First World Romani Congress
Communist North Korea suffered a devastating famine in the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union which had been one of the country's main supporters. Hundreds of thousands of people died of starvation. Some estimates put the death toll at more than two million. Josephine Casserly has been hearing from Joseph Kim, who was a child in North Korea in the 1990s, about the struggles of his family.
Joseph has written a book about his experience called Under the Same Sky.
Photo: North Korean boys at a kindergarten in Pyongyang pose for a World Food Programme Emergency Food Assistance photographer in 1997. Their thin arms and legs, knobby knees and distended abdomens show that they are seriously malnourished. (Credit: Susan North/AFP/Getty Images)
When Britain went to war with Germany in 1939 it had to find somewhere to keep its money. Because of the risk of invasion, a decision was made to send the country's gold reserves to Canada. Vincent Dowd reports on what became known as 'Operation Fish'.
Photo: Gold ingots. Credit: Science photo library
As Cuba faced a devastating economic crisis in the early 1990s, leading to severe food shortages and malnutritiion, some 50,000 Cubans were inexplicably struck down with sight loss. But health officials on the communist-led island as well as experts at WHO initially believed it was caused by a viral infection spreading through the population. Despite hostile relations between his country and Cuba, the American eye specialist Dr Alfredo Sadun was asked to go to the island in May 1993 to investigate. He tells Mike Lanchin about his meetings with Fidel Castro, and how he helped solve the mystery of what was termed the Cuban epidemic of optic neuropathy.
Photo: A doctor examines a patient affected by sight loss at a clinic in Havana, Cuba, May 1993 (ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP via Getty Images)
China has the largest number of overseas students in the world but when students first started venturing out of Communist China it was still a country feeling the aftereffects of the Cultural Revolution. Launched in 1966 by Communist leader Mao Zedong the Cultural Revolution plunged China into a decade of chaos. The education of millions of young people were disrupted and China was cut off from the rest for world. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Chinese American writer Zha Jianying, one of the first batch of Chinese students to arrive in the US in the early 1980s.
Image: Chinese writer Zha Jianying, July 2015 Credit: Simon Song/ Getty Images
A small group of revolutionaries formed the Chinese Communist Party in July 1921. Led by Chairman Mao, they fought their way to power in the world's most populous nation and have stayed in control since the end of China's civil war in 1949. Zhu Zhende was a young recruit in the People's Liberation Army who marched in front of Chairman Mao at celebrations in Beijing when the communists took power. He spoke to Yashan Zhao about the optimism and excitement of that time, and about how the Communist Party changed his life.
The programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: a communist statue in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. Credit: BBC.
An experimental play staged in Damascus in 1971 undermined official Syrian propaganda. Simply by stating that the Arab nations had been defeated by Israel during the Six Day War its author, Sadallah Wannous, identified himself as an opposition figure. Zak Brophy spoke to his widow, Faizah Shawish, about the play and its place in Syrian theatre.
Photo: Sadallah Wannous with his parents and daughter in 1988. With the permission of the Wannous family.
It was one of the most reported UFO sightings in recent history. Local people in the quiet rural town of Ruwa in Zimbabwe reported a 'strange craft' and lights in the sky. Around 60 children said they'd seen a 'space ship' and 'aliens' in bush land near their school playground in September 1994. The children drew pictures of what they'd seen, and despite differences in quality, the details and proportions were very similar. A BBC TV crew were among the first on the scene. Rebecca Kesby looks back through the archive of 'the Ruwa School incident'.
(Photo: child's impression of Zimbabwe 1994 UFO)
LGBT servicemen and women in the US armed forces had to keep their sexuality secret until the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy was repealed in 2011. Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack served under the policy for most of her military career. She spoke to Rachael Gillman about her experiences. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack (l) with her wife Ashley (r) and their two children. Courtesy of Heather Mack
LGBT people in China sometimes arrange fake marriages to hide their sexuality. Homosexuality is not illegal in China but there is discrimination against LGBT people. In 2005 Lin Hai set up a website to allow lesbians and gay men to get in touch with each other. He came up with the idea to stop his family from putting pressure on him to get married. He spoke to Yashan Zhao in 2019 for Witness History. This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo: Lin Hai and his partner on holiday in Thailand in 2014. Credit: Lin Hai)
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The discovery of the diaries of 19th-century Englishwoman Anne Lister, who wrote in secret code about her love affairs with women and has been called the first modern lesbian. A landowner and a businesswoman, she defied the conventions of the time and was nicknamed 'Gentleman Jack' in the Yorkshire town of Halifax where she lived, because of the way she dressed and acted. Louise Hidalgo spoke to Helena Whitbread, who discovered Anne Lister's diaries in 1983 and spent five years decoding them. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Picture: portrait of Anne Lister, of Shibden Hall, Halifax (credit: Alamy)
Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire has a buzzing LGBT scene and the country is regarded as one of the more tolerant nations in West Africa. In this Witness History, Josephine Casserly speaks to Barbara, a trans, LGBT activist. In 1992, Barbara was among a group of protesters who stormed the office of a national newspaper, to protest against their depiction of LGBT people.
(Image: Barbara. Credit: From Barbara's personal collection)
In June 1969, the gay community in New York responded to police brutality and harassment by rioting outside the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. For several days there were battles with the police. The protest sparked the creation of the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement and the first Gay Pride events. Simon Watts spoke to Stonewall veteran, John O'Brien.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
PHOTO: Exterior of the Stonewall Inn, pictured in June 2015 (Credit: Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Since the 1980s China has witnessed massive economic growth. It’s become known as the 'world’s factory'. The driving force behind much of it has been a vast migrant workforce of millions of people, many from the countryside. But at what cost to village life and rural communities? Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to writer Liang Hong about her experience of leaving the Chinese countryside, and why she is determined to document the lives of those living through seismic change.
(PHOTO:
The iconic East German car dominated the roads of communist Central Europe for decades. The Trabant was made out of resin and cotton waste, had a two-stroke engine and its design remained virtually unchanged for thirty years. Johannes Dell has been hearing from legendary German designer Karl Clauss Dietel who worked for years to make improvements to the Trabant - but his innovations were never implemented.
(Photo: a Trabant 601. Credit: BBC)
When the BBC broadcast a documentary called 'A Complaint of Rape' in 1982 the public was shocked. It was part of a fly-on-the-wall series about the police in which officers were filmed aggressively questioning a woman about her allegation of rape. It made news around the world and inspired the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to question the procedure as well as the attitude of those involved. The woman was asked personal questions about her sex life, menstruation and about her mental health. The officers told her directly that they didn't believe her claim. It led individual police forces to reassess the way they investigated allegations of rape. Claire Bowes has been speaking to film-maker Roger Graef about the footage.
Photo: an image from the film 'A Complaint of Rape' by Roger Graef and the BBC (1982).
In June 2015 an American anti-racist activist climbed a flagpole on the South Carolina state house grounds to take down the Confederate flag. The protest followed the killing of 9 black people at a historic Charleston church by a white supremacist who was pictured holding the flag. The Confederate flag was the battle flag of the troops who fought to retain slavery during America’s civil war. For African Americans the flag is a symbol of slavery, segregation and black subordination. Bree Newsome Bass talks to Farhana Haider about her act of protest.
Bree Newsome taking down the Confederate flag at the State House in Columbia, SC, on Saturday 27th June 2015 . She was arrested for her action. (Photo by Adam Anderson / Reuters)
In 1979 scientist Jon Kabat-Zinn opened the Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, pioneering a meditative approach to treat pain and depression. In a few decades, mindfulness has gone from being a specialist element of Buddhist teaching to a billion dollar industry. In 2019, Farhana Haider spoke to Dr Kabat-Zinn about the popularising of mindfulness to tackle the stresses of modern life.
(Photo Jon Kabat-Zinn teaching MBSR at the University of Massachusetts Medical School 1992, Credit Jon Kabat-Zinn)
In 1939, the Spanish capital, Madrid, finally fell to the fascist forces of General Franco – spelling the end of a brutal Civil War in which hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians were killed. The city had been under siege for more than two years and had become a symbol of resistance for the defeated Spanish Republic. Simon Watts has been listening to the memories of Rene MacColl and William Forrest, two British war correspondents who reported from Madrid.
PHOTO: Franco's troops entering Madrid in 1939 (Getty Images)
Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem voted in legislative elections in 2006. The Islamist Hamas movement stood against the Fatah party for the first time - and won. It was an outcome that surprised everyone. Zak Brophy has been hearing from Hazem Balousha who was working for the Palestinian Election Commission at the time.
(Image: A Palestinian Hamas activist (L) and Fatah activist (R) stand together outside a polling station on January 25, 2006 in the West Bank Village of Abu Dis. Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images.)
Regarded as one of the most important pieces in 20th Century English music, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem was first played in the newly-built Coventry Cathedral in 1962. The original had been destroyed during World War II. In 2013, Simon Watts spoke to Maggie Cotton, one of the orchestral performers who took part, and to composer Michael Berkeley, Britten's godson.
(Photo: Benjamin Britten in 1964 - BBC copyright)
For decades, Tunisia has had a system of legal, state-regulated brothels. But in the last ten years they have been under attack and many have been forced to close. Josephine Casserly has been talking to Professor Abdelmajid Zahaf, a Tunisian doctor who has been working with legal sex workers for 35 years. The voice-over of Professor Zahaf is by Raad Rawi.
On 7 June 1981 Israeli fighter jets launched a surprise attack on the Osirak nuclear reactor located outside Baghdad, killing 11 people. The French-built reactor was still under construction and there was no leakage of nuclear material, but the bombing was widely condemned internationally. Israel argued that it had effectively slowed down Saddam Hussein's nuclear programme by ten years, while the Iraqis insisted that the reactor was being built for purely scientific research. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Dr Fadhil Muslim al Janabi, a former consultant for Iraq's nuclear agency and one of the first people to see the damaged reactor site.
Producer in Baghdad: Mona Mahmoud
Picture: The Tammuz light-water nuclear materials testing reactor under construction in Al-Tuwaitha, just outside of Baghdad, 1979. (Getty Images)
In the 1990s, Switzerland decided to tackle one of Europe's worst drugs epidemics by trying radical new policy ideas including providing safe-injection rooms for addicts and even prescribing pure heroin. The new strategy dramatically cut overdoses, HIV infections and the number of new users, and in 2008 the Swiss voted in a referendum to enshrine the changes permanently in law. Zak Brophy talks to Andre Seidenberg, a Swiss doctor who worked with addicts for decades, and to former Swiss president Ruth Dreifuss, who campaigned for the change in policy.
PHOTO: Drug addicts in a disused railway station in Zurich in the 1990s (Getty Images)
Laila Haidari set up Kabul's first independent drug rehabilitation centre in 2010. Having helped her own brother to quit his heroin addiction she wanted to help others. More than 80% of the world's illegal opium and heroin comes from Afghanistan. International criminal groups have exploited years of warfare and lawlessness to expand production, but the insecurity has also led to poverty and increased drug addiction inside Afghanistan. Laila Haidari explains to Rebecca Kesby how local people have been affected.
(PHOTO: An Afghan farmer harvests opium sap from a poppy field in the Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar province in 2018. The US government has spent billions of dollars on a war to eliminate drugs from Afghanistan, but the country still remains the world's top opium producer. (Credit NOORULLAH SHIRZADA/AFP via Getty Images)
In April 2001 the Peruvian Air Force mistakenly shot down a small passenger plane as it flew over the Amazon jungle. The Peruvians believed the aircraft was carrying drugs. Onboard was a group of American missionaries. Mike Lanchin spoke to Jim Bowers, who survived the crash, but whose wife and baby daughter were killed.
This programme is a rebroadcast
Photo: The missionary plane shot down by the Peruvian Air Force lies in shallow waters of the Amazon River. (Photo by Newsmakers)
The Colombian drug trafficker, once one of the richest men in the world, was shot dead by police in December 1993. He had been on the run from the authorities for over a year. Jordan Dunbar has been speaking to Elizabeth Zilli who worked for the US Drug Enforcement Agency in Colombia and who helped track down Pablo Escobar.
Photo: Colombian forces storm the rooftop where drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot dead on 2nd December 1993. (Credit:Jesus Abad-el Colombiano/AFP/Getty Images)
The first 'war on drugs' was launched by US President Richard Nixon in 1971. He described drug abuse as a 'national emergency' and asked Congress for nearly four hundred million dollars to tackle the problem. Claire Bowes spoke to one of Nixon's policy advisors, Jeffrey Donfeld, about an approach to drugs which he describes as more 'find them and help them' than 'find them and lock them up'. And how he convinced the President to roll out a nationwide programme of methadone treatment for heroin addicts.
This programme is a rebroadcast
Photo: US President Richard Nixon (BBC)
Greenwood was a flourishing and prosperous black neighbourhood of Tulsa, often referred to as Black Wall Street. But in May 1921, a white mob descended on the district, destroying homes, businesses and lives. In this Witness History, Josephine Casserly talks to historian John W. Franklin, of Franklin Global, about the story of his grandfather, Buck Franklin, who survived the massacre. The words of Buck Franklin are voiced by Stefan Adegbola.
Image: An African-American man with a camera examining the ashes of a burned-out block after the Tulsa Race Massacre. Credit: Oklahoma Historical Society/Getty Images
On May 31st 1986 a small group of musicians staged the first charity rock concert ever held in the USSR. It was organised in less than two weeks to raise money for the victims of the Chernobyl disaster. The nuclear reactor accident had happened just a month before in Ukraine. Some of the artists who played at the concert had been previously banned by the Soviet authorities, so the concert was a social revolution, as organiser - Artemy Troitsky explains to Rebecca Kesby.
(PHOTO Credit Sputnik: 1986 Charity concert arranged to raise funds for accident management at the Chernobyl power station. Olimpiysky sports complex.)
In the 1960s and 70s, Amilcar Cabral led the armed struggle to end Portuguese colonial rule in Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde in West Africa. Cabral was an unusual rebel leader. He was an agricultural engineer, writer and poet who founded the liberation movement, the PAIGC, in 1956 to end Portuguese rule of his home country. In Guinea Bissau, the PAIGC fought a successful guerrilla war against a much larger Portuguese army. But Cabral was assassinated shortly before Portugal officially conceded independence in 1974. Alex Last spoke to former liberation fighter, Commander Manuel dos Santos about the struggle and his memories of Amilcar Cabral.
(Photo: Rebel soldiers on patrol in Guinea Bissau during the Portuguese Colonial War in West Africa, 1972. Credit: Reg Lancaster/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Despite opposition from her father, Lotfia Elnadi was determined to realise her dream to fly. With her mother's consent, she secretly took flying lessons from an English instructor at a small airfield in the desert outside Cairo. And in September 1933 she made history by becoming the first female pilot in the Arab world. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from the Egyptian film-maker and writer Wageh George who interviewed Lotfia at the end of her long life for a film about her amazing achievement entitled 'Take Off From The Sand'.
Photo credit: Alamy
Archive of Lotfia Elnadi from 'Take Off From The Sand'
When one and a half million Indian railway workers went on strike for 20 days in 1974 it brought the country to a halt. Essential food, goods and workers were unable to reach their destinations. Despite this, the general public were largely sympathetic to the strike as they too felt a sense of anger at the government over the economy and allegations of corruption. Claire Bowes has been talking to union leader Subhash Malgi about why the government attempt to prevent the action with mass arrests and harassment backfired and to author Stephen Sherlock about how it became - what was at the time - the biggest strike in history and led to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's declaration the following year of a national state of emergency.
Photo: Train from Darjeeling to Siliguri 1970. Credit: Paolo KOCH/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images
In 2009 a war crimes trial in Sierra Leone ruled that forced marriage was a crime against humanity. It was the first time a court had recognised that charge. The ruling came in a trial of three rebel leaders for crimes committed during Sierra Leone's civil war. The legal turning point came largely as a result of the testimonies of the women who had been victims. The prosecution argued that forced marriage should be considered a crime against humanity distinct from other forms of sexual violence. Farhana Haider has been speaking to the former chief prosecutor Stephen Rapp about the trials.
Photo: Sierra Leone, repatriated refugees reaching Freetown January 2001 Credit: Ullstein Bild/Getty Images
Iran hosted a meeting to save the world's wetlands in 1971. The Ramsar Convention - named after the village on the Caspian Sea where it was originally signed - is seen as the first of the modem global intergovernmental treaties on the sustainable use of natural resources. Claire Bowes has been speaking to the Belgian representative, Eckhart Kuijken, about the battle by conservationists to interest people and governments in the value of wetlands. He describes how his home country had no planning laws protecting natural landscapes until 1962 - so that many were lost to industry and agriculture.
Photo: Hawizeh Marsh in Iran. Credit: courtesy of the Convention on Wetlands
There were strikes and student protests across South Korea in May 1980. The military government responded with a brutal crackdown in the city of Gwangju and elsewhere striking workers faced arrest and even torture. Heongjun Park has been hearing from one of those strikers, Bae Ok Byoung, who worked in a factory making wigs in Seoul. She, and the other female employees had gone on strike demanding better working conditions, but after the industrial action ended she was jailed, tortured and then blacklisted for decades. This is a 2 Degrees West production.
Photo: Labour activist Bae Ok Byoung talking to some of the workers at the wig factory in Seoul where she worked in 1980.
The controversial Israeli opposition leader visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jersualem's old city in 2000. His appearance was followed by an upsurge in violence between Palestinians and Israelis. Mike Lanchin spoke to an Israeli, and a Palestinian who were there that day.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo: Ariel Sharon at the compound. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.)
How a brick wall in Beijing became a beacon for those calling for change. But when Wei Jingsheng posted an essay demanding democracy in 1978, he was arrested and imprisoned for 18 years. He's been telling Rebecca Kesby why he thinks it was worth it.
(PHOTO: BEIJING, CHINA: China's prominent dissident Wei Jingsheng (R) laughs as he talks to reporters at his Beijing apartment 20 September 1993. Wei was arrested again shortly after this and eventually released from prison on medical grounds in 1997. He currently lives in the USA. (credit MANUEL CENETA/AFP via Getty Images)
The trial of a South African doctor accused of multiple murders under the Apartheid regime. Wouter Basson, nicknamed 'Dr Death' by the country’s media, was alleged to have run a secret chemical and biological weapons project in the 1980s to eliminate perceived enemies of the government. But after the country’s longest and most expensive trial and despite evidence from 150 witnesses, in 2002 a judge found him not guilty on all 46 charges. Bob Howard talks to Dr Marjorie Jobson, the national director of Khulumani, a group which campaigns for justice on behalf of the victims of apartheid.
In the summer of 1971 around 2,000 Iraqi Jews were forced to flee the country following persistent threats and persecution. The Jewish community in Iraq dated back to the Babylonian times, but by the mid 1950s numbered less than eight thousand. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Edwin Shuker, who was just 16 years old when he and his family were smuggled over the mountains to safety in neighbouring Iran by members of Iraq’s Kurdish minority. Edwin and his family eventually settled in the UK.
Photo: Edwin Shuker and his parents and grandmother at home in Baghdad before they left in 1971 (courtesy of Edwin Shuker)
Contraception wasn't easily accessible in Ireland until 1985. Activists spent years fighting for the right to control their fertility but faced opposition from the Roman Catholic church which traditionally played a central role in Irish society. Paul Moss has been hearing from Betty Purcell who was a teenager when she first started campaigning.
Photo: a woman holding up a condom and some contraceptive pills. Credit: Getty Images.
# Warning: This programme contains scenes of drug use #
In 1955, a British member of parliament, Christopher Mayhew, took the hallucinogenic drug mescaline and had his experience filmed by the BBC. The drug was legal at the time and the experiment was supervised by the pyschiatrist Dr Humphry Osmond. The film was part of a wider public debate about psychedelic drugs following the publication of The Doors of Perception by the writer Aldous Huxley. But the film of the experiment was never broadcast and years later mescaline was put on the banned list of drugs in the UK because of fears of its potential impact on mental health.. Photo: Christopher Mayhew (right) preparing to start the experiment, watched by Dr Humphry Osmond (left), December 1955. (BBC)
In the early 2000s, Rudy Kurniawan was a newcomer to the hedonistic world of wine auctions in the US. He quickly became well-known for his warm and friendly manner and his profligate spending on wines. But where was all his money coming from?
Josephine Casserly tells the story of one of the most high profile cases of wine fraud and speaks to Laurent Ponsot, French winemaker, turned Sherlock Holmes.
(Corks, foil capsules and wine labels used as evidence in the trial. Photo: Stan Honda/Getty Images)
The American writer, Ursula Le Guin, was one of the most influential authors of the second half of the 20th century, publishing 20 novels in genres from science fiction to young adult. Le Guin pioneered feminist science fiction with The Left Hand of Darkness and created the enduringly popular Earthsea series of fantasy novels. She died in 2018. Simon Watts introduces the memories of Ursula Le Guin, as recorded in the BBC archives.
PHOTO: Ursula Le Guin in the 1980s (BBC/Marion Wood Kolisch)
In 1981 the British government was faced with prisoners dying on hunger strike in a jail in Northern Ireland. The Irish republican activists were demanding to be treated as political prisoners not criminals. Several of them died during the hunger strike, the first, Bobby Sands on May 5th 1981. Louise Hidalgo spoke to Laurence McKeown who took part in the protest but survived.
(Photo: Protestors wearing balaclavas in support of the hunger strike. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
How Amsterdam became the home of cannabis coffee shops .The Mellow Yellow Café set a pattern in 1973 of attracting customers, which hundreds of others would follow. Although selling and smoking the drug was illegal, possession of small quantities of cannabis was tolerated by the Dutch police. Bob Howard talks to the café’s owner, Werner Bruining.
Photo: Mellow Yellow Cafe, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Credit: Alamy
The US tracked down the al-Qaeda leader to a city in northern Pakistan in May 2011. Special operations troops were sent to capture or kill Bin Laden in a top secret raid in the dead of night. The Americans did not tell their Pakistani allies about the raid beforehand. Gabriela Jones spoke to Nicholas Rasmussen who was in the White House situation room with President Barack Obama and US military chiefs as the raid took place.
Photo: Osama Bin Laden's fortified compound on the outskirts of Abbottabad in north-west Pakistan. Credit: BBC
When the Taliban were ousted from power in Afghanistan in 2001, the hunt for Osama bin Laden began in earnest. One American in particular led the search. He was CIA commander, Gary Berntsen, who had been tracking the al-Qaeda leader for years. In December 2001 he ordered a small group of special forces soldiers and Afghan fighters into the White Mountains, close to the border with Pakistan, in the hope of cornering bin Laden in the caves of Tora Bora. But as Gary Berntsen tells Rebecca Kesby, in spite of heavy bombardment bin Laden managed to give them the slip.
(PHOTO: Local anti-Taliban fighters help US special forces in the assault on the White Mountains and Tora Bora cave complex in Afghanistan, December 2001. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
In August 1998, more than 200 people were killed in co-ordinated bomb attacks on two US embassies in East Africa. They were among the first major attacks linked to Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network. We hear from George Mimba who was working inside the embassy in Kenya when the bomb detonated.
Photo: Rescue workers at the scene of the Nairobi embassy bombing (AFP/Getty Images)
When the Palestinian journalist Abdel Bari Atwan agreed to go and interview Osama bin Laden in 1996 he was apprehensive. By the time he reached the Al-Qaeda leader's mountain hideout - he was shaken and scared - but what was the man himself really like? Claire Bowes reports.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Osama bin Laden. Credit:AFP/Getty Images
In 1979 Islamist militants seized control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam. Hundreds were killed as Saudi security forces battled for two weeks to retake the shrine. The militants were ultra-conservative Sunni Muslims who believed that the Mahdi, the prophesied Redeemer, had emerged and was a member of their group. The BBC's Eli Melki spoke to eyewitnesses who were inside the Grand Mosque during the siege.
Photo: Fighting at the Grand Mosque in Mecca after militants seized control of the shrine, November 1979 (AFP/Getty Images)
On 12th April 1981, the space shuttle Columbia made history becoming the first ever reusable space craft to fly into orbit. It marked the start of a 30-year shuttle programme which revolutionised the history of manned space exploration. Using NASA and BBC archive we tell the story of this historic test flight. Photo: NASA photo shows the first launching of the space shuttle from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Columbia carried astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen. (AFP via Getty Images)
The National Rifle Association represents gun owners in the USA. In 1977 it faced a turning point when its members revolted against the organisation’s leadership to concentrate on political lobbying in Washington. Would the gun lobby in America be as strong as it is, without the 1977 turnabout? Bob Howard talks to John Aquilino, a former NRA spokesman, who was at the historic meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio.
National Rifle Association Holds Its Annual Conference In Dallas, Texas. DALLAS, TX - MAY 05 2018. Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
In 2011, an American man shot dead two people in the streets of Lahore. The crisis that ensued saw accusations of espionage and US-Pakistani relations brought to the brink. For Witness History, Josephine Casserly tells the extraordinary story of the Raymond Davis incident.
In 1970, the Republican president Richard Nixon signed a bill returning a sacred lake to the people of Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. The lake, and surrounding land, had been taken from the Taos people in 1906 and turned into a national forest, even though it was central to their centuries-old cultural rituals and beliefs. The return of the lake was the first time the US government had given land back to a Native American community. Louise Hidalgo talks to Laura Harris and her mother LaDonna Harris, who with her senator husband helped the Taos people get the Blue Lake back.
Picture: President Nixon signing the Blue Lake bill in the presence of Taos leaders, 15th December 1970 (Credit: UPI/Getty Images)
In April 1961, Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi official in charge of concentration camps, was put on trial in Israel.The trial helped reveal the full details of the holocaust in which millions of European jews were killed during World War Two. One of the prosecutors, Gabriel Bach, spoke to Lucy Williamson for Witness History.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
PHOTO: Eichmann in the dock. (AFP/Getty Images)
The Mosuo community in China’s Himalayan foothills is matrilineal, so a family’s ‘bloodline’, inheritance and power is passed down through the female side. There is no such thing as marriage and monogamy is actively discouraged. The women rule and the men don’t mind. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to Choo Wai Hong, a Singaporean corporate lawyer who came across the community as she travelled through her ancestral homeland of China. She liked it so much she learnt the language and built a house there. (PHOTO: Mosuo Women. Credit Patrick AVENTURIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
South Asian vultures started dying in huge numbers in the 1990s but no one knew why. They were on the verge of extinction before scientists worked out what was killing them. Bob Howard has been hearing from Munir Virani of the Peregrine Fund, who discovered that the vultures’ livers were being damaged when they fed on the carcasses of cattle which had been treated with a widely-used painkiller.
White-backed vultures in their enclosure at the Vulture Conservation Centre run by World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) in Changa Manga. September 20, 2017. Credit: ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images
On April 17 1961 a group of Cuban exiles launched an invasion of communist-ruled Cuba in a failed attempt to topple Fidel Castro. After 72 hours of fighting many of the invaders were captured or killed. Gregorio Moreria was a member of the local communist militia who fought against the US-backed invaders. He was injured and briefly captured during the fighting. He spoke to Mike Lanchin for Witness History in 2016.
(Photo: Members of Castro's militia during the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion. Credit: Three Lions/Getty Images)
After the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA in the 1950s, South African biologist Sydney Brenner was searching for a model animal to help him tease out the genes involved in human behaviour and human development from egg to adult. Brenner chose a tiny nematode worm called caenorhabditis elegans (c.elegans for short), whose biological clockwork can be observed in real time under a microscope through its transparent skin. The worm has since been at the heart of all sorts of discoveries about how our bodies work and fail. Sue Armstrong has been speaking to people who knew and worked with Sydney Brenner.
This programme is a Ruth Evans Production.
Photo: the c. elegans worm. Credit: Science Photo Library
In 1981, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman judge to be appointed to the US Supreme Court. She was nominated by newly-elected Republican president Ronald Reagan, who'd made the pledge to appoint a woman part of the campaign that led to his landslide victory. Justice O'Connor served for 24 years and had the decisive vote in many landmark cases. Her friend and former law clerk, Ruth McGregor, has been talking to Louise Hidalgo.
Picture: Sandra Day O'Connor is sworn in at the Senate confirmation hearing on her selection as a US Supreme Court justice, September 1981 (Credit: Keystone/Consolidated News Pictures/Getty Images)
The Jet Stream is formed by powerful high-altitude rivers of air which circle the globe and help determine our climate. The existence of these winds was first documented in Japan in the 1920s, but only became more widely known during World War Two, when American airmen encounter high-speed winds on bombing missions over Japan. At the same time, the Japanese military also began to use these powerful transcontinental winds to carry innovative balloon bombs all the way to the West Coast of America. Using archive recordings we tell the story of the discovery and speak to Professor Tim Woollings from Oxford University, the author of Jet Stream: A Journey Through Our Changing Climate. Photo: B-29 bombers passing Mount Fuji on their way to Tokyo, April 1945 (Getty Images)
As the communist system in the former Soviet Union was collapsing in 1991, the people of Leningrad voted to drop Vladimir Lenin's name abandoning the city's revolutionary heritage and returning to its historic name of St Petersburg. Dina Newman spoke to Ludmilla Narusova, wife of the first St Petersburg mayor, Anatoli Sobchak, who campaigned for the hugely symbolic change.
This programme is a rebroadcast - it was first aired in 2018.
Photo: Communist campaigners demonstrate against the name change in Leningrad in 1991. Credit: Sobchak Foundation.
In 1954, the BBC broadcast a new television programme in Britain. It was called Zoo Quest and it launched the career of a man who has since brought the natural world into millions of homes around the world, the broadcaster Sir David Attenborough. Louise Hidalgo has been listening back through the BBC archives to Sir David telling the story of the first natural history expedition for Zoo Quest, to Sierra Leone in West Africa.
Picture: David Attenborough, producer of the BBC wildlife documentary series Zoo Quest, and Jack Lester (right), curator of London Zoo's reptile house, planning their next expedition with the help of Gregory the parrot, March 1955 (Credit: William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
Former female wrestler Juana Barraza was found guilty in March 2008 of murdering at least eleven elderly women in Mexico city over a period of seven years. Barraza, who became known as the "little old lady killer", admitted to murdering three women, and told investigators that it was because of her lingering resentment for the abuse that she'd suffered as a child at the hands of her alcoholic mother. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Mexican neuro-psychologist Dr Feggy Ostrosky, who spent days interviewing Barraza in jail, trying to understand what had turned her into a serial killer.
(Photo: Former female wrestler Juana Barraza. Credit: David Deolarte/AFP/Getty Images)
How women in the North of England took to the streets in the late 1970s to protest against a serial killer dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper. Police advised them to stay indoors to avoid being attacked but the feminist protestors wanted greater protection for women and girls. Rebecca Kesby has been hearing from Al Garthwaite one of the organisers of Britain's first "Reclaim the Night" march.
Photo: women taking part in a Reclaim the Night march. Credit: BBC
On Easter Sunday 1967 the Reverend Albert Cleage renamed his church in Detroit the Shrine of the Black Madonna. He preached that if man was made in God's image there was little chance that Jesus was white as most of the world's population is non-white. Reverend Cleage also pointed to the many depictions of black madonnas all over the world throughout history. Claire Bowes has been speaking to his daughter Pearl Cleage, a writer and activist, about her father's belief in black representation and self-determination.
Photo: Black Madonna and Child courtesy of BLAC Detroit. Archive: Thanks to the Chicago History Museum and WFMT for the Studs Terkel Radio Archive.
In March 2000, two young English travellers, Tom Hart-Dyke and Paul Winder, were kidnapped by Colombian guerrillas while attempting to cross the notoriously dangerous Darien Gap region on the border with Panama. Hart-Dyke is a gardener who was on a mission to collect orchids, and he survived a nine-month ordeal by building a nursery in the cloud forest and planning his own dream garden for the family castle back home in Kent. He talks to Simon Watts.
PHOTO: Tom Hart-Dyke (l) with Paul Winder shortly after their release (Press Association)
How Mrs Thatcher shook up the Soviet media with a landmark interview in Moscow in 1987 focusing on nuclear disarmament. It was broadcast unedited and helped bring in the era of “glasnost.” Bob Howard talks to Boris Kalyagin, one of the three Soviet journalists who interviewed the British prime minister.
Margaret Thatcher, circa 1993. copyright Jeff Overs / BBC
In March 1973 guards went on strike at Walpole maximum security prison in the US state of Massachussetts, and the prisoners took over. For the next three months the inmates, organised in the National Prisoners Reform Association, ran daily life in the prison. They were helped by a group of outside observers, drawn from members of the community. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from the organiser of the observer teams, Rev. Ed Rodman, about his memories of this unique, but ultimately doomed, experiment in prison reform.
(Photo credit: The Boston Globe)
The American singer, Karen Carpenter, died in 1983 of anorexia nervosa. She was one half of a world famous brother and sister duo called The Carpenters. She was aged just 32. Up until then anorexia nervosa had often been referred to in the media as the "slimmer's disease". Skinny celebrities were seen as both beautiful and successful and anorexia was somewhat glamorised. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Dr Pat Santucci, a psychiatrist who helped set up the world's first national organisation dealing with eating disorders, the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Eating Disorders, known as ANAD. Dr Santucci says wherever western culture has an influence, you will find anorexia nervosa.
Photo: courtesy of Science Photo Library
At the end of the 1990s, tens of millions of people across Africa had been infected with HIV and in South Africa hundreds of thousands of people were dying from AIDS. People were demanding cheaper drugs, but the big pharmaceutical companies didn’t want to play ball. They took the South African to court over the right to import cheap drugs in a case which would last three years and which would pit the big pharmaceutical companies against Nelson Mandela and the rainbow nation. Bob Howard talks to Bada Pharasi, a former negotiator at South Africa’s department of health.
SANDTON, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 17: HIV/AIDS activists demonstrate in front of the American consulate on June 17, 2010. Credit: Photo by John Moore/Getty Images.
Dr Ruth Westheimer first became popular on a radio show in New York in the early 1980s. Her frank and open approach to giving advice on all sorts of different questions about sex soon made her a TV personality too.
Photo: Dr Ruth Westheimer. Credit: Getty Images
The Jamaican government issued a warrant for the arrest and extradition of the drug lord Christopher Coke, otherwise known as “Dudus” in May 2010. The United States wanted him extradited to face charges of racketeering and bringing drugs and guns into America. Coke controlled an area of the Jamaican capital Kingston, called Tivoli Gardens. Dozens of people in the district he dominated were killed as the police and military stormed the stronghold, even using mortar bombs to try and disperse the gunmen protecting Coke. Human rights attorney Jodi-Ann Quarrie talks to Bob Howard about the events and their impact on Jamaica. (Jamaican police on patrol after a frenzy of gang and drug violence in Kingston, May 24 2010. Credit: Anthony Foster/Getty Images)
An early attempt at power-sharing in Northern Ireland ended after protestant workers went on strike and bomb attacks killed dozens in the Republic of Ireland in 1974. Matt Murphy has been hearing from Austin Currie, the former SDLP politician, about the events of that time. Photo: Dr Ian Paisley addresses a mass gathering of supporters, in the Protestant Shankhill Road area of Belfast in 1974. The Ulster Workers' Council declared that "everything stops at midnight" in an attempt to bring down Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive brought about by the Sunningdale Agreement. Credit: PA.
In 1978, the World Chess Championship between the Soviet champion and convinced communist, Anatoly Karpov, and the dissident and defector, Viktor Korchnoi, turned into one of the most infamous clashes in the history of the game. At a time of peak Cold War tension, the two players traded allegations about yoghurts containing messages, the use of psychics and the mysterious appearance of a meditating yoga cult dressed in orange robes. David Edmonds tells the story of the match through the memories of British grandmaster, Michael Stean,
PHOTO: Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi squaring up in 1978 (Getty Images)
In 2010, six men were locked inside a simulated spacecraft on earth for 520 days. It was part of an experiment to see how humans would cope if cooped up together for the duration of a potential trip to Mars. The crew were monitored throughout and were treated as if they were on a real mission in space, though the spacecraft was actually housed in a warehouse in Moscow. They even performed a simulated space walk on the surface of Mars. The project was set up by Russia, China and the European Space Agency. Alex Last has been speaking to Diego Urbina (@DiegoU) who took part in the mission.
Photo: The six crew members of the Mars-500 mission. (From Left) Russia Alexey Sitev, France's Romain Charles, Russia's Sukhrob Kamolov, Russia's Alexander Smoleevskiy, Diego Urbina from Italy and China's Wang Yue. (Getty Images)
In 1982, the Swedish social reformer, writer and diplomat, Alva Myrdal, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work on nuclear disarmament. She was only the 7th woman in history to win the award, which she received jointly with Mexican diplomat Alfonso Garcia Robles. In the 1930s and 40s, Alva Myrdal had, with her husband Gunnar Myrdal, developed the ideas behind Sweden's famed welfare state which had transformed Sweden into the modern country we know today. She was also the first woman to be given a senior post at the United Nations. Alva Myrdal's daughter Kaj Foelster has been telling Louise Hidalgo about her mother's life and work.
Picture: Alva Myrdal in 1976 on the publication of her book The Game of Disarmament (credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
The documentary Paris is Burning was released in 1991 The award winning film showed a glimpse of the thriving underground ballroom and drag scene in New York City in the 1980s and the black and LatinX LGBTQ+ communities at the heart of it. The United States in the 1980s was a difficult place to be different, with homophobia and racism running rife. Pairs is Burning was filmmaker Jennie Livingston’s first documentary and she has been telling Bethan Head about the lengthy process of bringing the film to the screen.
Melina Mercouri, famous actress turned politician, visited Britain in 1983 as Greek Minister of Culture and made the first official request for the return of the Parthenon marbles. The marbles were removed in 1801 by Lord Elgin, who was the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time. Lord Elgin, who was based in Istanbul sent his agents to Athens to remove the marbles which he claimed were at risk of destruction. He later sold them to the British parliament who in turn entrusted them to the British Museum where they've been exhibited since 1832.
This programme was first broadcast in 2019
(Photo: The Greek Minister for Culture, Melina Mercouri, inspects the Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum in May 1983)
A group of feminists working under the name “Jane” carried out underground abortions in 1960s Chicago – when abortions were still illegal in most of the US.
Initially they gave abortion counselling and put women who wanted to terminate their pregnancies in touch with doctors who would perform the procedure. But when they discovered that one doctor they had been working with was not medically qualified, the women started to perform the abortions themselves.
Martha Scott was a member of the group – she received an abortion through the service, learned to perform abortions, and was one of the Janes arrested when they were busted by the police. She tells Lucy Burns about her experiences.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo courtesy of Martha Scott
The Empress Dowager Cixi ruled China for 47 years until her death in 1908. But it wasn't until the 1970s that her story began to be properly documented. She'd been vilified as a murderous tyrant, but was that really true or was she a victim of a misogynistic version of history? Prof Sue Fawn Chung was the first academic to go back to study the original documents, and found many surprises. She tells Rebecca Kesby the story of "the much maligned Empress Dowager".
This programme is a rebroadcast
(Photo: Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi, portrait c1900. Credit: Ullstein bild/Getty Images)
In 2011 Egyptians took to the streets calling for the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak, whose regime had been in power for nearly 30 years. Their uprising was part of a wave of pro-democracy protests in the Arab world aimed at ending autocratic rule. Women were at the forefront of protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square, many taking part in political demonstrations for the first time in their lives. Student activist Hend Nafea tells Farhana Haider she was campaigning not only for freedom, dignity and social justice, but also for her rights as a woman. Photo: Hend Nafea protesting in Tahrir Square in January 2011. (Copyright Hend Nafea)
In March 1946, the UK's former wartime leader, Winston Churchill, gave a historic speech which would come to symbolise the beginnings of the Cold War. Churchill had lost power following a crushing election defeat in Britain in 1945. Encouraged by the US President Harry Truman, Churchill agreed to give a speech on world affairs at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. But why did the speech have such an impact. Alex Last hears from the historian Prof David Reynolds of Cambridge University, author of The Kremlin Letters: Stalin's wartime correspondence with Churchill and Roosevelt.
Photo: Winston Churchill at the podium delivering his "Iron Curtain" speech, at Westminster College in Fulton Missouri, 5th March 1946 (PA)
In March 1960, the South African police opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators in the township of Sharpeville, killing 69 people and injuring nearly 200 more. The massacre outraged black South Africans, leading to a radicalisation of anti-apartheid organisations such as the ANC and a ruthless crackdown on dissent by the whites-only government. Simon Watts hears the memories of Nyakane Tsolo, who organised the demonstration in Sharpeville, and Ian Berry, a photographer whose pictures of the killings caused an international outcry.
PHOTO: The crowd fleeing from the police at Sharpeville in 1960 (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)
On 13 May 1985 a police helicopter dropped explosives on a house in residential Philadelphia, in an attempt to end a stand-off with radical black activists from an organisaton called MOVE. Fire spread quickly through the surrounding buildings and 11 people died, including five children. All the victims belonged to MOVE. A total of sixty houses in the area were also burnt or badly damaged in the botched police operation. Mike Lanchin speaks to Mike Africa, who lost his great uncle and a cousin in the fire, and to the former Philadelphia reporter, Linn Washington.
Photo: Aerial view of smoke rising from smouldering rubble in Osage Avenue, West Philadelphia, May 1985 (Getty Images)
In 2001, boats carrying hundreds of, mainly Afghan, refugees arrived on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru. This marked the beginning of the “Pacific Solution” – a policy by the Australian government to establish offshore centres for processing asylum claims. The policy was intended to act as a deterrent, discouraging people from travelling to Australia. Many of the refugees lived in the cramped conditions of Nauru for years.
In this Witness History, Josephine Casserly speaks to Yahya, an Afghan refugee who left his home country as a school student when the Taliban gained control of his local area. Yahya was one of the first refugees to arrive at Nauru’s detention centre. Like many, he was hopeful that his stay in the makeshift camp would be a temporary measure, and he’d be quickly resettled in Australia. But that was not to be.
(Asylum seekers on their first day in the compound at Nauru after their long voyage, Sept 2001. Credit: Angela Whylie/Getty images)
Don Walsh was the first to go to the very bottom of the deepest part of the ocean in 1960 in a specially designed submarine, the Bathyscaphe Trieste. The water pressure was 800 tonnes per square inch, and the successful mission to "Challenger Deep" in the Mariana Trench under the western Pacific, was a technological breakthrough in marine engineering. Don Walsh describes the dive to Rebecca Kesby, and explains why understanding the deep ocean is crucial in the fight to reduce climate change.
(Photo: The Bathyscaphe Trieste in 1960. Getty Images)
Johnny Smythe was one of very few West Africans to fly with Britain's air force during WW2. Recruited in Sierra Leone in 1941 he was trained as a navigator and flew 26 missions on RAF bombers before being shot down over Germany and taken prisoner in 1943. His son Eddy Smythe spoke to Tim Stokes about his father’s story.
Photo: Johnny Smythe in his RAF uniform. Copyright: Eddy Smythe.
The Ghanaian president, Kwame Nkrumah, was one of Africa's most famous independence leaders. But in 1966, while he was out of the country, the Ghanaian military and police seized power in a coup. The legendary Ghanaian film maker Chris Hesse worked closely with Nkrumah and was with him at the time. He spoke to Alex Last about his memories of the coup and his friendship with the man who'd led Ghana to independence.
Photo: Kwame Nkrumah c 1955 (Getty Images)
In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis Ireland had to borrow billions to stop its banks from going under and to keep its economy afloat. The IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank provided the money. Matt Murphy has been speaking to Patrick Honahan, who was Ireland's central banker at the time of the bailout.
Photo: Protesters take to the streets of Dublin in November 2010 to oppose savage public spending cutbacks needed to secure an international bailout. Credit:Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images
In the 1960s, Swedish scientists documented how acid rain was poisoning lakes, killing fish, damaging soils and forests. Crucially they said it was an international problem, because the acid rain was caused by industrial pollution being carried on the prevailing winds from countries thousands of miles away. Acid rain is primarily created by the burning of fossil fuels, particularly coal, which releases large amounts of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air. These particles then mix with moisture in the atmosphere to create sulphuric and nitric acid, which then falls back to earth as acid rain. The phenomenon of acid rain was noticed in the 19th century but the threat was largely ignored. Alex Last spoke to Prof Henning Rodhe of Stockholm University about the research that alerted the world to the dangers of acid rain.
Photo: Forest decline caused by acid rain in the Giant Mountains in Poland - 1998 (Getty Images)
The Motown group The Supremes had a string of number one hits in 1964. They would become the most popular girl group of the 1960s. One of the three original singers, Mary Wilson, spoke to Vincent Dowd about growing up in Detroit, commercial success, and civil rights.
Photo: The Supremes, (left to right) Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, on a visit to London in 1964. Credit: PA Wire.
The Black Panther Party hit the headlines in the late 1960s with their call for a revolution in the USA. But they also ran a number of "survival programmes" to help their local communities - the biggest of which was a project providing free breakfasts for schoolchildren.
Reverend Earl Neil was one of the organisers of the first Free Breakfast for Children programme at St Augustine's Church in Oakland, California. He spoke to Lucy Burns.
(IMAGE: Shutterstock)
The story of an African American woman who played a largely unsung role in countless medical breakthroughs over more than half a century. Henrietta Lacks had cells taken from her body in 1951 when she was suffering from cancer. Those cells were found to be unique in a most particular way. They continued to reproduce endlessly in the laboratory. Culture from those cells have since been used in thousands of scientific experiments. But as Farhana Haider reports, Henrietta herself was never asked if her cells could be used in medical research.
(Photo: Henrietta Lacks. Copyright: Lacks Family)
How one man used research by historians at University College London into Britain's forgotten slave-owners to track down the descendants of the family who'd owned his ancestors two centuries earlier. Dr James Dawkins tells Louise Hidalgo how his quest led him to the famous evolutionary biologist, Professor Richard Dawkins, author of the Selfish Gene, with whom he shares a name and a past.
Picture: slaves unloaded from slave ship at their destination; from Amelia Opie The Black Man's Lament: or How to Make Sugar, London, 1826 (Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
It wasn't until recently that researchers working in the national archive in London discovered the extent to which ordinary people in Britain had been involved in the slave trade in the 18th and early 19th century. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Dr Nick Draper, who uncovered volumes of records detailing the thousands of people who claimed compensation when slavery was abolished in Britain in 1834. He and colleagues at University College London set up the Legacies of British Slave-ownership database, documenting this forgotten part of Britain's history.
(Photo: Taken from Josiah Wedgwood's medallion, 'Am I Not a Man and a Brother?''. The inscription became one of the most famous catchphrases of British and American abolitionists. Credit: MPI/Getty Images)
More than 400 civilians were killed when two US precision bombs hit the Amiriya air raid shelter in western Baghdad on the morning of 13 February 1991. The Americans claimed that the building had served as a command and control centre for Saddam Hussein's forces. It was the largest single case of civilian casualities that ocurred during Operation Desert Storm, the US-led campaign to force Iraq to withdraw from neighbouring Kuwait. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from one Iraqi woman whose four children were inside the air raid shelter the day it was bombed.
Photo: Inside the Amiriya air-raid shelter following the US bombing (Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)
Nurses from outside the UK form a vital part of the country's National Health Service. Many come from African countries. Cecilia Anim - who left Ghana for England in 1972 - became the first black woman to be made president of the Royal College of Nursing. In 2017 she was awarded a CBE by the Queen. She has been speaking to Sharon Hemans for Witness History.
Photo: Cecilia Anim as a student nurse in Ghana in the 1960s. Credit: Cecilia Anim.
In 1989 celebrities in New York set up the 'Street News' paper to help the homeless. People living rough sold the paper at a profit instead of begging, initially it was very successful with around 250,000 copies sold per issue and the idea was copied around the world. Lee Stringer was living on the street when he began selling 'Street News', he discovered a talent for writing and went on to be a columnist and then editor of the paper. He told Witness History how living on the streets made him a better writer and how he became a successful author as a result of the chance he was given at 'Street News'.
(Photo: A street vendor holds a copy of 'Street News'. Credit CBS)
In 1984 a group of lesbians and gay men organised a benefit concert to support striking coal-miners. They sent the money they raised to a mining village in Wales. The miners' strike was the biggest industrial dispute in British history. Hear from Mike Jackson, one of the gay men inspired by the miners' struggle.
Francis Bacon painted distorted and disturbing images but his works are now widely considered one of the great achievements of post-war British art. Vincent Dowd has been trawling through the BBC archives listening to Bacon talking about his work, and gaining an insight into his Bohemian, hard-drinking ways.
Photo: Francis Bacon in London in 1970. Credit: Press Association
DES or Diethylstilbestrol was a form of synthetic estrogen developed in the 1930s, regularly prescribed to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage. But in the 1960s it was discovered that not only did it not prevent miscarriage, it also had dangerous side effects for the daughters of the women who had taken it while pregnant – including reproductive problems and rare gynaecological cancers. Millions of women were exposed all over the world. Lucy Burns speaks to mother and daughter Linda and Katie Greenebaum about their experiences of DES.
This programme was made with the help of DES Action in the USA. www.DESAction.org
Photo: black and white image of smiling baby (H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)
The US Civil War of 1861-65 left 700,000 troops dead. The Southern Confederate states rebelled against the Union of the North because the Confederates wanted to protect the right to own slaves. The hero of the rebel cause, General Robert E Lee, was charged with treason and had his citizenship revoked. So why did Congress reinstate his citizenship in 1975 more than one hundred years after his death? Claire Bowes has been speaking to former Democrat Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman who was one of just ten members of Congress to vote against the rehabilitation of General Lee and to John Reeves author of the book, The Lost Indictment of Robert E Lee. They describe how the proposal, put forward by a pro-segregationist Senator from Virginia, passed without even the mention of slavery.
Photo: General Robert E Lee courtesy of the Library of Congress
During the Vietnam war, US commanders grew increasingly concerned about the widespread use of drugs by US troops in Vietnam. Initially the focus was on marijuana. But in the early 1970s, reports began to emerge of the large scale use of heroin by US military personnel. The drug had became widely available in South Vietnam. Alex Last spoke to Dr Richard Ratner, then a psychiatrist in the US army in Vietnam, about his memories of treating soldiers suffering from heroin addiction.
Photo: Two soldiers in Vietnam exchange vials of heroin, July 1971 (Getty Images)
On August 8th 1988 the Burmese military cracked down on anti-government demonstrators, killing hundreds possibly thousands of people. In the weeks of protest that followed, Aung San Suu Kyi rose to prominence as an opposition figure. The date 8.8.88 has come to symbolise the resistance movement in Myanmar at the time. Ma Thida was a medical student working at Rangoon General Hospital when the dead and injured began to arrive. In 2018 she spoke to Rebecca Kesby about treating gunshot wounds for the first time, and about her political activism and subsequent imprisonment. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Demonstrators in Rangoon in 1988. Credit: Getty Images
The biggest circus in Soviet Russia opened in Moscow in April 1971. Circus was considered the “people’s art form” in the USSR and was highly popular. The new Moscow State Circus building on Vernadsky Avenue could seat up to 3400 people and was filled with state of the art technology.
Alexander Egorenko was one of the backstage crew, and still works at the circus today. He tells Lucy Burns about his memories of the circus.
(Elephant Nicole celebrates her birthday at the Great Moscow State Circus, Jan 18 2021. Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Getty Images)
The first Eurostar train left London's Waterloo station heading for the Gare du Nord in Paris in November 1994. It was the first commercial passenger train to travel through the Channel Tunnel which had only been finished a few months earlier. Robert Priston was one of the drivers on that three-hour journey and he has been telling Bethan Head about that day.
Photo: one of the first Eurostar trains. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.
In December 2010, anti-government protests broke out in Tunisia after a young fruit-seller called Mohammed Bouazizi set himself alight outside a government office in the south of the country. At one of the huge rallies in Tunis, a young singer called Emel Mathlouthi sang a song called "Kelmti Horra" or "My Word is Free". A video of her passionate performance immediately went viral and inspired protestors to take to the streets in other parts of the Middle East in what became known as the Arab Spring. Emel Mathlouthi talks to Witness History.
PHOTO: Emel Mathlouthi performing in 2012 (Getty Images)
In the early months of 2011 demonstrators took to the streets across the Arab world in what became known as the Arab spring. In February, protests in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi soon turned into an armed revolt seeking to overthrow the dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Six months later, following fierce fighting, Libyan rebel forces swept into the capital, Tripoli. After more than 42 years the Libyan leader was forced from power. He was later captured and killed. Farhana Haider has been speaking to BBC Arabic correspondent Feras Kilani, who was detained and beaten while covering the uprising.
Photo: Libyan anti-Gaddafi protesters wave their old national flag as they stand atop an abandoned army tank in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on February 28, 2011.(Credit PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Inspired by events in Tunisia and Egypt young Yemenis took to the streets in January 2011. Ishraq al-Maqtari was a lawyer and women's rights activist from the southwestern city of Taiz. She took her two young daughters on the first demonstration in her home town. She has been speaking to Sumaya Bakhsh about how the uprising was an unprecedented opportunity for women to have their voices heard. But in Yemen, war and a humanitarian catastrophe followed the popular uprising, so does Ishraq regret taking part in the protests of the Arab Spring?
Photo: Ishraq al-Maqtari in 2011.
Protests erupted across the Arab world in 2011, people wanted change, an end to tyranny and dictatorship. But in Syria the unrest, and its put down by the authorities, led to civil war, years of violence and the survival of the Assad regime. One eye witness to events was Rami Jarrah, he was at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus when one of the first protests began in Syria. He told Rebecca Kesby how powerful it felt just to even shout the word "freedom" during the protests.
(Photo:
A wave of popular anti-government uprisings swept through the Arab world in the early months of 2011. Many of the activists who took to the streets were inspired by social media posts. Israa Abd el Fattah was one of the first Egyptian activists to use social media. In April 2008 she tried to organise a general strike in protest at low wages, and rising prices. She was given the nickname "Facebook Girl". In 2011 she used her experiences with Facebook to help mobilise people before the Egypt's Arab Spring uprising. She spoke to Zeinab Dabaa for Witness History in 2017. She has since been detained by the Egyptian authorities.
Photo: Israa Abd El Fattah in her office in Cairo in 2011. Credit: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images
Anti-Sikh violence erupted in India after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984. Looting, raping and killing broke out in Sikh areas. One of those killed was Nirpreet Kaur's father who was burnt to death by a furious mob in Delhi. She spent decades trying to bring to justice a politician she had seen encouraging the violence. She has been telling her story to Ishleen Kaur.
Photo: Nirpreet Kaur's family before the events of 1984. Copyright:Nirpreet Kaur.
When Dr Henry Chakava became Kenya's first African book editor in 1972, there were virtually no books or educational material published in African languages, even in Kiswahili. He made it his priority to translate work by African authors into African languages, he also commissioned original work in several of Kenya's many languages, and published hundreds of textbooks. A champion of cultural diversity across East Africa, Dr Chakava tells Rebecca Kesby why he devoted his life to preserving and enriching the region's languages, and why he believes even more must be done to make sure they survive and thrive in the future.
(Photo: Dr Henry Chakava. From his private collection)
Following the assault on the US Capitol earlier this month, Amazon banned The Turner Diaries, a racist novel blamed for inciting American neo-Nazis to violence. The book calls for a race war and a coup against the institutions of US democracy. It was the favourite reading of Timothy McVeigh, the white terrorist who blew up a federal government building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.
The Turner Diaries was published in 1978 by a former physics professor and neo-Nazi called William Luther Pierce. Simon Watts has been hearing the memories of his son, Kelvin Pierce. They were recorded as part of the BBC series on the American far-right, Two Minutes Past Nine.
PHOTO: Shawn Walker, a former leader of William Pierce's neo-Nazi organisation, the National Alliance, posing with a copy of the Turner Diaries (Getty Images)
Adolf Hitler made his first attempt to overthrow democracy in Germany in Munich in 1923. It started at a beer hall called the Bürgerbräu in Munich, so it has become known as the "beer hall putsch" or the "Munich putsch". It ended with 16 Nazis and four policemen dead. Although the coup failed, Hitler's trial allowed him to raise his profile on the national stage, and within ten years he became chancellor of Germany.
PHOTO: Nazi members during the Beer Hall Putsch, Munich, Germany 1923 (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The story of the remarkable mission to land on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn. The large mysterious moon has a thick orange atmosphere. No-one had ever seen the surface. In the late 1990s, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was sent on a 7 year, 3.5 billion km journey through space to explore Saturn and Titan. Alex Last spoke to Prof. Emeritus John Zarnecki of the Open University who worked on the mission.
Photo: A flattened (Mercator) projection of the Huygens probe's view of Titan. Taken by the Huygens probe on 14th January 2005 (ESA/NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
Cornelia Sorabji was the first woman lawyer working in India. She helped women living in purdah or seclusion in the 19th century who had no access to the law. The women were married into royal families and prevented from seeing men other than their husbands or family. This meant they had no way of seeking justice when they received cruel treatment, attempts on their lives or were disinherited by their husbands' families. Cornelia Sorabji was able to visit these women and often helped free them from violent abuse. She was so successful that some royal families tried to kill her. Claire Bowes has been speaking to her nephew, Sir Richard Sorabji, about her life and how she helped pave the way for women lawyers in Britain.
Photo: Cornelia Sorabji in a BBC studio in January1931.
In March 1954, a group of Puerto Rican militants opened fire from the public gallery of the US Congress in an effort to promote their fight for independence for the American territory. Five members of the House of Representatives were wounded in an attack which made headlines around the world and turned its leader, Lolita Lebron, into a nationalist heroine on the Caribbean Island. Simon Watts has been listening to archive accounts of the incident.
PHOTO: Lolita Lebron and two Puerto Rican colleagues are arrested after the attack (US Congress/Corbis/Getty Images)
In February 1981 armed Civil Guards tried to take control of the Spanish parliament. For 18 hours they held 350 politicians hostage in the debating chamber. One of those politicians was a young Socialist MP called Joaquin Almunia.
Photo: The leader of the coup attempt, Lt Col Antonio Tejero, on the speaker's platform (AFP/Getty Images)
The Limits to Growth was published in 1972 and warned of global decline from 2020. Claire Bowes spoke to one of the authors of the book, Professor Dennis Meadows, in 2019. He described how they used computer modelling to analyse how the Earth would cope with unrestricted economic growth. In the early 1970s he and his team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology fed in huge amounts of data on population, pollution, industrialisation, food production and resources. They found that if the trends continued, the result would be a sudden and uncontrollable downturn beginning around 2020. This programme was first broadcast in January 2020 but in this edition we catch up with Professor Meadows for a final thought on the significance of the global pandemic during 2020.
Image: Front cover of The Limits to Growth, published in 1972
When the deadly Ebola virus broke out in West Africa in 2014, scientists in the USA set to work analysing it. What they discovered would eventually lead to a treatment. Pardis Sabeti is a virologist at Harvard University and leads the team who sequenced the Ebola virus genome - she has been speaking to Ibby Caputo for Witness History.
Photo: Pardis Sabeti (front row, right) with some of the team who sequenced the virus in the lab.
The three astronauts on the Skylab 4 space research mission in 1973 got behind schedule when one of them vomited before they'd even got onto the space station. They felt they were being micromanaged by ground control, and that their workload was unreasonable - and one day, all three of them missed their daily radio briefing. Some people at Nasa thought they'd gone on strike. But what really happened? Lucy Burns speaks to Dr Edward Gibson, the only surviving member of the trio, about an incident that has been misremembered as the Skylab space strike.
Photo: Scientist-astronaut Edward G Gibson sailing through airlock module hatch of the Skylab, demonstrating the effects of zero-gravity, February, 1974. (Image courtesy National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa)/Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
In the 1990s a practising Buddhist called Anna Cox began visiting a murderer called Frankie Parker in jail. After his execution by lethal injection she carried on talking to prisoners on death row in Arkansas. Anna Cox has been speaking to Ibby Caputo for Witness History.
Photo: Anna Cox and Frankie Parker.
A 3,500 year old song was found on a clay tablet by archaeologists in Syria in the 1950s. Often called the Hurrian Hymn, it had been unearthed amid the ruins of an ancient palace which belonged to the ancient Hurrian civilization. It is the oldest complete song ever found. The tablet was inscribed in the Hurrian language but using cuneiform script. Academics have spent decades debating how to interpret the song's ancient musical notation. Alex Last spoke to Richard Dumbrill, a leading archaeomusicologist, who has spent decades studying the tablet and has produced his own interpretation of the song. Photo: The Hurrian song written in cuneiform on the clay tablet H6 (Richard Dumbrill)
In the 1960s conservationists began a campaign to prevent the Queensland government from allowing mining and oil drilling on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Eddie Hegerl told Claire Bowes that he and his wife were prepared to sacrifice everything, to protect the world's biggest coral reef from destruction.
Photo: Science Photo Library
Shortly after Indian independence Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru persuaded the maverick Swiss-French architect, Le Corbusier, to help reinvent a newly independent India by building a new capital city for the province of Punjab.
Le Corbusier had revolutionised architecture and urban planning in the first half of the twentieth century. He was loved and hated in equal measure for his modernist approach, favouring flat roofs, glass walls and concrete.
Nehru said this new city would be "symbolic of the freedom of India, unfettered by the traditions of the past".
Starting in 1950 the city of Chandigarh was built from scratch on farmland and is unlike any other city in India. The broad boulevards, pedestrianised plazas and green spaces were designed to encourage a feeling of order and of being close to nature.
Claire Bowes spoke to Sumit Kaur, former Chief Architect and lifelong resident of Chandigarh, about the legacy left by Le Corbusier.
Photo:The Chandigarh Legislative Assembly building. 1999 (AFP PHOTO / John Macdougall)
In July 1970, one of the largest dams in the world - the Aswan High Dam in Egypt - was completed. It had taken ten years to build, and was not without controversy. Louise Hidalgo brings us voices from the archives and from one man who was there, Professor Herman Bell, about the cost of the dam to the region's people and its antiquities.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo: The Aswan High Dam under construction in southern Egypt in the 1960s. Credit: AFP)
UNESCO – the educational, scientific and cultural arm of the United Nations was first established in 1945. Its aim was to use education as a means of sustaining peace after the horrors of the Second World War. Addressing race and racism was a key part of its mission. Caroline Bayley has been speaking to Doudou Diene who spent many years at UNESCO working on anti-racism and tolerance.
(Photo: UNESCO logo seen at 39th General Conference of the organization, 2017 in Paris, France. Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images)
In December 1946, the classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life" had its premiere in Hollywood. Starring Jimmy Stewart, the movie's message of hope and redemption is loved by millions. Simon Watts talks to former child star, Karolyn Grimes, who played six-year-old Zuzu Bailey. The programme was first broadcast in 2015.
PHOTO: Karolyn Grimes with Jimmy Stewart in "It's a Wonderful Life" (Getty Images)
In August 1986 the first Studio Ghibli film hit the cinema screens. It would go on to bring Japanese animation to a world audience. Hirokatsu Kihara was a young animator who joined the studio to work on Castle in the Sky, its first feature length film. He spoke to Ashley Byrne of Made in Manchester about the early days of the great animation studio.
Photo: Oscar-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki, one of the founders of Studio Ghibli. Credit: Getty Images.
Bengali film director Satyajit Ray has been described as one of the most influential directors in world cinema, with acclaimed US director Martin Scorsese among those crediting him as an inspiration. Early on in his career, Satyajit Ray released the classic Apu trilogy, which followed the life of a character called Apu from his childhood in rural Bengal to adulthood. Soumitra Chatterjee, the actor who played the title character in the final film, spoke to Farhana Haider. Soumitra Chatterjee died in November 2020.
(Photo: Satyajit Ray in 1989: Credit AFP/Getty Images)
The heart-warming musical, The Sound of Music, was released in 1965 and went on to become one of the most successful films of all time. It was based on the true story of the von Trapp family singers. But was their life really as it was portrayed in the movie? Maria von Trapp's youngest child, Johannes, talks to Louise Hidalgo. The programme was first broadcast in 2015.
(Photograph: The Trapp Family Singers, whose story inspired the film The Sound of Music, in Salzburg in 1937. Credit: BBC Photo Archives)
In late 1940, The Great Dictator was first released in the USA. In his first role in talking movies, Charlie Chaplin satirised Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers, before America had joined World War II. The film was a commercial success, but at the time, many people thought it should never have been made. Louise Hidalgo hears the memories of Hollywood set designer, Laurence Irving, and Chaplin's official biographer, David Robinson. The programme was first broadcast in 2010.
PHOTO: Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator (Bettmann/Getty Images)
On December 18th 1979 hundreds of Namibian children were taken to East Germany to escape the war in their home country. But after communism in Europe collapsed in 1989 the children were sent back to Africa and an uncertain future. Johannes Dell has been speaking to Selma Kamati who was just four years old when she found herself experiencing a snowy East German Christmas.
Photo: Selma Kamati (far right of picture) and some of the of the other Namibian children.
In December 1982, Spain reopened its border with Gibraltar after a 13-year blockade of the disputed British territory. The border was closed by the dictator General Franco and led to the separation of families as well as a hardening of Gibraltarian attitudes towards Spain. It was only reopened when the new democratic government in Madrid wanted to join the European Union. Simon Watts talks to Tito Vallejo Smith, a retired defence worker and historian.
PHOTO: Gibraltarian and Spanish police officers side-by-side in the 1980s (Getty Images)
The first British fly-on-the-wall documentary series aired on the BBC in 1974. It was called The Family and followed the lives of the Wilkins family in Reading. Marian Wilkins - now Archer - was the eldest daughter in The Family and has been speaking to Bethan Head about what it was like to be followed by cameras and have her wedding broadcast on television.
Photo: Screengrab from the first episode of The Family (1974).
In December 1970 Pakistan held its first democratic elections since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The elections led to war, the break up of Pakistan and the creation of a new country, Bangladesh. Farhana Haider has been speaking to the economist and leading figure in the Bengali independence movement, Rehman Sobhan, about the historic elections and their aftermath.
Photo East Pakistan 1971 The flag of Bangladesh is raised at the Awami League headquarters. Credit Getty Images
American entertainer Bing Crosby made 'White Christmas' by Irving Berlin, one of the defining songs of World War Two. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to his nephew Howard Crosby about the song and its importance to his uncle.
Photo: Bing Crosby in London in 1944 recording a performance for British and American troops. Credit: BBC.
In 2009, beavers were released into the wild in the Knapdale forest on the west coast of Scotland, some 400 years after they were wiped out in the UK. The Scottish Beaver Trial was the first official beaver re-introduction programme in the UK and was considered a landmark conservation project. The beaver is seen as a keystone species which can help shape and restore the environment. Alex Last spoke to Simon Jones, who was then the project manager of the Scottish Beaver Trial.
Photo: A beaver in Knapdale in 2011 © Steve Gardner (courtesy of the Scottish Wildlife Trust)
A teenage potholer discovered a cave system near the town of Bruniquel in France in 1990 which contained a mysterious circular structure. It turned out to be nearly 200,000 years old, and built by Neanderthals – transforming our understanding of Neanderthal culture and society. Lucy Burns speaks to Bruno Kowalczewski, who discovered the cave, and geologist Sophie Verheyden, who was part of the research project which discovered the structure’s incredible age.
Picture: taking measurements for the archaeo-magnetic survey in the Bruniquel Cave. Image: Etienne Fabre - SSAC via the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
When Chief Albert Luthuli won the Nobel Peace Prize he was living under a banning order in rural South Africa. He won the prize for advocating peaceful opposition to the Apartheid regime. His daughter Albertina spoke to Rob Walker for Witness History in 2010. Also listen to archive recordings of his acceptance speech.
(Picture: Albert Luthuli receives the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961. Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive)
In 1920 a German filmmaker called Arnold Fanck shot his first film - 'Marvels of the Snowshoe' - high in the mountains. He and his team dragged cameras on sledges to reach the highest peaks. They even attached cameras to their skis to make the early action films. Johannes Dell has been watching some of those films and talking to his grandson Matthias Fanck.
Photo: A still from one of Fanck's early Mountain Films. Copyright: Matthias Fanck.
The African-American crime writer Chester Himes first found widespread success in France. Although his early works had been published in the USA it was only after he moved to Europe and started writing crime fiction that he began to sell large numbers of books. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to writer Alex Wheatle, and Himes' biographer, Pim Higginson, about his life and works.
Photo: Chester Himes. (Copyright: Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)
In 1944, Nazi Germany launched the V1s against the UK. The V1 was a pilotless, jet-propelled flying bomb - the first of its kind in the world and a precursor to the modern cruise missile. The V1 was also the first of Hitler's secret "revenge weapons" which he hoped would change the course of the Second World War. Some 10,000 V1s were fired at the UK. They killed more than 6,000 people and injured 20,000 more. Using archive recordings we hear from civilians who survived V1 attacks and from those tasked to stop the flying bombs.
Photo:A German V1 or 'Doodlebug' pilotless flying bomb in flight, circa 1944. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The first successful slave uprising in modern times happened in present-day Haiti. Former slave, Toussaint Louverture, forced the French colony to abolish slavery in 1794. The rebellion sent shock waves across America and Europe and made its leader famous around the world. France eventually lost its colony completely when its great military leader, Napoleon, was defeated by the former slaves. They then created the world's first black republic, which they named 'Haiti' from the indigenous Taino language. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Sudhir Hazareesingh, who's written a biography of Toussaint Louverture.
Image: Toussaint Louverture - portrait after lithograph by Delpech. Courtesy of Culture Club/Getty Images
A controversial law banning Islamic headscarves and other religious symbols from French state schools came into effect in 2004. The ban was designed to maintain France's tradition of strictly separating state and religion. It resulted in many Muslim girls being excluded from the classroom. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Ndella Paye a Muslim mother and activist who campaigned against the law.
Photo: 2004 February Demonstration in Paris against the French law forbidding manifestation of religious symbols in schools and workplace. Credit Owen Franken/Corbis via Getty Images
Dr Naziha Al-Dulaimi became the first woman to hold a ministerial office in the Arab world when she was appointed to head Iraq's Municipalities Ministry in 1959. As a minister, Dr Al-Dulaimi set about clearing some of Baghdad's slum areas, creating the first public housing projects. A leading feminist, she was also the driving force behind a secular Civil Affairs Law, that liberalised marriage and inheritance laws for Iraqi women. Mike Lanchin has been hearing about her from Mubejel Baban, a friend and former colleague of Dr Al-Dulaimi - and from her nephew, Dr Layth Al-Delaimy.
Photo:Dr Naziha Al-Dulaimi, 1950s (courtesy of the Al-Dulaimi family)
In May 1991, the brutal Ethiopian dictator, Colonel Mengistu and his miltary regime were on the verge of collapse after years of civil war. The end came when a Tigrayan-led rebel movement advanced on the capital Addis Ababa and took power. They would rule for Ethiopia for decades. In 2014, we spoke to an American diplomat who witnessed the end of Ethiopia's civil war. Photo: EPRDF rebels in Addis Ababa, 28 May, 1991.
Photo: Rebels in Addis Ababa (BBC)
The UK government passed the landmark Disability Discrimination Act in November 1995. The legislation made it illegal for employers or service providers to discriminate against disabled people. Campaigners brought London to a standstill in the run up to the passing of the Act. Baroness Jane Campbell was at the forefront of that fight for equality and remembers the time when disabled people seized control of their destiny.
Photo: A disabled woman on her mobility scooter is carried away by four policemen after obstructing the traffic outside the Houses of Parliament. Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
In 2012, the Rwandan sitting volleyball team became the first Paralympians from their country. The sport began in Rwanda after thousands of people were mutilated during the genocide of 1994, and there were emotional scenes in London when the Rwandan side eventually won a match. Bob Nicholson talks to Rwanda’s captain, Emile Vuningabo, and the side’s Dutch coach, Peter Karreman. The programme is a Whistledown Production.
PHOTO: The Rwandan team blocking a shot at the 2012 Paralympics (Getty Images)
In December 1995, the first disability rights legislation was passed by India's parliament. An estimated 60 million people, almost six percent of India's population, are affected by physical or mental disabilities. Farhana Haider spoke to Javed Abidi who led the campaign to change the law.
Photo: Disability rights campaigners protest in Delhi, December 19th 1995. (Credit: Javed Abidi)
For decades disabled people in the UK were offered tiny, three-wheeled, turquoise cars as their main form of transport. They were known as Invacars and they were provided, free of charge, to people who couldn't use ordinary vehicles. They were phased out in the 1970s because they were accident-prone and people were given grants to adapt conventional cars instead. Daniel Gordon has been hearing from Colin Powell, who was issued with his first Invacar at the age of 16.
Photo: an Invacar. Credit: BBC
Helen Keller was born in Alabama in the USA in 1880. A childhood illness left her deaf and blind, but she still learned to speak and read and write. She wrote several books, graduated from college, and met 12 US presidents. By the end of her life she was famous around the world. Lucy Burns spoke to her great-niece, Adair Faust for Witness History.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo: Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968). Credit: Hulton Archive)
In 1977, Anwar Sadat became the first Egyptian president to visit Israel and address the Israeli parliament the Knesset. At the time, Egypt was still formally at war with Israel - a country which no Arab nation then recognised. Sadat's visit led to a formal peace treaty between the two countries. Louise Hidalgo spoke to the Egyptian cameraman, Mohamed Gohar who knew Sadat.
PHOTO: Sadat addressing the Knesset (AFP/Getty Images)
Some have described Our Bodies, Ourselves as “obscene trash” – for others it’s a vital source of information about women’s health and sexuality. First published in 1973, this radical, and sometimes controversial, book has become a best-seller and a global phenomenon. Josephine Casserly talks to one of the authors, Joan Ditzion.
In August 1944 President Franklin D Roosevelt agreed to allow nearly one thousand Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe to come to America. They were allowed entry only as "guests", so as not to breach strict US immigration quotas in place during the whole of WW2. The refugees, who arrived on a troop ship from Italy, were housed in a former military barracks, Fort Ontario, near the city of Oswego in upper state New York. For those who'd recently been imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps in Europe, it was a traumatic experience to find themselves once again behind barbed wire. Mike Lanchin has been hearing the memories of two of the former refugees Elfi Hendell and Doris Schechter.
Photo: A young refugee talking to local American children at Fort Ontario, Oswego, NY, August 1944 (Getty Images)
(Thanks also to USC Shoah Foundation for audio archive)
Sirimavo Bandaranaike was elected the modern world's first female head of government in 1960 when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka or Ceylon as it was known then. She entered politics after the assassination of her husband Solomon Bandrainaike in 1959. Farhana Haider has been speaking to her daughter Sunethra Bandaranaike about her mother's remarkable political achievement.
Photo Sirimavo Bandaranaike the Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka), 1960. Credit Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
In 2008, Captain Colin Darch and his crew were taking a tug boat from Russia to Singapore when they were attacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. They were held hostage for 47 days. In the late 2000s, Somali piracy was starting to become a major threat in the Indian Ocean. Over the next few years there were hundreds of attacks a year until naval forces from around the world deployed to the Gulf of Aden to protect shipping. Alex Last has been talking to Captain Colin Darch about his ordeal.
Photo: An armed Somali pirate keeping vigil on the coast in northeastern Somalia, while the captured Greek cargo ship, MV Filitsa is anchored offshore (MOHAMED DAHIR/AFP via Getty Images)
Psychoanalyst and paediatrician Donald Winnicott helped shape childcare in Britain through a series of BBC radio broadcasts in the 1940s and 50s. He suggested mothers did best when they followed their instincts, got to know their babies and ignored prescribed rules. He became most famous for developing the idea of what he called ‘the good-enough mother’. He also introduced the term 'transitional object' to describe the favourite teddy that babies cling to, He suggested it represented an important phase of development, helping babies develop a sense of self, separate from their mothers. Claire Bowes has been speaking to retired psychoanalyst Jennifer Johns, who knew Donald Winnicott.
PHOTO: A mother with her baby in the 1960s. Credit: BBC.
An international committee of astronomers agreed Pluto wasn't really a planet in 2006. They reclassified it as a 'dwarf planet' instead. The decision was made after Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology identified a larger body, Eris, in the Kuiper Belt. He has been telling Bethan Head about his discovery and the public outcry that followed.
Photo: Dwarf planet Pluto Credit: DottedHippo /Getty Images
At the start of World War One, British and German colonial forces went into battle in East Africa. Tens of thousands of African troops and up to a million porters were conscripted to fight and keep the armies supplied. We hear very rare recordings of Kenyan veterans of the King's African Rifles, talking about their experiences of the war. The interviews were made in Kenya in the early 1980s by Gerald Rilling with the help of Paul Kiamba. Photo: Locally recruited troops under German command in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (then part of German East Africa), circa 1914. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In the 1970s, British speech therapist Margaret Walker invented a revolutionary system of communication for children and adults with special needs. Makaton uses simple signs to reinforce spoken speech and make it easier for people with learning difficulties to understand the meaning. Makaton is now used by millions of people in around 40 countries around the world; it helps everyone from children with Down’s Syndrome to pensioners with dementia. Margaret Walker talks to Simon Watts.
PHOTO: A Makaton user (credit: The Makaton Charity)
In 1985, a group of anonymous female artists in New York began dressing up with gorilla masks on their heads and putting up fly-posters around the city's museums and galleries. It was part of a campaign to demand greater representation for women and ethnic minorities in the art world. The guerrilla girls' campaign later went international. Laura Fitzpatrick has been talking to the activists known as "Frida Kahlo" and "Kathe Kollowitz".
PHOTO: Some of the Guerrilla Girls in 1990 (Getty Images)
In 2005 Dresden’s Lutheran church, the Frauenkirche, opened its doors to the public for the first time in 60 years. The Frauenkirche in the East German city of Dresden was destroyed in 1945 by British and American bombing. The church remained in ruins for over 40 years. Then, in 1993, a painstaking project began to piece the church back together and restore it to its former glory. Josephine Casserly talks to Thomas Gottschlich who was one of the architects leading the reconstruction.
Ruins of the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Germany after the WWII bombing in 1945. Credit: Probst/Ullstein Bild via Getty Images
The 5th Pan-African Congress was held in Manchester in 1945 to shape the post-war struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination. Prominent black activists, intellectuals and trade union leaders from around the world attended the meeting - among them Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta, the future leaders of independent Ghana and Kenya. We delve into the archive to hear from one of the delegates, the late ANC activist and writer Peter Abrahams, and we speak to the historian Prof Hakim Adi from Chichester University about the significance of the meeting.
Photo: The 5th Pan African Congress, 1945 (Manchester Libraries)
On November 4th 1995 the Israeli rock star Aviv Geffen sang at a peace rally in Tel Aviv alongside Israel's leader Yitzhak Rabin. Moments later the Prime Minister was shot. Aviv Geffen spoke to Louise Hidalgo about that night, and its effect on his life.
This programme was first broadcast in 2010.
Photo: Yitzhak Rabin in 1993. Credit: Getty Images.
In the immediate aftermath of World War Two, thousands of children were born to white German women and black American soldiers who were stationed in Allied-occupied Germany. The mixed-race infants were viewed with contempt by many Germans and endured constant abuse and racism. Black activist and author Ika Hügel-Marshall was one of the so-called "occupation babies". She tells Mike Lanchin about the painful struggle to discover her own identity as a result of the racism she experienced growing up black in post-war Germany.
Photo: Ika as a young girl (Courtesy of Ika Hügel-Marshall)
In 1969, a theatrical revue called Oh Calcutta opened in New York featuring extensive male and female nudity. Created by renowned critic Kenneth Tynan, a London version followed the next year and the show ran in both cities for thousands of performances. Vincent Dowd talks to Margo Sappington and Linda Marlowe, two members of the original cast.
PHOTO: The Oh Calcutta cast from the New York Production in 1981 (Ron Galella/Getty Images)
On September 11 2001, President George W. Bush was visiting an elementary school in Florida as two planes hit the World Trade Center. In an image that would become iconic, the White House chief of staff, Andrew Card, broke the news to the president by whispering in his ear as he listened to schoolchildren practising their reading. In interviews from 2011, Andrew Card recalls the moment that transformed President Bush’s presidency and the course of recent history.
PHOTO: President George W. Bush shortly after learning of the 9/11 attacks (AFP/Getty Images)
In June 1979 the Moral Majority was launched and changed the course of American politics. It was set up to promote family values by religious conservatives from Catholic, Jewish and evangelical Christian communities. It urged protestants in particular to go against the tradition of separating politics and religion and register to vote, and to vote Republican. Richard Viguerie was one of the driving forces behind the movement. He spoke to Claire Bowes in 2016.
(Photo: Ronald Reagan with Richard Viguerie in Atlanta, Georgia, 1975, courtesy of ConservativeHQ.com)
In 1973, the US Senate began an investigation which would eventually lead to Richard Nixon standing down as President a year later. Senator Howard Baker was on the Watergate committee. In 2013, he spoke to Louise Hidalgo.
(Photo: Senator Howard Baker (left), Senator Sam Irvin, Sam Dash, Senator Herman Talmadge. Credit: Gene Forte/Getty Images.)
In January 1972 Shirley Chisholm became the first major-party black candidate to make a bid for the US Presidency. She was also the first black woman elected to Congress. In 2015, Farhana Haider spoke to former Congressman Charles Rangel who worked with Shirley Chisholm.
(Photo: Shirley Chisholm at the Democratic National Convention in 1972. Credit: Getty Images)
Ted Sorensen was a close aide and speechwriter for John F Kennedy. In an interview with Lucy Williamson he remembered the night that Kennedy won the US presidential election in 1960. It was a close race against the Republican contender Richard Nixon.
Photo: US President John F. Kennedy giving his first State of the Union address to Congress in January 1961. (Credit: NASA/SSPL/Getty Images)
Usually it is the names of astronauts that people remember about the space race. But less celebrated are the teams of people working on how to put a rocket into orbit. Only in recent years have stories come to light of the contributions of the black women involved.
Many were recruited as 'computers', meaning that they carried out complex mathematical calculations by hand, before machines were invented that could do the job. Christine Darden started her career in the computer pool, helping the engineers work out the trajectories needed to bring the Apollo Capsule back to Earth. Finally, she broke through the hidden barriers facing women at the time, gaining a promotion to engineer.
(Photo: Dr Christine Darden at a desk in Nasa's Langley Research Center, 1973. Credit: Bob Nye/Nasa/Getty Images)
In 2005, South Africa set up the Missing Persons Task Team to trace and locate the remains of the hundreds, possibly thousands, who disappeared in "political circumstances" during the brutal years of white minority rule. Many were victims of the state security services. Some were victims of secret death squads which abducted and murdered opponents of the regime. Alex Last talks to the leader of the team, Madeleine Fullard, about her work and how the cases reveal the dark and complicated history of apartheid rule.
Photo: Madeleine Fullard, head of the National Prosecuting Authority's Missing Persons Task Team, at a gravesite in Red Hill on November 15, 2012 in Durban, South Africa. (Getty Images)
In April 1955, more than 100,000 children in America were inoculated with a defective batch of the brand-new polio vaccine. Because of a manufacturing mistake at a small company called Cutter Laboratories, the children were given live polio virus; around 160 were permanently paralysed and 10 died in the worst disaster in US pharmaceutical history. Simon Watts talks to Anne Gottsdanker, one of the victims of what became known as the Cutter Incident.
PHOTO: Anne Gottsdanker with her father Bob Gottsdanker in 1956 (personal archive)
The working class woman who shook up the British theatre establishment in the 1950s and 60s. Joan Littlewood introduced improvisation and helped break down class barriers. She set up a theatre in a working class area in the east end of London which put on plays written by amateur writers and actors, many without classical training. She delighted in the fact that the laziest person in the company might be working class and the poshest the one scrubbing the stage. She went on to create successes such as 'Oh! What a Lovely War' and 'A Taste of Honey'. Claire Bowes has been talking to her friend and biographer, Peter Rankin.
Photo: Joan Littlewood outside the Theatre Royal Stratford in 1974 (Press Association)
In the grip of a drugs crisis, the country took a radical approach in 2001 and became the first country in the world to decriminalise all drugs for personal use. Drug abuse and addiction began to be seen as a public health issue, not a criminal offence. Initial resistance to the policy faded after statistics proved that treatment, rather than punishment, was reducing the number of deaths caused by drugs in Portugal. Dr João Castel-Branco Goulão was one of the chief architects of the shift in policy. He's been explaining to Rebecca Kesby why Portugal had such a pronounced drug problem to begin with and how the shift in strategy helped to reduce it.
Image: Staffers interview a new patient in Lisbon, Portugal (Credit: Horacio Villalobos - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
In 1980 the Iraqi strongman, Saddam Hussein, tried to launch his country's entry into the world of movie making. He spent millions of dollars on an epic movie called Clash of Loyalties, filmed almost entirely on location in Iraq, and staring some of Britain's leading actors , including Oliver Reed, Helen Ryan and James Bolam. But soon after shooting of the film began, war erupted between Iraq and neighbouring Iran. Mike Lanchin speaks to the film's Iraqi-born British producer Lateif Jorephani and the Iraqi actor, Fatima al Rubai, about the ambitious project.
Photo Credit: Jorephani Productions
Although African Americans were guaranteed the right to vote by the constitution, many in the south were being denied that right. During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s black voting rights activists had been beaten and killed but it was events in Selma Alabama in 1965 that outraged many Americans. In March 1965 hundreds of peaceful protesters were brutally beaten by Alabama state troops as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bloodshed in Selma prompted President Lyndon B Johnson to push for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever passed by Congress. The landmark Act was brought in to tackle racial discrimination during elections and to guarantee the rights of African Americans to vote. Farhana Haider has been listening to the archive.
Photo President Lyndon Johnson hands a souvenir pen to the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr after signing the Voting Rights Bill at the US Capital, Washington DC, August 1965. Credit Getty Images.
Many of the nomadic herders in Kazakhstan left the USSR and moved to China in the 1920s. They feared being forced into collective farms by the Soviet state. Then in the 1950s many of them moved back again. Monica Whitlock has been listening to the story of Nazylkhan, a Kazakh herder and matriarch of a huge extended family, who lived through those epic journeys and who died in 2018.
Photo: members of Nazylkhan's extended family, and friends. Credit: BBC.
On October 13th 1990, the Syrian airforce pushed their most outspoken opponent in Lebanon, General Michel Aoun, to take refuge in the French embassy in Beirut, ending the last chapter of Lebanon's bitter 15-year civil war. Veteran Lebanese journalist Hanna Anbar told Louise Hidalgo about that day for Witness History.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Syrian soldiers celebrate in front of the presidential palace in east Beirut after capturing it from troops loyal to General Michel Aoun, October 13th 1990 (Credit: Nabil Ismail/AFP/Getty Images)
In June 1980, US media mogul Ted Turner launched the first TV station dedicated to 24 hour news, Cable News Network or CNN. Some were sceptical that there would be enough news to stay on air, others warned that the public wouldn't be interested in news 24 hours a day. But it marked a shift in broadcast journalism and paved the way for many more rolling news stations across the world. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to Senior Executive at CNN, Rick Davis, about how 24 hour news has influenced politics and what role it has to play in holding those in power to account. Rick also takes us back behind the scenes to when he was an output producer on launch day, June 1st 1980.
(PHOTO: Ted Turner attends official CNN Launch event at CNN Techwood Drive World Headquarters in Atlanta Georgia, June 01, 1980 (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images)
In August 1977, the racist National Front organisation planned to stage a march into Lewisham in South London at a time of high racial tension in the area. The National Front activists were met by a huge counter-demonstration organised by anti-racist campaigners – in the clashes that followed, hundreds of people were arrested and injured before the National Front were forced to withdraw. The so-called Battle of Lewisham is now seen as having halted the rise of the far-right in British politics. Nacheal Catnott talks to Lez Henry, who grew up in Lewisham and witnessed the unrest. Produced by Eleanor Biggs.
PHOTO: A police officer attempts to restore order in Lewisham in 1977 (Getty Images)
Desmond's was the most successful black sitcom in British TV history. It ran on Channel 4 for over five years, attracting millions of viewers. Trix Worrell, the man who wrote it, believes that Desmond's changed attitudes to race in the UK. Trix has been speaking to Sharon Hemans about the show, and the people who inspired it for Witness History.
Image: Ram John Holder, Norman Beaton and Gyearbuor Asante (Credit: Channel 4)
New laws were used to stop nightclubs and discos from banning black and ethnic minority customers in 1978. The first club to be taken to court was a disco called Pollyanna's in the city of Birmingham. The Commission for Racial Equality ruled their entry policy racist. David Hinds, vocalist for the reggae band, Steel Pulse, spoke to Farhana Haider for Witness History in 2015 about the racism in Birmingham's club scene in the 1970s.
This programme is a rebroadcast
(Photo: Reggae Band, Steel Pulse performing on Top of the Pops 1978. Credit:BBC)
Yvonne Conolly was made headteacher of Ringcross Primary school in North London in 1969. She had moved to the UK from Jamaica just a few years earlier and quickly worked her way up the teaching profession. She faced racist threats when she first took up the post but refused to allow them to define her relationship with the children she taught. She spoke to Jonathan Coates about her life.
Photo: Yvonne Conolly in a classroom. Copyright: Pathe.
Hundreds of pioneering migrants travelled from the Caribbean to the UK on board the SS Empire Windrush in 1948. The passage cost £28,10 shillings. Passenger Sam King described to Alan Johnston the conditions on board and the concerns people had about finding a job in England. He also talked about what life was like in their adopted country once they arrived.
This programme is a rebroadcast
Photo: The SS Empire Windrush. Credit:Press Association.
A summer house built by a lake outside Berlin in the 1920s reflects much of Germany's 20th century history. Its first owners fled the Nazis. The Berlin Wall was built through its garden. Then after the reunification of Germany it was recognised as a historic monument and made into an education and reconciliation centre. Alex Stanger has been speaking to Thomas Harding whose great grandfather built the house, and who has written a children's book about its changing place in the world.
Photo: The Alexander Haus today. Credit: André Wagner
Three Californian gray whales got caught in ice off Alaska in October 1988. Indigenous people, environmentalists, oil companies and even the Soviet Navy joined forces to try to free them. Rich Preston has been hearing from Cindy Lowri who was working for Greenpeace and who joined the battle to save the whales.
Photo: Local indigenous children watch a gray whale nosing up through the ice. (Credit: Taro Yamasaki/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images)
The world's most popular search engine was launched in September 1998 by two PHD students from Stanford University in California. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had an idea that would revolutionise the internet and create one of the world's most valuable companies. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Tamara Munzner a computer scientist who was at Stanford with the two founders of Google.
Photo Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, 2003. Credit Getty.
Prosecutor Gian Carlo Caselli explains how leading Italian politician Giulio Andreotti was put on trial in Sicily in September 1995, accused of collusion with the Mafia. Andreotti had been prime minister seven times and journalists dubbed it the trial of the century. Bob Howard has been hearing from Gian Carlo Caselli about compelling evidence that Andreotti had met the Mafia kingpin Stefano Bontade and even knew in advance of the planned assassination of the president of the Sicilian regional government, Piersanti Matarella.
Photo: Giulio Andreotti in 1983. Credit: Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images
The charismatic Egyptian president dominated Arab politics for almost two decades up until his death on September 28th 1970. His funeral was attended by millions of grief-stricken Egyptians. In 2010 Mike Gallagher spoke to an ordinary Egyptian who remembered his death, and its aftermath. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Crowds in Cairo mourning Nasser on October 1st 1970. Credit: Fred Ihrt/LightRocket via Getty Images.
The US presidential election of 2000 was one of the closest and most contested in history. It was more than a month before the result was decided after a Supreme Court decision. It all came down to the vote in Florida, a 'swing-state', where irregularities and technical problems added to the confusion. In the end it's thought there were just a few hundred votes in it, but years later, the result, and the handling of the election in the state, divides opinion. Callie Shell was the official photographer for Al Gore's presidential campaign and documented the dramatic events behind closed doors in pictures. She's been telling Rebecca Kesby what it was like to be there.
On 16 September 2007 private security guards employed by the American firm Blackwater opened fire on civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Seventeen Iraqis were killed, and another 20 injured. The Blackwater guards, who were escorting a convoy from the American embassy, claimed that they had come under attack from insurgents, but eye-witnesses and Iraqi offficials quickly dismissed that version of events. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Mohammed Kinani who was driving through the area at the time, and whose 9-year-old son Ali, was shot dead by the Americans.
Photo: An Iraqi looks at a burnt car on the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians in Baghdad on 16 September 2007 (Credit ALI YUSSEF/AFP via Getty Images)
Just months after his release from prison in 1990 the South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela toured the USA. One of the eight cities he went to visit was Detroit. Benita Barden has been speaking to Reverend Wendell Anthony who was one of the people who welcomed him to the city.
Photo: Nelson Mandela and Rev Wendell Anthony in 1990. Courtesy of Rev Wendell Anthony.
How the Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was negotiated to write off billions of dollars of debt, accumulated over two decades of civil war. Coming to power in 2006, Johnson Sirleaf had to govern the West African country with little tax revenue and owing large sums to countries and institutions it could never hope to pay back. Over four years, with intensive negotiations with multiple parties and even support from the Irish rock star Bono, in 2010 the World Bank and International Monetary Fund announced they would forgive 4.6 billion dollars of the country’s debt.Bob Howard speaks to former president Johnson Sirleaf about the long road to debt forgiveness.
Photo: Ellen John Sirleaf Credit: Olivier Polet/Getty Images
The Galileo mission to examine the planet Jupiter had its beginnings in the 1970s. It finally came to an end on 21st September 2003. Professor Fred Taylor is one of the few scientists who worked on it from start to finish and he has been telling Dan Whitworth about some of the highs and lows of the project.
Photo: The Galileo Jupiter probe being tested before launch. Credit:Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images
In April 1977 a group of women in Argentina held the first ever public demonstration to demand the release of thousands of opponents of the military regime. It was the start of a long campaign by the women, who became known as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. In 2017 Mike Lanchin spoke to Mirta Baravalle who has spent decades searching for her missing daughter and son-in-law, and for the grandchild she has never met.
(Photo: Mirta Baravalle, with the photograph of her daughter, Ana Maria. Credit: BBC)
A photo of a man confronting a tank in Tiananmen Square in Beijing caught the world's imagination. Carrying two plastic shopping bags, unarmed and alone, he seemed to embody the protest movement crushed by the Chinese authorities in 1989. Stuart Franklin was one of the photographers who captured the image of Tank Man - he has been speaking to David Edmonds for Witness History.
Photo: Tank Man on Tiananmen Square, June 4th 1989. Credit: Stuart Franklin/Magnum.
During the 1950s in Kenya, armed rebels known as the Mau Mau fought against British rule. Thousands were taken captive and interned in camps by the British authorities. In 2011 Gitu wa Kahangeri, a Mau Mau veteran, spoke to Louise Hidalgo about his experiences.
Photo: Gitu wa Kahangeri speaking to the BBC in 2016. Credit: BBC
For more than 20 years, people in Belarus have been protesting against the authoritarian rule of President Alexander Lukashenko - who's been dubbed Europe's last dictator. Lukashenko came to power in a landslide election victory in 1994 but he soon changed the constitution to give himself sweeping new powers. He has remained in office ever since, winning elections which observers say are rigged. Opponents of the regime have faced harassment, violence and arrest. Some are believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by the state. Alex Last has been speaking to the exiled dissident and co-founder of the Belarus Free Theatre, Nikolai Khalezin, about the origins of the protest movement in Belarus.
Photo: A banner compares Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to Stalin and Hitler, during a protest march in Minsk, Belarus, March 15, 2000 (Getty Images)
The USA is the only rich democracy not to provide universal healthcare. After WW2 US President Harry Truman was horrified that only a fifth of all Americans could afford proper healthcare. Most middle class Americans had no private health insurance and many found medical fees unaffordable. He calculated that more than 300,000 people died every year because they couldn't pay for proper treatment. In 1945 he tried to persuade Congress to push through legislation for an insurance programme meaning all workers would pay for their healthcare through a monthly fee or tax. But the American Medical Association - representing doctors - employed a public relations firm to lobby against the move. Claire Bowes has been listening to archive material of Harry Truman and speaking to Jonathan Oberlander a Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Photo: President Harry Truman in 1947 (courtesy of US National Archives) Archive material: courtesy of the Harry S Truman Library
Punyavathi Sunkara recalls how she campaigned to stop the sale of alcohol in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to protect women from domestic violence and safeguard family finances. Pressure from women like Punyavathi helped persuade the state's chief minister, NT Rama Rao, to pass the prohibition law in 1995.
Steve Huffman had been programming software since he was eight-years-old. At the University of Virginia, he met his future business partner, Alexis Ohanian. The pair went on to found Reddit, a discussion website where anyone can post links, photos, videos or questions on all kinds of different topics. The website now has an online following of over 430 million users, who contribute to over 138,000 different communities. Robbie Wojciechowski has been speaking to Steve Huffman about how it all began.
Photo: The Reddit logo (Credit: Reddit)
Barbara Mensch recalls how she was hijacked and held in Jordan by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in September 1970. Barbara’s plane was forced to fly to a disused British airbase in Jordan, whilst on the final leg of a flight from Tel Aviv to New York. She was imprisoned on board the TWA plane for almost a week and then held hostage in the Jordanian capital Amman for a further fortnight, as the so called Black September conflict erupted between militant Palestinian groups and the Jordanian Army.
In October 2010, Haiti was hit by an outbreak of cholera, the first in recent history of the impoverished Caribbean nation. Nepalese peacekeepers belonging to the international MINUSTAH mission were blamed for introducing the deadly disease, but for many years the UN refused to accept any responsability. More than 10,000 Haitians have died from cholera, and thousands more were infected. The UN finally apologised to the Haitian people in December 2016. Mike Lanchin speaks to the French specialist in tropical medicine and infectious diseases, Dr Renaud Piarroux, whose investigation helped force the UN's hand.
Photo: Haitians wait for medical treatment for cholera, Oct 22 2010 (REUTERS/St-Felix Evens)
In the 1990s Britain closed down many of its long-stay hospitals and asylums and their patients were sent to new lives in the community. But the transition wasn't always easy. Some people had suffered abuse and found it hard to adjust to life outside. Lucy Burns has been speaking to "Michael" who has a learning disability, about his experiences both inside and outside of institutions.
Photo: A now derelict asylum in Colchester, England. Credit: Simon Webster/Alamy Stock Photo
Between the late 1990s and 2002 there were more than 150 bomb attacks in the South African city of Cape Town. The authorities blamed them on a group known as Pagad - People Against Gangsterism And Drugs. But no one was ever convicted of the bombings. Darin Graham has been speaking to Elana Newman whose daughter Olivia lost a leg in a blast at the pizza restaurant where she was working in 1999.
Photo: Olivia (l) and Elana Newman (r). Copyright: Elana Newman.
The portable cassette player that brought music-on-the-move to millions of people was launched in 1979. By the time production of the Walkman came to an end 30 years later, Sony had sold more than 220 million machines worldwide. In 2019 Farhana Haider spoke to Tim Jarman, who purchased one of the original blue-and-silver Walkmans.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
When a British Airways flight carrying 248 passengers took off one evening in 1982 heading from Kuala Lampur to Australia, everything seemed fine. But two hours later all of the jumbo jet’s engines shut down and no one knew why. The plane had flown into the ash cloud of the erupting volcano, Mount Galunggung, without realising it. Darin Graham speaks to retired Captain Eric Moody, who flew the plane that night.
The author Ian Fleming created the fictional super-spy, James Bond, in the 1950s. Fleming, a former journalist and stockbroker, had served in British naval intelligence during the Second World War. Using interviews with Fleming and his friends from the BBC archive, Alex Last explores how elements of James Bond were drawn from Ian Fleming's own adventurous life. Photo: Ian Lancaster Fleming, British author and creator of the James Bond character, in 1958. (Getty Images)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark civil rights-era electoral law was designed to protect African-American and other minority voters. It was introduced to remove the many obstacles that were in place to prevent African-Americans from being able to vote. Many states, particularly in the south, used intimidation, local laws and so-called literacy tests to prevent black people from being able to register to vote. In 2010 Shelby County in Alabama attempted to overturn a key part of the law. In 2013 the US Supreme Court upheld their challenge. Now voters who are discriminated against bear the burden of proving they are disenfranchised. Farhana Haider hears from civil rights attorney Kristen Clarke who fought to protect the Voting Rights Act.
Photo Washington DC June 25. Supporters of the Voting Rights Act outside the U.S. Supreme Court. Credit Getty Images
In August 1930 the last inhabitants left their homes on the remote Scottish islands of St Kilda. It was the end of a traditional Gaelic-speaking community who were once believed to live at the end of the world. Simon Watts has been listening to some of their stories, as recorded in the BBC archives.
PHOTO: The men of St Kilda pictured in the late 19th century (Getty Images)
In 2011, the Occupy movement staged demonstrations against financial inequality across the world. The biggest was in New York, where a retired police officer called Ray Lewis became one of the best-known protestors when he was arrested in his old dress uniform. He talks to Robbie Wojciechowski.
PHOTO: Ray Lewis at the Occupy Wall Street protest (Getty Images)
In 1993, Jeannie Leavitt became the first woman to fly a US Air Force fighter plane after the Pentagon lifted its ban on female pilots engaging in combat. After hundreds of F15 missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, Leavitt went on to become the first woman to command a fighter unit. She talks to May Cameron.
PHOTO: Major-General Jeannie Leavitt in a recent picture (US Department of Defence)
One of the leading figures in Nigeria's fight for democracy was Margaret Ekpo, a feminist politician and trades union leader. After Nigerian independence in 1960, Ekpo became an MP and a hero to a generation of Nigerians - men and women. Rebecca Kesby tells the story of her life.
PHOTO: Margaret Ekpo in London in August 1953 (ANL/Shutterstock)
Randy Weaver was a white separatist in Idaho in the north-west United States who was wanted by the government on firearms charges. When government agents approached his remote cabin on Ruby Ridge in August 1992, it was the start of an eleven day siege involving hundreds of police officers – which ended with the deaths of Weaver’s wife and teenage son, along with a US marshal. The incident would become a touchstone for the far right and a rallying cry for the American militia movement. Lucy Burns speaks to journalist Bill Morlin, who covered the siege for the Spokesman-Review newspaper. Picture: Randy Weaver (C) shows a model of his Ruby Ridge, Idaho cabin to US Senator Arlen Specter, R-PA, during Senate hearings investigating the events surrounding the 1992 standoff with federal agents (PAMELA PRICE/AFP via Getty Images).
In November 1946, Emperor Hirohito proclaimed a new post-war constitution for Japan which contained clauses establishing women's rights for the first time. They were the brainchild of Beate Sirota Gordon, a young American woman working for the Allied occupying forces. Simon Watts tells her story using interviews from the BBC archives.
PHOTO: Beate Sirota Gordon in Japan in 1946 (Family Collection)
A team of American doctors, led by the distinguished physician Dr John Cutler, carried out secretive STD tests in Guatemala from 1946 to 1948. The doctors experimented on more than one thousand prisoners, sex workers, mental institution inmates and soldiers, injecting them without their consent with syphilis and gonorrhea. In some cases the victims were provided with penicillin to combat the diseases; in many others they weren't given anything. Mike Lanchin speaks to Susan Reverby, a medical historian, who discovered the original documents from the greusome experiments and helped get a public apology for the victims from the Obama administration in October 2010.
Photo: A doctor examines the injection site of a female psychiatric patient in Guatemala who was exposed to syphilis, cerca 1948 (from the papers of John Cutler/the National Archives and Records Administration)
Asthma affects more children than any other non-communicable disease - and it was a teenager who first asked her father "why can't they put my asthma medication in a spray can like hairspray?". Luckily her father ran a pharmaceutical company and got a team of scientists to work on the idea. Charlie Thiel is the one surviving member of the team. The chemist helped create a drug formulation of fine spray that reached further into the lungs than any previous treatment. Claire Bowes hears from him and his colleague Stephen Stein who has helped him document his story.
Photo: Girl using metered dose inhaler 2001 (BBC)
In 2012, archaeologists from the University of Leicester discovered the lost grave of Richard III under a car park in Leicester. Richard was the King of England more than 500 years ago and for centuries was portrayed as one of the great villains of English history. He was killed in 1485 leading his army in battle against a rival claimant to the throne, Henry Tudor. After the battle, Richard III corpse was stripped naked, paraded around down, before being hastily buried in a church within a friary in Leicester, which was later demolished. Alex Last spoke to Dr Richard Buckley who led the archaeological project to find the remains.
Photo: Remains of King Richard III being studied at The University of Leicester (BBC)
Zainab Salbi grew up in the inner social circle of the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, in the 1980s because her father worked as Saddam’s personal pilot. It was a world of apparently glamorous parties on the River Tigris, but where the slightest falling-out with the dictator could lead to execution. After years of psychological pressure, Zainab’s family got her out of Saddam’s Iraq by setting up an arranged marriage for her in the US. She tells her story to Susan Hulme.
PHOTO: Zainab Salbi as a teenager with Saddam Hussein (private collection)
In August 1952, the Blegdam Hospital in the Danish capital Copenhagen was overwhelmed by hundreds of seriously ill polio patients. During the first weeks of the epidemic over 80 percent of the patients died, most within days of admission. The patients, who were mostly children, were dying of respiratory failure. Desperate for a solution an anaesthetist, Bjørn Iben, came up with a strategy that led to today’s ventilators and revolutionised medicine. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Anne Holton who was a medical student at the time of the polio epidemic and helped treat patients.
Photo A medical student in Denmark 1952 treating a polio patient in Blegdam Hospital, Copenhagen. Credit used with permission of Jørgen Viby-Mogensen.
In 2004 feminist campaigners in Turkey forced a radical change in the law on crimes against women. The overhaul of the country's 80-year-old penal code meant a redefinition of crimes such as rape and sexual assault; references to chastity, honour and virginity were also removed from the legislation. It was a major victory for a group of women who had been pressing for reform for years and was also one of the conditions for Turkey's accession talks with the European Union. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Pinar Ilkkaracan, who led the successful campaign for legal change.
(PHOTO: TARIK TINAZAY/AFP via Getty Images)
At the start of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975, Beirut’s luxury hotel district was turned into a battlefield, with rival groups of gunmen holed up in some of the most expensive accommodation in the Middle East. In 2014, William Kremer spoke to two former employees of the Holiday Inn about what came to be known as the Battle of the Hotels.
Photo: The ruins of the Holiday Inn. (Credit: Getty Images)
Amid the ongoing debate about how to handle historical monuments which commemorate colonialism and slavery, Witness History hears the story of a giant statue of an elephant in the German city of Bremen.
The port city had played a significant role in Germany's colonial past, and after Germany lost its territories in Africa following the First World War the statue was built there in memory of the period.
But in the 1980s, a group of anti-apartheid activists campaigned to raise awareness of Germany's colonial history - and to rededicate the elephant statue.
Lucy Burns speaks to Professor Manfred Hinz, who was part of the campaign.
Photo: Shutterstock - the anti-colonial elephant monument in Bremen, 08/07/2020
During World War Two, British women were employed as operators of a top-secret radar system for detecting aircraft. The new technology had helped shift the balance of power in the air war with Nazi Germany. Laura Fitzpatrick talks to Margaret Faulds, who was stationed at a Royal Navy Air Station during the war.
PHOTO: Margaret Faulds in naval uniform during World War Two (Personal Collection).
The USA dropped its first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6th 1945. Three days later a second atomic bomb was detonated over Nagasaki. The explosion was bigger than the blast at Hiroshima and killed 70,000 people. Louise Hidalgo introduces recordings from the BBC archive.
(Photo: Mushroom cloud in the sky. Credit: US Air Force/Press Association)
On 4th June 1942, aircraft carriers of the Japanese and American fleets fought a huge naval battle near Midway Atoll in the Pacific. The outcome marked a turning point in the war. Using archive recordings we hear from American and Japanese airmen who flew in combat that day.
Photo: (Original Caption) This official United States Navy photo shows the American aircraft carrier Yorktown, already listing badly to port, as she received a direct hit from a Japanese bomber in the Battle of Midway Island, June 4th 1942. The black puffs in the photo are exploding U.S. antiaircraft shells. (Getty Images)
Thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to prison camps after the USA entered World War Two following the bombing of Pearl Harbour. Whole families found themselves housed in barracks behind barbed wire fences. Former Star Trek actor, George Takei, was just a child when he was locked up in one of the camps. In 2010 he spoke to Lucy Williamson about his experiences there.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Japanese American children on their way to internment camps. Credit: Dorothea Lange/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
On 7 December 1941, Japan launched a surprise strike on the American naval base, Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii. Thousands of American servicemen were killed or injured in the attack, which severely damaged the US Pacific Fleet. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan and America entered World War II. Adolph Kuhn was a US Navy mechanic stationed at Pearl Harbor when the bombs began to fall.
Photo: The USS Arizona sinking at Pearl Harbor. (Credit: Getty Images)
One of Hitler's most important henchmen was caught by British troops in the chaos of post-war Germany just after WW2 had ended in Europe. A British soldier described to the BBC how the leading Nazi bit down on a cyanide capsule and died. Gordon Corera has been listening to the archive account of Himmler's death, and finding out more about the situation in Germany immediately after its surrender to the Allies.
Photo: Heinrich Himmler in 1939. Credit: Central Press/Getty Images
The Spanish town of Benidorm is now one of the world's most popular holiday resorts - receiving more than 10 million visitors a year. The hotels and skyscrapers are the vision of Benidorm's mayor in the 1950s and 60s, Pedro Zaragoza. Zaragoza personally convinced Spain's dictator, General Franco, to allow more tourism - and to allow sunbathers to wear the bikini. Simon Watts introduces the memories of Pedro Zaragoza, as recorded by Radio Elche Cadena Ser shortly before his death.
PHOTO: A busy day in Benidorm (Reuters)
A remarkable story of survival. In 1982, Steven Callahan was sailing alone across the Atlantic when one night his yacht hit something in the water and began to sink. He managed to get into a life raft but no one knew he was in trouble. For the next two months he drifted 2000 miles across the ocean. How did he survive? He told his story to Alex Last. Photo: Steve Callahan shows how he hunted fish from his life raft. © Steve Callahan
The forest fires of 2019-2020 in Australia were the worst the country had ever experienced - but ten years earlier Australia had a foretaste of that disaster when 400 separate bushfires burnt their way across the state of Victoria. At the time they were the worst fires Australia had ever seen. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to one of the firefighters who battled to bring the fires under control.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
The Cuban-American Dolores Prida wrote with a distinctive voice in her plays, newspaper columns and as an agony aunt in the Latina magazine. She challenged perceptions of how Latin Americans should be viewed in the US. When she died in 2013, President Obama paid tribute to her "conviction, compassion and humour." Mike Lanchin speaks to Prida's close friend, the former editor at New York's Daily News, Maite Junco.
Photo: Dolores Prida (left) with Maite Junco, Jan 2013 (courtesy of Maite Junco)
In the 1960s five-year-old Jeryl Lynn Hilleman got ill with mumps. Her father Dr Maurice Hilleman took a swab from the back of her throat and used it to help create a vaccine for the disease - more quickly than any previous vaccine had ever been completed. During his decades long career Dr Hilleman worked on vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis and meningitis.
Photo: Jeryl Lynn Hilleman with her sister, Kirsten, in 1966 as a doctor gave her the mumps vaccine developed by their father Maurice Hilleman. Courtesy of Merck.
In 2003 the first refuge for women fleeing violence and abuse was opened in Kabul, Afghanistan, a country that has been labelled one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman. The UN estimates that over 50% of women in Afghanistan face domestic abuse from their partner in their lifetime. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Mary Akrami who risked her life to help set up and run Afghanistan's first women's safe house. Photo Mary Akrami Credit Getty
The rainforests of Sarawak in Malaysia on the island of Borneo are some of the richest and most biodiverse ecosystems on earth - but for decades they've been under threat from commercial logging, permitted by the Malaysian government. In the 1980s, local people from the Penan and Kelabit ethnic groups began to fight back against the logging, setting up blockades and appealing to international environmental groups for support. Their campaign would make headlines around the world.
Lucy Burns speaks to activist Mutang Urud, who helped organise the blockades and later went on a world tour to attract attention to their cause.
PICTURE: Tribespeople with spears block the road as plantation company vehicles approach a blockade in Long Nen in Malaysia's Sarawak State in August 2009. (AFP photo/Saeed Khan via Getty Images)
On 16th October 1995 hundreds of thousands of African American men marched on Washington D.C. in an attempt to put black issues back on the government agenda and to present a positive image of black men. Aquila Powell – 23 at the time – was one of the few women who attended the march. She was working for the National Coalition on Black Voter Participation and trying to encourage attendees to register to vote. She talks to Ben Carter about her recollections of that day.
(Photo:The Million Man March, Credit:TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)
On 20th July 1944 Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg put a bomb under Adolf Hitler's desk. Although the bomb exploded, it failed to kill the German Nazi leader. Alex Last spoke to Berthold von Stauffenberg, son of the WW2 army officer, in 2014.
Photo:Claus von Stauffenberg. Credit: Gedenkstaette Deutscher Widersta/AFP/Getty Images
A so-called Social Purification project led to thousands of ordinary citizens being imprisoned under the military government in South Korea in the 1980s. Under the pretence of clearing the streets of vagrants and undesirables, people were sent to camps disguised as 'social welfare centres' where many of them suffered torture, forced labour, and physical and sexual abuse. Bugyeong Jung has been speaking to Seung-woo Choi who was taken to a centre in the port city of Busan when he was just 13 years old.
Photo: Seung-woo Choi talking to reporters outside South Korea's National Assembly. Credit BBC.
During World War Two, thousands of Chinese sailors and engineers served in the British Merchant Navy, keeping supplies flowing into the port of Liverpool and risking their lives in crossings of the Atlantic. Many settled in the port city and started families with local women but, after fighting ended in 1945, the British authorities began forcing them to leave. Simon Watts talks to Yvonne Foley, whose Chinese father was pressured to return to Shanghai, never to be seen again.
PHOTO: Chinese sailors in Liverpool in 1942 (Getty Images).
The Stele of Axum, a 4th century Ethiopian treasure, was finally returned by Italy in 2005. It had been taken from the ancient town of Axum in northern Ethiopia by invading Italian fascist forces in 1937. The huge 24 metre tall stele was originally erected to mark the site of a royal tomb during the Kingdom of Axum. The Axumites were a powerful and sophisticated civilisation which emerged in northern Ethiopia more than 2000 years ago. Alex Last spoke to Ethiopian archaeologist Tekle Hagos of Addis Ababa University about the return of the great monument.
Photo: The Stele of Axum , now re-erected back in Axum, northern Ethiopia.(Getty Images)
Holidaymakers arrived at the first Club Med resort on the Spanish island of Majorca in summer 1950. The French company - full name Club Méditerranée - was founded to offer a new kind of post-war holiday by Belgian water polo player Gérard Blitz, who believed that "the time to be happy is now". The facilities were initially rudimentary, with guests sleeping in huts and sharing tables at meals - but the all-inclusive holiday model they pioneered soon spread all over the world.
Lucy Burns speaks to Pierre-Xavier Bécret, whose parents worked on that first Majorca holiday and went on to be involved with Club Med for many years.
Picture: postcard image of the Club Med resort in Corfu, 1970s (Editions Intercolor, with thanks to www.collierbar.fr)
In 1988, a group of Jewish feminists demanded the right to pray as freely as Jewish men at one of Judaism’s holiest sites. They called themselves the ‘Women of the Wall’. The organisation is made up of every Jewish denomination including reform, conservative and orthodox Jews. Its focus is one of the holiest sites in Judaism - the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Anat Hoffman, one of the founding members of 'Women of the Wall'.
(Photo: Members of 'Women of the Wall' praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, holding their prayer shawls. Getty Images.)
In the summer of 1967 more than 100 cities in America were caught up in riots. US Senator Fred Harris urged the President, Lyndon B Johnson, to investigate the causes. He set up the Kerner Commission and appointed Fred Harris as one of 11 members to find out why America was burning. The final report shocked many Americans when it blamed white racism for creating and sustaining black ghettos. It said the US was dividing into two separate and unequal societies - one black and one white. Claire Bowes has been speaking to former US Senator Fred Harris.
Photo: Members of the Kerner Commission giving final approval to the panel's report on 28th February 1968. Senator Fred R. Harris, (D-Okla.) third from left. Credit: Bettmann/Getty
The great Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, died on July 13th 1954, at the age of 47. The art critic, Raquel Tibol, lived in Frida's house during the last year of the artist's life. In 2014 she spoke to Mike Lanchin for Witness History about the pain and torment of Kahlo's final days.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Frida Kahlo with her husband Diego Rivera in 1939. (Copyright Getty Images /Bettmann /Corbis)
When Montreal's police force went on strike for one day over pay in 1969, there was looting and rioting in the streets. But the city's problems leading to the unrest had been building for more than a decade. Organised crime, militant separatists and commercial rivalries all erupted on 7th October, just as police officers decided to protest that their pay was much lower than officers in other Canadian cities. Sidney Margles was a local reporter, and described the scene, and the underlying problems, to Rebecca Kesby.
(PHOTO: The scene at the Murray Hill Limousine garage as rioting left several buses on fire and damage to property, following a police strike in Montreal. Getty Images)
The black former soldier choked to death in handcuffs on the floor of a British police station in 1998. CCTV footage taken from the police station showed the 37 year-old father of two gasping for air as officers chatted and joked around him. It took 11 minutes for him to stop breathing. An inquest found he was unlawfully killed but no-one has been held accountable for his death. Farhana Haider speaks to Janet Alder about her long fight to get justice for her brother.
Photo:Christopher Alder an ex paratrooper who died in a police station in Hull on 1 April 1998. Credit Alder family hand out.
In the 1800s cholera was a mysterious disease killing millions around the world. No-one knew how to stop it till an English doctor, John Snow, began investigating the outbreak of 1854. At a time before germ theory was properly understood, many public health experts thought disease was carried on what they called "bad air". John Snow was alone in thinking cholera was spread through contaminated water and by the time of his death - in 1858 - his theories had still not been fully accepted. Claire Bowes spoke to Dr Nigel Paneth, a biographer of John Snow, about the skills he brought to the developing science of epidemiology.
Photo: Portrait of John Snow (Science Photo Library BBC)
In 1990, South Africa became the first country in the world to ban skin-lightening creams containing the chemical compound hydroquinone. For years the creams had caused an irreversible form of skin damage called ochronosis for the black and Asian South Africans using the products. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Dr Hilary Carman, one of the activists who worked to ban the creams and Dr Ncoza Dlova who became one of the country's first black dermatologists.
Photo: A woman applying a skin-lightening cream to her face. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
In 2012 a stunning, secret collection of art was found in Germany. Much of it had disappeared during Nazi rule in the 1930s and 40s. It had once belonged to one of the Nazi's top art dealers, Hildebrand Gurlitt. It was found by chance in the Munich apartment of his elderly, reclusive son, Cornelius. It contained lost works by Renoir, Matisse, Chagal and the masters of the German expressionist movement. Many of the works had been confiscated during the Nazis "Degenerate Art" campaign in the late 1930s, when the Nazis stripped thousands of works of art from public display. Alex Last spoke to Dr Meike Hoffmann, an expert on Nazi art policy, who was one of the first to examine the collection.
Photo: One of the art works discovered in the Gurlitt collection was Pferde in Landschaft (Horses in Landscape) by famous German expressionist Franz Marc.
What it was like to be a child quarantined in a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients in the 1950s. Ann Shaw was nine when she was first admitted to the Craig-y-nos sanatorium in Wales and 13 when she was finally allowed home. Until antibiotic treatments came along, to stop the disease spreading, TB patients were kept apart from the general population and their families, often for years. This included babies and children, leaving many traumatised. Ann Shaw tells Louise Hidalgo about the half-life they lived in the sanatorium.
Picture: boys on the balcony of the Craig-y-nos TB sanatorium; fresh mountain air was regarded as one of the best treatments for TB (Credit: from the private collection of the family of Mari Friend, a former patient at Craig-y-nos)
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards went on trial for drugs offences in June 1967. The case attracted attention around the world, and sealed their reputation as rebels. The men were originally sentenced to prison but on appeal their sentences were drastically cut and the trial came to symbolise Britain's changing values.
Photo: Mick Jagger (left) and Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones walk in the garden of Redlands, Richards' Sussex house, after the disclosure of their sentences for drug violations, July 1967. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
A people’s movement called Jana Andolan brought an end to Nepal’s absolute monarchy in the spring of 1990. Political parties worked together with students, workers and civil society groups to organise strikes and street protests – but although the king eventually agreed to their demands, it was the beginning of a long period of political instability. Lucy Burns speaks to activist and writer Devendra Raj Pandey about his memories of the first Jana Andolan.
PHOTO: Jubilant protesters take to the streets on April 9, 1990 in Kathmandu after the government announced an end to the 30-year ban on multi-political parties. (DOUGLAS CURRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Chaos and hardship hit Russia with the rapid market reforms in early 1992, just weeks after the collapse of the USSR. In 2018 Dina Newman spoke to one of the architects of this “shock therapy” - Andrei Nechaev, who was then the Minister for Economic Development.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Old women selling cigarettes on the streets of Moscow in 1992. Credit: BBC.
Following the violent military coup that overthrew Chile's socialist government in 1973, the new regime led by General Augusto Pinochet began a radical overhaul of the economy. It was based on a free-market economic plan created by a group of economists known as the Chicago Boys. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to one of them, Rolf Lüders.
Photo: General Augusto Pinochet (L) poses with socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende (R) in Santiago, just after Allende appointed him the head of the army, and only three weeks before Pinochet's military coup in September 1973. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
In the late 1960s Tanzania's first post-independence president, the charismatic Julius Nyerere, believed that endemic poverty in rural areas could only be addressed if peasant farmers relocated to larger villages and worked collectively. It was part of a new experimental form of socialism, known as Ujamaa. In 2016 Rob Walker spoke to two Tanzanians who remember it well.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Tanzanian women cultivating the soil (AFP/Getty Images)
An eyewitness account of how a poor, war-ravaged nation became a global economic powerhouse. We hear the memories of Dr Kongdan Oh, who grew up in South Korea in the 1950s, in the aftermath of the Korean War. The country had been left devastated by the conflict. Then, in the early 1960s, South Korea's new military leader, General Park Chung-hee, launched an ambitious national drive for rapid economic growth. For many, it marked the start of South Korea's economic transformation.
Photo: South Korean labourers balancing baskets of coal, while working inside the grounds of a factory. Busan, 1967 (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
When Franklin D Roosevelt became President in 1933 he promised to spend his first 100 days rescuing the USA from the Great Depression with one of the biggest public spending projects in history - the New Deal.
Photo: Franklin D Roosevelt in 1935. Credit: Getty Images.
When Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, US school teacher, Jane Elliott, decided to try to teach her all-white class about racism. She decided to segregate them according to the colour of their eyes, and treated them differently. Although controversial from the start, the “blue eyes/brown eyes” teaching exercise has been adapted in schools and workplaces for diversity training ever since. Jane Elliott has been explaining to Rebecca Kesby why she still thinks the model has value today in defeating racial prejudice.
The passenger train service between India and Bangladesh was resumed after more than 40 years. The train service had been suspended after the 1965 war between India and Pakistan of which Bangladesh was then a part. Partitioned in 1947, Bengal was divided in half between Hindu majority India and Muslim majority East Pakistan. Families were torn apart. East Pakistan later become Bangladesh after gaining independence in 1971. The Maitree or Friendship Express was the first passenger train service to connect the two Bengals in 43 years. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Dr Azad Chowdhury who was on board the inaugural train journey.
Photo: Calcutta-Dhaka Maitree (Friendship) Express in Calcutta station, India, 14 April 2008, before its inaugural run to Bangladesh. Credit: EPA/PIYAL ADHIKARY
In the late 1990s, whistle-blowers implicated UN peacekeepers and international police in the forced prostitution and trafficking of Eastern European women into Bosnia, which was just emerging from a bitter civil war. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to one of those who sounded the alarm, British human rights lawyer, Madeleine Rees, who was then working for the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bosnia.
Picture: the United Nations Peacekeeping Force patrols the Bosnian capital Sarajevo in March 1996 (Credit: Roger Lemoyne/Liaison/Getty Images)
During the early years of Cultural Revolution in China, all European music was banned. Even enjoying traditional Chinese music and art was illegal. Anyone found with old instruments or recordings could be imprisoned. But that didn’t stop some musicians and enthusiasts from playing or listening to the music they loved, sometimes as an act of rebellion. A favourite during those times in China was the German composer – Ludwig Van Beethoven. Conductor, Jindong Cai tells Rebecca Kesby how he decided to become a musician after listening to an illegal recording of one of his symphonies.
(Portrait of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) by German painter Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820. (Photo by Kean Collection/Getty Images)
Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance. When Swiss psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross published her bestselling book On Death and Dying in 1969, she described a series of emotional stages that she had seen terminally ill patients experience – later known as the Five Stages of Grief. But there was much more to her work in end of life care. Her son Ken speaks to Lucy Burns.
Photo: Dr. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, Virginia Farm, 1987. Photo courtesy of Ken Ross www.ekrfoundation.org
One man's experience of the controversial US law that saw thousands locked up for life. Under the law in California, a third conviction for a felony offence would lead to a life sentence. At times in California, 45% of "three strikers" were African American. Many were sentenced to life in prison for non-violent or minor offences. Alex Last hears the story of Bilal Chatman, and his hopes for reform.
Photo credit: Getty Images
People took to the streets of Los Angeles in fury after police, who had assaulted a black driver called Rodney King, were acquitted in 1992. His assault had been captured on video and played repeatedly on US television. In 2012 Nina Robinson spoke to Rodney King about the beating, the trial of the police, and the anger and mayhem that followed their acquittal.
Photo: Rodney King in 2012. Credit: REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
In 1966, an all-black team went head-to-head with an all-white team for the National College Basketball championship - one of the biggest prizes in American sport. To much surprise, the African-Americans of Texas Western College defeated the University of Kentucky, then the number one team in the country. The game is now regarded as breaking the colour barrier in US basketball. In 2016 Nija Dalal-Small spoke to Nevil Shed, one of that groundbreaking Texas Western team. The programme is a Sparklab Production for BBC World Service.
PHOTO: Texas Western celebrate their victory in 1966 (Getty Images)
Four young black girls were killed in a racist attack on a church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The 16th Street Baptist Church was a centre for civil rights activists in the city. One of the girls who died was Addie Mae Collins, her sister, Sarah Collins Rudolph was badly injured but survived. In 2013 she spoke to Eddie Botsio about the bombing.
Photo: men carrying the coffin of Addie Mae Collins at her funeral. Copyright: BBC
In 1954 the US Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. The case was a turning point in the long battle for civil rights in America. In 2017 Farhana Haider spoke to Cheryl Brown Henderson, the youngest daughter of Oliver Brown, who was the named plaintiff in the class action against the local board of education.
Photo: African American student Linda Brown, Cheryl Brown Henderson's eldest sister (front, C) sitting in her segregated classroom. Credit: GettyArchive
In the 1960s, doctors in Northern Ireland launched the world’s first mobile coronary emergency service using a new invention – the portable defibrillator. The defibrillators – which initially worked off ambulance car batteries - saved dozens of heart attack victims every year. Modern versions are now commonly seen and used in places like offices and shopping malls. The man behind the portable defibrillator was Belfast hospital doctor Frank Pantridge. Simon Watts tells his story using the BBC Northern Ireland archives.
PHOTO: A defibrillator in use (Science Photo Library)
The WHO was first proposed as part of the new United Nations programme to reform the post-war world. The idea for an international health organisation to help promote good health globally was put forward by a member of the Chinese delegation, Szeming Sze. His memoirs reveal the political difficulties which dogged the process and his son remembers his passion for the project. We also hear from historian, Professor Theodore M Brown on what was really going on behind the scenes.
Photo: Official logo of the World Health Organisation 1950 (Getty Images).
The artist Christo died on May 31st 2020. Famous for wrapping landmarks in fabric and plastic, one of his most ambitious projects was the former German parliament building which sat on the border between East and West Berlin. It had been gutted by fire in 1933 and extensively damaged during the Second World War. In June 1995 Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude completed the monumental public art project which was seen by more than five million people and became a symbol for Berlin’s renewal after the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany.
Christo spoke to Lucy Burns in 2019. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Picture: view of west and south facades of Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin 1971-1995 by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Photo by Wolfgang Volz, copyright Christo.
Just one month after gaining independence there was an uprising in Zanzibar in 1964. It was billed as a leftist revolution but the worst of the violence was ethnically targeted. Zanzibar’s complex history meant the islands were home to a very diverse population, and the legacy of the slave trade had left deep scars and lingering resentment. Ahmed Rajab was a student in 1964 and remembers the night the revolution broke out. He’s been telling Rebecca Kesby what it was like, and how it was a Ugandan man, John Okello, not a Zanzibari who lead the uprising.
(PHOTO: Ugandan revolutionary and self-styled Field Marshal John Okello (1937 - 1971), leader of the Afro-Shirazi anti-Arab coup in Zanzibar which led to the country's independence, circa 1964. Behind him is the new flag of the People's Republic of Zanzibar. (Photo by Pix/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
The Monteverde cloud forest reserve in Costa Rica was established in the 1970s with the help of a group of American Quakers. The aim was to protect its unique habitat and abundant exotic wildlife. It has become one of Central America's top tourist attractions. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from 97-year-old Marvin Rockwell and 88-year-old Lucky Guindon, two of the Quakers who left the US to settle in the mountains of Costa Rica.
(Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Ann Cole Lowe designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress in the 1950s. As a black woman working in high fashion she was a groundbreaking figurein New York. Sharon Hemans has been speaking to Judith Guile who went to work with Ann Lowe in her Madison Avenue studio in the 1960s.
Many people were shocked when Winston Churchill's personal doctor published his memories of Britain's wartime leader in 1966. Churchill's family tried to halt the publication, but as historian Piers Brendon has been telling Vincent Dowd, the doctor, Lord Moran, had unique insights into the great man's behaviour.
Photo: Winston Churchill arriving in Downing Street, May 1940. Credit: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images.
The South Korean army crushed a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju on 27 May 1980. Pro-democracy demonstrators had taken control of the city and were calling for an end to military rule. Hundreds of people, many of them students, were shot and beaten to death. Mike Lanchin spoke to Kim Jong and Linda Lewis who were living in Gwangju at the time.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: soldiers beating men in Gwangju in May 1980. Credit: 5.18 Memorial Foundation/AFP via Getty Images
The best selling book that highlighted the health and environmental benefits of a plant based diet. The publication of "Diet for a Small Planet" in 1971 helped start a conversation about the social and environmental impacts of the foods we choose. Frances Moore Lappé has been telling Farhana Haider about the writing of her ground breaking book.
Photo Cover of first edition, first print Diet for a Small Planet 1971. Courtesy of Frances Moore Lappé
During times of crisis in the UK, World War Two is often remembered as a period when the country rallied together to fight a common enemy. British politicians still refer to the so-called "Blitz Spirit" when calling for national unity. But as Simon Watts has been finding out from the BBC archives, there was a crime wave during the war years, with a massive increase in looting and black marketeering.
PHOTO: A government poster from World War Two (Getty Images)
Ground-breaking work by developmental psychologist Professor Uta Frith has revolutionised our understanding of autism. Beginning in the 1960s, Professor Frith's research has overturned the long-held belief that autism was a social or emotional disorder, showing instead that it's the result of physical differences in the brain. Uta Frith has been talking to Louise Hidalgo.
Picture: Uta Frith at her desk at the Medical Research Council Developmental Psychology Unit in London in the late 60s/early 70s (exact date unknown). From the personal collection of Uta Frith.
In 1983 Chuck Hull invented the first 3D printer. It could produce small plastic objects directly from a digital file on a computer. Instead of using ink the printer used plastic - adding layer upon layer to create an object. At first no-one was interested but now 3D printing technology is used widely, both by amateur hobbyists and industry. It's been taken up enthusiastically in the medical world to help separate conjoined twins and the next step is to help create human tissue for regenerative medicine. Photo: This tiny cup was the first thing made using a 3D printer, in 1983. Courtesy of Chuck Hull at 3D Systems.
A unique way of life came to an end in Hong Kong in 1993 when Kowloon Walled City was demolished. When the rest of Hong Kong was a British colony, the seven acres of the Walled City were still nominally under the control of mainland China – but it became a lawless world of its own, a haven for gang crime and illegal dentistry. At one point it was one of the most of the most densely populated places the world has ever seen.
Lucy Burns speaks to Albert Ng, who grew up in Kowloon Walled City, and urban designer Suenn Ho, who studied it before its demolition.
PICTURE: Kowloon Walled City in January 1987 (Photo by South China Morning Post staff photographer via Getty Images)
After four white policemen were acquitted of killing a black man - Miami rioted. Citizens took to the streets on the night of May 17th 1980. The unrest lasted for three days. 18 people died, hundreds were injured, and hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage were done to property. Sheila Cook has been hearing from Lonnie Lawrence who was a childhood friend of the dead man, but also a spokesman for the police force involved.
Photo: A Florida National Guardsman directs traffic away from the northwest section of Miami as fires burn out of control and looting continues. Credit: Getty Images.
The story of a scientist who helped solve a Cold War mystery involving flatulent fish and Soviet submarines. During the Cold War, foreign submarines infiltrated neutral Sweden's territorial waters. In response, the Swedish navy built up a secret database of tell-tale signs to detect the presence of lurking subs and conducted high profile submarine hunts. But the country's submarine scare continued even after the end of the Cold War. So in 1995, the Swedish government launched an investigation. Alex Last spoke to Swedish biologist, Dr Håkan Westerberg, who discovered that one of Sweden's key indicators for submarines, was not what it seemed.
Photo: Herring shoal (Science Photo Library)
Over a period of four years before his death in December 2004, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the consort and husband of former Queen Juliana, gave a series of secret interviews to two Dutch journalists, on condition that nothing was published until after his funeral. In his conversations with the reporters, the German-born Prince sought to justify a string of extra-marital affairs and a million dollar bribe he had received in the 1970s from the American aircraft manufacturer Lockheed. Prince Bernhard also revealed for the first time the existence of an illegitimate daughter born as a result of an affair in the United States. The publication of the Prince's confessions by De Volkskrantran newspaper shocked the Dutch public, but were met with silence by the Palace. Mike Lanchin spoke to Jan Tromp, one of the journalists who spent hours interviewing the controversial Dutch royalty.
Photo: Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard on the day of their wedding, January 1937 (Getty Images)
After decades of campaigning in Japan, the pill was finally legalised in 1999. In contrast the male impotency drug Viagra was approved for use in just six months, and legalised before the contraceptive pill for women. Politician Yoriko Madoka pushed hard for the right to take the pill and told Rebecca Kesby that sexism and male dominance in Parliament is why it took so long.
(Photo: A collection of contraceptive pills. Getty Images)
How a group of broadcasters and social workers in the UK set up the world’s first 24-hour telephone counselling service for children. It revealed just how widespread child abuse was in Britain. Esther Rantzen was the TV presenter behind Childline, and she has been speaking to Laura FitzPatrick about how it got started.
Photo: Esther Rantzen on the day Childline was launched in 1986. Credit: Childline.
The only part of the British Isles to be occupied during World War Two was liberated when the German army surrendered in May 1945. The Channel Islands are situated just off the coast of France, and yet even after the Allies had invaded the French coast, they remained under German occupation. Barbara Frost was 17 years old when liberation came. She has been telling Robbie Wojciechowski about life under occupation.
Photo: Barbara a year after the war ended. Courtesy of Barbara Frost.
On the 8th of May 1945, hundreds of thousands of Londoners took to the streets to celebrate the end of the Second World War in Europe. BBC correspondents captured the scenes of joy across the city - from the East End to Piccadilly Circus. This programme is made up of material from the BBC Archives recorded on VE Day in 1945.
Photo: Londoners dancing on VE Day (Getty Images)
After Germany's surrender to Allied forces in May 1945 Soviet soldiers occupied the German capital Berlin. For ordinary German citizens it was a time of fear and uncertainty. The city had been reduced to rubble and for women in particular, the presence of Soviet troops was terrifying. In 2011 one German woman told her story of rape by a Red Army soldier to Steve Evans.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: A young Soviet soldier and a German woman struggle over a bicycle - Berlin 1945. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images.
Hear the eyewitness account of a female Russian soldier and a German schoolboy who fought on opposing sides in the final, brutal battle for the capital of Nazi Germany. The fall of the city to Soviet forces led to the end of the Second World War in Europe in May 1945.
Photo: A Soviet soldier running during a street battle in Berlin, late April 1945 (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
The German leader Adolf Hitler killed himself on April 30th 1945. He had taken shelter in a bunker beneath his government headquarters as the Red Army closed in on Berlin. Louise Hidalgo has gathered firsthand accounts of his death from the BBC's archives.
An exhibition about the role of the German army the Wehrmacht during the Second World War caused a scandal when it launched in Hamburg in March 1995. “War of Annihilation: Crimes of the Wehrmacht 1941-1944” was a key moment in Germany’s reassessment of its Nazi past – but it was highly controversial. Lucy Burns speaks to curator Hannes Heer.
Picture: Jewish forced labourers serving the Wehrmacht in Mogilev, Belarus, taken from the exhibition “War of Annihilation: Crimes of the Wehrmacht 1941 – 1944”
When an atomic bomb was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured. Despite many survivors believing nothing would grow in the city for decades, 170 trees survived close to the epicentre and are still growing 75 years later. Green Legacy Hiroshima is a project which sends seedlings from those trees around the world, spreading a message of hope. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Teruko Ueno who survived the bombing of Hiroshima, and her daughter Tomoko Watanabe who is a co-founder of the project.
Photo: one of the trees which survived the atomic bomb. Credit BBC.
A boom in demand for sea cucumbers in Asia in the 1990s set off a confrontation between fishermen and conservationists in the waters off the Galapagos islands, where the protein-rich sea creature was found in abundance. The high price being paid for the sea cucumbers led to a gold rush on the South American archipelago, a chain of 21 islands home to many unique wild-life species. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to a Galapagos fisherman and a British conservationist, who found themselves on opposite sides of the dispute.
(Photo credit: Getty Images)
The UN's first Middle East mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1948. A Swedish diplomat and member of the Swedish royal family, Count Bernadotte was killed by Jewish extremists four months after being appointed to try to bring peace to what was already proving to be one of the most intractable conflicts in the world. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to his son, Bertil Berndotte, about the count and his mission.
Picture: Count Folke Bernadotte (centre foreground) in a jeep in Haifa on September 15th 1948. He was assassinated two days later in Jerusalem (Credit: AFP via Getty Images)
In 1957 a new strain of flu emerged in East Asia and quickly spread around the world, killing a million people. It was dubbed the "Asian flu" but it spread to Europe and North and South America. Gabriela Jones has been listening to archive news reports from the time and speaking to Sumi Krishna who was nine years old when she caught the virus in India in 1957.
Photo: Americans worried about "Asian flu" wait their turns at Central Harlem District Health clinic in October 1957. Credit: Getty Images
Nancy Iskandar is a magician, snake dancer, former sex worker, committed Muslim and long-time campaigner for transgender women’s rights in Indonesia. Josephine Casserly talks to her about the fight for transgender women to be accepted into Indonesian society in the 1970s and 1980s. Photo: Nancy Iskandar. Credit: BBC
The great American playwright gave several interviews to the BBC over the years and some of them provide revealing insights into his personal life. He spoke about loneliness, mental illness and even touched on his own homosexuality at a time when very few people were open about those things in public. Vincent Dowd has been delving through the BBC archive.
Photo: Tennessee Williams in London in 1965. Credit: Getty Images
In 1970 a modern portable ventilator system was designed for use in intensive care units. The Brompton Manley’s designer was Dr Ian English a gifted anaesthetist who worked at the Royal Brompton, a specialist London hospital that treated patients with heart and lung disorders. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Margaret Branthwaite, a doctor who worked with Dr English, about how innovative the new ventilator was.
(Photo Dr Ian English Cardiothoracic Anaesthetist. Credit Family: Handout)
Abdul Sattar Edhi built one of the biggest welfare charities in the world. He started with a small pharmacy in Karachi dispensing free medication to the poor in the 1950s. His wife Bilquis Edhi shared his passion for charity and together they built more than 300 health clinics, trained thousands of nurses, took care of tens of thousands of orphans and set up a nationwide ambulance service. Bilquis Edhi tells Rebecca Kesby how she first met Edhi when she was training to be a nurse.
(Photo: Abdul Sattar Edhi and his wife and work partner Bilquis Edhi. Credit Getty Images)
The last surviving person to be captured in Africa in the 19th century and brought to United States on a slave ship, has been identified as a woman called Matilda McCrear, who died in Alabama in 1940. Sean Coughlan has spoken to the historian Hannah Durkin who uncovered Matilda's extraordinary life story and to Matilda's grandson, Johnny Crear.
Photo: Matilda McCrear in later years. Copyright: Johnny Crear.
On 20th April 2010, a deadly explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico left 11 people dead. As the rig sank, the riser pipe connecting the platform to the oil well ruptured and began spewing vast amounts of crude oil into the sea. The broken pipe lay near the sea bed, 5000ft down. The well's operators, BP, tried and failed to stem the flow of oil. Soon a huge oil slick had developed threatening the ecosystem in the Gulf. After 87 days the well was finally capped. But by then more than 130 million gallons of oil had entered the marine environment. It was one of the worst environmental disasters in US history. Alex Last spoke to Dr Lisa Dipinto a Chief Scientist from the Office of Response and Restoration at NOAA, who worked on the impact of the spill.
Photo: The offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon burning off the coast of Louisiana 21 April 2010 (U.S. Coast Guard/Reuters)
Michael Foale was on board the Mir space station when a resupply vessel crashed into it in June 1997. It was the worst collision in the history of space flight and it sent Mir spinning out of control. Michael was one of the three astronauts who had to try to repair the damage and get the space station back on course. In 2016 he told Alex Last about their ordeal.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Mir Space Station. Credit: Getty Images.
In 1979 the world held its breath as the American space station Skylab, re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. NASA tried desperately to control Skylab's descent, but large fragments hit south-west Australia instead of falling into the sea. Simon Watts heard from two residents of Esperance, a remote coastal town which bore the brunt of the impact.
(Image: Saturn V giant booster used for all the Apollo and Skylab NASA space missions between 1967 and 1972. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
In 1972 the American space agency NASA carried out its final Moon mission. One of the three astronauts on board was geologist Harrison Schmitt. In 2012 he spoke to Louise Hidalgo about those moonwalks, and the discoveries they made.
Photo credit: Harrison Schmitt/Science Photo Library.
The touchscreen smartphone changed mobile technology for ever. It was unveiled on January 9th 2007 by the Apple boss Steve Jobs. Within a few years smartphones had changed the way billions of people lived their lives. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Andy Grignon a senior developer on the project.
(Photo: Steve Jobs at the iPhone launch in San Francisco in 2007. Credit: David Paul Morris/Getty Images)
Five 'aquanauts' became the first women to front a mission for America's space agency, Nasa, in 1970. But their mission was underwater rather than in space. They spent two weeks being continuously monitored on camera in an undersea habitat. When they emerged from the experiment they were given a ticker tape parade and invited to the White House. Laura FitzPatrick has been speaking to Alina Szmant one of the aquanauts.
In 1984, a 72-year-old grandmother became the first to try a new online shopping system, years before the arrival of the internet. Mrs Jane Snowball had been given new Videotex technology which allowed her to order her groceries using a tv and a remote control. The system was part of a community project to help the elderly and vulnerable in the English town of Gateshead. The technology was the brainchild of Michael Aldrich, head of the communications firm, Rediffusion (later ROCC). Alex Last spoke to John Phelan, who designed the system's online shopping application.
Photo: Mrs Snowball shopping from home using her remote control and tv. (Gateshead Council)
The world's first webcam went online in 1993. Its camera was focused on a coffee pot so that computer scientists in Cambridge, in the UK, could see if there was any coffee available. Dr Quentin Stafford-Fraser, Martyn Johnson and Paul Jardetzky explained to Rebecca Kesby how they developed it.
This programme is a rebroadcast
(Photo: The Trojan Room coffee pot)
In 1975 a group of Californian computer enthusiasts began meeting to share ideas. Among those who took part were the founders of Apple. In those days though, many of them were students or even high school kids. Mike Lanchin spoke to two early members of the group.
This programme is a rebroadcast
Photo: Former Homebrew member Len Shustek.
Practising a religious faith in communist China has always been hard. Uighur Muslims face incarceration in re-education camps. But other Muslims have seen repression under communism too.Things were particularly tough in the 1960s during Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. Then there was a brief period in the 1980s when the state seemed to ease its pressure on believers. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to two Chinese Muslims about their lives and worship.
Photo: A child waits during prayers at a ceremony to mark the Eid-al-Fitr Festival in the Niujie Mosquein in Beijing, China. The Niujie Mosque is the largest mosque in China's capital and dates back to the 10th century. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)
In 1628, at the height of Sweden’s military expansion, the Swedish navy built a new flagship, the Vasa. At the time it was the most heavily armed ship in the world. But two hours into its maiden voyage, it sank in Stockholm's harbour. It remained there for more than three hundred years, until its discovery in 1961. Tim Mansel hears from the former Swedish naval officer, Bertil Daggfeldt, about the day that the warship was recovered in near-perfect condition.
Image: The Vasa after its recovery (The Vasa Museum)
A former governor of Punjab, Sir Michael O'Dwyer, was killed by an Indian immigrant in London in 1940. The assassin, Udham Singh, said he was avenging the deaths of hundreds of civilians who had been fired on by colonial troops in Amritsar in India in April 1919. When he was put on trial at the Old Bailey, he gave a defiant speech against colonial rule. Sajid Iqbal has been speaking to Avtar Singh Jouhal who campaigned to have Udham Singh's courtroom speech made public.
Photo:An Indian man takes a photograph of a painting depicting the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar. The Amritsar massacre, also known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, took place on April 13, 1919 when British Indian Army soldiers on the direct orders of their British officers opened fire on an unarmed gathering killing at least 379 men, women and children, according to official records. (Credit: NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images)
Scientists believe that the biggest living organism on Earth is a fungus. But the heaviest organism, and the most massive organism, is a tree, or rather a giant colony of quaking aspen tree stems which has been growing across a hillside in the west of America for thousands of years. The colony - called Pando - was first discovered in the late 1960s. But it wasn't until many years later that scientists proved it was one genetic entity. Two of the scientists involved in researching Pando's story have been speaking to Louise Hidalgo about what they found out.
Photo: Quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) in autumn colours (Credit: Science Photo Library)
Rose Heilbron was a trailblazer for women in the legal profession in Britain. She was made the first woman judge in the UK in the 1950s and made headlines around the world when she became the first to sit at the world famous criminal court, London's Old Bailey. Her daughter, Hilary Heilbron QC remembers how hard she fought to be accepted.
Photo: English KC (King's Counsel) Rose Heilbron (1914 - 2005) arrives at the House of Lords in London, for the traditional champagne breakfast hosted by the Lord Chancellor at the start of the Michaelmas Term for the law courts, 2nd October 1950. (Credit William Vanderson/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 1985 activists hand-stitched a giant quilt to commemorate friends and relatives killed by AIDS, and to campaign for more funding and research into the disease. It was the brain child of Cleve Jones, who explains to Rebecca Kesby what it was like to live through the HIV/AIDS epidemic in San Francisco. How the LGBT community had to pull together, as victims of AIDS were ostracised by the wider community during their worst moment of suffering.
(Photo: A section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Getty Images)
On March 26th 2010 a South Korean naval ship, the Cheonan, sank after an explosion on board. 48 sailors were killed in an alleged torpedo attack carried out by North Korea. The North Korean authorities have always denied any involvement. Bugyeong Jung has been speaking to a survivor of the attack about what happened that night.
Photo: A giant floating crane lifts the stern of the South Korean warship to place it on a barge on April 15, 2010. The 1,200-tonne patrol combat corvette PCC-772 Cheonan was split in two by a big external explosion on March 26 2010, near a disputed Yellow Sea border. Credit: HONG JIN-HWAN/AFP via Getty Images
On the night of March 25 2015 Saudi Arabia and its allies launched an intense aerial bombardment of the Yemeni capital Sana'a. The attacks pushed one of the poorest countries in the Arab world to breaking point. Sumaya Bakhsh has been speaking to surgeon, Dr Ali al-Taifi, about his memories of that first night of bombing and the suffering that has carried on in Yemen ever since.
Photo: citizens of Sana'a searching through rubble for survivors on morning of March 26th 2015, after the Saudi bombing. Credit: Getty Images.
Over 50 million people died from influenza during the 1918-19 influenza pandemic. Scientists trying to understand why that particular strain of flu was so virulent, dug into Alaska's permafrost to find traces of it to study. Kate Lamble has been speaking to Dr Jeffery Taubenberger who sequenced the genome of the so-called "Spanish" flu virus.
Photo: an influenza ward in 1918. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
In the 1970s, scientists in China used ancient traditional medicine to find a cure for malaria. Artemisinin was discovered by exploring a herbal remedy from the 4th century, and can cure most forms of malaria with very few side effects. It has saved millions of lives all over the world. Rebecca Kesby talks to Professor Lang Linfu, one of the scientists involved.
PHOTO: Professor Lang Linfu (family archives)
In 1990, NASA launched the historic mission which put into orbit the Hubble Space Telescope. The orbiting observatory has revolutionized astronomy and allowed us to peer deeper than ever before into the Universe. Alejandra Martins talks to astronaut, Kathryn Sullivan, about the Hubble mission and the telescope's initial teething problems.
PHOTO: The Hubble Space Telescope (NASA)
In May 2000, a virus created by a college dropout in the Philippines caused chaos around the world. Millions of people received - and opened - an email titled I Love You, which then jammed computer networks. Gabriela Jones talks to IT security expert, Graham Cluley.
(Photo: The I Love You email. Credit: Getty Images)
The story of how a car that had originally been the idea of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was saved by a British army officer at the end of World War Two. In August 1945 the British Army sent Major Ivan Hirst to take control of the giant Volkswagen plant in Germany, built under the Nazis to produce 'people's cars' for the German masses. Ivan Hirst persuaded the British authorities to allow production to restart of the Volkswagen Beetle, which Hitler had had designed before the war as an affordable car for ordinary Germans and which would become one of the most successful cars in the world. Louise Hidalgo has been listening to archive of Major Hirst talking about that time.
Picture: Major Ivan Hirst (right) driving the 1000th Beetle off the production line at Wolfsburg in March 1946 (Credit: Volkswagen AG)
In 1950, a 200-page-long directory called "Red Channels " was published in America. It was a list of people working in the media who were suspected of being Communists or Communist sympathisers. It ruined careers and sent actors, writers and directors into exile. Most of the people named in it are no longer alive. But Vincent Dowd has been speaking to former Hollywood actress Marsha Hunt who is still with us, aged 102.
PHOTO: Marsha Hunt in 1938 (Getty Images)
In 1986, the US Supreme Court heard a landmark case which would define sexual harassment as a crime in America. The lawsuit, brought by bank clerk Mechelle Vinson, established that abuse in the workplace was a breach of civil rights. It was built on pioneering legal scholarship by feminist lawyer Catharine MacKinnon, who talks to Sharon Hemans.
PHOTO: Mechelle Vinson in 1986 (Getty Images)
A deadly new form of haemorrhagic fever was discovered in the small town of Marburg in West Germany in the summer of 1967. The first patients all worked at a factory in the town which made vaccines. In the course of their work they had all come into contact with blood or tissue from monkeys from East Africa who were infected with a disease similar to Ebola. Lucy Burns speaks to virologist Werner Slenczka and former laboratory worker Frederike Moos about their experiences of the outbreak.
Photo: A Grivet monkey looks out from an enclosure at Egypt's Giza Zoo in Cairo on August 1, 2017 (Mohamed El-Shahed/AFP via Getty Images)
In early 2003 a medical emergency swept across the world. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, was a deadly virus which had first struck in southern China but soon there were cases as far away as Canada. William Ho and Tom Buckley were at the forefront of the battle against the epidemic.
Photo: The SARS virus (Science Photo Library)
In 1955 scientists in the US led by Dr Jonas Salk announced they had developed an effective vaccine against polio. The poliomyelitis virus had caused paralysis and death particularly amongst children since time immemorial. Louise Hidalgo spoke to Dr Salk's son Peter, who was one of the first children to be vaccinated by his father, and to a nurse who worked on the polio vaccination programme.
PHOTO: Jonas Salk innoculating his son, Peter (Courtesy of March of Dimes)
Some 300 people died during the first documented outbreak of the deadly disease occurred in the 1970s in the Democratic Republic of Congo - then known as Zaire. The virus was named after the river which flowed close to the village where it was discovered. Two doctors, Dr Jean Jacques Muyembe and Dr David Heymann, were among those who worked to bring the outbreak under control. They spoke to Claire Bowes in 2009.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Image: The Ebola virus under a microscope. Credit: Science Photo Library
In 1918, more than fifty million people died in an outbreak of flu, which spread all over the world in the wake of the first World War. We hear eye-witness accounts of the worst pandemic of the twentieth century.
(Photo: An American policeman wearing a mask to protect himself from the outbreak of Spanish flu. Credit:Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)
The story of Dr. Semen Gluzman, a Ukrainian psychiatrist, who took a stand against the psychiatric abuse of political dissidents in the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, Soviet authorities had many dissidents declared mentally ill and confined them to special psychiatric hospitals for 'treatment'. In the 1970s, a young Ukrainian psychiatrist, decided to write a counter-diagnosis of one of the most famous of these incarcerated dissidents. For this, he would pay a high price. Alex Last speaks to Dr Semen Gluzman about his struggle to oppose Soviet punitive psychiatry.
Photo: Semen Gluzman in 1989.(Gluzman)
In 1976 South Asian women workers who had made Britain their home, led a strike against poor working conditions in a British factory. Lakshmi Patel was one of the women who picketed the Grunwick film-processing factory in north London for two years, defying the stereotype of submissive South Asian women. They gained the support of tens of thousands of trade unionists along the way. Lakshmi talks to Farhana Haider about how the strike was a defining moment for race relations in the UK in the 1970s.
(Photo: Jayaben Desai, leader of the Grunwick strike committee holding placard 1977 Credit: Getty images)
The UK was one of the first in Europe to declare it would ban lead from petrol after a successful campaign showing it was poisoning children and leaving them permanently brain damaged. But it took until the year 2000 to finally remove leaded petrol from sale. Lead was first added to petrol in the 1920s to make the fuel run more efficiently. The latest figures show only three countries worldwide still sell leaded petrol. Claire Bowes spoke to Dr Robin Russell Jones from the "Campaign for Lead Free Air" about the battle to show that lead from petrol was dangerous.
(Photo: a petrol pump in the UK. Credit: Dr Robin Russell-Jones)
One of the toughest challenges facing Japan’s economy is that its population is ageing rapidly and its workforce is shrinking dramatically. But a Japanese investment analyst, Kathy Matsui, came up with a visionary idea to help her country, and she even invented a new word for it: Womenomics. The answer, according to her, was to tap into the talent of half the population. Kathy Matsui speaks to Alejandra Martins.
(Photo: Kathy Matsui. Courtesy of Goldman Sachs)
In 2009, three American hikers were arrested and jailed after they crossed an unmarked border into Iran while on holiday in Iraqi Kurdistan. Sarah Shourd was released first and fought a long campaign to get her friends Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal released from prison in Teheran. Their freedom was eventually brokered by diplomats from Oman – opening up a diplomatic channel between Iran and the US which was later used in their nuclear negotiations. Sarah Shourd talks to Simon Watts.
PHOTO: Sarah Shourd, centre, with the mothers of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal (Getty Images)
Thousands of people died in India during the world's last major smallpox epidemic. Individual cases had to be tracked down and quarantined to stop the deadly disease spreading. Ashley Byrne spoke to Dr Mahendra Dutta and Dr Larry Brilliant who took part in the battle to eradicate smallpox once and for all.
Photo: Smallpox lesions on the human body. 1973. Credit: Getty Images.
A group of Californian nuns left their convent and set up their own independent community in 1970. They’d been inspired by the social change they saw around them in Los Angeles in the 1960s, and the Pope's promise to modernise the Catholic Church. They wanted to stop wearing their traditional habit and abandon their set prayer times, but their conservative cardinal refused to discuss change. So three hundred of the sisters left to set up their own lay community – the Immaculate Heart Community, which is still running today.
Former Sister Lucia Van Ruiten tells Witness History about the crisis they caused in the Catholic church.
(Photo: Nuns from the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary play guitars at the Mary's Day parade, 1964. Courtesy of the Immaculate Heart Community)
In 1973, an engineer called Marty Cooper made the world’s first mobile phone call from a street in New York City. Cooper worked for a then tiny telecoms company called Motorola, but he had a vision that one day people would all want their own personal phone that could be reached anywhere. He talks to Louise Hidalgo.
Picture: Martin Cooper in New York City in 1973 with the first prototype mobile phone (Credit: Martin Cooper)
In 1985, human remains were found by chance on a remote island in Antarctica by Chilean biologist Dr Daniel Torres. But whose were they? It would take years to determine their remarkable origin. We speak to Dr Torres about his discovery and how it revealed an unknown chapter of indigenous South American history.
Photo: Skull discovered on LIvingstone Island, Antarctica in 1985 (D.Torres/INACH)
In October 1991, an international protocol to protect the world’s last wilderness, Antarctica, from commercial exploitation was agreed at a summit in Madrid. The agreement was the result of a long campaign by environmental organisations to stop oil and gas companies being allowed to explore the continent. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Kelly Rigg from Greenpeace.
Picture: Blue icebergs in Antarctica (Credit: Getty Images)
An insider's account of Project Babylon, the plan to build the largest gun in the world for Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The "Supergun" was the brainchild of Canadian artillery maverick, Dr Gerald Bull. He'd long wanted to build a gun capable of launching satellites into space. In the 1980s Saddam Hussein agreed to fund this plan. But was it a science project or a weapon? In 1990, the "Supergun" hit the headlines and it became an international scandal. Alex Last spoke to Chris Cowley an engineer who worked on Project Babylon,. Appropriately enough he has also become an author of thrillers. His latest book is called Without A Shadow.
Photo: UN inspectors visit the site of the 350mm (baby) Super Gun in Iraq. After the Gulf War, the gun components were broken up and destroyed.(UN)
"Battle Bus" was a sculpture made by Sokari Douglas Camp in memory of Nigerian environmentalist Ken Saro Wiwa and eight other activists who were controversially executed in 1995. The sculpture was seized and impounded by Nigerian port authorities in 2015 when the art work was shipped to Nigeria. Sokari Douglas Camp talks to Rebecca Kesby about growing up in the Niger Delta and how it's shaped her art work.
PHOTO: "Battle Bus" by Sokari Douglas Camp on show in London in 2015 (Sam Roberts Photography).
In 2002, scientists in the US began performing a landmark series of experiments on Buddhist monks from around the world. The studies showed that the brains of experienced meditators alter, allowing them to focus better and manage their emotions. Alejandra Martins talks to Professor Richard Davidson of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
PHOTO: A monk taking part in the experiment (Center for Healthy Minds).
In February 1990, the Nasa space probe Voyager took a famous photo of Earth as it left the Solar System. Seen from six billion kilometres away, our planet appears as a mere dot lit up by the Sun, and the image is credited with giving humanity a sense of our small place in the Universe. Darryll Morris speaks to Nasa planetary scientist, Candice Hansen, who worked on the Voyager programme. The programme is a Made-In-Manchester Production.
Photo: The Earth seen as a pale blue dot in a band of sunlight (Nasa)
On Valentine's Day 1995, authors Sherrie Schneider and Ellen Fein published a dating handbook called The Rules: Time Tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr Right. The book advised women that if they wanted to find a husband they should not approach a man first or pay for themselves on dates. Criticised in some quarters as anti-feminist, it soon became a bestseller, with celebrity fans from Beyonce to Meghan Markle. Lucy Burns speaks to Sherrie Schneider about creating a cultural phenomenon.
(Photo: Groom and bride exchanging wedding ring. Credit: Wavebreakmedia/iStock)
The groundbreaking novel about female sexuality, called Fear of Flying, was first published in 1973. Dina Newman has been speaking to its author, Erica Jong.
Photo courtesy of Erica Jong
A poor single mother of three, Carolina Maria de Jesus lived in a derelict shack and spent her days scavenging for food for her children, doing odd jobs and collecting paper and bottles. Her diary, written between 1955 and 1960, brought to life the harsh realities faced by thousands of poor Brazilians who arrived in cities like São Paulo and Rio looking for better opportunities. Her daughter, Vera Eunice de Jesus Lima, speaks to Thomas Pappon about how the book changed her family's life.
(Photo: Carolina Maria de Jesus in the Canindé Favela. Credit: Archive Audálio Dantas)
In 1996, after many rejections, author JK Rowling at last finds a publisher for her first Harry Potter novel. Louise Hidalgo hears from editor, Barry Cunningham, who spotted the boy wizard's potential and helped create a phenomenon that would revolutionise childrens' book publishing, selling more than 450 million copies.
Picture: author JK Rowling holds the sixth and penultimate Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. (Credit: AP) Audio recording © J.K. Rowling
In 1966, the collected thoughts of China's communist leader became an unexpected best-seller around the world. A compendium of pithy advice and political instructions from Mao Zedong, it was soon to be found on student bookshelves everywhere.
(Photo: Front cover of Mao's Little Red Book)
On 11th February 1990 anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela walked free after spending 27 years in a South African jail. It was a day that millions of black South Africans had been waiting for and marked the beginning of the end of white rule. Fellow activist Valli Moosa remembers that day, and the hasty preparations to make it possible and tells Louise Hidalgo how things almost didn't go to plan.
Picture: Nelson Mandela raises his fist in salute as he walks out of Victor Verster prison near Cape Town accompanied by his wife Winnie Mandela (Credit: Reuters/Ulli Michel)
In February 1987, a small Native American tribe from California won a landmark ruling at the US Supreme Court granting them the right to conduct gambling activities on their reservation. The campaign by the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians led to the creation of a multi-billion-dollar gaming industry on Indian land across the United States. Simon Watts talks to former Cabazon Band president, Brenda Soulliere, and their lawyer, Glenn Feldman.
PHOTO: An Indian-run casino in California (Getty Images)
In the early 1980s deaf children in Nicaragua invented a completely new sign language of their own. It was a remarkable achievement, which allowed experts a unique insight into how human communication develops. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to American linguist Judy Shepard-Kegl, who documented this process and says "our belief is that you are born with a language-ready brain".
(Photo credit should read INTI OCON/AFP via Getty Images)
The Empress Dowager Cixi ruled China for 47 years until her death in 1908. But it wasn't until the 1970s that her story began to be properly documented. She'd been vilified as a murderous tyrant, but was that really true or was she a victim of a misogynistic version of history? Prof Sue Fawn Chung was the first academic to go back to study the original documents, and found many surprises. She tells Rebecca Kesby the story of "the much maligned Empress Dowager".
(Photo: Chinese Empress Dowager Cixi, portrait c1900. Credit: Ullstein bild/Getty Images)
Norwell Roberts joined the Metropolitan police in 1967. He was put forward as a symbol of progressive policing amid ongoing tensions between the police and ethnic minorities in the capital. But behind the scenes, he endured years of racist abuse from colleagues within the force. Norwell Roberts QPM spoke to Alex Last about growing up in Britain and his determination to be a pioneer in the police force.
Photo: London's first black policeman PC Norwell Roberts beginning his training with colleagues at Hendon Police College, London, 5th April 1967. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The treaty which established the European Economic Community was signed by six countries in 1957 - France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. It was hoped that European countries would never go to war again, if they were tied together by economic interests. The treaty formed the basis for what is now the European Union.
Photo: European leaders at the Palazzo dei Conservatori in Rome. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images
Madam C. J. Walker was the first ever self-made female millionaire. She was born to former slaves in the USA and was orphaned at seven but against all the odds she went on to create her own business selling black hair-care products. By the time of her death in 1919 she'd become a famous philanthropist and civil rights campaigner. Claire Bowes has been speaking to her great great granddaughter A'Lelia Bundles.
Photo: Madam Walker Family Archives/A'Lelia Bundles
The remarkable Turner's oak in Kew Gardens in London not only survived the Great Storm that ravaged the south of England in 1987, but also changed the way that trees are cared for around the world.
Alejandra Martins has been speaking to Tony Kirkham, head of the Arboretum at Kew. (Photo: Turner's oak. Credit: Alejandra Martins)
In January 2013 the Indian government began to overhaul the country's laws on rape following the brutal gang rape and killing of a 23 year old physiotherapy student in Delhi. The public outcry across India forced the government to commission a legal review. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Gopal Subramanium, one of the three senior lawyers tasked with reforming the way India tackled violence against women.
(Photo: Justice Leila Seth. Justice J Verma and Justice Gopal Subramanium and team deliver their report. January 2013. Credit: Permission of Gopal Subramanium)
Prince Harry and Meghan’s announcement that they will step back from their royal duties is not the first time the British royal family has tried to reform itself from within. In 1992 Queen Elizabeth had what she called her “annus horribilis” . It was the year that her sons Prince Charles and Prince Andrew both separated from their wives, while her daughter Princess Anne got divorced - and it was also the year that Windsor Castle caught fire. The Way Ahead group was set up by senior members of the royal family and some of their closest advisors to make sure that Britain’s monarchy stayed relevant in the modern age. Lucy Burns speaks to Charles Anson, who was the Queen’s press secretary at the time.
(Photo: Queen Elizabeth II makes her "annus horribilis" speech at London's Guildhall, November 1992. Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)
In 1975, San Diego Zoo began placing tissue samples of rare animals in cryogenic storage for the benefit of future generations. Called the Frozen Zoo, the refrigeration system now contains the cells of more than 1000 species ranging from the white rhinoceros to the black-footed ferret. Scientists are now using the collection to try to save species threatened by extinction. Simon Watts talks to Dr Oliver Ryder, who has worked at the Frozen Zoo from the very beginning.
PHOTO: Northern White Rhino cells in the Frozen Zoo (San Diego Zoo Institute For Conservation Research)
Whales were being hunted to extinction, when in 1967, a biologist called Dr Roger Payne realised they could sing. It changed the perception of whales and helped found the modern conservation movement. Claire Bowes spoke to Dr Payne about his discovery in 2017. This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo: Humpback Whale, courtesy of Christian Miller of Ocean Alliance)
Silent Spring, written by marine biologist Rachel Carson, looked at the effect that synthetic pesticides were having on the environment. Within years of its publication in 1962, the widespread use of DDT had been outlawed in the USA. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Carson's adopted son Roger Christie about the author and her work.
Image: A copy of Silent Spring (Credit: Science Photo Library)
A flightless bird, the dodo became extinct just decades after being discovered on the uninhabited island of Mauritius by European sailors. Because dodos couldn't fly they, and their eggs, were eaten by explorers and the cats and rats that came with them on board their ships. By the late 1600s there were none left. Simon Watts charts the demise and subsequent popularisation of the dodo.
Image: An engraving of a dodo. Credit: Science Photo Library.
How scientists discovered that a deadly fungus was killing off amphibians around the world. The chytrid fungus has caused the greatest loss of biodiversity in our time. Alejandra Martins spoke to biologist Dr. Karen Lips, one of the key scientists who unravelled the mystery of the extinctions. Photo: dead frog infected with chytrid fungus. Credit: Forrest Brem
The US tracked down the al Qaeda leader to a city in northern Pakistan in May 2011. Special operations troops were sent to capture or kill bin Laden in a top secret raid in the dead of night. The Americans didn't tell their Pakistani allies about the raid beforehand. Gabriela Jones has been speaking to Nicholas Rasmussen who was in the White House situation room with President Barack Obama and US military chiefs as the raid took place.
Photo: Osama bin Laden. Credit:AFP/Getty Images
How a 14-year-old boy became the youngest person to be executed in the USA during the 20th century. George Stinney Jr was sent to the electric chair in 1944. He had been tried for the murder of two young girls, but when the case was reviewed by a court in South Carolina in 2014 his conviction was annulled. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to George Stinney Jr's sister Katherine Robinson, and to Matt Burgess who was one of the team of lawyers who fought to clear his name.
Photo: George Stinney Jr in 1944. Credit Alamy.
In January 2014 after decades of violent struggle, a peace deal was agreed in the Philippines between a Muslim separatist organisation and the government. The deal granted largely Muslim areas of the southern Mindanao region greater autonomy in exchange for an end to armed rebellion. Farhana Haider has been speaking to the government's chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer about the difficulties posed by being a woman negotiating with a Muslim rebel group.
(Photo: MILF peace panel chief Mohagher Iqbal hands over signed documents with Government of the Philippines Peace Panel Chief Negotiator Miriam Coronel Ferrer 27 March, 2014. Credit: Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images)
Just weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall East Germans found themselves able to walk into the communist secret police headquarters in Berlin. The much-feared Stasi agents had kept files on millions of their fellow citizens. Soon people were searching the archives. Jim Frank has spoken to Bert Konopatzky who took part in the demonstration which led to the Stasi opening its gates.
Photo:East Germans streaming into the secret police headquarters in Berlin on the night of January 15th 1990. Credit: Zöllner/ullstein bild/Getty Images.
The National Trust was founded in 1895, and initially focused on preserving Britain's rural heritage. But their mission expanded in the 1930s to include protecting stately homes - the grand old houses of the British aristocracy - which were under threat. Higher taxation meant many landowners were struggling to maintain their properties while sweeping social changes made it harder for them to find servants.
James Lees Milne worked for the National Trust's Country House Scheme, travelling around the country to see which houses the Trust should acquire, and writing a diary about his experiences which paints a vivid picture of a disappearing world of elderly aristocrats living in genteel poverty in crumbling country houses.
Lucy Burns presents interviews with James Lees Milne from the BBC archive.
(Photo: The National Trust country house Kingston Lacy. Credit: Loop Images/Universal Images Group /Getty Images)
A US Marine's account of the massive US-led assault on the Iraqi city in November 2004. Amid post-invasion chaos in Iraq, the city was seen as a stronghold of insurgents. It was hoped the battle would be a turning point in the fight against the Iraqi insurgency. Alex Last spoke to Colonel Andrew Milburn, author of When The Tempest Gathers, who served as a US military advisor to a frontline Iraqi army unit during the battle.
Photo: US Marines of the 1st Battalion 3rd Marines, clear a houses held by insurgents during the battle for Fallujah November 23, 2004,(Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images)
In 2009, Uruguay became the first country in the world to give a laptop computer to every child in state primary schools. At the time, only 10 per cent of poor Uruguayan children had access to IT, and the Plan Ceibal initiative is credited with transforming the lives of the students and teachers. Alejandra Martins talks to Miguel Brechner, the man behind Plan Ceibal, and Rocio Martinez, one of the first children to get a computer.
PHOTO: Two Uruguayan children enjoying their laptops (courtesy Plan Ceibal)
In December 1988 the Brazilian environmental campaigner, Chico Mendes, was shot dead by cattle ranchers, unhappy at being prevented from exploiting land in the Amazon jungle. The 44-year-old leader of the rubber tappers union had become a powerful symbol of the struggle to save the Amazon and his death sparked renewed interest in environmental issues world-wide. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from the anthropologist Mary Allegretti, who was a close friend of Mendes and worked alongside him in the jungle.
Photo: Chico Mendes and his family. Credit: Str/AFP/Getty Images)
In January 1990 over 100,000 Hindus fled the Kashmir valley after an increase in tension between the Indian military and Muslim independence activists. Iknoor Kaur has been speaking to Utpal Kaul one of the so-called 'pandits' who was displaced.
Photo: Indian Border Security Forces in Srinigar in 1993. Credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Liaison/Getty Images.
Towards the end of World War Two in Europe, Polish civilians suffered terribly at the hands of retreating German troops. But many never received any reparations for what they’d been through. Kevin Connolly has been speaking to one survivor who was a child in those final brutal days of the war in Europe.
Photo: Undated image of Nazi soldiers travelling by motorcycle and car stop to watch a Polish village burn to the ground. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis via Getty Images)
In the early 1980s, thousands of young people in communist East German became punks, attracted by the DIY culture and anti-establishment attitude.
But the East German secret police the Stasi believed the subculture represented an existential threat to the state and tried to crush the movement.
Lucy Burns speaks to former punk Jürgen Gutjahr, aka Chaos, and Tim Mohr, author of "Burning Down The Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution and the Fall of the Berlin Wall."
Photo: Young punks posing in Lenin Square (now United Nations Square), East Berlin. 1982. (Credit: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Desmond's was the most successful black sitcom in British TV history. It ran on Channel 4 for over five years, attracting millions of viewers. Trix Worrell, the man who wrote it, believes that Desmond's changed attitudes to race in the UK. Trix has been speaking to Sharon Hemans about the show, and the people who inspired it.
Image: Ram John Holder, Norman Beaton and Gyearbuor Asante (Credit: Courtesy of Channel 4)
The Limits to Growth was published in 1972 and predicted global decline from 2020. It was based on a computer model which analysed how the Earth would cope with unrestricted economic growth. Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology fed in huge amounts of data on population, pollution, industrialisation, food production and resources. They found that if the trends continued, the result would be a sudden and uncontrollable downturn beginning around 2020. Claire Bowes hears from one of the authors of the book, Professor Dennis Meadows.
Image: Front cover of The Limits to Growth, published in 1972
On December 31 1991 the two warring parties in El Salvador's brutal civil war agreed to end the fighting. Left-wing FMLN rebels pledged to disarm and demobilise all their fighters, in exchange for the US-backed government and military carrying out sweeping political and security reforms. The Salvadoran peace process was heralded as a major victory for UN diplomacy. Its top negotiator, the Peruvian Alvaro de Soto, tells Mike Lanchin about his role in the long road to peace in El Salvador.
Photo: Rebels celebrate the end of the war in El Salvador (Jason Bleibtreu/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
The Chippendales nightclub in downtown Los Angeles was looking for ways to attract customers on a weeknight – when they hit upon the idea of male strippers. The Male Exotic Dance Night for Ladies Only became wildly successful and inspired imitators all over the world. But there was a dark side to the Chippendales’ story.
Lucy Burns speaks to Chippendales co-founder Bruce Nahin.
Picture: Actress Linda Blair with Chippendales dancers, 1984 (Ann Clifford/DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
In December 1972 the US military launched its heaviest bombardment on the Vietnamese city of Hanoi. Around twenty thousand tonnes of explosives were dropped in just a few days. Ha Mi was just ten years old and living in the city with her family when the bombs began to fall. She told Rebecca Kesby what is was like.
(Photo: Ha Mi in the summer of 1972. Credit: Ha Mi's own collection)
The global circus phenomenon Cirque du Soleil was born in 1984 when a group of street performers in Quebec bought a big top tent and went on tour.
Lucy Burns speaks to Cirque du Soleil co-founder Gilles Ste-Croix, who walked 56 miles on stilts to raise money for the show.
Picture: Cirque du Soleil acrobats perform during the dress rehearsal of Kooza at the Royal Albert Hall in January 2013 in London, England. (John Phillips/UK Press via Getty Images)
In 1904, a left-wing American feminist called Lizzy Magie patented a board game that evolved into what we now know as Monopoly. But 30 years later, when Monopoly was first marketed in the United States during the Great Depression, it was an out-of-work salesman from Pennsylvania who was credited with inventing it. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to American journalist Mary Pilon about the hidden history of one of the world's most popular board games, and to the economics professor Ralph Anspach who unearthed the story.
Picture: A family playing a game of Monopoly in the 1930s (Credit: SSPL/Getty Images)
On 24 December 1979 Soviet troops poured into Afghanistan in support of an anti-government coup. Their first targets were the palace in which the president was staying, and Afghanistan's radio and TV headquarters. Mahjooba Nowrouzi has been speaking to Shahsawar Sangerwal who was a young producer at Afghan National Radio at the time.
Photo: Soviet troops at Kabul Airport in late December 1979. Credit: Getty Images.
In the 1960s doctors began ground-breaking work into using several toxic chemicals at once to treat cancer. Combination chemotherapy, as it was called, would revolutionise cancer survival rates, particularly for Hodgkin Lymphoma, until then a virtual death sentence. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to the doctor who played a key part in that breakthrough, clinical oncologist, Vincent DeVita who has spent his more than 50-year career trying to cure cancer.
Picture: Vincent DeVita (centre) and colleagues George Canellos and Bob Young circa 1971 (Credit: Joel Carl Freid)
Why Nigeria came to build a brand new capital from scratch.and created one of the world 's fastest growing cities. During the 1970s oil boom, Nigeria's military rulers wanted to create a new symbol of national unity and decided to spend billions on constructing a new capital in the geographic centre of the country. Alex Last speaks to Professor John Paden of George Mason University, a veteran political scientist and expert on Nigeria who was hired to advise the American consortium tasked with planning the new city.
Photo: Getty Images
In 2007, the mysterious loss of commercial honey bees in the United States made headlines around the world. Researchers called the phenomenon Colony Collapse Disorder. The sudden loss of bee colonies had serious implications for modern agriculture as the commercial honey bees were used to pollinate many crops. The crisis served to highlight the broader threat to bees and other crucial pollinators from disease, pesticides and the destruction of habitat. Alex Last has been speaking to Dr Dennis vanEngelsdorp, who studied Colony Collapse Disorder.
Photo:Honey bees on a hive. (Getty Images)
Of all the revolutions that swept across Eastern Europe 30 years ago in the winter of 1989, the over throw of Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena was the bloodiest. But few communist regimes had been as brutal as theirs, dominating every aspect of daily life. The uprising began in the western city of Timisoara, where a local pastor, László Tőkés, took a stand against the authorities and his loyal parishioners stood with him. László Tőkés tells Rebecca Kesby about the fall of the Ceaușescus and how the revolution started outside his own house.
(Photo: The army join the revolutionaries in Romania 1989. Credit: Getty Images)
Priests reacted with horror when a South Indian actress, Jayamala, admitted she had inadvertently touched a statue of a god at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala - a Hindu holy site. The priests had purified the temple and said that women of childbearing age were banned from setting foot inside it. But a young lawyer, Bhakti Pasrija, decided to take on the religious authorities in the courts. She has been telling Iknoor Kaur what happened next.
PHOTO: Hindu devotees wait in queues inside the premises of the Sabarimala temple. Credit: REUTERS/Sivaram V
For much of World War Two African-American soldiers were relegated to support roles and kept away from the fighting. But after the Allies suffered huge losses during the Battle of the Bulge, they were called on to volunteer for combat. Janet Ball has been speaking Reverend Matthew Southall Brown who saw action in Europe towards the end of the war. He fought in the US Army's 9th Division, 60th Regiment, Company E.
Photograph:Volunteer combat soldiers from the 9th Division prepare for shipment to front lines in Germany. Credit: US Government Archives.
In December 2001 armed men attacked India's Parliamentary compound in broad daylight. Islamist extremists were blamed and the attack brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Indian politician Renuka Chowdhury was just arriving at the Parliament building when the shooting started. She has been telling her story to Prabhat Pandey.
Photo: Security forces outside the Parliament building during the attack in Delhi. (Credit: Bandeep Singh/The India Today Group /Getty Images)
When police in New York shot a young immigrant 41 times in 1999, thousands of people took to the streets to protest. But Amadou Diallo's mother Kadiatou wanted her son to be remembered for the way he lived, not the way he died. So she flew to the US to speak on his behalf. She has been telling Sharon Hemans her story.
In December 1975, four members of one of the IRA’s deadliest units were chased by police through the streets of London before hiding out in a small flat owned by a middle-aged couple called John and Sheila Matthews. The resulting six-day siege was covered live on television and radio, and gripped Britain. It ended when Metropolitan Police negotiators persuaded the gunmen to leave the flat peacefully. Simon Watts talks to Steven Moysey, the author of the book and audiobook, The Road to Balcombe Street.
(Photo: Police surrounding the flat in Balcombe Street. Credit: Press Association)
In 1983 French president Francois Mitterand commissioned a major renovation of Paris' most famous art museum, the Louvre. But the resulting great glass pyramid, designed by American architect IM Pei, caused a storm of controversy, dividing Parisian public opinion as the Eiffel Tower had done a century earlier. Louise Hidalgo talks to IM Pei's colleague and friend, Yann Weymouth, who worked with him on what is now recognised as one of the great landmarks of the city.
Picture: the Louvre pyramid shortly after its opening in 1989 (Credit: Jarry/Tripelong/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
On 7 December 1990 the dissident Cuban novelist and poet Reinaldo Arenas killed himself in New York after years of suffering from AIDS. Before fleeing Cuba, Arenas had been jailed for his homosexuality, sent to re-education camps and prevented from writing. He left behind his autobiography - Before Night Falls - a powerful denunciation of Fidel Castro’s regime which later became a successful film. Simon Watts talks to Arenas’ friend and fellow writer, Jaime Manrique.
The recordings of Reinaldo Arenas in this programme are taken from BBC archive, and the documentaries Conducta Impropria and Seres Extravagantes.
(Photo: Reinaldo Arenas. Credit: Sophie Bassouls/Sygma/Sygma/Getty Images)
A prison camp called Jaslyk opened in the desert in western Uzbekistan in 1999. Even by the standards of the Uzbek prison system it would become notorious for torture and human rights abuses, including reports of a prisoner being boiled alive. Journalist Muhammad Bekjanov was imprisoned in Jaslyk during the 18 years he spent in Uzbek jails. He speaks to Lucy Burns along with independent human rights observer Acacia Shields.
PHOTO: Muhammad Bekjanov in Istanbul, 1995 (courtesy of Muhammad Bekjanov)
During the 20th century a British coal miner's son changed the world of art. Henry Moore revolutionised sculpture, altering the way we view the human figure and setting his works in natural landscapes. He became internationally renowned and by the 1970s hundreds of his sculptures could be seen outside government buildings, universities and museums around the world. His daughter, Mary Moore, remembers how initially his work shocked his teachers and art critics.
Photo: BBC Henry Moore 1960
With thanks to the Henry Moore Studios and Gardens at Perry Green, Hertfordshire © The Henry Moore Foundation. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019 / www.henry-moore.org
Hear first hand accounts from the doomed Antarctic expedition which became a legendary story of survival. In 1914, polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton led an expedition to become the first to cross the Antarctic continent. But before they could land, their ship, SS Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and sank. Marooned on a floating ice field, Shackleton and his men, embarked on an epic odyssey to reach safety. Alex Last has been listening to BBC archive interviews with the survivors.
Photo: Return of the sun over the 'Endurance' after the long winter darkness during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-17, led by Ernest Shackleton. (Photo by Frank Hurley/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
The Colombian drug trafficker, once one of the richest men in the world, was shot dead by police on 2nd December 1993. He had been on the run from the authorities for over a year. Jordan Dunbar has been speaking to Elizabeth Zilli who worked for the US Drug Enforcement Agency in Colombia and who helped track down Pablo Escobar.
Photo: Colombian police and military forces storm the rooftop where drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot dead just moments earlier during an exchange of gunfire between security forces and Escobar and his bodyguard on 2nd December 1993. (Credit:Jesus Abad-el Colombiano/AFP/Getty Images)
Robert R was a teenager who died of a mysterious illness in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1969. It was only in the 1980s that doctors studying the Aids epidemic realised Robert had died of Aids. Ned Carter Miles has been speaking to Dr Memory Elvin Lewis was one of the doctors who treated Robert R. She was so intrigued by his case that she kept tissue samples after his death, which later proved that he had contracted HIV/Aids.
Photo: HIV particles, computer artwork. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. Credit: Science Photo Library
In 1985 Australia's most famous natural landmark, Uluru, the huge ancient red rock formerly known as Ayers Rock, was handed back to its traditional owners, the indigenous people of that part of central Australia, the Anangu. But as one of the government officials involved in the negotiations for the transfer, former private secretary for aboriginal affairs, Kim Wilson, tells Louise Hidalgo, not everyone in Australia was pleased.
Picture: Uluru, formerly Ayers Rock, in Kata Tjuta National Park, the world's largest monolith and an Aboriginal sacred site (Credit: Jeff Overs/BBC)
In the early 1950s, the leading British catering firm, J Lyons & Co, pioneered the world's first automated office system. It was baptised LEO - the Lyons Electronic Office - and was used in stock-taking, food ordering and payrolls for the company. Soon it was being hired out to UK government ministries and other British businesses. Mary Coombs worked on the first LEO and was the first woman to become a commercial computer programmer. She tells Mike Lanchin about her memories of those heady days when computers were still in their infancy.
Photo: LEO 2 in operation, 1957 (Thanks to The LEO Computers Society for use of archive)
In the 1990s India began to open up its largely state-controlled economy to foreign investment. Subramanian Swamy wrote the blueprint for reform and he's been speaking to Iknoor Kaur about what worked - and what didn't.
Photo: Subramanian Swamy (r) with Manmohan Singh. Credit: Getty Images.
American scientist Dennis Klatt pioneered synthesised speech in the 1980s. He used recordings of himself to make the sounds that gave British physicist Stephen Hawking a voice when he lost the ability to speak. Friend and colleague of Dr Klatt, Joseph Perkell, told Rebecca Kesby about the man who gave his voice to Prof Hawking allowing him to educate the world in science.
(Photo: BOMBAY, INDIA: World-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking answers questions with the help of a voice synthesiser during a press conference at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Bombay, 06 January 2001. Credit AFP)
In the 1940s, British gentleman explorer Wilfred Thesiger travelled extensively in one of the world's harshest environments - the Empty Quarter of Arabia. Thesiger lived with nomads in order to cross a desert that was then considered a place of mystery and death. He captured a final glimpse of their way-of-life before the arrival of the oil industry, and was inspired to write the classic travel book Arabian Sands. Simon Watts introduces recordings of Wilfred Thesiger in the BBC archive.
PHOTO: Wilfred Thesiger (Pitt Rivers Museum via Bridgeman Images)
India's capital city built a brand new mass transit system to tackle its traffic jams and air pollution. The first section of the Delhi Metro was opened to the public in 2002. E Sreedharan was managing director of the Metro project and he's been speaking to Prabhat Pandey about the challenges he faced. Photo: the inside of a Delhi Metro carriage. Credit: Getty Images.
In November 1989 Salvadoran government soldiers dragged six Jesuit priests from their beds and murdered them along with their housekeeper and her teenage daughter. The Salvadoran government tried to blame the killings on left-wing rebels, but one woman provided key testimony that contradicted the official version, at great personal danger. Lucia Cerna tells her story to Mike Lanchin
(Photo: a plaque commemorating the murdered priests in San Salvador- courtesy of David Mee)
The 'Woman in Gold' was one of Gustav Klimt's most famous paintings. It was a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, but it was taken from her family by the Nazis and only returned to them after a long legal battle. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Randol Schoenberg the young lawyer who took on the case.
Picture: Adele Bloch-Bauer I, or 'The Woman in Gold', painted in 1907 by Gustav Klimt, from the collection of the Neue Galerie in New York. (Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)
In the 1970s, an American engineer Jack Cover designed a new experimental stun gun. He called it a Taser. But the device only really became popular when it started to be used by US law enforcement agencies. The Los Angeles Police Department were among the first to use the device. Retired police Captain Greg Meyer was then the young officer given the task of evaluating non-lethal weapons for the LAPD. He tells Alex Last about the origins of the Taser and its dramatic impact on the streets.
Photo: Jack Cover with an early version of his Taser. The gun has a flashlight atop and below are two cartridges each containing two darts which can be fired a distance of 15 feet with a stunning 50,000-volt shock.
Reita Faria was the first Indian to win the Miss World beauty competition in 1966. She was studying medicine in Mumbai when a spur of the moment decision to take part in the contest turned her life upside down. Orna Merchant has been speaking to Reita Faria about her win, and whether she believes there is still a place for beauty contests in the 21st Century.
Photo: Reita Faria wearing the Miss World crown in November 1966. Credit: Staff/Mirrorpix/Getty Images
In the late 1970s toxic chemicals were discovered oozing from the ground in a neighbourhood in upstate New York. The neighbourhood was called Love Canal. Hundreds of houses and a school had been built on top of over 20,000 tonnes of toxic industrial waste. The disaster led to the formation in 1980 of the Superfund program, which helps pay for the clean up of toxic sites. Farhana Haider has been speaking to former Love Canal resident and campaigner Luella Kenny about her fight for relocation.
Photo Pres. Jimmy Carter, Love Canal resident Lois Gibbs, Rep. John LaFalce and Senator Jacob Javits signing the superfund legislation 1980. Credit Center for Health, Environment & Justice.
Hindu extremists demolished a 16th century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya in December 1992 prompting months of communal violence across India. Photojournalist Praveen Jain witnessed rehearsals for the demolition the day before the activists stormed the mosque. He has been talking to Iknoor Kaur about what he saw. On November 9th this year the Indian Supreme Court ruled that a Hindu temple can be built on the disputed site.
Photo: Hindu extremists rehearsing the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Copyright:Praveen Jain.
In 2004, a German aid agency ship, Cap Anamur, was sailing to the Suez Canal, when it came across 37 Africans on a sinking rubber boat. The captain, Stefan Schmidt, rescued the men and headed for a port in Sicily to drop them off. But for almost 2 weeks, Italy blocked the ship from entering port and when the ship was finally granted permission to dock, Captain Schmidt and two others were arrested and prosecuted by Italian authorities for aiding and abetting illegal immigration. The case made headlines around the world and was a foretaste of an increasingly hostile European policy towards refugees and migrants trying to reach Europe by sea. Alex Last has been speaking to Captain Schmidt about his memories of the incident.
(Photo: the German aid agency ship Cap Anamur in 2004. Credit: Antonello NUSCA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Wilfred Owen died just a few days before the end of World War One but his poetry ensured he would be remembered. Little is known about the man behind the poems but his younger brother Harold spoke to the BBC about him in the 1960s. Vincent Dowd pieces together a picture of the young soldier-poet using the BBC's archive, Owen's letters home, and by speaking to Jean Findlay, biographer of CK Scott Moncrieff, the translator of Proust, who fell in love with Wilfred Owen.
(Photo: Wilfred Owen in 1916. Credit: Getty Images)
Former Berlin resident David Bowie was among the performers at a pop concert in West Berlin in 1987 credited with helping to create the atmosphere that led, two years later, to the fall of the Berlin Wall. During the three-day concert, there were riots in East Berlin as East Berliners were prevented by police from gathering near the Berlin Wall to listen. And German journalist Christoph Lanz tells Louise Hidalgo it was the first time shouts were heard of 'the wall must go'.
Picture: David Bowie during the concert beside the Reichstag in West Berlin in June 1987 (Credit:Scherhaufer /Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)
WARNING: This programme contains distressing descriptions of violent torture from the beginning.
In 1980 police in a small city in the Indian state of Bihar were revealed to be torturing petty criminals. Iknoor Kaur has been talking to several people with first-hand experience of the disturbing events that came to be known as the Bhagalpur blindings. Ram Kumar Mishra was the lawyer who represented the victims, Amitabh Parashar made a documentary film about what happened, and Umesh Yadav was one of the victims who lost his sight at the hands of the police.
(Photo: Victim of the Bhagalpur blindings, Umesh Yadav. Copyright: Amitabh Parashar)
How sex, jazz and 'fake news' were used to undermine the Nazis in World War Two. In 1941, the UK created a top secret propaganda department, the Political Warfare Executive to wage psychological warfare on the German war machine. It was responsible for spreading rumours, generating fake news, leaflet drops and creating fake clandestine German radio stations to spread misinformation and erode enemy morale. We hear archive recordings of those involved and speak to professor Jo Fox of the Institute of Historical Research about the secret history of British "black propaganda".
(Photo: The actress and singer Agnes Bernelle, who was recruited to be a presenter on a fake German radio station during the war)
In 1975 the Canadian oncologist Dr Vera Peters released ground-breaking data to prove that breast-conserving surgery could at times be as effective as having a radical mastectomy. Her findings were received with lukewarm support and even open opposition from many of her colleagues in the male-dominated medical profession. Mike Lanchin hears from Dr Peters' daughter, Dr Jennifer Ingram, about her mother's tenacious attempt to improve the well-being of breast-cancer sufferers.
Photo:Dr Vera Peters (courtesy of the family)
On November 4th 1979 revolutionary students overran the US Embassy in Tehran and took everyone inside hostage. In February 1980 the students invited a humanitarian delegation from the US to visit them in Iran. The group were shown around Tehran to highlight the country's poverty. They were also allowed to meet some of the American hostages. Rabbi Hirshel Jaffe was a member of the delegation and Masoumeh Ebtekar was the spokesperson for the students. Rachael Gillman reports on a crucial moment in the relationship between the US and Iran, as part of the BBC Crossing Divides season, which brings people together across divides.
In the 1960s conservationists began a campaign to prevent the Queensland government from allowing mining and oil drilling on Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Eddie Hegerl told Claire Bowes that he and his wife were prepared to sacrifice everything to protect the world's biggest coral reef from destruction.
Photo: Science Photo Library
A group of feminists working under the name “Jane” carried out underground abortions in 1960s Chicago – when abortions were still illegal in most of the US.
Initially they gave abortion counselling and put women who wanted to terminate their pregnancies in touch with doctors who would perform the procedure. But when they discovered that one doctor they had been working with was not medically qualified, the women started to perform the abortions themselves.
Martha Scott was a member of the group – she received an abortion through the service, learned to perform abortions, and was one of the Janes arrested when they were busted by the police. She tells Lucy Burns about her experiences.
Photo courtesy of Martha Scott
The Harkis were Algerian Muslims who volunteered to fight with France in Algeria's war of independence. When the conflict came to an end in 1962 and France was forced to abandon its former colony, thousands of its Harki allies were left to face persecution and brutal repression. Serge Carel was an Algerian Harki who joined the French army when he was just 18 years old. When the independence war ended, he was imprisoned and tortured by the country's new rulers. He's been telling Mike Lanchin about his ordeal.
Photo: Harki recruits in the French army in Algeria (courtesy of Serge Carel)
At the end of the Second World War the grand Parisian hotel, the Lutetia, was allocated to receive thousands of prisoners and Nazi concentration camp survivors returning home from across a ravaged Europe. Louise Hidalgo talks to two people for whom the Hotel Lutetia played a crucial role in 1945: Maurice Cling, a survivor of Auschwitz, and Christiane Umido who, as a young girl, was reunited there with her father.
Picture: concentration camp survivors camps in the Lutetia restaurant in 1945 (credit: STF / AFP Photo )
The British Prime Minister started expressing doubts about the European Union during a speech in the Belgian city of Bruges in 1988. The now famous "Bruges speech" is seen by many as the spark which ignited the anti-European movement within Britain's Conservative party. Susan Hulme has been speaking to Sir Stephen Wall who wrote an early version of the speech and to David McWilliams who was a student in the audience at the College of Europe when Mrs Thatcher spoke.
(Photo: Margaret Thatcher giving her "Bruges speech" at the College of Europe in 1988. Credit: Press Association/Fiona Hanson)
The border between communist East Germany and the West opened on November 9th 1989. It marked the beginning of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. Michaela Graichen spoke to two East Germans who believe they were the first people to cross from East to West on the night of November 9th.
(Photo: East Germans climbing onto the top of the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate after the opening of the East German border was announced in Berlin. November 9, 1989. Credit: REUTERS/Staff/Files)
Mass demonstrations in the East German city of Leipzig in October 1989 shook the communist authorities to their core. The protests are seen as paving the way for the fall of the Berlin Wall just a month later. Lucy Burs spoke to Martin Jankowski who was one of the protesters.
(Photo:A young East German protesting against the communist government flashes the peace sign. Credit: Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Thousands of East Germans fled to the West in the summer and autumn of 1989, before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many of them sought refuge in the West German embassy in Prague, where they camped in the grounds and slept in stairwells and corridors, fed by the Red Cross. On September 30th, West German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher announced that they were free to travel to West Germany.
Hubert and Susanne Kuhn lived in the embassy with their three children for three months. They spoke to Lucy Burns about their experiences.
Photo: a crowd of East-German refugees in Prague wait to be transferred to West Germany after East Germany lifted restrictions on emigration (PASCAL GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images)
In 1989 the body of Imre Nagy, Prime Minister during the 1956 Hungarian uprising, was reburied in a public ceremony in Budapest. He had been executed on the orders of Moscow. It marked the beginning of the end of communism in Hungary. Nick Thorpe spoke to Ivan Baba who was master of ceremonies at the 1989 funeral.
Photo: Imre Nagy's coffin and mourners in June 1989.(Credit: Jean Francois Luhan/AFP/Getty Images)
When the banned Polish trade union organisation, Solidarity, was legalised in April 1989 it was one of the first signs that communism was about to collapse in Eastern Europe. Within months Solidarity was leading a coalition government in Poland and soon afterwards the Berlin Wall fell. In 2015 Tom Esslemont spoke to the former Solidarity spokesman Janusz Onyszkiewicz about the events of that historic year.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Image: Lech Walesa, pictured in March 1989 (Credit: Marc Deville/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Kenyan Wangari Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. She was an environmentalist and human rights activist who founded the Green Belt Movement in the 1970s. She focused on the planting of trees, conservation, and women's rights but repeatedly clashed with the government while trying to protect Kenya's forest and parks. She was arrested and beaten on several occasions. Witness speaks to her daughter, Wanjira Mathai.
(Photo: Kenya's Wangari Maathai (L) challenging hired security people working for developers in the Karura Forest, in Nairobi, Kenya. Credit: Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images)
Things started to go wrong at the Windscale nuclear plant in October 1957. A reactor was overheating and workers were rushed in to help. In 2011 Chris Vallance spoke to Vic Goodwin and John Harris, two of the men who helped bring things under control during Britain's worst nuclear accident.
Photo: the Windscale nuclear plant. Credit: Getty Images.
In 1970 the American scientist, Norman Borlaug, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his pioneering work developing disease-resistant crops. At the time famine and malnutrition were claiming millions of lives across the world, particularly in South Asia. Dr Borlaug’s work meant countries like India were able to become self-sufficient. Critics said the new grain varieties were too reliant on chemical fertilizers, but it’s thought millions of lives were saved. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to Professor Ronnie Coffman, student and friend of Norman Borlaug.
(Photo: Dr Norman Borlaug in a field of wheat. Credit CIMMYT International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre)
By the 1980s a deadly cocktail of factory fumes and car exhausts had turned Mexico City into the world's most polluted city. Hundreds of thousands of people were falling ill each month, many of them children. The Mexican authorities came up with an ambitious plan to curb the use of each of the city's two million cars for one day a week. The scheme was an immediate success and has been copied in other major cities around the world. Ramon Ojeda Mestre, the environmentalist behind the Mexican initiative spoke to Mike Lanchin about overcoming fierce opposition to the plan.
Photo: Cars driving through Mexico City. Credit: Alamy
How a young American scientist began the work that would show how our climate is changing. His name was Charles Keeling and he meticulously recorded levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. His wife Louise and son Ralph spoke to Louise Hidalgo about him in 2013.
(Photo: Thick black smoke blowing out of an industrial chimney. Credit: John Giles/PA)
The US first began sending troops to the UK in 1942 to help in the war effort. It is estimated that at least two million American servicemen passed through the UK during World War Two and tens of thousands of them were black. The African-American GIs stationed in Britain were forced by the American military to abide by the racial segregation laws that applied in the deep south of the US. But that didn't stop relationships developing between British women and the black soldiers, some of whom went on to have children. Babs Gibson-Ward was one those children. She has been speaking to Farhana Haider about the stigma of growing up as mixed raced child in post-war Britain.
(Photo: Hoinicote House children, c.1948. Boys and girls whose parents of mixed ancestry met during WWII. Credit: Lesley York)
In 1963 a small group of British black activists started a pioneering protest against racism within the local bus company in Bristol. It had specified that it did not want to employ black bus drivers. Inspired by the example of the US Civil Rights Movement the boycott ended in victory and led to the passage of Britain's first anti-discrimination laws.
Paul Stephenson and Roy Hackett spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2013 about their part in the protest.
Photo: Park Street in Bristol in the early 1960s. (Credit: Fox Photos/Getty Images)
In August 1958 Britain was shocked by nearly a week of race riots in the west London district of Notting Hill. The clashes between West Indian immigrants and aggressive white youths known as Teddy Boys led to the first race relations campaigns and the creation of the famous Notting Hill Carnival. Using voices from the BBC archives Simon Watts tells the story.
Photo: Street scene in Notting Hill at the time the race riots broke out in 1958. Credit: Getty Images.
In 1987 Diane Abbott became the first black woman elected to the British Parliament. The daughter of first generation immigrants she was one of only four black MPs elected that day. In 2015 Diane Abbott spoke to Farhana Haider about her journey into the political history books.
Photo: Diane Abbott in 1986. Copyright: BBC
The great West Indian cricketer, lawyer and member of the House of Lords took a London hotel to court when it refused to let him and his family stay there in 1943. Susan Hulme brings us his story from the BBC archives.
Photo: Sir Learie Constantine outside Westminster Abbey in 1966. Credit: Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images.
In May 1980 China allowed capitalist activity for the first time since the Communist Revolution, in four designated cities known as the Special Economic Zones. The most successful was Shenzhen, which grew from a mainly rural area specialising in pigs and lychees to one of China's biggest cities. In 2017 Lucy Burns spoke to Yong Ya, a musician who has lived in Shenzhen since the 1980s, and to ethnographer Mary Ann O'Donnell.
IMAGE: Pedestrians and cars stream by a giant poster of Chinese patriarch Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen, the first of China's special economic zones. TOMMY CHENG/AFP/Getty Images
Throughout much of 1967 striking workers and students filled the streets of Hong Kong. They were inspired by the Cultural Revolution in China and demanded an end to colonial British rule. Jasper Tsang Yok-sing was then an idealistic young student and he spoke to Rebecca Kesby in 2014.
(Photo: Left wing workers put up anti-British posters in Hong Kong outside Government House. Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
In 1966 Chairman Mao declared the start of the Cultural Revolution in Communist China, a radical and brutal attempt to reshape Chinese society. Saul Yeung was 20 years old at the time and in 2016 he spoke to Lucy Burns about his decision to join the Red Guards, tasked with carrying out Mao's revolution.
Photo: Chinese Red Guards reading from Chairman Mao's Little Red Book (Getty Images)
American Sidney Rittenberg first met Mao Zedong in the 1940s during the final years of China's civil war and before Mao's victory over the Nationalist forces. Already a committed socialist, Rittenberg had been stationed in China during WW2 but decided to stay on and fight alongside Mao's Communists. In 2013 he spoke to Rebecca Kesby about his memories of one of the world's great revolutionaries.
Photo: a poster of Chairman Mao in Beijing in the 1960s. Credit: AFP.
On 1 October 1949 Chairman Mao declared China to be a communist state. Zhu Zhende was a young recruit in the People's Liberation Army who marched in the celebrations in Beijing that day. He has been speaking to Yashan Zhao about the optimism and excitement of that time.
Photo: An officer reads a newspaper to soldiers while they are waiting for the announcement of the foundation of the People's Republic of China on Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949 in Beijing, China. (Credit: Visual China Group via Getty Images)
In September 1984, the famous Spanish matador, Francisco Rivera, also known as Paquirri, was gored to death by a bull during a fight in the small town of Pozoblanco. The bravery he showed during his final moments turned Paquirri into a legend. In 2013 Simon Watts spoke to El Soro, a matador who shared the bill that fateful day, and to Muriel Finer, an American journalist married to a Spanish bullfighter.
Photo: A recent bullfight (Getty Images).
In September 2008, the world's biggest science experiment, the Large Hadron Collider, was started up for the first time at the European Organisation For Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Geneva. Simon Watts talks to Paul Collier, a British engineer whose team built the multi-billion dollar machine designed to investigate the structure of the universe.
PHOTO: Inside the Large Hadron Collider (Getty Images)
When the Islamic State group took over Mosul in Iraq in 2014 they flooded the internet with propaganda, claiming life under IS was fantastic. One historian living in the city decided to post a counter-narrative online. Omar Mohammed set up "Mosul Eye" to expose the atrocities and failings of IS fighters, but it was at great risk to his own safety. Omar tells Rebecca Kesby how he posted news from Mosul to the outside world from right under the noses of the Islamic State group. He says he felt it was his duty to tell the real story.
(Photo: Mosul Eye website. BBC)
Theodor Wonja Michael was a child when Hitler came to power in Germany. The son of a German mother and a Cameroonian father he faced discrimination and danger under Nazi rule. He has been speaking to Caroline Wyatt about how working as a film actor helped him to survive World War Two.
Photo: Theodor Wonja Michael at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2013. Credit: Alamy
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was first performed on stage in New York in 1959, several years before it was made into a film. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to two people with connections to the original Broadway production. Tim Crouse is the son of Russel Crouse who wrote the book for "The Sound of Music". Lauri Peters played the eldest daughter of the von Trapp family on stage.
Photo: The original Broadway cast of "The Sound of Music" in 1959. Lauri Peters is at the top of the stairs. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images
Sir Anthony Blunt, a distinguished British art historian and curator of the Queen's pictures was exposed as a former Soviet spy in the autumn of 1979. He was stripped of his knighthood and publicly shamed as a traitor for being part of the Cambridge spy ring. Susan Hulme has been speaking to Christopher Morris who was the BBC reporter sent to interview Blunt when the story broke.
Photo: Sir Anthony Blunt at the press conference in which he explained his motivation in 1979 (Credit: Aubrey Hart/Getty Images)
The first book in the Chronicles of Narnia series by the Northern Irish-born writer CS Lewis was published in autumn 1950. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe would go on to become one of the great classics of children's literature. CS Lewis's stepson, Douglas Gresham, talks to Louise Hidalgo about the academic and theologian who created Narnia's magical world.
Picture: CS Lewis, the children's and theological author, seated in his Cambridge study in the early 1950s (Credit: Camera Press/Arthur Strong)
The Black Panther Party hit the headlines in the late 1960s with their call for revolution. But they also ran a number of "survival programmes" to help their local communities - the biggest of which was a project providing free breakfasts for schoolchildren.
Reverend Earl Neil was one of the organisers of the first Free Breakfast for Children programme at St Augustine's Church in Oakland, California. He speaks to Lucy Burns.
(IMAGE: Shutterstock)
LGBT servicemen and women in the US armed forces had to keep their sexuality secret until the 'Don't ask, don't tell' policy was repealed in 2011. Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack served under the policy for most of her military career. She has been speaking to Rachael Gillman about her experiences.
Photo: Lieutenant Colonel Heather Mack (l) with her wife Ashley (r) and their two children. Courtesy of Heather Mack
In the early 1950s the Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie, sent thousands of Ethiopian troops to fight in the Korean war. They were called the Kagnew Battalions and they formed part of the American-led UN force supporting South Korea against communist North Korea and their Chinese allies. Alex Last spoke to Captain Mamo Habtewold who won his country's highest honour.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: The Captain as a young man. Courtesy of Mamo Habtewold.
In September 1519, a fleet led by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan set off on what would be the first circumnavigation of the world. Magellan was the first navigator to find a route round South America, but he had to quell several attempted mutinies and he was eventually killed by tribesmen in what is now the Philippines. His circumnavigation was completed in 1522 by one of his subordinates, Juan Sebastian Elcano. Simon Watts tells Magellan’s story through the book published by his on-board chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta.
PHOTO: Magellan's fleet (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
How the timber industry fuelled a brutal civil war in West Africa. In the late 1990s, timber companies worked closely with Liberia's warlord-turned-president, Charles Taylor. In return for money and support for his militias, the regime allocated huge swathes of the country's valuable rainforest to timber companies for logging. A group of young Liberians started to document what was happening. Alex Last has been speaking to the award winning activist, Silas Siakor, whose work led to a UN ban on Liberian timber exports.
(Photo: Timber near Buchanan in LIberia in 2010. Credit: Getty Images)
In 1990 the Indian government introduced an affirmative action plan that had been lying unimplemented for a decade. The Mandal Commission recommended guaranteeing a percentage of government jobs to lower caste Hindus. It's implementation was an attempt by the government to quell the rise of Hindu nationalism. But the move proved controversial from the outset and led to weeks of student protests across India. Farhana Haider has been speaking to a retired superintendent of police, Dilip Trivedi who remembers the implementation of the report and its aftermath.
Photo Students protesting Mandal Commission proposal for quotas on govt. jobs for so called backward castes 1990. Credit Getty Images.
A new show called Friends hit American TV screens in September 1994. It was based on the lives of six young New Yorkers and became one of the most successful comedies of all time. It sold around the world. Farhana Haider spoke to one of the show's creators, Kevin Bright.
Photo: The cast of Friends in 1994. Copyright: Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.
In September 2009 the deposed president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, made a sudden return from exile, seeking refuge in the Brazilian embassy in the Honduran capital. Zelaya had been whisked out of the country at gunpoint after a military coup three months earlier. His unexpected return took the coup leaders totally by surprise. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from two men who spent several months holed up inside the embassy building alongside the Honduran leader.
Photo: Manuel Zelaya with supporters inside Brazil's embassy (Credit should read ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1991, Palermo businessman Libero Grassi published an open letter in Sicily’s main newspaper denouncing the Mafia for constantly demanding extortion payments. Grassi was hailed as a hero, but his public refusal to pay was intolerable to the Mafia and a few months later he was executed in person by one of Cosa Nostra’s top bosses. Libero Grassi’s defiance is credited with inspiring a new grass-roots movement among businesses in Sicily that stands up to the Mafia. Simon Watts talks to his daughter, Alice Grassi.
PHOTO TO COME
The controversial historian, David Irving, tried to sue Penguin Books and professor Deborah Lipstadt for libel after she called him a Holocaust denier in one of her books. The case drew intense media interest. Deborah Lipstadt told Rebecca Kesby what it was like to have to defend her work and the memories of survivors of the Holocaust at the High Court in London in 2000. History was on trial.
(Photo: American academic Deborah Lipstadt (C) exults 11 April 2000 at the High Court in London after winning a libel case brought against her and Penguin publications by British revisionist historian David Irving. Credit: Martyn Hayhow/AFP/Getty Images)
When the crew of Apollo 11 returned to earth after their historic mission to the Moon, they were immediately placed in quarantine for 3 weeks. It was done to protect the Earth from the dangers of possible lunar alien life. Dr William Carpentier was the flight surgeon for the Apollo 11 mission and was placed in quarantine with the crew to monitor their health and check for any signs of alien life. He talks to Alex Last about his memories of working with the Apollo programme and life in quarantine.
Photo: Apollo 11 astronauts (left to right): Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin peer from window of the Mobile Quarantine Facility aboard the U.S.S. Hornet after their July 24th recovery.
The UN deployed its first all-female contingent of peacekeepers in Liberia in West Africa. The country was still recovering from its long civil war when the Indian policewomen arrived in 2007. Jill McGivering has been hearing from Seema Dhundia of India's Central Reserve Police Force who led the unit.
Image: Seema Dhundia in front of her contingent of Indian policewomen on their arrival in Monrovia, Liberia, in January 2007. (Credit:Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty Images)
On September 1st 1939 German forces invaded Poland. Douglas Slocombe, a British cameraman, was there at the time and filmed the build-up to the war. In 2014 he spoke to Vincent Dowd about what he saw in Gdansk and Warsaw, before escaping from the country.
This programme is a rebroadcast
(Image: German citizens in Gdansk (also known as Danzig) welcoming German troops during the invasion of Poland on September 3rd 1939 . Credit:EPA/National Digital Archive Poland.)
In 2009 a paedophile was convicted with the help of a new form of identification - hand analysis. Dame Sue Black of Lancaster University explains how her team developed this tool and how criminal courts in Britain first responded to the evidence. She says vein patterns as well as scars and skin creases suggest hands may eventually be found to be as identifiable as fingerprints.
Photo: Courtesy of Lancaster University
The great African-American jazz singer Nina Simone moved to the Liberian capital Monrovia in September 1974. Simone was famous for her vocal support for the civil rights movement in the USA as well as for songs like I'm Feeling Good, Mississippi Goddam and I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free, and she was invited to the West African republic by her friend the singer Miriam Makeba.
Lucy Burns speaks to Nina Simone's friend James C Dennis Sr.
Picture: Nina Simone performs on stage at Newport Jazz Festival on July 4th 1968 in Newport, Rhode Island (David Redfern/Redferns)
In the months leading up to outbreak of World War Two in September 1939, some 10,000 unaccompanied children were sent by their parents out of Germany and Austria, to safety in the UK. Many of them never saw their families again. Dame Stephanie Shirley was just five years old when she and her older sister were put on a train by their mother in Vienna. She has been telling Mike Lanchin about arriving in a foreign land as a little girl.
Photo:Getty Images
In 1993 young women began disappearing in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez. Since then hundreds are reported to have been kidnapped and killed. Mike Lanchin has spoken to a forensic scientist who used to work in the city; and to the mother of one of the murdered girls. This programme was first broadcast in 2013.
Photo: Jorge Uzon. AFP/Getty Images
Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago, was brutally murdered in Mississippi, in the USA.
His death was one of the key events that energized the American civil rights movement.
An all-white jury acquitted the two white suspects.
Farhana Haider has been listening through interviews with some of Emmett's family, to tell the story of the young boy who became an icon in the struggle against racism in America.
(Photo: Emmett Till lying on his bed in Chicago, in 1955. Credit: Getty Images)
In August 1954 the President of Brazil took his own life rather than quit his post. Getulio Vargas had been one of Brazil’s most influential leaders. But by 1954 the country was saddled with hundreds of millions of dollars of overseas debt and inflation was high. Worse, Vargas had been accused of involvement in the attempted assassination of a political opponent. Julian Bedford spoke to his granddaughter Celina Vargas do Amaral Peixoto. This programme was first broadcast in 2012.
Photo: Getulio Vargas, 1930 (Getty Images)
Wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park in 1995. It was the start of one of the most famous and controversial wildlife restoration projects in the United States. Beginning in the late 19th century wolves had been subjected to a mass extermination programme as ranchers feared the wolf was a threat to their livestock. By the mid 20th century, wolves had effectively been wiped out across the country except for a few isolated pockets in the far north. But the loss of this key predator had a profound impact on the ecosystem. Alex Last has been speaking to Doug Smith, Senior Biologist at Yellowstone National Park, and Wolf Project Leader about the return of the wolf.
Photo:.A Yellowstone wolf watches biologists after being tranquilized and fitted with a radio collar during wolf collaring operations in Yellowstone National Park (William Campbell/Sygma via Getty Images)
On August 25 1944 General Charles De Gaulle, who had been in exile in London for the majority of World War 2, finally entered Paris at the head of the Free French forces. But the French capital was far from secure. Ashley Byrne hears from Charles Pegulu de Rovin, who as an 18-year-old student fought with other resistance fighters against the Nazis in the final battle for Paris.
(Photo by Pierre Jahan/Roger Viollet via Getty Images)
At the end of El Salvador's civil war human rights investigators began the search for hundreds of children reportedly kidnapped by the army during anti-guerrilla operations. In early 1994, two years after the end of the conflict, the first six children were located in an orphanage in the capital San Salvador. Among them was Maria Elsy Dubon, who had been seized by soldiers who killed her father in May 1982. Mike Lanchin has been hearing about Maria Elsy's distressing ordeal and about the difficult reunion she later had with her biological family, who believed that she was dead.
(Photo: Peasants who lost their children during military operations in the civil war at a rally in March 2006 (YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1998, a transponder or silicon chip was surgically implanted into the forearm of a British scientist. It sent identifying signals to a central computer that tracked his movements and allowed him access to his workplace, by opening doors and switching on lights. Professor Kevin Warwick has been speaking to Farhana Haider about becoming a more enhanced version of himself and as a result the world's first Cyborg: a man-machine hybrid.
Photo: Professor Kevin Warwick with chip transponder Credit: Science Photo Library
The Dr Seuss books revolutionised the way American children learnt to read in the 1950s. Books like 'The Cat in the Hat' were designed to help young children enjoy reading simple words and sentences using rhymes, anarchic characters and lively illustrations. Claire Bowes spoke to Christopher Cerf who knew Theodor Geisel, the author of the books.
Photo: Author and illustrator Ted Geisel sits at his drafting table with a copy of his book, 'The Cat in the Hat' in 1957. (Gene Lester/Getty Images)
In the 1980s Ilich Ramírez Sánchez known as 'Carlos the Jackal' was seen as the world's most-wanted terrorist. He had carried out bombings, killings and kidnappings and had been on the run for decades. He was finally arrested in Khartoum in August 1994. Alex Last spoke to former CIA operative, Billy Waugh, who tracked him down.
Photograph: Rare photo of Carlos the Jackal, taken in the 1970s (AFP/Getty Images)
Throughout 2001 the US authorities were being given warnings that a terror attack was imminent. A Congressional Commission, FBI officers and the CIA were all worried. There were even specific warnings about planes being flown into buildings. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to former Senator Gary Hart who co-chaired the Congressional Commission that tried to convince the government to take action.
Photo: Smoke pours from the World Trade Centre after it was hit by two passenger planes on September 11, 2001 in New York City. (Credit: Robert Giroux/Getty Images)
The contact lens was once a precious and expensive piece of eyewear which had to be looked after and carefully cleaned every night. But that all changed in the 1990s. Ron Hamilton was involved in developing lenses and packaging which could be made so cheaply they could be worn just once and then thrown away. He has been speaking to Ashley Byrne.
Photo: Ron Hamilton (l) with his business partner Bill Seden (r) and their wives with their original contact lens machine. Courtesy of Ron Hamilton.
In October 1947, an invasion of Kashmir by tribal fighters led to the division of the state between India and Pakistan. Andrew Whitehead speaks to victims of the invasion and political leaders in Kashmir to find out more about the roots of a crisis that endures to this day.
PHOTO: Indian troops arriving in Kashmir in October 1947 (Getty Images)
In 1949 a British warship, HMS Amethyst, launched a daring escape after it was held captive for months by Chinese Communists on the Yangtze river. The ship had been badly damaged when it was fired on by Communist forces as it sailed up the river to help evacuate British citizens from Nanking during the final months of China's civil war. Using eyewitness accounts in the BBC Archive, we tell the story of HMS Amethyst.
Photo: The HMS Amethyst (F116) arrives in Hong Kong after it's epic escape down the Yangtse. (Photo Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
In August 1969 the British Army was first deployed in Northern Ireland. Their job was to keep the peace on the streets of Londonderry where sectarian violence had broken out. To begin with the soldiers were welcomed by residents, but attitudes soon changed and what became known as 'The Troubles' got underway.
Picture: Armed British soldiers on the streets of Northern Ireland, 15th August 1969 (Credit: Press Association)
In the 1970s the UK tried to reduce its growing prison population. An experimental new punishment was introduced for convicted criminals. It was called Community Service. The scheme was soon copied around the world. Witness History speaks to John Harding, a former Chief Probation Officer, who was in charge of the introduction of Community Service in one of the first pilot schemes.
Photo: BBC
In 1958 the nuclear submarine USS Nautilus travelled under the North Pole. Julian Bedford spoke to retired vice Admiral Kenneth Carr in 2012 about the mission spurred by the Cold War battle for technological supremacy.
Photo: The USS Nautilus arriving in the UK. Copyright: BBC
Hundreds of thousands of French people who'd been living in Algeria for generations fled for safety to France in the summer of 1962. It was in the last days of the war of independence in the North African nation. Known as the 'Pieds Noirs', the new arrivals were not generally well-received back in France. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Michelle Hensel, who left Algeria for France as a small child.
Photo: French repatriates leaving Algeria May 1962. (Photo by REPORTERS ASSOCIES/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Thousands of Iraqi troops and tanks began pouring into Kuwait on 2 August 1990. The tiny, oil-rich Gulf state was immediately taken over by Saddam Hussein's military. Sumaya Bakhsh has spoken to Sami al-Alawi who joined the Kuwaiti underground resistance trying to free the country.
Photo: Soldiers shelter behind a tank during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait on August 2nd 1990. Credit: REUTERS.
On 1 August 1944, resistance fighters in the Polish capital rose up against German occupying forces. The uprising lasted for 63 days and some 200,000 people were killed, Warsaw itself was largely destroyed. Zbigniew Pelczynski was one of the young Poles fighting to free Warsaw from the Nazis, in 2014 he spoke to Louise Hidalgo about the battle.
(Photo: Zbigniew Pelczynski in 1946)
In 1980 the Bavarian government announced plans to build a nuclear reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf in southern Germany. Eight years later construction on the plant was halted after a sustained protest campaign which saw tens of thousands of demonstrators and sometimes violent clashes with the police.
Lucy Burns speaks to local district administrator Hans Schuierer, who became a figurehead for the protests.
Picture: demonstrators fight against police during a protest at the Wackersdorf construction site (Istvan Bajzat/DPA/PA Images)
One of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries in British history was made in the summer of 1939, when a huge hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold was found at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. Lucy Burns presents material from the BBC archives.
Picture: the Sutton Hoo Helmet on display at the British Museum on March 25, 2014 in London, England (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)
How the death of a UK weapons inspector intensified arguments over Britain's involvement in the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to one of the doctors who signed a letter calling for further investigation of the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly's death.
Photo: Dr David Kelly during questioning by the Commons select committee, in London in July 2003. Credit: Press Association.
In July 2001 a team of palaeontologists led by Michel Brunet discovered a seven million year-old fossilised skull in the Djurab desert in Chad. Ahounta Djimdoumalbaye was the member of the team who first uncovered the skull which has been nicknamed Toumai. Freddy Chick has been speaking to Professor Brunet about his hunt for hominid fossils in West Africa. Photo: French palaeontologist Professor Michel Brunet, holding Toumai's skull along with Ahounta Djimdoumalbaye who discovered the skull. (Photo credit Patrick ROBERT/Corbis via Getty Images)
When Tunisia achieved independence it brought in a new equality law that revolutionised women's lives. In August 1956 under the socialist President Habib Bourguiba, the north African country became the first in the muslim world to legalise civil divorce and abortion and to ban polygamy. He also gave women the vote and widened access to education. Nidale Abou Mrad spoke to Saida El Gueyed a founding member of the Tunisian Women's Union who was asked by President Bourguiba to help both men and women understand how the new law would change their lives.
Photo: Courtesy of Saida El Gueyed
In July 1969, United States Senator Edward Kennedy was involved in a car accident on Chappaquiddick Island in which a young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne died. Around 10 hours elapsed before the politician reported the incident to police. In 2014 Paul Schuster spoke to retired police chief Jim Arena who investigated the accident.
(Photo: US Senator Edward Kennedy. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
LGBT people in China sometimes arrange fake marriages to hide their sexuality. In 2005 Lin Hai set up a website to allow lesbians and gay men to get in touch with each other. He came up with the idea to stop his family from putting pressure on him to get married. Homosexuality is not illegal in China but there is discrimination against LGBT people.
(Photo: Lin Hai and his partner on holiday in Thailand in 2014. Credit: Lin Hai)
The hit musical Mamma Mia! opened in London's West End in 1999. Using the songs of the Swedish pop group ABBA, the stage show was followed in July 2008 by Mamma Mia! the movie and ten years later by a sequel, both of which have broken musical box-office records. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Mamma Mia's creator Judy Craymer about how it all began.
Picture: Mamma Mia! the musical West End promotional poster (Credit: Littlestar Services)
On Christmas Day 2003, a British spacecraft was due to land on Mars and begin searching for signs of life. The late Professor Colin Pillinger was the man behind the mission, his daughter Shusanah spoke to Rob Walker about Beagle 2 in 2015. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo:Lead scientist Colin Pillinger poses with a model of Beagle 2 in November 2003. (Credit: Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
The 1970 Moon mission that almost ended in tragedy after an explosion on board the spaceship. Fred Haise was one of the Apollo 13 astronauts. In 2010 he spoke to Richard Howells about how they managed to get back to Earth despite the odds.
Photo: The Apollo 13 astronauts after they were picked up from the Pacific. Left to right: Fred Haise, Jim Lovell and Jack Swigert. Credit: SSPL/Getty Images.
In July 1969, the world watched in awe as NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed on the Moon and Neil Armstrong took the first steps on the lunar surface. Former NASA flight controller Gerry Griffin taks to Simon Watts.
Photo: Buzz Aldrin on the Moon (Getty Images)
In June 1963 Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova was sent into orbit around the Earth, in a solo voyage which lasted for nearly three days. Lucy Ash went to Russia to find out more about her.
Photo: Valentina Tereshkova before boarding Vostok 6, at Baikonur cosmodrome, on June 16, 1963. Credit:AFP/TASS
The Russian stray was the first dog to orbit the Earth. She was sent into space in November 1957 in a flight which had been timed to mark the anniversary of the Russian Revolution. She died after orbiting the Earth four times. Professor Victor Yazdovsky's father was in charge of the dogs in the Russian space programme. Professor Yazdovsky tells Olga Smirnova about playing with Laika, before her flight, when he was just nine years old.
Photo: Laika. Credit: Keystone/Hulton/Getty Images.
Twelve tonnes of ivory was set alight by President Daniel Arap Moi in Nairobi National Park in July 1989, to highlight the threat from poaching.The ivory burn was organised by conservationists who wanted to save the world's elephants. Alice Castle has been speaking to Richard Leakey, former head of the Kenya Wildlife Service.
(Photo: Ivory tusks arranged in a pile and set alight. Credit: Andrew Holbrooke/Corbis/Getty Images)
Four army officers were sentenced to death for drug trafficking by the Castro government in July 1989. Critics accused the communist authorities of carrying out a show trial of opponents of President Fidel Castro. In 2016, Mike Lanchin spoke to Ileana de la Guardia, daughter of one of the four men executed.
Photo: Col Antonio de la Guardia and his daughter Ileana, Cuba 1986 (AFP)
The Common Cold Unit was created after World War Two to find the cause of the illness. Its work depended on thousands of volunteers who came to the unit to catch a cold. Given food, accommodation and some pocket money, many volunteers regarded it as a holiday and came back year after year. Witness spoke to eminent virologist, Professor Nigel Dimmock who worked at the Common Cold Unit in the 1960s. Photo: Two volunteers take part in the clinical trial at the Common Cold Unit in Salisbury, 1958 (PATHE)
Tampons first went on sale in China in 1985. But many Chinese women, especially in rural areas still didn't have access to basic sanitary products. Even now only a tiny percentage of Chinese women use tampons on a regular basis. Yashan Zhao has been talking to the man behind the first advertising campaign for tampons in China, and to a woman from the countryside where sanitary products were not widely available until the late 1980s.
Photo: Chinese women looking at educational material about tampons in a Beijing store, in 1985 (Courtesy of Ren Xiaoqing)
The discovery of the diaries of 19th-century Englishwoman Anne Lister, who wrote in secret code about her love affairs with women and has been called the first modern lesbian. A landowner and a businesswoman, she defied the conventions of the time and was nicknamed by local people in the Yorkshire town of Halifax where she lived 'Gentleman Jack' because of the way she dressed and acted. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Helena Whitbread, who discovered Anne Lister's diaries in 1983 and spent five years decoding them.
Picture: portrait of Anne Lister, of Shibden Hall, Halifax (credit: Alamy)
In 1995 a group of senior, indigenous Australian women started a campaign to halt the construction of a nuclear waste facility in a remote part of South Australia. Karina Lester, a granddaughter of one of the women and a translator for the campaign, spoke to Rachael Gillman about their unlikely victory against the Australian government.
Photo: Kupa Piti Kungka Tjuta, the group of senior aboriginal women who led the campaign (Umoona Aged Care)
The portable cassette player that brought us music on the move was launched in July 1979. By the time production of the Walkman came to an end thirty years later, Sony had sold more than 220 million machines worldwide. Farhana Haider has been hearing from Tim Jarman, who purchased one of the original blue-and-silver Walkmans.
(Photo by YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
Extremist communists, the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975 and began a social engineering project displacing millions to forced labour camps, and committing class genocide. Conditions in the camps were so appalling they became known as 'the killing fields'. Sokphal Din survived four years in one and told Rebecca Kesby what it was like.
(PHOTO: CHOEUNG EK, CAMBODIA - 1993/02/01: Skulls are piled up at a monument situated outside Phnom Penh to serve as a constant reminder of the genocide under the Khmer Rouge during the Pol Pot years.. (Photo by Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket via Getty Images)
In the 1980s thousands of young activists from around the world flocked to Nicaragua to support the fledgling left-wing Sandinista revolution. They came to build houses, pick coffee, or work in local health centres. Some of the foreigners were caught in the middle of the ongoing civil war between the Sandinista government and right-wing rebels, or Contras, supported by the US government. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to two Germans who were kidnapped by the Contras in the summer of 1986 and held in the jungle for 25 days.
Photo: Anti-Sandinista Contras practice military drills and exercises at military bases in Honduras (Getty Images)
In 1991 the US Supreme Court nominee Judge Clarence Thomas was publicly accused of sexual misconduct by a law professor, Anita Hill. She was called to testify in front of a Senate committee, where her explosive testimony sent shock waves across America. Katy Fallon has been speaking to a close friend of Anita Hill, Shirley Wiegand.
Photo: Clarence Thomas during his confirmation hearing. (Credit: Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
**Warning: Some listeners might find parts of this programme disturbing**
In June 1994 Fred and Rosemary West were charged with a series of gruesome murders of young women and girls, committed over a twenty-year period in the south of England. Among the victims were the couple's 16 year-old daughter. Mike Lanchin speaks to Leo Goatley, Rosemary West's defence lawyer.
(Photo: Composite image of victims of Fred and Rosemary West)
In June 1969, the gay community in New York responded to police brutality and harassment by rioting outside the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village. The protest sparked the creation of the modern LGBT rights movement and the first Gay Pride events. Simon Watts talks to Stonewall veteran, John O'Brien.
PHOTO: Exterior of the Stonewall Inn, pictured in June 2015 (Credit: Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In June 2007, an Iraqi court ruled that a 1980s campaign by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds was genocide. More than 100,000 Kurds were killed in chemical attacks and mass executions, and their villages destroyed, during the five-month Anfal campaign. Saddam Hussein's cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, who was the architect of the campaign, was executed for his part in it in 2010.
Picture: Ali Hassan al-Majid in court during the Anfal trial in Baghdad, November 2006 (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
Joseph Heller's funny, tragic satirical anti-war novel was published in 1961 and sold millions. For many it epitomised the growing anti-establishment mood of the 1960s. Heller had served in a bomber squadron during World War Two. Though his experiences provide the setting for the book, its target was actually the America of the 1950s. Using interviews with the author from the BBC archive, Alex Last tells the story behind Catch-22.
(Photo: A first edition of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, published by Simon and Schuster. Credit: Abe Books)
The National Association to Aid Fat Americans, NAAFA, held its first meeting in June 1969. Its first president was Bill Fabrey, a thin man married to an overweight woman who had realised how difficult life was for fat people in the USA. One of NAAFA's first members Sue Morgan, and Bill Fabrey, have been speaking to Lucy Burns about the early days of fat acceptance.
Photo: Participants in the Million Pound March, 1998 in Santa Monica, California. Sponsored by NAAFA. (Credit: Gilles Mingasson/Liaison/Getty Images)
To mark world yoga day, how a chance encounter between the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin and the yoga teacher, BKS Iyengar in 1952 led to a life-long friendship and played a crucial role in bringing the ancient Indian tradition of yoga to the West. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Iyengar teacher and friend of the Iyengar family, Rajvi Mehta, and listening back to archive of BKS Iyengar himself talking about that first meeting.
Picture: BKS Iyengar teaching yoga to Yehudi Menuhin, circa 1954 (Credit:Yehudi Menuhin Saanen Center)
Sister Lotus was an early online celebrity in China. She first became famous in 2004 after posting pictures of herself on China's early social media sites. But she was a slightly unlikely star because she became famous not for being exceptional, but for being very ordinary. She has been speaking to Yashan Zhao about the online bullying she experienced and how she got through it.
(Photo: Sister Lotus in a park near Peking University 2003. Credit: Sister Lotus)
In June 1963 the murder of a prominent black civil rights activist and war hero in Mississippi shook the civil rights movement. Medgar Evers was working to overturn the racist policies in the American south which made him a target for white supremacists. His death caused national outrage and he was given a military funeral at the US national cemetery in Arlington as Farhana Haider reports.
Photo: Roy Wilkins and Medgar Evers Being Arrested 1st June 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi. Credit Getty
One of the most influential figures in modern psychoanalysis, the Swiss thinker and writer, Carl Gustav Jung, died in June 1961. Although he had worked alongside Sigmund Freud in the early years of the 20th Century, Jung created a different style of psychoanalysis which acknowledged spiritual elements to the human psyche.
Photo: Carl Gustav Jung at home in Switzerland in 1959. Copyright: BBC.
In June 2009 after the presidential elections in Iran, millions took to the streets to dispute Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory. A young woman, Neda Agha Soltan, became a symbol of the protest movement after she was shot dead at a demonstration in Tehran. Her death was captured on a mobile phone and uploaded on to the internet. That footage was seen around the world within hours. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Arash Hejazi who tried to save Neda's life as she bled to death on the streets.
(Photo: Supporters of then-defeated Iranian presidential candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, attend a rally in Tehran on June 18th 2009. Credit: Reuters)
Long before same-sex marriage became legal in the USA in 2015, one gay couple in Minneapolis got married in 1971. Their names were Jack Baker and Mike McConnell. They'd been issued with a marriage licence and the man who held their wedding ceremony was Methodist pastor Roger Lynn. He spoke to Claire Bowes in 2013. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Jack Baker and Mike McConnell, photographed by R. Bertrand Heine. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.
After the end of WW2 the US feared its wartime ally, China, would become communist. In 1946 after the end of Japanese occupation China returned to a civil war which had been fought on and off for years. America saw China as a future ally in business and politics and sent General George Marshall to broker peace between the nationalists and the communists. But just as the communist leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, was advising the Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong to enter into a truce, the British leader Winston Churchill gave his famous speech about an 'iron curtain' descending over Europe and the Cold War began to take hold. Daniel Kurtz Phelan tells Claire Bowes about this largely forgotten pivotal moment in world history.
Photo: General George C. Marshall in the War Department in Washington DC in 1943 (Getty Images)
Archive material: Courtesy of the George C Marshall Foundation
In June 1995 artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin in fabric.
The former German parliament building sat on the border between East and West Berlin. It had been gutted by fire in 1933 and extensively damaged during the Second World War.
The monumental public art project was seen by more than five million people and became a symbol for Berlin’s renewal after the fall of the Wall and the collapse of communism.
Christo talks about the motivation behind the project and explains how they made it happen.
Picture: view of west and south facades of Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin 1971-1995 by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Photo by Wolfgang Volz, copyright Christo.
In the first half of the 20th century, most mentally ill patients were locked away in psychiatric hospitals and asylums. Those suffering from severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia, were often sedated or restrained. Shock therapies were standard treatments. Then in France in the 1950s, a new drug was discovered which dramatically reduced psychotic symptoms in many patients. It was called Chlorpromazine. Soon it was being used around the world. Alex Last has been speaking to the psychiatrist Dr Thomas Ban, emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University, who witnessed the introduction of Chlorpromazine first-hand in the 1950s.
Photo:Nurses prepare a patient for electric shock treatment in a psychiatric hospital. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Getty Images)
Hundreds of thousands of Kosovan Albanians were forced to leave their homes when NATO started bombing Serb targets in the former Yugoslavia in 1999. By the time the bombing stopped, on June 10th 1999, over 800,000 people had been displaced. Qerim Nuridhini is a Kosovan Albanian refugee who fled first to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and then to the UK. He's been speaking to Rachel Wright.
A refugee from Kosovo confronting a Macedonian Policeman at Blace, Macedonia, April 5th 1999.(Photo By Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
For over 200 years soldiers from Nepal have fought in a special regiment in the British army called the Gurkhas. In 2009 all retired Gurkhas won the right to live in Britain, following a high profile media campaign. The announcement by the British government reversed previous guidelines that prevented all but a small number of Gurkha veterans being granted the right to settle in the UK. Farhana Haider has been speaking to retired Major Tikendra Dal Dewan who was instrumental in the Gurkhas campaign for equality.
(Photo: Tikendra Dewan, chairman of the British Gurkha Welfare Society addresses hundreds of Gurkha soldiers outside the immigration office in Liverpool 01/09 2004. Credit PA)
Hear how the BBC reported the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France on June 6th 1944. The operation was a crucial step in the liberation of western Europe. Using original BBC reports from the time - from Chester Wilmot, Richard Dimbleby, Robin Duff, Ward Smith and Alan Melville - we tell the story of D-Day. Photo: D-Day Landings: US troops in an LCVP landing craft approach Omaha Beach in Colleville Sur-Mer, France, on June 6th 1944 (US National Archives)
In July 1944, a plane piloted by the author of the world famous children's story The Little Prince, disappeared over the south of France. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, an experienced aviator, was on a reconnaissance mission for the Free French airforce fighting Nazi Germany. No one knew how or where his plane had come down. French diver Luc Vanrell has been telling Mike Lanchin about finding the wreckage of the missing aircraft off the coast of Marseille almost sixty years later.
Photo: The Folio Society
Eyewitness accounts of the Allied landings on the coast of Normandy during World War Two on 6 June 1944. The massive operation was a crucial step in the liberation of western Europe from years of Nazi rule and the defeat of Hitler's Germany. In this episode, we present the accounts of veterans held in the BBC archive.
Photo: The photo titled "The Jaws of Death" shows a landing craft disembarking US troops on Omaha beach, 6th June 1944 ( Robert Sargent / US COAST GUARD)
When archaeologists uncovered perfectly preserved evidence of domestic life in Viking York in the 1970s, it changed the way the Vikings were viewed. No longer just violent pirates who terrorised communities all over Europe, they were revealed to be merchants and craftsmen who mostly led peaceful lives. Dr Peter Addyman and Professor Julian Richards worked on the dig in the 1970s and told Rebecca Kesby the significance of what they found.
(PHOTO: The Sea Stallion Timewatch - Viking Voyage follows the world's largest reconstructed Viking ship on its 1,000 mile journey from Denmark to Dublin. BBC)
Six Degrees was the first online social network, allowing users to connect with their real-world contacts by creating a profile within a database.
It was created by entrepreneur Andrew Weinreich.
But Six Degrees never achieved the scale of later social networks like Facebook or MySpace, and Weinreich sold the site in 1999. He speaks to Lucy Burns about the challenges and adventures of setting it up.
A TV show for young children, Sesame Street aimed to educate and promote tolerance at the same time. It was first broadcast in 1969 and went on to become one of the most popular children's shows ever made. Sonia Manzano starred as Maria on Sesame Street for 44 years and she has been speaking to Ned Carter Miles about how the show's ethos shaped its characters and storylines.
Photo: Three of the Sesame Street puppets. Credit: Getty Images.
On the evening of June the 3rd 1989, the Chinese People’s Army opened fire on thousands of students who had been campaigning for democracy in the middle of Beijing.
Dan Wang was a 20-year-old student leader from the elite Peking University and was one of the most high profile democracy activists. He says the demonstrators never thought their protests would end in bloodshed. He spoke to Witness History about how the Tiananmen Square crackdown changed his life.
(Photo: Dan Wang speaking in Tiananmen Square. Credit: Peter Turnley/Corbis/Getty Images)
Protests about expensive school uniforms in the Central African Republic eventually led to Jean-Bédel Bokassa's fall from power in 1979. The demonstrations started with school children, but soon widened to involve university students. Bokassa ordered brutal reprisals and within months his regime had lost its international support and French troops had invaded. André Nalke Dorogo was a university student at the time and he as been speaking to Ashley Byrne about the events of that year.
Image: Jean-Bédel Bokassa on the day he crowned himself Emperor in 1977. Credit:Pierre Guillaud/AFP/Getty Images.
The man who led India to independence and its first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, died on May 27th 1964. His niece Nayantara Sahgal spoke to Louise Hidalgo about the great activist and intellectual in 2014.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Jawaharlal Nehru, 1958 (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
In 1999 a charity was founded in Bangladesh that was dedicated to treating and rehabilitating the survivors of acid violence. The majority of the attacks were against young women, the acid was usually thrown at their faces causing life-altering disfigurement and long-term psychological issues. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Monira Rahman who help set up the charity.
Photo: Monira Rahman with survivors of acid attacks 2011 . Credit Monira Rahman)
The environmental campaign group, Greenpeace, was formed in 1971 in western Canada, after a group of activists met in a Vancouver kitchen and decided to sail an old fishing boat to Alaska to stop a US nuclear test. Greenpeace is today one of the biggest environmental organisations in the world, known for its direct action, with offices in over 39 countries. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to one of the founders of Greenpeace, Rex Weyler, about that first campaign.
Picture: Members of the original Don't Make a Wave Committee with Greenpeace skipper John McCormack preparing to sail to Amchitka island to try to stop a US nuclear test, 1971 (Credit: Getty Images)
In 2009 Ugandan MPs tried to introduce new laws against homosexuality that would include life imprisonment and even the death penalty. Homophobia was rife in the media with tabloid papers printing the names and addresses of gay men and lesbians. Many activists suffered intimidation and assault. The law was eventually overturned by the Constitutional Court in 2014 but homosexuality is still illegal in Uganda. Victor Mukasa shares his story of fighting for LGBT rights in Uganda, first as a lesbian woman and then as a trans man.
(Photo: Ugandan LGBT Activist Victor Mukasa May 2019. BBC)
65 million years ago an asteroid hit the earth, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs along with three quarters of all species on earth at the time.
The crater where it hit was discovered on the Yucatan peninsula in 1978 during a geological survey for the Mexican state oil company Pemex. It was named Chicxulub.
Lucy Burns speaks to Glen Penfield, who first identified the crater, and Alan Hildebrand, whose research confirmed the discovery.
Image: NASA high resolution topographical map of the Yucatan Peninsula created with data collected in the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and released on March 7, 2003 in Washington, D.C. In the upper left portion of the peninsula, a faint arc of dark green is visible indicating the remnants of the Chicxulub impact crater. (Photo by NASA/Getty Images)
It took 508 days for three friends to complete the first trek along the entire length of the ancient structure, well over 8000 kms. They began in May 1984 and finally reached their destination at the Jiayu Pass on September 24th 1985, having documented the condition of the wall every step of the way. The three men became national heroes as the press followed their progress. Yaohui Dong spoke to Rebecca Kesby in 2017 about what inspired him to make the journey.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
(PHOTO: Yaohui Dong, Wu Deyu and Zhang Yuanhua. Courtesy of Yaohui Dong)
During the Second World War Nazi officials searched for blonde blue-eyed children in the countries they had occupied. The children were removed from their families as part of a plan to build an Aryan master race. Ingrid Von Oelhafen grew up in Germany and only found out in her 50's that she had been born to Slovenian parents. At nine months old she was taken away and sent to a 'Lebensborn' children's home. She has been speaking to Kate Bissell about what happened during her childhood, and the effect it still has on her life.
Photo: Ingrid Von Oelhafen aged about two. Courtesy of Ingrid Von Oelhafen.
The Chinese Communist Party started ruthlessly enforcing birth control in the early 1980s. People with more than one child faced fines, or lost their jobs, or had children forcibly adopted. Yashan Zhao has been speaking to Zhou Guanghong who experienced the policy first-hand, both as a father and as a birth control official.
Photo: a propaganda poster extolling the virtues of China's "One Child Family" policy. (Credit:Peter Charlesworth/LightRocket/GettyImages)
In May 2009 the Sri Lankan army finally crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels, ending 25 years of bloody civil war. In the final weeks of the conflict, thousands of civilians were trapped alongside the rebels under heavy shelling as the government forces closed in. Journalists and aid workers were prevented from reaching the war zone. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from one Tamil woman trapped in the siege zone, and from the former UN spokesman in Sri Lanka, Gordon Weiss, who watched on from the capital Colombo as the fighting came to an end.
Photo: Tamil civilians standing on the roadside after crossing to a government-controlled area 2kms from the front-line (Getty Images)
In the early 2000s, a handful of experts warned that the world was sleep-walking towards a financial crisis. Among them were South-African born political economist Ann Pettifor and the IMF's chief economist at the time, Raghu Rajan. But their warnings were ignored, and instead in 2008 the world plunged into the worst financial crash since the Great Depression, whose shadow still hangs over our politics. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to the Cassandras of the crash.
Picture: Traders at the New York Stock Exchange watch as the Dow Jones share index plunges following the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 (Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
In 1979 one of the great engineering feats of the 20th Century was completed and the Karakoram highway between Pakistan and China was finally opened. The highway, known as the Friendship Highway in China, was started in 1959. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions under which it was constructed, it is also sometimes referred to as the 'Eighth Wonder of the World'. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Major General Pervez Akmal who worked on the construction and maintenance of the highway.
(Photo: The majestic Karakoram mountains on the border of Pakistan and China. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
One of the most successful TV formats in the world started back in May 2004, bringing ballroom dancing to a new generation. Its format has been sold around the world under the title 'Dancing With The Stars'. Co-creator and executive producer of Strictly, Karen Smith, has been speaking to Ashley Byrne about the show.
Photo: Celebrities and professional dancers from Strictly Come Dancing 2018. Credit: BBC.
The first 'war on drugs' was launched by US President Richard Nixon in 1971. He described drug abuse as a 'national emergency' and asked Congress for nearly four hundred million dollars to tackle the problem. Claire Bowes has been speaking to one of Nixon's policy advisors, Jeffrey Donfeld, about an approach to drugs which he describes as more 'find them and help them' than 'find them and lock them up'. And how he convinced the President to roll out a nationwide programme of methadone treatment for heroin addicts.
Photo: US President Richard Nixon (BBC)
The groundbreaking Bauhaus school of art and design was founded in Germany in 1919. It would go on to have a huge impact on architecture and design around the world, with the clean lines and minimalist elegance of its distinctive modernist aesthetic influencing everything from skyscrapers to smartphones.
In this interview from the BBC archive, Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius explains his goals for the school - and the challenges involved in setting it up.
(Photo: View of one of the wings of the Bauhaus building in Dessau, taken on 30 January 2019. Credit: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)
On May 7th 1954, French forces surrendered after a bloody 56-day siege of their base at Dien Bien Phu in the north of Vietnam. Their defeat by the communist independence movement, the Viet Minh, signalled the end of French colonial rule in Indochina. We hear from two veterans who fought on opposing sides in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. (Photo: A French military Red Cross helicopter preparing to land, while French soldiers try to defend their positions in Dien Bien Phu against the Viet Minh, 1954 Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
The Chinese billionaire set up his online shopping site in 1999. When Alibaba first started, Jack Ma and his team were working out of a small flat in Hangzhou. The BBC's Michael Bristow has been hearing from Duncan Clark, who first worked with the internet entrepreneur in those early days.
Photo: Jack Ma attends the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 2019. (Credit: REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann)
In 1948, British colonial authorities declared a State of Emergency in the territory of Malaya, now part of Malaysia. It was in response to the start of a Communist rebellion. From their bases in the jungle, Communist fighters carried out hundreds of guerrilla attacks across the country, targeting Malaya's valuable rubber estates, tin mines, and infrastructure. Alex Last speaks to Gus Fletcher, a decorated former Special Branch officer in Malaya, about his memories of Britain's attempt to combat the communist threat, which became seen by some, as a model for counter-insurgency. Photo: A photograph taken by a British sergeant on patrol in the Malayan jungle.. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
The Argentine ship, General Belgrano, was sunk by a British submarine during the Falklands War on 2nd of May 1982. 323 people died in the attack. Dario Volonte, now an opera singer, was one of the survivors and he spoke to Louise Hidalgo about the attack.
Photo: The General Belgrano. Credit: Getty Images
Tété-Michel Kpomassie, grew up in West Africa but he was obsessed with the Arctic. When he was 16 years old he ran away from his village in Togo determined to reach Greenland.. It took him eight years but in 1965, he finally arrived. He then went north to fulfil his dream of living among the indigenous people. Years later, he wrote an award-winning account of his odyssey, An African in Greenland, which has been translated into eight languages. Photo: Tété-Michel Kpomassie in Greenland in 1988.(BBC)
In April 1915, Britain mourned when poet and national hero Rupert Brooke died on a troopship in the Dardanelles during World War One. Often compared to a Greek god because of his blond good looks, Brooke had written a series of famous sonnets that reflected the optimistic mood at the beginning of a conflict that would claim tens of millions of lives. Simon Watts introduces the memories of three of Brooke's friends, as recorded in the BBC archives.
(Photo: Rupert Brooke. Credit: Culture Club/Getty Images)
Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian publicly in April 1997 – and so did the fictional character she played in her self-titled sitcom. The Puppy Episode would be watched by more than 40 million people and represented a milestone for LGBT representation in popular culture.
Lucy Burns speaks to the episode’s writer and executive producer Dava Savel.
Picture: Comedian Ellen DeGeneres and actress Anne Heche attend the 49th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, 1997 at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California. (Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage)
A record series of arms sales from the UK to Saudi Arabia was worth tens of billions of dollars. The first al-Yamamah deal was agreed between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. But the deals were dogged by allegations of corruption. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Jonathan Aitken who was involved in later al-Yamamah deals.
(Photo: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and King Fahd in London in 1987. Credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images)
The assassination of newspaper editor, Lasantha Wickramatunga, shocked the world in 2009. Sri Lanka's civil war between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority was nearing its climax when he was shot dead by gunmen on motorbikes. After his murder his newspaper, the Sunday Leader, printed his final article in which he predicted his own death and wrote that the government would be behind his killing. Farhana Haider has been speaking to his widow, Sonali Samarasinghe, about press freedom in Sri Lanka.
(Photo: Journalists and well wishers light candles in front of a photograph of murdered editor Lasantha Wickramatunga on the first anniversary of his death 8 Jan, 2010. Credit: Getty images)
After Apartheid all South Africans, regardless of race, were finally able to vote for the first time in April 1994. Organising the elections was a huge logistical challenge, white supremacists staged terror attacks to try to sabotage the vote and violent clashes between rival political groups threatened to disrupt voting day. Rev Frank Chikane was on the Independent Electoral Commission, the body charged with running the elections, and he explained to Rebecca Kesby how much stress, and joy there was the day all South Africans finally got democracy.
(Photo: Nelson Mandela, leader of the ANC (African National Congress) and presidential candidate, voting in the 1994 general election in South Africa. Copyright: BBC)
The Vegan Society was established in 1944 by British 'non-dairy vegetarians'. They wanted to persuade other people not just to give up meat, but milk and eggs too. But the first vegans often got ill, because there was one vital element missing from their diets - vitamin B12. Kirsty Reid has been speaking to former Chair of the Vegan Society, George Rodger, about the history of vegans in the UK.
Photo: Fruit, vegetables, nuts and pulses. Credit: Getty creative stock.
In April 1999 Nato bombed the Serbian state TV station in Belgrade, killing 16 people. It was part of a military campaign to force Serbia to withdraw from Kosovo. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to one of the survivors, Dragan Suchovic, a TV technician, who was working at the station that night.
Photo: The damage caused by the Nato bombing on the TV station in Belgrade (courtesy of Duco Tellegen, 2015)
On April 20th 1999 a mass shooting in the USA shocked the world and started a devastating trend of violence in American schools. 13 people were killed and more than 20 were injured by two armed school students. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Craig Scott, who survived the Columbine massacre but whose sister Rachel was killed that day.
Photo: Students from Columbine High School run under cover from police, following a shooting spree by two masked teenagers. April 20th 1999. Credit: Mark Leffingwell/AFP/Getty Images.
In the aftermath of World War Two pesticides and chemical fertilisers started to become more widespread in the UK. Worries about the effect this would have on soil quality led Lady Eve Balfour to establish the Soil Association to promote natural farming techniques. John Butler has been a farmer all his life and he has been speaking to Dina Newman about Lady Eve and the early days of Britain's organic farming movement.
Photo: Lady Eve Balfour with some of her friends. Copyright: The Soil Association.
In 1959 the German artist Gustav Metzger came up with a new and subversive form of art. He called it auto-destructive art. It was art as a political weapon and a challenge to the established status quo. Metzger, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust, organised a series of events in London, called the Destruction in Art Symposium, DIAS, and invited radical artists from all over the world, including a relatively unknown young Japanese American, Yoko Ono. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Welsh artist Ivor Davies, who helped Metzger launch the events and was himself an early pioneer of auto-destructive art.
Photo: Gustav Metzger demonstrates his auto-destructive art at London's South Bank, July 1961 (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
'A Raisin in the Sun' opened on Broadway in 1959. It had an almost exclusively black cast and a black director too. The playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, based it on her own family's story of being forced out of a white neighbourhood in Chicago. The title is from a poem by African American poet Langston Hughes about a dream deferred - 'does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?'.
Photo: Still from the 1961 film version of the play A Raisin in the Sun featuring Sidney Poitier (Photo by George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images)
Audio: With thanks to WFMT radio and the Studs Terkel radio archive.
In April 2001 an American multi-millionaire paid Russia's space agency millions of dollars to blast him into space. He spent time on the International Space Station and returned to earth after eight days in space. Dennis Tito, who was 60 years old at the time of his space flight, spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2011 about his experiences. (This is a rebroadcast)
Photo: Dennis Tito immediately after his return to earth. Credit: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images.)
Diners at Chinese restaurants in America in the 1960's began to report unusual symptoms, including headaches, flushing, numbness at the back of the neck.
It was linked to the man-made flavour enhancer monosodium glutamate or MSG – but it was also part of wider attitudes towards Chinese restaurants at the time.
Lucy Burns speaks to restaurateurs Philip Chiang and Ed Schoenfeld about their memories of what became known as 'Chinese restaurant syndrome'.
Photo credit: Plates of Chinese food (Dean Conger/Corbis via Getty Images)
In 1990 the president of Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP, LK Advani, embarked on a political and religious rally called the Rath Yatra or chariot march. Championing a politics based on Hindutva or militant Hinduism. Farhana Haider has been speaking to RK Sudhaman a journalist who covered the journey and followed the rise of the BJP.
Photo LK Advani during rath yatra 15/10/1990 Credit: Getty Image
The wingsuit is the ultimate in extreme sports clothing. An aerodynamic outfit for BASE jumpers and skydivers it allows them to free-fall for longer before opening a parachute. Skydiver Jari Kuosma developed the first commercial wingsuits and he has been speaking to Jonathan Coates about how exciting, but also how dangerous they can be.
Photo: Jari Kuosma. Copyright: BBC
On 13 April 1919, British Indian troops fired on an unarmed crowd at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar in the Punjab. Hundreds were killed. The massacre caused an outcry in India and abroad, and would be a turning point for the growing Indian nationalist movement. Lucy Burns brings you eye-witness testimony from the time.
Photo: Indian visitors walk past the Flame of Liberty memorial at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. Credit:Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images.
Choreographer Jack Cole had a huge influence on musical theatre and Hollywood films - most memorably with Marilyn Monroe in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. But much of his inspiration came from Indian dance. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to the American actress and singer, Chita Rivera, who danced with him.
Maya Angelou's iconic first memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, was published in spring 1969. The book was an instant best-seller, and was one of the first literary accounts of growing up as a black girl in the southern states of America, including graphic depictions of rape and racism. Louise Hidalgo talks to Maya Angelou's friend and biographer, former magazine editor, Marcia Gillespie, about the book and how it helped to establish Maya Angelou as one of the great voices of her generation.
Picture: Maya Angelou holding a copy of her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in 1971 (Credit: BBC/WF/AP/Corbis)
After a brief civil war in March-April 1948, the new president of Costa Rica, Jose Figueres, took the audacious step of dissolving the Armed Forces. Since then Costa Rica has been the only Latin American nation without a standing army. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from 94-year-old Enrique Obregon, who served in the military before its dissolution.
Photo: Costa Rican soldiers in San Jose after the end of the civil war, April 1948 (Credit:Getty Images)
In 1628, at the height of Sweden’s military expansion, the Swedish Navy built a new flagship, the Vasa. At the time it was the most heavily armed ship in the world. But 2 hours into its maiden voyage, it sank in Stockholm's harbour. It remained there for more than three hundred years, until its discovery in 1961. Tim Mansel hears from the former Swedish naval officer, Bertil Daggfeldt, about the day that the warship was recovered in near-perfect condition.
Image: The Vasa after its recovery (The Vasa Museum)
EMDR is a form of psychotherapy which works for many sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder. The 'eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing' technique was first developed in the USA in the late 1980s by Francine Shapiro. She set up an EMDR Institute and Ashley Byrne has been speaking to psychologist Dr Gerald Puk, one of its senior trainers.
(Picture: a model looking downwards. Credit: Getty Images.)
Patty Hearst was kidnapped by an extreme left-wing group called the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1974. She had been held hostage for two months when, in April of that year, she announced that she had come to share their beliefs. She would go on to take part in an attempted bank robbery before being arrested and put on trial. Louise Hidalgo spoke to two women who remember the impact of her kidnapping in California in 1974.
Photo: Patty Hearst posing with a machine gun in front of a Symbionese Liberation Army flag in 1974. (Credit: Getty Images.)
In 1979 scientist Jon Kabat-Zinn opened the Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, pioneering a meditative approach to treat pain and depression. In a few decades mindfulness has gone from being a specialist element of Buddhist teaching to a billion dollar industry. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Dr Kabat-Zinn about the popularising of mindfulness to tackle the stresses of modern life.
(Photo Jon Kabat-Zinn teaching MBSR at the University of Massachusetts Medical School 1992, Credit Jon Kabat-Zinn)
Witness History talks to the American lawyer who led the investigation into the secret Nazi past of former United Nations Secretary-General, Kurt Waldheim. Kurt Waldheim was standing for election to the Austrian presidency when the allegations first emerged in the New York Times in March 1986. Lawyer Eli Rosenbaum, on whose information the New York Times story was based, tells Louise Hidalgo how he helped to expose the truth about Waldheim's wartime record and how UN war crimes files naming Kurt Waldheim had lain hidden for decades in the vaults while Waldheim was UN Secretary General.
Picture: Kurt Waldheim talking to voters in Vienna in 1986 during his campaign for the Austrian presidency (credit: Jacques Langevin/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
In March 1999 Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard made the first non-stop flight around the world in a balloon. Beginning in Switzerland and finishing over Africa, the record-breaking trip took just 20 days. Pilot Brian Jones has been telling Mike Lanchin about the highs and lows of the amazing and dangerous journey.
(Photo credit BBC)
In March 1979, the British Prime Minister James Callaghan was struggling desperately to govern with a parliamentary majority of just three. When the Conservative opposition tabled a motion of no-confidence, his party whips fought a furious - and ultimately unsuccessful - battle to keep him in power. Simon Watts listens through the BBC's archives to tales from the collapse of the Callaghan government.
Picture: James Callaghan outside 10 Downing Street (Fox Photos/Getty Images)
A female designer working for an American pharmaceutical company came up with the idea in the 1960s, but her bosses didn't like it at first. Margaret Crane has been telling Maria Elena Navas how she had to develop her designs on her own after being told that women couldn't be trusted to use a home testing kit properly.
Photo: Margaret Crane's first home testing kit. Credit: National Museum of American History.
Viktor Orban, now the populist Hungarian Prime Minister, was an anti-communist youth leader in 1988. Over the years his party has become increasingly nationalist. His former friend and fellow activist Gabor Fodor shared personal memories of Viktor Orban with Dina Newman.
Photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers his annual state of the nation speech in Budapest, Hungary, 10 February 2019. Credit: European Press Agency.
A British doctor published an article in the leading medical journal The Lancet in 1998 that led to a global panic over the triple vaccine protecting children against measles, mumps and rubella.
Dr Andrew Wakefield linked the MMR vaccine with autism. He advocated the use of single vaccines instead while the link was explored.
Meanwhile many parents stopped vaccinating their children entirely, leading to outbreaks of measles.
In 2010 the General Medical Council in the UK found Dr Wakefield 'dishonest' and 'irresponsible' and struck him off the medical register.
Photo: Dr Andrew Wakefield arrives at the General Medical Council in London to face a disciplinary panel, July 16th 2007 (Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)
Electricity workers in Mexico City accidentally uncovered a massive stone sculpture in 1978. It turned out to be the Aztec Goddess of the Moon, Coyolxauhqui. The sculpture was found in an area where the Aztecs, 500 years earlier, had built the capital of their empire: the city of Tenochtitlán. The discovery changed the face of the Mexican capital.
María Elena Navas spoke to Raúl Arana, one of the archaeologists who identified the sculpture as the Moon Goddess.
Photo: The sculpture of Coyolxauhqui, the Aztec Moon Goddess (Getty Images)
On March 26th 1989, Soviet citizens were given their first chance to vote for non-communists in parliamentary elections. Democrats led by Boris Yeltsin won seats across the country. Dina Newman spoke to Sergei Stankevich who was one of the successful candidates. This programme was first broadcast in 2014.
(Photo: Boris Yeltsin on the campaign trail. Credit: Vitaly Armand. AFP/Getty Images)
The story of how one of the wealthiest men in the Netherlands was exposed as a Nazi war criminal. In the 1970s, Pieter Menten was a respected art dealer, but it was revealed that during the Second World War, he had led mass killings in eastern Poland. We hear from Dutch journalist, Hans Knoop, whose investigation into Menten caused a national scandal and finally led to the millionaire's arrest.
Photo: Pieter Menten photographed in 1977.(credit: National Archives of the Netherlands)
In the 1950s, US engineers were sent to Afghanistan to build a huge dam.
The aim was to irrigate the deserts of Helmand.
The town of Lashkar Gah was built to house the workers.
Photo: Lashkar Gah from the air, 1957.
In March 1969, the cult American author, Kurt Vonnegut, published his famous anti-war novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. The novel is a mixture of science fiction and Vonnegut's experiences as a prisoner-of-war during the fire-bombing of the German city of Dresden at the end of World War Two. Simon Watts introduces the memories of Kurt Vonnegut, as recorded in the BBC archives.
PHOTO: Kurt Vonnegut in the 1980s (Getty Images)
Chinese scientists used ancient traditional medicine to find a cure for malaria in the 1970s. Artemisinin was discovered by exploring a herbal remedy from the 4th century, a small team of scientists managed to harness the medicinal properties from the Artemisa Annua plant. It can cure most forms of malaria with very few side effects and has saved millions of lives all over the world. Professor Lang Linfu was one of the scientists involved, he told Rebecca Kesby how they made the discovery in the laboratory as China's Cultural Revolution raged across the country.
(Photo; Professor Lang Linfu. Family archives)
As communism was crumbling in the early 1990s a spoof made for Soviet TV, persuaded some Russians that Vladimir Lenin's personality had been seriously affected by hallucinogenic mushrooms. The mushrooms in question were the deadly poisonous fly agaric fungi which the programme alleged Lenin had eaten whilst in exile in Siberia. Dina Newman has spoken to journalist Sergei Sholokhov who presented the TV spoof.
Photo: two fly agaric toadstools. Copyright: BBC.
In 1942, during the Second World War, the British colony of Singapore fell to Japanese forces. Its capture marked the start of Japan's three-and-a-half year occupation of the island state, during which many ethnic Chinese living in Singapore were rounded up and killed. Louise Hidalgo has been listening to the memories of some of those who lived through that time.
Picture: British soldiers surrender to Japanese forces in Singapore in 1942. (Credit: Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Image)
Yvonne Conolly was appointed head of Ringcross Primary school in North London in 1969. She had moved to the UK from Jamaica just a few years earlier and quickly worked her way up the teaching profession. She faced racist threats when she first took up the post but refused to allow them to define her relationship with the children she taught.
Photo: Yvonne Conolly in a classroom. Copyright: Pathe.
Melina Mercouri, famous actress turned politician, visited Britain in 1983 as Greek Minister of Culture and made the first official request for the return of the Parthenon marbles.
The marbles were removed in 1801 by Lord Elgin, who was the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire at the time. Lord Elgin, who was based in Istanbul sent his agents to Athens to remove the marbles which he claimed were at risk of destruction. He later sold them to the British parliament who in turn entrusted them to the British Museum where they've been exhibited since 1832.
Photo: The Greek Minister for Culture, Melina Mercouri, inspects the Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum in May 1983
In March 1998 Zoilamérica Narváez publicly accused her step-father, Nicaragua's revolutionary leader, Daniel Ortega of having sexually abused her since she was a child. The 31-year-old Narváez said that the abuse had continued for almost twenty years. Ortega, who was re-elected as Nicaragua's president for a third consecutive term in 2016, has consistently denied the accusations. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Zoilamérica Narváez about her disturbing story.
Photo: Zoilamerica Narváez announces in a press conference that she is filing a law suit against her stepfather Daniel Ortega, March 1998 (RODRIGO ARANGUA/AFP/Getty Images)
The first Barbie doll was sold in 1959. Ruth Handler, one of the founders of the Mattel toy company who created Barbie, describes how it took years to convince her male colleagues that it would sell.
Picture: Ruth and Elliot Handler, creators of Barbie. Courtesy of Mattel Inc.
Sayeeda Warsi made history when she was appointed to the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government's Cabinet in May 2010, and was also made Conservative party co-chair. The daughter of working-class Pakistani immigrants, she walked up Downing Street for her first Cabinet meeting dressed in a traditional South Asian salwar-kameez; it was a landmark moment in British politics. Sayeeda Warsi talks to Farhana Haider about her journey into government and about Islamophobia in politics.
(Photo: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi outside 10 Downing Street in London, May 2010. Credit: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
On March 1st 1989 Icelanders were allowed to buy full-strength beer for the first time in decades. Beer had been outlawed in the country since 1915. Roger Protz has been looking into the history of prohibition in Iceland.
Photo: A bartender pouring beer. Credit: Getty Creative Stock/iStock.
Armed left-wing extremists held off Japanese police for 10 days during a hostage crisis in the mountains in February 1972. Young members of the so-called United Red Army had hoped to bring about a communist revolution in Japan. Their hideout was discovered and most of them were arrested but five extremists took over a mountain lodge and held a woman hostage in a final stand-off. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Michinori Kato one of the five who took part in the shoot-out.
Photo: The police rescue operation on February 28th 1972, the final day of the standoff, was broadcast live on Japanese television for 10 hours and 40 minutes. (Credit: Sankei Archive/Getty Images)
Nine passengers were sucked out of a plane when a cargo door opened mid-flight over the Pacific.
United Airlines Flight 811 was flying from Hawaii to New Zealand in February 1989 when the accident happened.
In 2012 Claire Bowes heard from two passengers on board the plane. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: The damaged side of the plane. Credit: Courtesy of Bruce Lampert.
Mexico City, the world's third largest metropolis, was effectively shut down when a new and deadly virus, swine flu appeared. Soon the virus started to spread and was seen as a massive threat to global health. Experts feared millions of people could become infected and many countries began screening airline passengers for symptoms and suspending flights to Mexico.
Photo: People wear surgical masks as they ride the subway in Mexico City (Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty Images)
Rocketing oil prices in the mid 1970s fuelled massive consumer and government spending in Venezuela, earning the South American country the nickname "Saudi" Venezuela. Buoyed by the extra revenue, the government moved to nationalise the iron and oil industries. But by the end of the decade, corruption and nepotism had set in and the economic bubble burst. Mike Lanchin hears from the former Venezuelan oil executive, Luis Giusti and the artist and photographer Frank Balbi, about their memories of those days.
(Photo by Seidel/United Archives/UIG via Getty Images)
An international panel of experts gathered in Brazil in 1985 to identify the remains of a man thought to have been the infamous doctor from Auschwitz. 'To see that this man was finally in his grave was important' says Eric Stover, part of the team of American and German experts who examined the body from a cemetery near São Paulo. Mengele's family in Germany claimed that it was his. Thomas Pappon has spoken to Eric Stover about the efforts to prove that one of the most wanted war criminals of the 20th century was dead. Image: Josef Mengele with his skull superimposed on top. Used by German forensic scientist Richard Helmer. (Credit: Brazilian Institute Medico-Legal)
British doctors produced an alarming report in 1962 warning that 1 in 3 smokers would die before the age of 65. The doctors suggested restrictions on advertising and on smoking in public places but the UK government did little except launch a health education campaign.
Credit: Interviews with Sir George Godber and Charles Fletcher courtesy of the Medical Sciences Video Archive, part of a project run by Oxford Brookes University and the Royal College of Physicians.
Photo: 1956 (Thurston Hopkins/Picture Post/Getty Images)
Millions suffered from exposure to toxic chemicals sprayed by US forces during the Vietnam war. The chemicals were defoliants and herbicides designed to destroy jungles and vegetation which provided cover for communist guerrillas. But the defoliants contained dioxin, one of the most toxic chemicals known to man. The most notorious defoliant was called Agent Orange. Decades later, Vietnamese are still being affected. Witness speaks to Dr. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong about her struggle against the toxic legacy of the war. Photo: Child suffering from spinal deformity in rehabilitation centre in Saigon.
The US space shuttle Columbia broke up on its way back to Earth on February 1, 2003. It had been in use since 1981. Iain Mackness has spoken to Admiral Hal Gehman who was given the job of finding out what went wrong. His final report led to the winding-up of the American space shuttle programme in 2011.
Photo: The space shuttle Columbia during take-off. Credit: NASA.
Alfonso Cuarón's critically acclaimed film Roma portrays a student massacre that took place in México City in 1971. The Corpus Christi massacre, known locally as the Halconazo, sent shock waves throughout México. A paramilitary group trained by the Army attacked students as they demonstrated against the government, leaving about 120 people dead. María Elena Navas speaks to Rosa Maria Garza Marcué and Jesús Martín del Campo, who were among the protesters that day.
Photo: The massacre scene in Roma (Netflix)
In February 1992, European ministers from 12 countries signed a treaty that would lead towards greater economic and political unity. The European Union would become the biggest free trading bloc in the world, but over the years it has survived several rocky moments as individual countries have questioned whether they want to be included. Senior EU Official Jim Cloos was one of those involved in drafting the Maastricht Treaty, and he explained to Rebecca Kesby how exciting it was to be involved in the project in those early days.
(Photo: The flag logo of The European Union)
In 1969, homeless Russian alcoholic Venedikt Yerofeev wrote a hugely popular book which was passed illegally from person to person. The book gave voice to a generation of Soviet intellectuals who were unable to fit into mainstream Soviet society. The author's friend poet Olga Sedakova shared her memories with Dina Newman.
Photo: Venedikt Yerofeev. Credit: Olga Sedakova archive.
In 1961, the British run territories of Northern and Southern Cameroons in West Africa were given a vote to decide their future. They could choose either to become part of Nigeria, or to become part of Cameroon. They were not given the choice of becoming their own country. The decision taken in that referendum would lay the seeds for the conflict which erupted in Cameroon's English speaking region in 2016. Alex Last spoke to the Cameroonian historian Prof. Verkijika Fanso about his memories of the crucial vote which decided the fate of his country.
Airlines in America finally allowed women to pilot passenger planes in the 1970's. But women like Bonnie Tiburzi and Lynn Rippelmeyer had been fighting for years to be allowed to train as pilots. They tell Maria Elena Navas about their early days in a male-dominated industry.
Photo: Bonnie Tiburzi, 24, is shown in a cockpit of an aircraft shortly after receiving her wings in 1974 when she became the first female pilot for American Airlines. (Getty Images)
The 2008 global economic crisis hit hard in Iceland. Its three major banks and stockmarket collapsed and it was forced to seek an emergency bail-out from the IMF. But unlike many other countries affected by the global downturn, Iceland decided to prosecute its leading bankers. Around forty top executives were jailed. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Special Prosecutor, Olafur Hauksson, who led the investigations.
(Photo: Protesters on the streets of Reykjavik demand answers from the government and the banks about the country's financial crisis, Nov. 2008. (Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images)
When the US and its allies began their invasion of Iraq in 2003 the population of Baghdad faced three weeks of bombing and fear. Hear what life was like for one ordinary family in the capital.
This programme is a rebroadcast
(Photo: Baghdad, March 20 2003, AFP/Getty Images)
In 1992 Disney opened its first theme park in Europe. But it had taken years of delicate negotiations and diplomacy get it off the ground. In 2013 Rebecca Kesby spoke to Robert Fitzpatrick who had the job of bringing the magic of Mickey Mouse to France.
Photo: Celebrations during the 25th anniversary of Disneyland Paris at the park in Marne-la-Vallee in April 2017.(Credit: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier)
A former schoolgirl remembers the children's demonstration against having to study in Afrikaans that sparked the Soweto Uprising against South Africa's apartheid regime. Bongi Mkhabela spoke to Alan Johnston in 2010 about her memories of the protest.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Schoolchildren demonstrating on June 16th 1976 in Soweto. (Credit:Bongani Mnguni/City Press/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
In October 1967 the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara was captured and killed in Bolivia. Mike Lanchin spoke to former CIA operative, Felix Rodriguez, who helped track him down.
(Photo: Felix Rodriguez (left) with the captured Che Guevara, shortly before his execution on 9 October 1967. Courtesy of Felix Rodriguez)
A first-hand account of Hitler from our archives. Traudl Junge worked as a secretary for the German Nazi leader. She was in the bunker in Berlin when he killed himself in 1945 as the Red Army closed in. She spoke to Zina Rohan for the BBC in 1989.
Photo: Hitler and some of his officers. Credit: Getty Images.
Many women supported Iran's 1979 Revolution against the monarchy but some later became disillusioned. Islamic rules about how women dressed were just one of the things that women objected to. Sharan Tabari spoke to Lucy Burns in 2014 about her experiences during, and after, the Iranian Revolution.
Photo: Women on the streets during a May 1st demonstration in 1979.(Credit: Christine Spengler/Getty Images.)
In April 1980, the US launched Operation Eagle Claw - a daring but ultimately disastrous attempt to free dozens of hostages held captive in the US Embassy in Tehran. The rescue mission ended in tragedy almost as soon as it began. Rob Walker spoke to Mike Vining, a member of the US special forces team in 2015.
This programme is a rebroadcast
(Photo:Special forces troops returning from the failed mission. Credit: US Army)
In 1979 young revolutionaries stormed the US Embassy in Tehran. 52 Americans were taken captive and held hostage for 444 days. Barry Rosen was one of the hostages. In 2009 he told his story to Alex Last.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photo: Boy in camouflage points a toy pistol at an effigy of US President Carter during a demonstration outside the US Embassy, 18 November 1979. (Credit:STAFF/AFP/Getty Images)
In February 1979 an Islamic revolution began to unfold in Iran. The Islamic leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who had been in exile for 14 years, flew back to Tehran from Paris on the 1st of February. Mohsen Sazegara was close to the heart of events and in 2011 he spoke to Louise Hidalgo for Witness.
Photo: Ayatollah Khomeini leaving the Air France Boeing 747 jumbo that flew him back from exile in France to Tehran.(Credit: Gabriel Duval, AFP/Getty Images.)
During the heat of Iran's revolution the country's top musicians decided to join the popular uprising. After the massacre of demonstrators by the Shah's armed forces in Jaleh Square in September 1978, state employed musicians went underground and started recording revolutionary songs. These songs became some of the most iconic in recent Iranian history. In 2015 Golnoosh Golshani heard from Bijan Kamkar about the musicians of the revolution.
This programme is a re-broadcast.
(Photo: Bijan Kamkar, on the far left, with a group of Iranian musicians. Courtesy of Bijan Kamkar)
Virago Press opened as a feminist publisher in 1972 to promote women's writing. Its founder, Carmen Callil, says she wanted both men and women to benefit from the female perspective. She tells Witness how she hoped to put women centre stage at a time when she and many other women felt sidelined and ignored at work and at home.
Photo: Carmen Callil, 1983 (Photo by Peter Morris/Fairfax Media) Music: Jam Today by Jam Today courtesy of the Women’s Liberation Music Archive.
Pope John XXIII wanted to modernise the Catholic Church. In January 1959 he announced a council of all the world's Catholic bishops and cardinals in Rome. It led to sweeping reforms, including allowing the Mass to be said in languages other than Latin and an attempt to build relationships with other denominations and faiths. But not everyone was happy with the changes. Msgr John Strynkowski was a student priest in Rome at the time and told Rebecca Kesby about the excitement and controversy surrounding the council that became known as 'Vatican II'.
(Photo; Pope John XXIII at the Vatican. Credit: Getty Images)
The comic film franchise which churned out movie after movie mocking British stereotypes and pomposity. The first Carry On film hit cinema screens in 1958 and the team behind it would go on to make more than 30 movies using slapstick comedy and sexual innuendo to win fans around the world. Ashley Byrne has spoken to writer John Antrobus and actor Valerie Leon. It was a Made in Manchester Production.
Photo: Two of Carry On's biggest stars, Kenneth Williams(l) and Sid James (r) filming Carry On At Your Convenience in 1971. (Credit: Larry Ellis Collection/Getty Images)
Pramod Bhasin returned home to India in 1997 after working abroad for years. He spotted an opportunity to start a new industry that would revolutionise the country's economy. He tells Witness how he set up India's first call centre in spite of telecom challenges that might have put most entrepreneurs off.
Photo: Pramod Bhasin in one of the call centres he started. Credit: BBC.
How one of the most notorious murderers in Edwardian London was captured as he fled to Canada. Listen to an astonishing BBC archive account of his arrest and hear from Dr Cassie Watson, a historian of forensic medicine and crime, about why the case of Dr Crippen lived so long in the public's memory. Photo: Dr Hawley Harvey Crippen (Getty Images)
In January 2006, London was entranced by the appearance of a large bottlenose whale in the Thames – the first such sighting for more than a century. Large crowds gathered to watch the whale swimming in front of the Houses of Parliament and many of the city’s most famous landmarks. But the whale’s health began to deteriorate and a team of specialist divers were called in to try – unsuccessfully – to save its life. Simon Watts talks to Mark Stevens, the man who organised the rescue attempt.
PHOTO: The Thames Whale (Getty Images)
In 1976 South Asian women workers who had made Britain their home, led a strike against poor working conditions in a British factory. Lakshmi Patel was one of the South Asian women who picketed the Grunwick film-processing factory in north London for two years, defying the stereotype of submissive South Asian women. They gained the support of tens of thousands of trade unionists along the way. Lakshmi talks to Farhana Haider about how the strike was a defining moment for race relations in the UK in the 1970s.
(Photo: Jayaben Desai, leader of the Grunwick strike committee holding placard 1977 Credit: Getty images)
Thousands of people flocked to the village of Tlacote in central Mexico in 1991. They were hoping to be cured by 'magical' water after rumours spread that it had healing powers. Maria Elena Navas has been speaking to Edmundo Gonzalez Llaca who was an official in the local environment ministry in 1991 and who was sent to Tlacote to check out what all the fuss was about.
Photo: Hands under a stream of water (Getty Images)
Judy Garland ended her long and glitzy stage and screen career at a London theatre club in January 1969. She was booked for five weeks of nightly shows at the 'Talk of the Town', but by that time, the former child star of the 'Wizard of Oz' was struggling with a drug and drink addiction. Mike Lanchin has been hearing the memories of Rosalyn Wilder, then a young production assistant, whose job was to try to get Judy Garland on stage each night.
Photo: Judy Garland on stage in London, December 1968 (Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images)
Susie Orbach's best-selling book Fat is a Feminist Issue led many in the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1970s to rethink body-image from a feminist perspective. Millions of people have read the book, which is still in print four decades later. Susie Orbach explained to Rebecca Kesby how she came up with the idea, and why she is devastated that it is still selling copies.
(Photo: Susie Orbach, author of Fat is a Feminist Issue. Credit: Getty Images)
A poor single mother of three, Carolina Maria de Jesus lived in a derelict shack and spent her days scavenging for food for her children, doing odd jobs and collecting paper and bottles. Her diary, written between 1955 and 1960, brought to life the harsh realities faced by thousands of poor Brazilians who arrived in cities like São Paulo and Rio looking for better opportunities. Her daughter, Vera Eunice de Jesus Lima, speaks to Thomas Pappon about how the book changed her family's life. Picture: Carolina Maria de Jesus in the Canindé Favela. Credit: Archive Audálio Dantas
In the last year of his rule Stalin ordered the imprisonment and execution of hundreds of the best Soviet doctors accusing them of plotting to kill senior Communist officials. Several hundred doctors were imprisoned and tortured, many of them died in detention. Professor Yakov Rapoport was among the few survivors of what was known as the 'Doctors' Plot'. His daughter Natasha remembers her family's ordeal in an interview with Dina Newman.
Photo: Professor Yakov Rapoport, 1990s. Credit: family archive.
On January 8 1959 Fidel Castro and his left wing guerrilla forces marched triumphantly into the Cuban capital, ending decades of rule by the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. It was the beginning of communist rule on the Caribbean island. Mike Lanchin spoke to Carlos Alzugaray, who was a 15-year-old school boy when he joined the crowds in the Cuban capital that turned out to watch the rebel tanks roll into town.
(Photo: Fidel Castro speaks to the crowds in Cuba after Batista was forced to flee, Jan 1959. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
In January 2008, seeds began arriving at the world's first global seed vault, buried deep inside a mountain on an Arctic island a-thousand kilometres north of the Norwegian coast. The vault was built to ensure the survival of the world's food supply and its agricultural history in the event of a global catastrophe. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to the man whose idea it was, American agriculturalist Cary Fowler.
(Photo: journalists and cameramen outside the entrance of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault that was officially opened on 26th February 2008. Credit: Hakon Mosvold Larsen/AFP/Getty Images)
The discovery that proved Vikings had crossed the Atlantic 1000 years ago. In 1960, a Norwegian couple, Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad arrived in the remote fishing village of L'Anse aux Meadows on the tip of Newfoundland in Canada. They were searching for evidence of the Norse settlement of North America which had been described in ancient Norse sagas. What they found would make headlines around the world, and turn L'Anse aux Meadows into a World Heritage Site. Alex Last spoke to Loretta Decker who grew up in the village and now works as an officer with Parks Canada.
Photo: Replicas of Norse houses from 1000 years ago at L'Anse aux Meadows. (LightRocket/Getty Images)
In the early 1980s the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu ordered the construction of a massive building in central Bucharest. Dubbed the "House of the People", it was to become the world's 2nd largest building. Now, decades after the fall of Communism, the building remains a lasting monument to the excesses of the dictator's totalitarian rule. Robert Nicholson speaks to Eliodor Popa, one of the architects behind the building.
(Photo by Laszlo Szirtesi/Getty Images)
Dame Barbara Cartland was best known for her historical romances and is thought to have sold hundreds of millions of books around the world. She was step-grandmother to Princess Diana and was at her most prolific in the 1970s and 80s when she appeared regularly on British television. Kirsty Reid has been listening to some of her interviews from the BBC archives and hearing what it was like to meet her in person from Joe McAleer, author of Call of the Atlantic: Jack London's Publishing Odyssey Overseas.
Photo: Barbara Cartland, pictured in 1970 (Credit: BBC)
In September 1987, fishermen and surfers in the states of Rio and São Paulo started spotting mysterious tin cans floating in the sea. Soon those tins became a talking point across the country, because they were packed full of high quality marijuana. The tin cans inspired books, fashion, poems, films and many songs. Thomas Pappon has been speaking to two Brazilians who remember that summer well.
Photo: Tin cans picked up by the Brazilian police in Rio. Credit: Agência Estado/AFP
On December 30 1983 Marxist rebels in El Salvador attacked and occupied the El Paraiso army base in the north of the country. It was the first time an important military installation had fallen to the guerrillas and dealt a humiliating blow to the Army and its US backers. Mike Lanchin has spoken to a former rebel fighter who took part in the operation, and to Todd Greentree who worked at the US Embassy in San Salvador.
Photo: Damage caused to the El Paraiso military base in El Salvador after the 1983 guerrilla attack. (US DOD)
In December 1943, a British charity created the Dickin Medal to honour the bravery of animals serving in war. The first medals went mainly to pigeons used in World War Two, although dogs and one cat were also among the winners. Simon Watts tells the story of the Dickin Medal using recordings from the BBC archive.
PHOTO: Winkie the Pigeon receives a Dickin Medal in 1943 (Getty Images)
'I like it, carry on', said Joseph Goebbels, after listening to the trautonium, invented in Berlin. It was used first in classical music in the early 1930s. Paul Hindemith composed pieces for it. For decades it was played by one man only, Oskar Sala. Thomas Pappon spoke to him in 1997, and to Peter Pichler, who still performs on the trautonium.
Picture: Alfred Hitchcock observes Oskar Sala playing the trautonium in the latter's studio, Berlin, in 1962. Credit: Heinz Koester/ Ullstein Bild via Getty Images
At Christmas 1980 strange objects and lights were seen over a US military base in Suffolk, England, for three consecutive nights. Several military service people reported seeing them, including the deputy commander of the base, Lt Colonel Charles Halt. He explains what he saw to Rebecca Kesby, and why the experience changed his opinion on the existence of UFOs.
(Photo: Computer illustration of UFOs - Unidentified Flying Objects)
On Christmas Eve 1950 four young Scottish students took the 'Stone of Destiny' from Westminster Abbey. The symbolic stone had been taken from Scotland to England centuries earlier and had sat beneath the Coronation Chair in the Abbey ever since. Anya Dorodeyko has been speaking to Ian Hamilton who took part in the daring escapade in order to draw attention to demands for Scottish Home Rule.
Photo: Ian Hamilton. Credit: BBC
On December 22 2001 a British-born man tried to bring down American Airlines flight 63 from Paris to Miami. His plan failed when the bomb didn't go off. He was then overpowered by a group of passengers and tied to his seat. Former professional basketball player, Kwame James, was among those who helped subdue Reid. He has been telling Mike Lanchin about the drama on board.
Photo: One of the shoes worn by Richard Reid on the American Airlines flight to Miami (ABC/Getty Images)
Writer PL Travers created a children's classic when she invented the magical English nanny. But was the character built around her own personality? Vincent Dowd has been speaking to PL Travers' granddaughter.
Photo: Emily Blunt is Mary Poppins in Disney's original musical MARY POPPINS RETURNS, a sequel to the 1964 MARY POPPINS (credit: Walt Disney)
Scientists at MIT in the 1960s had to share computer time. They were given passwords to access the computer and could not use more than their allowance. But one man, Allan Scherr, hacked the system by working out the master password. He has been talking to Ashley Byrne.
Photo: Allan Scherr at his workstation connected to the MIT central system in 1963. Courtesy of Allan Scherr
Theatre director Peter Brook led a troupe of actors on a three-month-long journey across the Sahara Desert starting in December 1972. They performed improvised pieces to local villagers. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to author and journalist John Heilpern who went with them.
Photo: Peter Brook in the 1990s. (Credit: Jean Pimentel/Kipa/Sygma via Getty Images)
Japanese troops reached the Chinese city of Nanjing in December 1937. The violence that followed marked one of the darkest moments in a struggle that continued throughout WW2. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to former General Huang Shih Chung, who survived the slaughter in Nanjing as a boy and then fought in China's war of resistance against the Japanese.
Photo: Huang Shih-Chung as a young soldier.
In 1988 President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act which gave a presidential apology and compensation to Japanese Americans interned during World War II. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Norman Mineta a former congressman who was instrumental in pushing through the landmark legislation and was himself incarcerated as a child.
Image: Japanese-American child waits with luggage to be transported to internment camps for the duration of WWII 01/07/1942 Copyright Getty Images
In 1942, a Dutch secret agent was captured by German military intelligence in the Netherlands. The agent's name was Haub Lauwers and he worked for the Special Operations Executive, a secret organisation set up by the British to wage a guerrilla war against the Nazis in Europe. So began, the Englandspiel, the England Game, a German counter-intelligence operation that led to the capture and deaths of dozens of Dutch agents. Photo: Haub Lauwers identity card when he joined the Dutch army in exile.
In 1967, Dame Cicely Saunders opened the first modern hospice in South London. St Christopher's inspired the creation of thousands of similar hospices around the world and its scientific research helped establish the modern discipline of palliative medicine. Simon Watts introduces archive interviews with Dame Cicely, who died in 2005.
PHOTO: Dame Cicely Saunders (BBC)
The biggest audience in TV history watched NASA's Apollo 8 mission beam back the first pictures from an orbit around the moon at Christmas 1968. The broadcast captured the world's imagination and put the Americans ahead of the Soviet Union in the Cold War battle to make the first lunar landing. Simon Watts talks to Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman.
Picture: The Earth as seen from the Moon, photographed by the Apollo 8 crew (NASA)
China had to relax its strict communist system to join the World Trade Organisation. Charlene Barshefsky was the US trade negotiator looking after American interests at the time. Freddie Chick has been hearing from Ms Barshefsky about the years of negotiations that led to the final deal. This is a Made in Manchester production.
Beijing China: US Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky (2nd Left), Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng (Right) toast with champagne the signing of bilateral agreements on China's accession to the World Trade Organisation. Credit: STEPHEN SHAVER/AFP/Getty Images
Angela Merkel rose to power in German politics after the fall of her mentor, Helmut Kohl. He had accepted secret donations on behalf of their political party the CDU. After the scandal erupted in December 1999 Angela Merkel wrote a newspaper article condemning his actions. Soon she was the party's new leader. Tim Mansel has been speaking to her biographer Evelyn Roll.
Photo: Angela Merkel in 1999. Credit: Getty Images.
Ramiro Osorio Cristales was just five years old when his family was murdered by the Guatemalan army, along with more than 200 other civilians from the Mayan village of Dos Erres. One of the soldiers who participated in the killings, Santos Lopez, took Ramiro with him and later adopted him. In November 2018, Ramiro gave evidence in the trial against his adoptive father for his part in the massacre. He has been telling Mike Lanchin about his horrific ordeal. (This programme contains disturbing accounts of extreme violence) Photo: Ramiro as a child in Guatemala (R.Osorio)
A catastrophic earthquake hit northern Armenia on the morning of December 7th 1988. At least 20,000 people were killed and thousands more injured. Anahit Karapetian was in school when the tremors hit her hometown of Spitak close to the epicentre. She was trapped in the rubble for hours, surrounded by injured and dead classmates. She has been speaking to Dina Newman about what she went through.
Photo: Ruins in Armenia in 1988. Credit: Getty Images
Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Republic in a lavish ceremony on the 4th of December 1977. He'd already been President for several years since taking power in a military coup - but he wanted more. Janet Ball has spoken to one of his sons, Jean-Charles Bokassa, and to a French journalist, about the events of that day. Photo: Jean-Bédel Bokassa, stands in front of his throne after crowning himself. 04 December 1977 in Bangui. (Credit: Pierre Guillaud/AFP/Getty Images)
At the end of WW2 much of Germany's capital had been destroyed by bombing and artillery. Almost half of all houses and flats had been damaged and a million Berliners were homeless. Caroline Wyatt has been speaking to Helga Cent-Velden, one of the women tasked with helping clear the rubble to make the city habitable again.
Photo: Women in post-war Berlin pass pails of rubble to clear bombed areas in the Russian sector of the city. (Photo by Fred Ramage/Keystone/Getty Images)
At the end of November 1994, Norway voted in a referendum not to join the European Union. The issue had split the country, and Norway was the only one of four countries that had referendums on EU membership that year to vote against. A senior member of the Yes campaign, former Norwegian foreign minister and Labour politician, Espen Barth Eide, tells Louise Hidalgo about the night they lost.
Picture: fishing vessels with banners reading "No to EU" in the harbour of Tromso two weeks before the referendum took place (Credit: Press Association)
The discovery of a nest of complete dinosaur eggs in Mongolia in 1923 provided the first proof that the prehistoric creatures hatched out of eggs rather than giving birth to live young. The American explorer who found them, Roy Chapman Andrews, became a legend and many consider him the inspiration for the film hero Indiana Jones. Claire Bowes spoke to his granddaughter, Sara Appelbee.
Photo: Roy Chapman Andrews examining first find of dinosaur eggs by George Olsen, Mongolia, 1925 (courtesy of AMNH Research Library)
Audio of Roy Chapman Andrews courtesy of Marr Sound Archives, UMKC University Libraries.
In 1982, Terrence Higgins became the first known British victim of a frightening new disease called HIV/AIDS. In his memory, his friends set up the Terrence Higgins Trust - now Europe's leading charity in the area. Simon Watts talks to his former partner, Dr Rupert Whitaker.
PHOTO: Terrence Higgins (Courtesy: Dr Rupert Whitaker)
A personal account of the huge Antarctic industry which left whales on the brink of extinction. For centuries, whaling had been big business. Whale products were used in everything from lighting, to food and cosmetics. Hunting had decimated the whale population in the north Atlantic so in the early 20th century, Britain and Norway pioneered industrialised whaling in the Antarctic. Soon other nations joined in. At the time, there was little public concern about the morality of hunting whales and they were slaughtered at an astonishing rate. We hear from Gibbie Fraser, who worked on a whale catcher in the Antarctic in the 1950s and 60s, when the impact of decades of hunting finally brought an end to Britain's whaling industry.
Photo: A whale on the flensing plan at Grytviken, South Georgia, 1914-17 (Photo by Frank Hurley/Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge/Getty Images)
In the early 1990s, Saddam Hussein ordered the draining of southern Iraq's great marshes. It was one of the biggest environmental disasters of the twentieth century and an ancient way of life, dating back thousands of years, was almost wiped out. In 2014 Louise Hidalgo spoke to Iraqi environmentalist Azzam Alwash, and to journalist Shyam Bhatia, who knew the area well. This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photograph: An Iraqi Marsh Arab looks out across a barren stretch of the marshes of southern Iraq. (Credit: Essam al-Sudani/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1957, just four years after Stalin's death, 30,000 students from 130 countries attended the 6th International Youth Festival in Moscow, a two week celebration of 'Peace and Freedom' with music, dance, theatre and sports. British student Kitty Hunter-Blair remembers a unique moment for young Russians, who were allowed, for the first time, to talk freely to foreigners.
Picture: Participants in the 6th International Youth Festival in Mayakovsky Square, on their way to Lenin stadium for the opening ceremony, July 28, 1957. Credit: Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images.
The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in November 2004. French doctors treating him at the military hospital in France where he died said Arafat had an unidentified blood disorder and gave the cause of death as a stroke. Since then there have been allegations that he was poisoned. Leila Shahid was the Palestinian ambassador to France in 2004, and was with Yasser Arafat during his final days. She's been talking to Louise Hidalgo about that time.
Picture: Yasser Arafat attending Friday prayers at his headquarters in Ramallah a year before his death (Credit: Antoine Gyori/AGP/Corbis via Getty Images)
What did Lee Harvey Oswald do for two years in the Soviet city of Minsk? And why did the American authorities let him return without any fuss in 1963? A few months later he would be arrested for shooting the US President. Vincent Dowd has been listening to archive accounts of Oswald's time in the USSR and speaking to Anthony Summers who has written about the assassination of President Kennedy.
Photo: Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22,1963, during a press conference after his arrest in Dallas. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.
During the last years of World War Two, the American government began hiring poor Mexicans to come to work legally on US farms. The scheme was known as the 'Bracero' programme and lasted until 1964. Mike Lanchin presents archive recordings of some of those involved in the programme, using material collected by the University of Texas at El Paso.
Photo: A group of Mexican Braceros picking strawberries in a field in the Salinas Valley, California in June 1963 (Getty Images)
A man recorded by the BBC shares his memories of the funeral of the Duke of Wellington in 1852. The Duke was given a state funeral after defeating Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. The British General was credited with preventing Napoleon Bonaparte from establishing a European empire. Frederick Mead was just five when he went with his parents to watch the funeral procession go by.
PICTURE: The Duke of Wellington. Oil on canvas (photo by Imagno/Getty Images)
For decades disabled people in the UK were offered tiny, three-wheeled, turquoise cars as their main form of transport. They were known as Invacars and they were provided, free of charge, to people who couldn't use ordinary vehicles.They were phased out in the 1970s because they were accident-prone and people were given grants to adapt conventional cars instead. Daniel Gordon has been hearing from Colin Powell, who was issued with his first Invacar at the age of 16.
Photo: an Invacar. Credit: BBC
When WW2 was over, a fanatical group of Japanese immigrants living in Brazil refused to believe that Japan had lost the war. They decided to punish their more prominent compatriots who accepted that Japan had lost. The extremists killed 23 people. Aiko Higuchi remembers the tragic day in February 1946 when her father became their first victim.
Photo: Some members of Shindo Renmei (Tokuichi Hidaka is the first from the right) in picture taken by Masashigue Onishi in Tupã, state of São Paulo, Brazil, in the beginning of 1946, before the killings. Credit: Masashigue Onishi/Historical Museum of Japanese Immigration in Brazil
In November 1979, Iranian students seized the American embassy in Tehran after Washington agreed to allow the deposed Shah into the US for medical treatment. It would be more than a year before the US embassy hostages were released and the crisis irreparably damaged American-Iranian relations. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to diplomat Henry Precht, head of the Iran desk at the US state department during those tumultuous months who argued against letting the exiled Shah enter America.
Picture: protestors in New York demonstrate against the admission of the Shah of Iran into a New York hospital (Credit: Michael Norcia/Sygma/Getty Images)
Pearl Unikow was a young woman who grew up in a segregated Jewish community in Russia before WW1. Her stories, recorded in Yiddish in the 1970s, provide a rare account of traditional Jewish life. Her granddaughter Lisa Cooper wrote a book based on those recordings. Dina Newman has been listening to the tapes and spoke to Lisa Cooper. Photo: Pearl Unikow (in the middle of the back row) with her cousins, circa 1920. Credit: family archive.
On a hot summer day in 1971, six armed men invaded the house of former Congressman Rubens Paiva in Rio de Janeiro. He was taken from his wife and children, never to be seen again. Paiva was one of the most famous Brazilians to disappear during the military dictatorship. His son, writer Marcelo Rubens Paiva, tells how his family coped with decades of lies, uncertainty and, finally, the truth.
Photo: Rubens Paiva surrounded by his family (his son, Marcelo, is seated cross-legged). Credit: Family Archive
After four years of war Germany was on the verge of defeat. Its armies were exhausted and in retreat, its civilian population enduring hardship and hunger. As unrest grew at home, the German government and military struggled to maintain control. The German Kaiser was forced to abdicate. Germany became a republic. Hear first-hand accounts from the BBC archive of how the disastrous end to the First World War provoked revolution in Germany.
Photo: Revolutionaries in a truck with machine guns in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, November 1918 (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)
During World War One, two British nurses set up a first aid station just a few hundred metres behind the trenches of the Western Front. Mairi Chisholm and Elsie Knocker became known as 'the Madonnas of Pervyse'. Mairi Chisholm spoke to the BBC in 1977, Lucy Burns has been listening to her story.
(Photo: Mairi Chisholm (left) and Elsie Knocker. Courtesy of Dr Diane Atkinson, author of Elsie and Mairi Go To War)
At the start of World War One, British and German colonial forces went into battle in East Africa. Tens of thousands of African troops and up to a million porters were conscripted to fight and keep the armies supplied. Alex Last brings you very rare recordings of Kenyan veterans of the King's African Rifles, talking about their experiences of the war. The interviews were made in Kenya in the early 1980s by Gerald Rilling with the help of Paul Kiamba.
Photo: Locally recruited troops under German command in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania (then part of German East Africa), circa 1914. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
It was one of the defining battles of the First World War.
Britain and its allies had ambitious plans to break through German lines - but they ended up mired in mud.
Listen to the voices of soldiers who took part - from the BBC archive.
Photo: Getty Images.
On 9 November 1938 Nazis led attacks on Jewish homes and businesses across Germany. Because of the number of windows that were smashed it would be remembered as the "night of broken glass" or Kristallnacht. Writer and artist Nora Krug has investigated her German family's wartime experiences for her graphic history "Heimat". She spoke to Kirsty Reid about what happened in her hometown of Karlsruhe that night in November 1938.
(Photo: Nora Krug. Credit: Penguin Books)
In November 1968 a young activist hit Germany's leader in public, to draw attention to his Nazi past. The activist was Beate Klarsfeld - the Chancellor was Kurt Georg Kiesinger. Tim Mansel has been listening to Beate Klarsfeld's memories of what happened after she attacked the political leader
Photo: Beate Klarsfeld today. Credit: Tim Mansel
In October 1955, Britain was gripped by a romance between the young Princess Margaret and a glamorous, but divorced, ex-fighter pilot called Captain Peter Townsend. The couple had been in love for years, but after opposition from Buckingham Palace courtiers, the princess eventually announced that she would not go ahead with a marriage. Simon Watts talks to Lady Jane Rayne, a former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret and one of the first to spot the chemistry between the pair.
PHOTO: Captain Townsend with Princess Margaret in the 1940s (Getty Images)
Eldridge Cleaver, one of the leaders of the radical African American Black Panther party, spent more than three years in exile in Algeria in the late 1960s. He set up an international office for the Black Panthers, mingling with dozens of left-wing revolutionary activists who had also sought refuge in north Africa. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Elaine Klein Mokhtefi, a left-wing American woman who lived and worked in Algiers, and who became Cleaver's fixer and close confidante.
Photo: Eldridge Cleaver and Elaine Mokhtefi (credit: Pete O'Neal)
Senior KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin risked his life smuggling thousands of top-secret Soviet intelligence files out of KGB headquarters, and bringing them to the West. His archive was one of the largest hauls of information to leak out of a major intelligence service anywhere in the world. Louise Hidalgo talks to Cambridge historian Professor Christopher Andrew, one of the few people let into Mitrokhin's secret who helped him turn his archive into a book.
Picture: Vasili Mitrokhin, taken in March 1992 when he walked into the British embassy in Latvia and announced he had a big haul of KGB intelligence (Credit: Churchill Archives Centre, University of Cambridge)
An eyewitness account of a discovery that changed Nigerian history. Chief Sunday Inengite was 19 years old when prospectors from the Shell D'Arcy oil company first came to his village of Oloibiri in the Niger Delta in search of crude oil. It was there in 1956, that commercial quantities of oil were first discovered more than 3km below ground. It marked the start of Nigeria's huge oil industry, but it came at a cost for villages in the Niger Delta. Alex Last spoke to Chief Sunday Inengite about his memories of those days and the impact oil had on his community.
Photo: An oil worker watches over the drilling at of an oil well in Nigeria (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
When Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky was jailed in 2003, it was the start of President Putin's crackdown on the oligarchs. He shares his memories of that time with Dina Newman.
Photo: former head of Yukos Mikhail Khodorkovsky leaving the courtroom in Moscow, Russia, September 22, 2005. Credit: Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images
The former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet, was arrested in London in October 1998. Spanish lawyers wanted him extradited to Spain to face charges of torturing and murdering political opponents in Chile. He claimed immunity as a former head of state. He was held under house arrest in the UK for over a year. Lucy Williamson spoke to public relations expert Patrick Robertson about his efforts to get the General back home to Chile.
Photo: General Pinochet in 1999. Credit: PA
In October 1984, one of South Africa's most well-known human rights activists, Desmond Tutu, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his opposition to apartheid. Two years later he became the first black head of the Anglican church in Southern Africa. Archbishop Tutu's friend and former deputy, Bishop Michael Nuttall, has been telling Louise Hidalgo about those milestones on the road to a new multi-racial South Africa, and about his friend's irrepressible spirit.
Picture: Desmond Tutu in Washington addressing a US House Subcommittee hearing on apartheid shortly after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (Credit: David Tulls/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1999 Belgian teenagers started to become ill after drinking Coca-Cola. Many ended up in hospital and the government banned the sale of all Coca-Cola products. But the fizzy drink was given the all-clear so what was making the children sick? Claire Bowes has been speaking to Belgian toxicologist, Benoit Nemery, about a country in crisis.
(Photo: A poster saying 'out of order' is stuck on a Coca Cola vending machine in Mouscron, Belgium in 1999. Credit: Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images).
In October 1993 news broke about an arms deal with Malaysia that led to the biggest development aid scandal in British history. It became known as the Pergau Dam Affair. Tim Mansel has been speaking to Tim Lankester, a British civil servant, who found himself caught up in the aid deal.
Photo: Roger Briottet, director of the World Development Movement, celebrates with supporters after their High Court victory. The organisation had challenged the right of Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd to authorise £234 million in aid for the Pergau Dam Project. Credit: PA News/Sean Dempsey.
In the early 1970's, at the peak of political repression and persecution in Brazil, a collection of left-wing students and liberal professionals decided to move to a remote region in the Amazon to fight the military dictatorship. Two survivors from the so-called Araguaia Guerrilla War spoke to Thomas Pappon about how they endured life and war in the jungle.
Photo: Two guerrilla fighters after being captured in 1974 (Archive PCdoB)
In October 1973 Arab nations slashed oil production in protest at American support for Israel during it's war against Egypt and Syria. Oil prices sky rocketed. Alex Last heard from former deputy secretary general of OPEC, Dr Fadhil Chalabi, about the struggle for the control of oil in the early 1970s.
Photo: Cars queuing at a petrol station in London, during a petrol shortage, November 1973. (Credit: Aubrey Hart/Evening Standard/Getty Images)
The Italian authorities tried to divert the stream of molten lava pouring down the slopes of the Etna volcano on the island of Sicily in 1983. Susan Hulme has been speaking to volcanologist, Dr John Murray, who was there watching their efforts to save homes and businesses from destruction.
Photo: Mount Etna erupting in 2017. Credit:Reuters/Antonio Parrinello
The murdered Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero, is being made a saint of the Roman Catholic church. He was killed in 1980 by a right-wing death squad as he said mass at the altar. His death pushed El Salvador into its bloody civil war. Mike Lanchin spoke to local journalist, Milagro Granados, who was there at the moment of his assassination.
Photo: Archbishop Romero, pictured in July 1979 (Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)
In October 1945, Austria got its first provisional government since its annexation by Nazi Germany a year before the Second World War. Wilfriede Iwaniuk was 14 when Hitler marched into Vienna; she tells Louise Hidalgo about the harshness of the war years and how, after the war too, there was no food and few jobs.
Picture: Wilfriede Iwaniuk in 1946.(Credit: the Iwaniuk family)
During World War Two the German secret service compiled a book listing all the people they wanted to arrest in Britain if it fell to the Nazis. The top-secret 'Special Search Index GB' contained details of politicians and intellectuals and people who had fled Germany before the war - but it also included relatively ordinary British citizens. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to someone whose father appeared in the book, and to historian Terry Charman who published a facsimile edition of the so-called 'Black Book'.
Photo: the front of the 'Black Book' with the German word 'Secret' stamped on it. Credit: BBC
In 1948 racist violence broke out against Romany-speaking traveller people in Sweden. The riots in the town of Jönköping lasted for several days. Birgitta Hellström and Barbro Gustafsson are sisters from the traveller community and they have been speaking to Tim Mansel about the events of that time.
(Photo: Birgitta Hellström (L) and Barbro Gustafsson (R). Credit: Tim Mansel)
Britain's Labour government was determined to get rid of the unelected aristocrats sitting in the House of Lords - Parliament's second chamber. But the hereditary peers didn't go without a fight. Susan Hulme has been speaking to Marquis of Salisbury the man at the centre of the backroom deal to keep some seats for the nobility.
Photo: Lords at the State Opening of Parliament in Westminster. in 2008. Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Allen Ginsberg first read his poem Howl, at an art gallery in San Francisco in October 1955. It marked a turning point in American literature and is credited with starting the "Beat Generation" of American writers. Michael McClure, a fellow poet, took part in the reading that night. The programme was first broadcast in 2012.
Photo: Allen Ginsberg, front row centre, with other poets in 1965. Express/Getty Images.
Slava Zaitsev was the first designer to create high fashion collections in the Soviet Union. He tells Dina Newman about the challenges he faced working under communism.
Photo: a sketch of a dress designed by Slava Zaitsev; credit: courtesy of Slava Zaitsev.
How a chemist and a surgeon found a way of helping burns to heal. Chemist Ioannis Yannas was working alongside surgeon John Burke when they first made the breakthrough using a membrane made of collagen to cover burns which were too large for skin grafts.
Photo: Professor Ioannis Yannas with some of his collagen membrane. Credit: MIT.
On the 2nd and 3rd of October 1968, students from two neighbouring universities in the centre of São Paulo clashed in a battle which left one dead and many injured. Thomas Pappon talked to two former students who were at the so called 'Battle of Maria Antônia'.
Photo: the 'Battle of Maria Antonia', São Paulo, 1968. Credit: Agência Estado/AFP
The former West Indies cricketer, Learie Constantine, took the Imperial Hotel in London to court in 1943. It had refused to let him and his family stay because they were black. He won his case. Susan Hulme brings you his story from the BBC Archives.
Photo: Sir Learie Constantine and his wife in the 1960s. Credit: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
In 1993 work began to build Europe's longest road and rail bridge. The Oresund Bridge links Sweden to Denmark connecting them by land for the first time in thousands of years. In an unlikely twist, it also inspired a hit TV drama which has been broadcast in more than 150 countries. Claire Bowes spoke to Ajs Dam, head of information at the consortium which built the bridge.
Photo: Oresundsbron by night from Lernacken (courtesy of Pierre Mens/Øresundsbron)
The war lasted for eight years. The death toll is estimated at over a million people. It began when Saddam Hussein sent planes and troops into Iran in September 1980. Ahmed Almushatat was a young Iraqi medic who was sent to the front line towards the end of the war. He spoke to Louise Hidalgo.
Photo: An Iraqi tank in action. Credit:AFP/Getty Images
How a scientific breakthrough led to the invention of the revolutionary cancer vaccine. In the 1980s, it was established that cervical cancer was caused by the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) which is usually spread through sexual intercourse. In 1989, scientists Ian Frazer and Jian Zhou at the University of Queensland began working on the basis of a possible vaccine for HPV Their solution was to use parts of the virus's own genetic code to create a virus like particle (vlp) which would trigger an immune response. Alex Last has been speaking to Professor Ian Frazer about their discovery.
(Photo: Electron micrograph of virus like particles formed from the outer protein coat of the human papillomavirus (HPV). The proteins form a virus-like particle that does not contain any genetic material. Credit: Science Photo Library)
Sometimes called the 'Mother of Modern Dance' she was born and brought up in the USA. Isadora Duncan performed across Europe in the early 20th Century, and her free-flowing movements caused a sensation among dancers and choreographers alike. Simon Watts brings together archive accounts of the dancer whose private life was almost as controversial as her dancing.
Photo: Isadora Duncan. Credit: Getty Images
South Africa sent 600 soldiers into Lesotho to quell political unrest in September 1998. Mamello Morrison was an opposition protestor. She spoke to David Whitty in 2014 about the ensuing violence. This programme is a rebroadcast. Photo: Members of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) deployed in Lesotho. Credit: Walter Dhladhla/AFP
In September of 1987, two waste pickers in the Brazilian town of Goiania broke into a disused medical clinic and stole a radiotherapy machine, triggering the biggest ever radioactive accident outside a nuclear facility.Hundreds of people were contaminated and four people died.
Thomas Pappon spoke to one of the victims and the physicist who was the first to assess the scale of the accident.
Photo of technicians collecting nuclear waste in the contaminated scrap yard in Goiania. Copyright CNEN.
Thousands of Allied troops parachuted into the Nazi-occupied Netherlands in September 1944. At that point, it was the most ambitious Allied airborne offensive of World War Two. British, American and Polish troops were dropped behind German lines in an attempt to capture a series of bridges on the Dutch/German border. Mike Lanchin has spoken to Hetty Bischoff van Heemskerck who, as a young woman, watched the Allied paratroopers come down close to her home in the city of Arnhem.
(Photo: Allied planes and parachutists over Arnhem, Getty Images)
In September 1966, a film was released that has come to be seen as one of the great political masterpieces of 20th-century cinema. Shot in black-and-white, the Battle of Algiers recreates the turbulent last years of French colonial rule in Algeria. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to former Algerian resistance leader, Saadi Yacef, who plays himself in the film and on whose memoirs the film is largely based.
Picture: French paratroop commander Colonel Mathieu (played by actor Jean Martin) in a scene from the film, the Battle of Algiers, directed by Gillo Pontecorvo (Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Five Cuban spies were arrested in Miami by the FBI in September 1998. After a controversial trial, they were given lengthy jail sentences. The last of the five was released in December 2014 as part of a prisoner swap for an American intelligence officer. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to one of the Cubans, Rene Gonzalez, who was released in 2011.
(Photo: Portraits of the Cuban Five. Credit: Nelson Almeida/AFP/Getty Images)
The train which marked the end of the steam age on Britain's main-line rail network. The Fifteen Guinea Special was a passenger service which ran from Liverpool to Carlisle on August 11th 1968 to commemorate the withdrawal of steam locomotives from the country's main railways. Steam locomotives had worked on British railways since the early 19th century. Thousands lined the route to see the last locomotives in action. Alex Last speaks to rail enthusiast Mark Smith who was on board the special train. Photo: The locomotive, Oliver Cromwell, was one of four locomotives used on the Fifteen Guinea Special, 11 August 1968 (Mark Smith)
In 1991 a mystery was solved when two English men claimed responsibility for the creation of crop circles. The huge patterns had been appearing on farmland across England for years and had scientists puzzled, with explanations ranging from whirlwinds to UFOs. Despite this admission of guilt, many people still refused to accept this simple explanation. So what is the truth about crop circles? Claire Bowes has been speaking to John Lundberg who knew Doug Bower one of the men who came forward in 1991.
Photo: (BBC) 1999 A crop circle made for the BBC TV programme Countryfile.
Ricardo Trajano was the only passenger to survive a fire on a plane in 1973. His flight from Brazil was forced to make an emergency landing outside Paris, and 123 people died. But, as he's been telling Thomas Pappon, he stayed alive by ignoring all the official safety advice.
Photo: Ricardo Trajano as a young man. Copyright: Ricardo Trajano.
On September 12th 1977 the anti-Apartheid activist and leader of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa died from injuries sustained while in police custody. The South African police claimed that Steve Biko had gone on hunger strike and had starved himself to death. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Peter Jones, a fellow anti-Apartheid activist, who was arrested alongside Biko a few weeks before his brutal death.
Photo: Steve Biko Inquest, November 1977 (Credit: Alamy)
In September 1938 Britain's Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain flew back and forth to Germany to negotiate with Adolf Hitler. He hoped to guarantee "peace for our time". He agreed that Germany could take over the Sudetenland in western Czechoslovakia, as part of a policy known as appeasement.
Photo: The Prime Minister meets the press on his return from his first trip to Germany on September 16th 1938. Copyright: BBC.
In 1988 a ship named 'Khian Sea' dumped 4,000 tons of incinerated ash close to the beach in the town of Gonaives, in northern Haiti. The ash had originally come from the city of Philadelphia, and had been aboard the Khian Sea for more than a year, while it searched for a country that would accept it. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Kenny Bruno, a Greenpeace campaigner who tracked the ship as it sailed across the oceans with its cargo of waste. He recalls the battle to get the ash sent back to the US.
Photo: Campaigner Kenny Bruno photographed in front of the ash pile in Gonaives, Haiti (1988, Greenpeace)
First-hand accounts of the Allied offensive which finally brought the war to an end. The offensive took place on the Western Front in the summer and autumn of 1918. After years of trench warfare, Allied forces managed to break through and force the German army into full retreat. In November 1918, Germany was forced to sign an armistice to end the war. But the human cost of those final battles was immense. The Allies and the German army suffered more than one million casualties each, Using BBC archive recordings of veterans, Alex Last tells the story of the final 100 Days Offensive.
Photo: A British tank rolls through devastated Bapaume, which was shelled during the Hundred Days Offensive in 1918. (Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
In 1991 as the communist system was collapsing, in a hugely symbolic act, Leningrad voted to drop Lenin's name abandoning its revolutionary heritage and returning to its historic name of St Petersburg. Dina Newman speaks to Ludmilla Narusova, wife of the first St Petersburg mayor, Anatoli Sobchak, who campaigned for the change.
Photo: Communist campaigners demonstrate against the name change in Leningrad in 1991. Credit: Sobchak Foundation.
In September 1969, a military coup in Libya brought Muammar Gaddafi to power. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to award-winning writer Hisham Matar about life in Libya in the first decade of Gaddafi's rule, his family’s flight from Libya and how his father, Jaballa Matar, became one of Gaddafi's most prominent opponents in exile and paid the ultimate price.
Picture: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli on September 27th 1969, shortly after the bloodless coup that brought him to power (Credit: AFP FILES/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1978 the racist murder of a young Bangladeshi textile worker in east London galvanised an immigrant community. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Rafique Ullah who took part in the protests and community action that followed the death of Altab Ali.
(Photo: Anti-racist protest in east London 1978. Credit: Altab Ali Foundation)
The first magnetic resonance scan of a human body was attempted by Dr Raymond Damadian and two students in 1977. It marked a breakthrough in efforts to develop the medical technology now known as the MRI scanner. MRI uses a powerful magnetic field and radio waves to produce images of the inside of the body. Dr Damadian spoke to Ashley Byrne about his early experiments.
Photo: Drs Raymond Damadian, Lawrence Minkoff and Michael Goldsmith and the completed Indomitable scanner.(Courtesy: FONAR Corporation)
During World War Two the Japanese forced prisoners of war to build a 400 kilometre railway from Thailand to Burma. Tens of thousands died during the construction and it became known as the "death railway". A former British prisoner of war, Cyril Doy, told Claire Bowes how he survived sickness, starvation and humiliation while building the famous railway bridge over the River Kwai.
(Photo: Allied Prisoners of War in a Japanese prison camp 1945 British Pathé)
In August 1956, a fire at a coal mine in Belgium killed 262 people. The tragedy caused grief across Europe, but particularly in Italy because more than half the dead were Italian migrants. Simon Watts brings together the memories of Lino Rota, a rescue worker at Marcinelle, and Rosaria di Martino, whose family moved to Marcinelle from a village in Sicily. The interview with Lino Rota was conducted by Italian journalist, Paolo Riva.
PHOTO: A funeral at Marcinelle in 1956 (Getty Images)
On 21 August 1986 villagers in the north-west of Cameroon awoke to find that many of their friends and neighbours had died in their sleep. More than 1,700 people and much of their livestock are thought to have perished as a result of unexpected volcanic activity under Lake Nyos, which produced a cloud of deadly carbon dioxide. Tim Mansel spoke to two scientists who went to find out how it had happened.
Photo: Dead livestock near Lake Nyos (Peter Turnley/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
The League of German Girls was the girl's wing of the Nazi party's youth movement, Hitler Youth. Open to girls aged ten years upwards, it was a key part of the Nazi plans to shape a new generation of Germans. Caroline Wyatt travels to Berlin to meet Eva Sternheim-Peters, now 93, who joined the League at the age of ten and rose to be one of its leaders.
Photo: Eva Sternheim-Peters at home in Berlin (Credit: Stefan Thissen)
The Spanish town of Benidorm is now one of the world's most popular holiday resorts - receiving more than 10 million visitors a year. The hotels and skyscrapers are the vision of Benidorm's mayor in the 1950s and 60s, Pedro Zaragoza. Zaragoza personally convinced Spain's dictator, General Franco, to allow more tourism - and to allow sunbathers to wear the bikini. Simon Watts introduces the memories of Pedro Zaragoza, as recorded by Radio Elche Cadena Ser shortly before his death.
PHOTO: A busy day at Benidorm (Reuters)
Among the leading Nazi inmates in Berlin’s Spandau prison, which was closed in August 1987, was Hitler's architect and minister of war, Albert Speer. He was the only top Nazi who later apologised for the Holocaust, although he claimed he never knew it was happening. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to the journalist Roger George Clark, who interviewed Speer a decade after his release at his home in West Germany.
Picture: Albert Speer standing at the gate of his house near Heidelberg in December 1979. (Credit: Roger George Clark)
The story behind the groundbreaking autobiography of a woman who grew up in 19th century pre-colonial Nigeria. The book is the story of Baba a Hausa woman, who lived in the farming hamlet of Karo, when the region was part of the Islamic empire, the Sokoto Caliphate. Baba's account was written down by an English woman, Mary Smith, in 1949, while she was working in northern Nigeria with her husband, the anthropologist, M.G Smith. The book became a key text in studies of pre-colonial Africa. Alex Last has been speaking to Mary Smith about her memories of Baba.
Photo: Baba as an old woman in northern Nigeria in 1949 (credit: Mary Smith)
Sales of alcohol in the USSR were severely limited in 1985 in a bid to fight drunkenness. But the anti-alcohol campaign was abandoned three years later when the Soviet economy was in trouble, and the government need more taxes. Dina Newman discussed the reasons for the campaign's failure with the former advisor to the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Alexander Tsipko.
Photo: A Soviet anti-alcohol poster; Credit: Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images.
A former student, Olda Cerny, tells Alan Johnston about how he made a desperate appeal for the support of the outside world as invading Soviet tanks rumbled through the streets of the Czechoslovak capital in August 1968. This programme was first broadcast in 2010.
Picture: Soviet troops in Prague (Getty Images)
An intriguing story from West Germany in August 1988, of a bank robbery, a three-day car chase that had the country holding its breath, and a journalist who got a little bit too close to the story. Tim Mansel has been hearing from one of the people at the centre of this crisis, journalist Udo Roebel.
Photo: Holding a weapon in his hand, kidnapper Hans-Jürgen Rösner calls on journalists and spectators to free the way in the city of Cologne, August 1988 (Press Association)
In August 1958 the Japanese entrepreneur, Momofuku Ando, came up with the idea of a brand new food product that would change eating habits of people across the world. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Yukitaka Tsutsui, an executive for the company founded by Ando, about the birth of the Instant Noodle.
Photo: 'Space Ram' instant noodles for astronauts (YOSHIKAZU TSUNO/AFP/Getty Images)
The apartheid government finally launched a TV service in 1976. For years the Afrikaner dominated government had opposed the introduction of television, believing it would undermine the Afrikaans language, culture and religion. Alex Last has been speaking to two people involved in the launch, presenter Heinrich Marnitz and sound engineer, Dave Keet. Photo: South Africans gather around their new TV set in 1976 (BBC)
In 1969 photo journalist Moneta Sleet became the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for journalism. He won for the black and white image of Coretta Scott King the widow of Martin Luther King taken at the funeral of the murdered civil rights leader. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Moneta Sleet's son Gregory Sleet about his father's remarkable career capturing many of the images that defined the struggle for racial equality in America.
Photo: Moneta Sleet's Pulitzer Prize winning photo of Coretta Scott King and daughter Bernice. Credit. Getty
During WW2 the feminist and writer, Vera Brittain, spoke out against the saturation bombing of German cities. Her stance won her enemies in Britain and the USA. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to her daughter Shirley Williams about the impact of her campaign.
Photo: Vera Brittain at Euston Station, London, in 1956. Credit: Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
In August 1994 Yitzhak Rabin became the first Israeli leader publicly to visit Jordan. But in fact talks had been going on for years. Former head of Mossad, Ephraim Halevy, was Israel's secret peace envoy. He's been telling Louise Hidalgo about Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan's clandestine meetings during the often fraught road to peace.
Picture; US president Bill Clinton looks on as King Hussein and prime minister Yitzhak Rabin shake hands on the White House lawn in July 1994 ahead of a formal peace treaty between Israel and Jordan later that year. (Credit: Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
At a time of a bitter ethnic conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1988, two villages managed to escape violence by swapping homes with each other. Bairam Allazov, an Azeri, and Ishkhan Tsaturian, an Armenian, told the BBC about how they managed to guide their neighbours and families to safety as war broke out in the Caucasus.
Photo:Photo: Bairam Allazov (l) and Ishkhan Tsaturian (r). Credit: BBC
In 1954 Guatemala's left-leaning President Jacobo Arbenz was ousted from power by army officers backed by the CIA. In 2016 Mike Lanchin spoke to his son, Juan Jacobo Arbenz, about the events of that time, and the effects on his family.
Photo: Jacobo Arbenz and his wife speaking with a group of French reporters in Paris in 1955. Credit: Getty Images
In 2003 Iran agreed to let officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency into the country to look at its nuclear facilities. Olli Heinonen was one of the inspectors tasked with trying to establish whether or not Iran was trying to develop nuclear weapons. He's been speaking to Tim Mansel about what they found.
Photo:The Iranian nuclear power plant of Natanz, south of Tehran.(Credit:Henghameh Fahimi/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1998 brown bears were declared a protected species in Bulgaria and the ancient tradition of forcing them to dance for people's entertainment became illegal. Farhana Haider had been speaking to Dr Amir Khalil, a veterinarian who helped establish a bear sanctuary in Bulgaria to look after the retired animals.
Photo: Brown Bear. Copyright: EPA
In July 2007, a standoff between monks and the Welsh government made headlines around the world. At issue was the fate of Shambo, a sacred bull which had tested positive for bovine tuberculosis. Shambo was eventually removed by police during a religious ceremony and taken away for slaughter. Simon Watts talks to Swami Suryananda, one of the monks who fought to keep the bull alive.
PHOTO: Shambo (Press Association)
In 1916, Britain introduced conscription for the first time. But thousands refused to be part of the war effort. The government allowed people to apply for exemption on the basis of conscience. Those that did faced public hostility and abuse. Many conscientious objectors were pacifists, members of Christian groups, like the Quakers, or those who felt the war was wrong on political or moral grounds. The majority accepted service in non combat roles, But thousands refused to have any part in the war effort and were sent to prison. Hear archive recordings of the men who stood against the war. Photo: A crowd of conscientious objectors to military service during World War I at a special prison camp.(Hulton Archive)
In July 1976, women were admitted to the prestigious West Point military academy in the United States for the first time. Simon Watts talks to Marene Nyberg, one of the first female intake.
PHOTO: Women cadets at West Point in 1976 (Getty Images)
In July l945 Britain's great wartime leader, Winston Churchill, was defeated in a general election. The Labour party's landslide came just weeks after the surrender of Nazi Germany and remains one of the greatest shocks in British political history. How did Winston Churchill, a hugely popular national hero, fail to win? Louise Hidalgo has been listening back through the archives.
Picture: Winston Churchill makes a speech during the 1945 election campaign (Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
When colonial explorers discovered an ancient ruined city in Zimbabwe, they claimed foreigners must have built it. They denied the probability that it was the work of a great African civilisation that dominated southern and east Africa with its trade in gold. After independence Zimbabwe was able to reclaim its full heritage. Rebecca Kesby spoke to Dr Ken Mufuka - the historian who was tasked with rewriting the history books.
(Photo; The iconic tower in the Great Enclosure of the Great Zimbabwe National Monument. It's one of the most important archaeological sites in Africa and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Credit; Getty Creative.)
US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had an argument about living standards when Nixon visited Moscow in 1959. They spoke at an exhibition of a 'typical' American house full of modern domestic appliances.
Photo: The two leaders surrounded by press at the exhibition in Moscow, 1959. (Photo credit: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)
At the start of the Korean war in 1950, tens of thousands of suspected communist sympathisers were executed by the South Korean military. The regime feared they might support the North Korean invaders. Many of them were political prisoners, who were taken from their cells and shot dead. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Gaeseong Lee, whose father was a prisoner at Daejeon jail when he was killed.
Photo:Gaeseong Lee as a small child with his parents. Copyright: Gaeseong Lee.
Two IRA bombs were detonated in Hyde Park and Regent's Park in London on 20th July 1982. They left 11 military personnel dead, and injured around 50 people. Seven horses were also killed as the Hyde Park bomb was detonated during the Changing of the Guard procession. Karen Gregor has been speaking to former Army vet, Paddy Davison, who was called to the scene.
Photo: The covered bodies of horses lying in the road after the Hyde Park bombing. Credit: BBC
In July 1968 one of the most significant international treaties of the 20th-century was signed. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was aimed at stopping the spread of nuclear weapons, obliging signatories not to pass nuclear technology on to others, and was the result of rare cooperation between Cold War adversaries, the United States and the Soviet Union. Louise Hidalgo talks to former Soviet diplomat, Roland Timerbaev, who helped draft the treaty.
Picture: the mushroom cloud created by the explosion of an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945 (credit: Press Association)
On July 22 1946 an armed Jewish group opposed to British rule in Palestine, attacked the iconic hotel in Jerusalem where the British had their headquarters. 91 people were killed in the bombing, dozens of others were injured. Shoshana Levy Kampos was a 21-year-old Jewish woman who worked for the British as a secretary. She tells Mike Lanchin about her lucky escape.
Photo: Scene of wrecked King David Hotel in Jerusalem after bombing (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)
To fight food shortages in the 1950s the USSR embarked on a major agricultural project to develop vast areas of previously uncultivated land in northern Kazakhstan. The project attracted hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic volunteers, but decades later it led to environmental problems. Dina Newman spoke to an agricultural volunteer, Rimma Busurova.
Photo: Rimma Busurova and her classmates outside their dormitory in northern Kazakhstan; credit: Rimma Busurova family archive.
The Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, four daughters and young son, were shot in the cellar of a house in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918. Olga Romanoff is his great niece. She spoke to Olga Smirnova about his death and eventual reburial in St Petersburg.
(Photo: Nicholas II, Tsar and his family. From left to right - Olga, Maria,Tsar Nicholas II,Tsarina Alexandra, Anastasia, Tsarevitch Alexei and Tatiana. Credit: Press Association
In the summer of 2001, an Italian journalist used an underwater robot to find the remains of a shipwreck off the coast of Sicily which had killed nearly 300 migrants from South Asia. At the time this was the worst disaster of its kind in the Mediterranean but the few survivors had been ignored by officials and dismissed as fantasists. The discovery of the so-called “Phantom Shipwreck” caused an outrage in Italy. Simon Watts talks to Italian journalist Giovanni Maria Bellu and the former Observer correspondent in Rome, John Hooper, who also investigated the tragedy.
(Photo: The remains of the "Ghost Shipwreck" filmed off the Sicilian coast. Credti: EPA/ANSA/La Repubblica)
In the early 1960s a magazine article about West Germany's defence capabilities led to the imprisonment of seven journalists, a vehement debate about press freedom and a full-blown government crisis. Tim Mansel has been speaking to Franziska Augstein about her father Rudolf Augstein's part in the Spiegel Affair.
Photo: Rudolf Augstein, the publisher of the magazine 'Spiegel' is escorted by the police. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images
The inside story of how India secretly developed and exploded an atomic device in 1974. India called it a Peaceful Nuclear Explosion, though the experimental device was in effect a plutonium bomb. The test was seen as a triumph of Indian science and technology, but it led to the suspension of international nuclear co-operation with India, and spurred Pakistan to speed up development of its own nuclear bomb. Alex Last spoke to S.K Sikka, one of India's leading nuclear scientists, about his role in the secret project, code-named Smiling Buddha.
Photo: A crater marks the site of the first Indian underground nuclear test conducted 18 May 1974 at Pokhran in the desert state of Rajasthan. (PUNJAB PHOTO/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1958 Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, published his first book "Things Fall Apart". It was set in pre-colonial rural Nigeria and examines how the arrival of foreigners led to tensions within traditional Igbo society. The book revolutionised African writing, and began a whole new genre of world literature. In 2016 Rebecca Kesby spoke to Achebe's youngest daughter, Nwando Achebe.
(Photo: Chinua Achebe in 2002. Photo Credit: Reuters/Ralph Orlowski/Files )
When war broke out in Kosovo in 1998, Nato intervened with air-strikes. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was the main proponent for military action. She explains to Rebecca Kesby why she argued for action, and tells her own remarkable story, from a childhood in Czechoslovakia to the highest political office ever held by a woman in the United States at the time.
(Photo: Madeleine Albright. Credit US Government)
Post-war Britain saw a rise in makeshift adventure playgrounds born out of bomb sites. Children were provided with tools and raw materials, to build whatever they wanted to play with, using their own imagination. Anya Dorodeyko spoke to Tony Chilton, an early "playworker" and champion of adventure playgrounds in the UK about their boom in the 1970s.
Picture: children playing on an adventure playground in London in the 1970s (Credit: BBC)
A controversial installation by Russian conceptual artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov offended Russians in 1992, but is now seen as a masterpiece. Emilia Kabakov told Dina Newman that The Toilet is "a metaphor for life."
Photo: The Toilet, a model; credit: Kabakov archive
On 3 July 1988, a US Navy warship, the USS Vincennes, shot down an Iranian civilian airliner over the Persian Gulf. All 290 on board the aircraft were killed, among them 66 children. The plane was flying a scheduled service from Bandar Abbas in Iran to Dubai but was mistakenly identified as "hostile" by the US ship. Alex Last has been hearing a rare first-hand account from Rudy Pahoyo, a former US Navy Combat Cameraman who happened to be filming on the USS Vincennes that day. Photo: The USS Vincennes fires a surface to air missile towards Iran Air flight 655 on 3 July 1988 (Rudy Pahoyo)
In July 2005, the identity of one of the most famous informants in American political history was revealed. Deep Throat leaked details of President Nixon's Watergate cover-up to the Washington Post leading eventually to the president's resignation. He was former assistant director at the FBI, Mark Felt. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to the lawyer who helped persuade the elderly Mark Felt to go public after 30 years of silence and speculation.
Picture: Bob Woodward (left) and Carl Bernstein, the Washington Post reporters who broke the Watergate story, at their desk, 29th April 1973. They nicknamed their anonymous source Deep Throat. (Credit: Getty Images)
Former President George Bush Senior gave up his lifetime membership of the country's most powerful gun-lobby, the NRA, in 1995. Claire Bowes has been speaking to his speechwriter, Jim McGrath, to find out why the 41st President turned his back on the National Rifle Association, a body so closely associated with political power.
Photo: Portrait Of President George Herbert Walker Bush in 1991 (credit: Bachrach/Getty Images)
In 1981 a Whiskey-class Soviet submarine became stranded on a rock just off the coast of southern Sweden. For years Sweden had suspected the Soviets of patrolling illegally in their territorial waters. Now they had their proof. It took 11 days of tense negotiation before the submarine was allowed to leave. Tim Mansel speaks to Klas Helmerson, who helped interpret on behalf of the Swedish navy.
Photo: The Soviet submarine U-137 that ran aground in Karlskrona archipelago, Sweden in October 1981 (Credit: TT agency via Press Association)
Early 2003 saw a medical emergency sweep across the world. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome was a deadly virus which had first struck in southern China but soon there were cases as far away as Canada. William Ho and Tom Buckley were at the forefront of the battle against the epidemic.
Photo: Image of the SARS virus. Credit: Science Photo Library.
In June 1996, the campaigning Irish journalist Veronica Guerin was murdered by a hit squad as she waited in her car at a set of traffic lights. Guerin had become famous in Ireland for exposing the activities of the country's drug barons. Her life was later turned into a Hollywood film. Simon Watts talks to Guerin's friend and fellow journalist, Lise Hand.
(Photo: Veronica Guerin. Credit: Getty Images).
In June 1943 a young Jewish RAF pilot from the East End of London was forced to make an emergency landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa. The Italian forces stationed there promptly surrendered to him. He told his story to the BBC ,and soon he was a hero back home. A musical about his story even became a hit in London. Daniel Gordon has been listening to the BBC's archive, and talking to Arnold Schwartzman who made a film about Flight Sgt Sydney Cohen.
Photo: A Swordfish bi-plane, the type of plane that Sydney Cohen was flying when he landed on Lampedusa. Credit: Alamy.
Professor James Hansen finally got US politicians to listen to his warnings about climate change in June 1988 after years of trying. He and fellow NASA scientists had first predicted global warming in 1981. Professor Hansen spoke to Ashley Byrne about his discoveries.
Image: Map of the world. Credit: Science Photo Library.
Uzi Even is a former Colonel in the Israeli army reserves and a top nuclear scientist. In 1982 he was dismissed from his post after the military discovered he was gay. Ten years later, he went public, forcing the Army to change the law. He later became the first openly gay member of parliament in Israel. He tells Mike Lanchin about his battle for LGBT rights.
Photo: Uzi Even in the 1970s (courtesy of Uzi Even)
The town of Wittenoom in Western Australia sprang up around a blue asbestos mine in the 1940s and '50s. Asbestos, a natural fire retardant mineral fibre was then in high demand and used in thousands of products. But in Wittenoom, many residents were unaware that asbestos could be lethal. The fibres can cause lung disease and cancer. Thousands of residents died. The town is now almost completely abandoned. Janet Ball spoke to Bronwen Duke, who lived in the town as a child. She is one of the few members of her family still alive. Photo: Wittenoom (BBC)
Bata was a Czech company which pioneered assembly line shoemaking and sold affordable footwear around the world. Its factory near London became key to its expansion. Dina Newman speaks to one of its senior engineers, Mick Pinion, about the company's remarkable history and how it shod millions in Africa and Asia.
Photo: Bata factory in East Tilbury near London. Credit: Bata Heritage Centre.
An American doctor coined the phrase 'the battered child' to describe unexplained injuries which had been misdiagnosed by paediatricians unwilling or unable to acknowledge abuse. Dr C Henry Kempe published a paper in July 1962 which shocked the medical profession. Some doctors were pleased to finally be able to name child abuse but others refused to believe parents would harm their children that way. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Dr Kempe's daughter, Annie, about the remarkable man who helped save many children's lives.
Photo: Dr C Henry Kempe courtesy of The Kempe Foundation
North Korea's communist leader Kim Il-sung died in July 1994. Dr Antonio Betancourt, of the Unification Church, was in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, during the outpouring of national grief.
Photo: Dr Antonio Betancourt meeting Kim Il Sung just months before the leader's death. (Courtesy of Dr Antonio Betancourt.)
In 1991, amid escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang and Seoul agreed to field a united Korean table tennis team at the World Championships in Japan. Previously bitter rivals, players from the North and South spent more than a month training together and eventually bonding. Their experience inspired a hit film in South Korea, where ping pong is a very popular sport. Simon Watts spoke to former South Korean women's champion, Hyun Jung-Hwa about being part of that unified team.
PHOTO: The Korean women's team on the podium (Credit: Getty Images)
When the Korean War ended, a few American prisoners of war chose to go with their captors and try life under communism, instead of heading home to the USA. David Hawkins was one of them. He told his story to Chloe Hadjimatheou in 2012.
Photo: American, and South Korean POWs who refused repatriation. An African-American prisoner is singing a Chinese folk song to entertain his companions at the Songgongni camp while they wait. 1954.(Credit: Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)
North Korean communist troops invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. Initially they were very successful until UN forces (mainly American) helped drive them back. The war lasted until a ceasefire was declared in July 1953, millions of Koreans were killed in the fighting. Dr Yoon Goo Lee was living in a town in South Korea when the invasion started. In 2010 he told his story to Louise Hidalgo.
Photo: Korean refugees fleeing to the south. Credit: Getty Images
At the end of World War Two with the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Korea was split along the 38th parallel. Soviet forces took control in the North of the peninsula, and the US military took control in the South. Shin Insup was a boy, living the northern city of Pyongyang at the time. In 2015 he spoke to Catherine Davis about what happened next.
(Photo: Korea 38th parallel. Credit: Getty Images/AFP)
Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was executed just after midnight on June 1st 1962 in a prison in central Israel. Holocaust survivor Michael Goldmann-Gilead witnessed his execution and was one of two people tasked afterwards with scattering Eichmann's ashes at sea. He had been part of the police investigation collecting evidence against Eichmann before his trial, and had lost his parents and sister in the Holocaust. He has been telling Louise Hidalgo his story.
Picture: Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann preparing his defence in his cell at the Teggart Fortress ahead of his trial in Jerusalem in April 1961 for crimes against humanity (Credit: Getty Images)
Nigeria's military ruler, General Sani Abacha, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack on 8 June 1998. In 2015 Alex Last spoke to the general's personal doctor, Professor Sadiq Suleiman Wali.
Photo: General Abacha in 1997. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
In June 1968, Belgrade University was occupied by students protesting against Yugoslavia's system of 'market socialism'. The occupation lasted seven days and was supported by students in other parts of the country. Dina Newman speaks to Sonja Licht who was one of the organisers.
(Photo: Sonja Licht with her fellow protester and later her husband, Milan Nikolic, at the site of the protests. Credit: Nikolic family archive)
In June 1982, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Shlomo Argov, was shot and critically injured by a Palestinian gunman outside the Dorchester Hotel in London. The attack was the trigger for the start of the devastating war in Lebanon just days later. Simon Watts talks to Shlomo Argov's son, Gideon Argov.
(Photo: Shlomo Argov. Credit: Shutterstock)
In 1996 a young TV producer in Boston came up with the idea of a running programme to help people exercise regularly. Couch to 5K running groups now exist all over the world and it has even been endorsed by Britain's National Health Service, the NHS. Elizabeth Davies hears from Josh Clark, who invented the programme.
Photo credit: Science Photo Library
In May 2007 a nomadic reindeer herdsman discovered the perfectly preserved body of a 42,000-year-old baby mammoth in Siberia. The creature, which was later named Lyuba, was 130 cm tall and weighed around 50 kilos. Anya Dorodeyko has been speaking to herdsman Yuri Khudi about his amazing find.
Photo: Lyuba on display in Hong Kong in 2012. (credit: aaron tam/AFP/Getty Images)
In May 1942, the American Isaac Asimov published the first instalment of the Foundation series, which would go on to become one of the most popular works of science fiction ever written. Foundation asks big and hugely imaginative questions about the predictability of human behaviour in a space-age future. Simon Watts introduces excerpts from BBC archive interviews with Isaac Asimov and an early BBC dramatization of the Foundation series.
PHOTO: Isaac Asimov in the 1970s (BBC)
In 1948 the British government carried out an ambitious shake-up of post war society, establishing the foundations of a welfare state. A cornerstone of this new vision was the creation of the National Health Service, the NHS, providing free universal health care for everyone in the UK. Mike Lanchin has been hearing the memories of Olive Belfield, a former nurse and health visitor, and of Dr John Marks, one of the first doctors to qualify to work in the new NHS.
Photo: Aneurin Bevan, Minister of Health, meeting a patient at Papworth Village Hospital, after the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948 (Edward G Malindine/Getty Images)
Executives of Chemie-Grunenthal, the German company that made the drug Thalidomide, went on trial charged with criminal negligence in May 1968. Thalidomide had caused serious, often fatal, birth defects in thousands of babies after their mothers took the drug during pregnancy thinking it was safe. It was one of the biggest pharmaceutical scandals of post-war Europe, and the trial would last more than two years. In 2016 Louise Hidalgo spoke to the wife of the prosecutor in the case, who herself had a child disabled by Thalidomide.
This programme is a rebroadcast.
Photograph: A Thalidomide child undergoes rehabilitation, 1963 (Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
In the mid 1960s a Dutch engineer called Luud Schimmelpennink came up with a scheme to share bikes, and cut pollution. He collected about ten old bicycles, painted them white and left them at different points around Amsterdam. Luud has been speaking to Janet Ball about why that first scheme didn't last, and how he went on to invent an early computerised car-sharing scheme as well.
Photo: Activists with one of the original white bikes from the first scheme. Credit: Luud Schimmelpennink.
For 75 years the BBC ran a monitoring service based in an English stately home. Its job was to listen to foreign broadcasts from all around the world. But in 2018 the BBC decided the building was no longer needed. David Sillito spoke to veterans of the monitoring service before Caversham closed its doors.
Photo: Inside one of the listening huts at Caversham during WW2. Credit: BBC Monitoring Service.
Shoah, the epic nine-and-a-half hour documentary on the Holocaust by French film director Claude Lanzmann, was first screened in spring 1985. It took Lanzmann 11 years to make, and had taken him to 14 different countries. The film centres on first-hand testimony by survivors, witnesses and by perpetrators and uses no archive footage. On its release, it was hailed as one of the greatest films on the Holocaust ever made. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Irena Steinfeldt, who worked with Lanzmann on the film.
Picture: the original poster for the film, Shoah
On 23 May 1988 a group of lesbian activists invaded a BBC TV news studio as it went live on air. They were protesting against the introduction of new UK laws to limit LGBT rights. Booan Temple was one of the women who took part in the demonstration and she's been speaking to Ruth Evans about what happened that day.
Photo: Booan and another protester are led out of the BBC by security guards. Credit: BBC.
In 1984 a group of young people formed the Ajoka theatre group. Created at a time of heightened tensions and censorship due to the state of emergency imposed by the then military dictatorship of General Zia ul-Huq, it pioneered theatre for social change in Pakistan. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Fawzia Afzal-Khan who acted in the company's first original play.
(Members of the Ajoka theatre group 1988; Credit Fawzia Afzal-Khan)
On May 21st 1998 the president of Indonesia resigned after 31 years in power. He stood down in the wake of demonstrations and riots across the country. The riots had broken out after the shooting of four student demonstrators by armed police in the capital Jakarta. In 2014 Alex Last spoke to Bhatara Ibnu Reza who took part in the demonstrations and who was with one of the students when he died.
Photo: Students celebrate outside the Parliamentary buildings, Jakarta after Indonesian President Suharto announced his resignation. Credit: Adam Butler/PA
How Lt. Jack ReVelle disarmed two thermonuclear bombs which crashed in Goldsboro, North Carolina in 1961. The bombs had been sucked out of a B-52 bomber which broke up in mid air and crashed on a flight over the eastern United States. Accidents involving nuclear weapons are known as Broken Arrows in US military terminology. At the time, Jack Revelle led a US Air Force Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team based in Ohio. Photo: One of the bombs Jack disarmed remained virtually intact.(USAF)
The play Look Back in Anger exploded onto London's cultural scene in May 1956 and helped to change British theatre forever. The play by John Osborne is about a disillusioned university graduate coming to terms with his grudge against middle-class life and values. One writer described it as a cultural landmine. Actress Jane Asher starred in an early production and has been speaking to Louise Hidalgo for Witness.
Picture: Jane Asher, Victor Henry and Martin Shaw at a rehearsal for the 1968 revival of John Osborne's play Look Back In Anger at the Royal Court theatre. (Credit: Jim Gray/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In May 1968 student demonstrations spread across France and when workers joined the protests the whole country was brought to a standstill. Jean-Claude Pruvost was a young policeman who had to face the violent protests on the streets of Paris as the authorities tried to restore control. He has been speaking to Lisa Louis for Witness.
Photo: Protesters face police in front of the Joseph Gibert bookstore, Boulevard Saint Michel in May 1968. (Credit: Jacques Marie/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1907 Italian doctor, Maria Montessori opened a nursery where young children learnt independently, through practical work and playing with educational toys. The revolutionary teaching method soon spread around the world. Anya Dorodeyko spoke to the Italian educator's great granddaughter, Carolina Montessori and teacher Nan Abbott, who was trained by Dr Montessori in the 1940s.
Photo: Children develop their problem solving skills through play at a Montessori school in 1919. Credit: Davies/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
In 1943, the Royal Air Force attacked a set of dams in Germany's Ruhr valley which were considered indestructible. Flying low and at night, the crews used special bouncing bombs to bring down two of their targets. The Dambusters mission was a huge propaganda success for Britain and later inspired a famous film. In 2013, Simon Watts talked to Johnny Johnson, one of the few survivors of the raid.
PHOTO: Johnny Johnson (far left) with members of his crew, part of 617 squadron (DAMBUSTERS) at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, 22 JULY 1943 (Imperial War Museum).
In 1985 several members of the same American family were arrested for selling Navy secrets to the USSR. The alleged ring leader, John Walker, had been spying for the Soviets for 20 years. But the FBI suspected that John's elder brother Arthur had been involved in spying even earlier. Dina Newman speaks to Arthur Walker's lawyer, Sam Meekings.
Photo: the alleged spy ring leader John Walker started his career in the Navy on board the USS Forrestal, a US aircraft carrier. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images.
On the 10th May 1981 a baby was born after having been successfully operated on whilst still in the womb. The paediatric surgeon who developed the technique was Dr Michael Harrison. He has been speaking to Ashley Byrne about the challenges he faced.
Photo: an ultrasound of a foetus in the womb. Credit: Science Photo Library.
In June 2001, more than half a century after being driven into exile by communists, Bulgaria’s former King Simeon II made a dramatic comeback by winning the country’s parliamentary election. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha about his remarkable journey from child king to prime minister.
Photo: King Simeon II 1943 Credit: Bulgarian Royal Family
In May 1963, leaders of 32 newly-independent African nations came together for the first time in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. At stake was the dream of a united Africa. Alex Last spoke to Dr Bereket Habte Selassie who took part in that first gathering.
Photo: Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie (C) and Ghana's first President Kwame Nkrumah (L) during the formation of the Organization of African Unity in Addis Ababa in May 1963. Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images
Autism was first described in 1943 by Austrian-American child psychiatrist Leo Kanner. This condition, which makes it difficult for people to communicate and relate to the world around them, was seen as very rare at the time. Anya Dorodeyko has been speaking to Dr James Harris, Professor of Child Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University in America, who was a colleague and a successor to Leo Kanner.
Photo: Leo Kanner in 1955. (Credit: Science Photo Library)
The British conservative politician was the first woman elected to lead a Western European country. She came to power on May 4th 1979. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to Caroline Slocock who worked with Mrs Thatcher as her private secretary, while she was Prime Minister.
Photo: British Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, with husband Denis on May 4th 1979. (Credit: John Minihan/Evening Standard/Getty Images)
A surprise attack, a ship sunk, a crew captured - a veteran of the British Merchant Navy remembers his encounter with a German commerce raider in the South Atlantic in May 1940. At the time, Captain Graeme Cubbin was just a 16-year-old cadet on the British merchant ship, SS Scientist when it became the first victim of the German commerce raider, the Atlantis. The crew of the Scientist spent nine months as prisoners on the German raider, as it wreaked havoc on Allied shipping in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Capt. Cubbin spoke to Alex Last about his memories of the attack and the sacrifices made by the Merchant Navy in World War Two. Photo: The Atlantis, a German commerce raider, which operated in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean for almost two years. (UK Govt)
The hugely popular game show started on Japanese TV in 1986. Contestants were faced with all sorts of physical challenges which often resulted in slapstick failure. It soon became an international success. Ashely Byrne has been speaking to Hayato Tani who played 'The General' in Takeshi's Castle.
Photo: Hayato Tani now. Credit:Yoshie Matsumoto.
Birmingham Alabama was one of the most segregated cities in the USA in 1963. In May that year thousands of black schoolchildren responded to a call from Martin Luther King to protest against segregation at the height of the civil rights movement. It became known as the Children's Crusade. Gwendolyn Webb was 14 years old at the time. In 2013 she spoke to Ashley Byrne about her experiences.
Photo: African American children are attacked by dogs and water cannons during a protest against segregation in May 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
The Royal Shakespeare Company opened in Britain in 1961 and changed theatre forever. 400 years after his death, the playwright's work began to be performed in a radical new way. Claire Bowes has been listening to archive of the founder of the theatre company, Sir Peter Hall, and speaking to Britain's longest serving theatre critic, Michael Billington about the move which made Shakespeare more relevant than ever before.
Photo: Portrait of English dramatist William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), circa 1600. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The man that many consider the greatest artist of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso, died in April 1973. Louise Hidalgo talks to Anthony Penrose who knew Picasso as a boy and whose parents, the American photographer, Lee Miller, and the surrealist artist, Roland Penrose, were his friends and biographer.
Picture: Pablo Picasso by the photographer Lee Miller, taken in the Villa la Californie, Cannes, in 1956 (Credit: Lee Miller Archives)
A Glasgow jail began offering art therapy and a much more relaxed regime to some of its most violent prisoners in 1973. It was known as the Barlinnie 'special unit' and soon its inmates were painting and writing instead of fighting with prison officers. Hear archive voices from the unit alongside Professor Richard Sparks who was a visitor there in the 1990s.
Photo: Barlinnie prison. Credit:PA /David Cheskin.
Top secret negotiations in Norway during 1993 eventually led to an Israeli-Palestinian agreement which became known as the Oslo Accord. Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul was one of the people who helped keep the talks on track. She spoke to Louise Hidalgo for Witness in 2012.
(Photo: Yitzhak Rabin, Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat at the signing ceremony for the Oslo Accord, September 13,1993. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.)
In 1987, an American endurance swimmer called Lynne Cox swam across the "Ice Curtain" between the USA and the Soviet Union. The Diomede Islands in the Bering Strait are only 2.7 miles apart, but divided by near-freezing water and Cold War rivalry. Lynne Cox spoke to Simon Watts about her swim in 2012. This programme is a rebroadcast.
PHOTO: Lynne Cox on the Bering Strait. (Copyright Rich Roberts)
Using archive BBC recordings of veterans, we tell the story of one of the most famous figures of World War One. The legendary German air ace Baron von Richthofen who was killed in April 1918. Photo: German First World War air ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron, with a comrade in front of his famous red tri-plane. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
On April the 22 1970, 20 million Americans came out on to the streets to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in the first so-called Earth Day. Mass rallies were held to highlight concerns about pollution and the destruction of America's natural heritage. Some see it as the birth of the modern environmental movement. Farhana Haider spoke to Denis Hayes, the organiser of that first Earth Day.
Photo credit: Robert Sabo-Pool/Getty Images
The lighthouse on Skellig Michael off the south west coast of Ireland was continuously occupied by lighthouse keepers for more than 150 years until its automation 1987. Skellig Michael has now become a tourist attraction since its ancient monastery was used as a location in recent Star Wars films. The last keeper of the light there was Richard Foran who has been speaking to Catherine Harvey about life on the remote island.
Photo: The lighthouses on Skellig Michael. Credit: Alamy
After the September 11th attacks brought down the Twin Towers, reconstruction began at the devastated area in New York in April 2006. Rachael Gillman spoke to TJ Gottesdiener, who was a managing partner at the architecture firm tasked with designing a new skyscraper on the site.
(Photo credit: Robert Sabo-Pool/Getty Images)
In early 1918, Germany launched a huge offensive on the Western Front in a last great gamble to win the war. Following Russia's withdrawal from the war, Germany could move up to a million soldiers from the Eastern Front to the West to launch a decisive attack. Their plan was to break through British and French lines and force an end to the war, before American power could bolster the Allied cause. They came close to succeeding. Using recordings from the BBC Archive, we hear from German and British soldiers who faced each other in the spring of 1918. Photo: German troops advance in the sector near Villers-Bretonneux during Germany's Spring Offensive 1918. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 1968 Europe was rocked by student demonstrations calling for a revolution. In West Berlin the protests intensified following the shooting of student leader Rudi Dutschke on April 11th 1968. He would become a symbol for a generation of young Germans. In 2013 Lucy Burns spoke to his widow Gretchen Klotz-Dutschke about the attack.
(Image: Gretchen Klotz-Dutschke(L) Rudi Dutschke(R) Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
In 1971 during the Cold War, the UK expelled 90 Soviet diplomats suspected of spying. They'd been allowed into Britain in an attempt to improve relations, but it had been discovered that they'd been carrying out espionage instead. George Walden was a young diplomat on the Soviet desk in the British Foreign Office at the time.
Photo: British Foreign Secretary Alec Douglas-Home (left) shakes hands with Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko (right) at Heathrow Airport, 26th October 1970. (credit: Ian Showell/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In 1983 Robert Mugabe’s government sent crack troops to put down opposition supporters in western Zimbabwe. The soldiers were nicknamed the Gukurahundi which means 'the wind that blows away the chaff'. Trained by North Koreans, they were zealous in their support for Mugabe and utterly ruthless in their methods. Thousands were killed and many were tortured. For years people were fearful of speaking out. One survivor has been telling Rebecca Kesby what it was like.
Photo: Robert Mugabe. Credit: Getty Images.
Zoe Leyland was born in Australia on April 11th 1984. As an embryo, she'd been frozen for 8 weeks before being successfully implanted into her mother's womb. Dr Alan Trounson was part of the team who pioneered the technology to freeze embryos, he's been speaking to Ashley Byrne.
Photo: In vitro fertilisation technician removing frozen embryos from storage. Credit: Science Photo Library
Woodfall Films changed British cinema. First established in 1958, it made films with working class actors about working class lives. The driving force behind it was the producer and director Tony Richardson. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to Rita Tushingham who starred in a classic Woodfall movie 'A Taste of Honey', and to Desmond Davis who filmed 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner'.
Photo: Actress Rita Tushingham in 'A Taste of Honey'. (Credit: Woodfall Films)
The 'emergency rescue committee' was set up by a group of American and exiled German liberals during the Second World War to help save some of Europe's leading intellectuals and artists from the Nazis. Among those the group rescued from German-occupied France were artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst, surrealist leader Andre Breton and German novelist Heinrich Mann. Louise Hidalgo has been hearing from Justus Rosenberg who worked for the committee and had his own narrow escape from the Nazis.
Picture; Justus Rosenberg on the streets of Marseille in the early 1940s (credit: Justus Rosenberg)
Communist forces overran the key southern city of Hue triggering one of the biggest battles of the war. The attack was part of the Tet Offensive in 1968, when North Vietnam launched surprise assaults on towns and cities across South Vietnam, with the support of its southern based guerrilla force, the Viet Cong. Alex Last spoke to Nguyen Dac Xuan, a former member of the Viet Cong which fought against American and South Vietnamese forces in Hue. Photo: American troops watch as a US plane bombs Communist positions in the city of Hue, February 1968 (BBC)
In April 1968 Stanley Kubrick's ground-breaking sci-fi movie was released in the US. The film had mixed early reviews but went on to be considered one of the great classics of all-time. Keir Dullea played the starring role of astronaut David Bowman in the film. He tells Mike Lanchin about working with Kubrick and with the famous space computer H.A.L.
Photo credit: MGM / EMI
Chaos and hardship hit Russia with the rapid market reforms in early 1992, weeks after the collapse of the USSR. Dina Newman has been speaking to one of the architects of this "shock therapy", the economy minister Andrei Nechaev.
Photo: an old woman outside McDonald's in Moscow, circa 1992. Credit: Dina Newman archive.
On the 10th May 2023, the so-called UNAbomber was found dead in his prison cell.
Ted Kaczynski carried out a campaign of attacks against universities and airlines in the USA, over seventeen years. In 1996, he was turned in by his brother David Kaczynski.
In 2010, David spoke to Lucy Williamson.
(Photo: Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski outside the Federal Courthouse in Sacramento, California. January 1998. Credit: Bob Galbraith/AFP/Getty Images)
The plastic explosive was malleable, odourless and stable. Created in communist Czechoslovakia in the town of Semtin in 1958, it was once the weapon of choice for those seeking to spread terror. Maria Jevstafjeva has been speaking to the brother of Stanislav Brebera, the chemist who invented it.
Photo: Two workers display Semtex, a Czech-made industrial and military plastic explosive at Syntesia chemical plant in Semtin, Credit: Lubomir Kotek/AFP/Getty Images
In 1998, the political parties in Northern Ireland reached a peace agreement that ended decades of war. But the Good Friday Agreement, as it became known, was only reached after days of frantic last-minute negotiations. In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Paul Murphy, the junior minister for Northern Ireland at the time.
PHOTO: Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern (L) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) pose with the mediator of the agreement, Senator George Mitchell. (AFP/Getty Images)
The publication of a map of the floor of the Atlantic ocean in 1957 by an American female cartographer, Marie Tharp, helped to change forever the way we view our world. Her discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was eventually taken as evidence of the theory of plate tectonics. Yet her work was initially dismissed as 'girls' talk', her colleague geologist Bill Ryan tells Louise Hidalgo.
Picture: Marie Tharp working on a map of the ocean floor at Columbia University in the 1960s. (Credit: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory courtesy of the Marie Tharp estate)
In 1978 a small community called Wahat al-Salam, Neve Shalom, was founded by four families, Jews and Arabs, on a hill-top between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It was a pioneering experiment in peaceful co-existence in the long Middle East conflict. Four decades on, it is now home to more than 60 families. Mike Lanchin travels to the community and speaks to two of its long-standing residents, Nava Sonnenschein and Daoud Boulus about life in this "oasis of peace."
(Photo courtesy of Daoud Boulus)
After the bitter Bosnian war in the 1990's, Catholic Monk, Friar Ivo Markovic, launched a multi-faith choir to bring survivors of the violence together and promote understanding between different ethnic groups. The choir is called "Pontanima", an invented word based on Latin that means, "bridge among souls". Rebecca Kesby spoke to Friar Ivo and saw the choir perform.
(PHOTO: Members of the Pontanima Choir of Sarajevo: Courtesy of The Woolf Institute)
London's Stock Exchange, one of the world's oldest, welcomed women as members for the first time in March 1973. It meant they could earn much more money, as partners in their firms. It also meant they were finally allowed to cross the famous trading floor. Hilary Pearson told Claire Bowes how she and a handful of other women made their way in a very traditional man's world.
Photo: One of the first women to be admitted to the floor of the London Stock exchange, 26th March 1973. (Credit: Arthur Jones/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
On 23 March 1994 the presidential candidate for Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, was shot dead in the border town of Tijuana. Luis Donaldo Colosio, who was expected to be the country's next leader, was killed when out campaigning. A sole gunman is still in jail for his murder, but Alfonso Durazo, Colosio's former private secretary, tells Mike Lanchin why he believes the murder was part of a wider political plot.
Photo taken from Televisa TV broadcast showing amateur video footage of the moment that Luis Colosio was about to be shot dead during a campaign rally (credit: TELEVISA/AFP/Getty Images)
In March 1968 more than 6,000 sheep died while grazing close to the Dugway Proving Ground, the US military's leading chemical warfare testing site, located in the US state of Utah. One theory was that they were killed by a nerve agent. Deputy Sheriff William Pitt arrived at the scene as some of the sheep were still in convulsions. He has been telling Mike Lanchin about that strange event, which became known as the Skull Valley Sheep Kill.
Photo: Two farmers checking the corpses of dead sheep on a farm ranch, possibly connected to a chemical and biological warfare testing at Dugway Proving Ground, March 1968. (Photo by Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images)
The Turin Shroud is one of the most revered relics of the Catholic Church: a piece of linen cloth that appears to show the imprint of a blood-stained crucified man. Some Christians believe it is the ancient cloth that Jesus Christ was buried in.
In 1988, the Church allowed scientists to perform a radiocarbon dating test on a small sample of the shroud. The results are still controversial.
In 2016 Rob Walker spoke to Professor Michael Tite who supervised the testing process. This programme is a rebroadcast.
(Photo: Picture showing a facsimile of the Shroud of Turin at the Cathedral of Malaga. Credit: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)
In memory of the renowned theoretical physicist, Stephen Hawking, who died on the 14th of March 2018, Witness looks back at the publication in March 1988 of his best-selling book, A Brief History of Time. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to the editor who published it, Peter Guzzardi, about the book and the ideas about physics, existence and the universe that made it so popular.
Picture: Physicist Stephen Hawking (Credit: Liam White/Alamy)
In March 1958, Elvis Presley, then at the height of his fame as the 'King' of Rock'n'Roll, was called up and joined the US Army. Simon Watts has been listening to the memories of the soldiers who served alongside him. The interviews are taken from the G.I. Blues of Elvis Presley, made for the BBC by Sugar Productions.
(Photo: Elvis Presley listening to an army lecture. Credit:Getty Images)
On March 16th 1998, veterans of the Latvian Legion who had fought for the Nazis during World War Two, marched through the capital Riga commemorating their greatest battle against the Soviet Red Army. It was a rare official remembrance of the efforts of the Waffen SS. Dina Newman has been speaking to two veterans of the Latvian Legion.
Photo: Latvian infantrymen march through a street in Riga under the German occupation. Credit: Three Lions/Getty Images
In March 1985, Brazil experienced the most traumatic moment in its transition to democracy when the first civilian president-elect in more than twenty years was rushed to hospital on the eve of his inauguration. Tancredo Neves, who had led political opposition to military rule in Brazil, eventually died 38 days later. He is now regarded as a hero in Brazil. Simon Watts talks to Tancredo Neves' spokesman, Antonio Britto.
PHOTO: Tancredo Neves, centre, on a visit to Spain (Getty Images)
In March 1938 the BBC began its first broadcasts to Latin America in Spanish and Portuguese. The new foreign language service was launched amid rising concerns over the influence of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy in Central and South America.
Mike Lanchin has been listening back to archive recordings from the time, including the very first broadcast on March 14th 1938 and the memories of some of the BBC's first Latin American Service presenters and producers.
(Photo: Rehearsals for a feature in the BBC's Brazilian programme, London 1943)
US troops went on the rampage through a Vietnamese village in March 1968, killing men, women and children in cold blood. 11-year old Pham Thanh Cong survived, but the rest of his family was killed. In 2012 he spoke to Neal Razzell about his memories of the bloodbath.
Photo: Pham Thanh Cong now.
Credit Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images.
An eyewitness account of Stalin's purge of top Soviet leaders during the 1930s, when millions of Soviet citizens were executed or sent to labour camps.British diplomat Sir Fitzroy Maclean, spoke to the BBC in the 1980s about his memories of Moscow during the Great Terror, when Stalin's repression was at its height. Maclean attended the show trial of one of the foremost Soviet leaders, Nikolai Bukharin who was accused of conspiracy and was later executed. Photo: Portrait of Russian Communist leader and theoretician Nikolai Bukharin ,a former editor of Pravda and a member of the Central Organization of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, circa 1920. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Independent Azerbaijan changed its alphabet from Russian Cyrillic script to the Latin alphabet in 2001. The new letters symbolised a break with the country's Soviet past, but presented a difficult challenge for publishers and journalists and schoolchildren. Olga Smirnova has been talking to Elchin Shixli and Shahbaz Xuduoglu.
Photo: Staff members of Azerbaijan's Ustarat newspaper prepare copy July 31, 2001 in their Baku headquarters for the following day, August 1, when all newspapers, according to government decree, had to switch the alphabet of their Azeri text from Cyrillic to Latin. (Photo by Yola Monakhov/Getty Images)
In March 1921, Marie Stopes opened Britain's first birth control clinic in London. The Mother's Clinic in Holloway offered advice to married mothers on how to avoid having any more children. Hear testimonies on the early days of birth control in Britain from the BBC archive. This programme was first broadcast in 2013.
(Photo: Dr Marie Stopes, photographed in 1953. Credit: Baron/Getty Images)
Hannah Arendt was one of the most influential political thinkers of the 20th-century. Born into a German-Jewish family, she fled Germany in 1933 as the Nazis consolidated their power, eventually reaching America, where she published her seminal works on totalitarianism and the human condition She is also remembered for her phrase, the banality of evil, to describe the Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann at his trial in Jerusalem in 1961. Louise Hidalgo talks to Hannah Arendt's former assistant, Jerome Kohn, and listens through the archives to those who knew her.
Picture: Hannah Arendt in 1966. (Credit: Fred Stein/DPA/PA)
Students at deaf-only Gallaudet University in Washington DC shut-down the campus in protest when the board of trustees appointed a hearing President in March 1988. They barricaded the campus with buses, marched to the White House and made the front page of the New York Times. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Dr I King Jordan, who was eventually appointed the first ever deaf President in the University's long history.
(Photo: Student protestors, courtesy of Gallaudet University)
Russia's disastrous war on the Eastern Front became a catalyst for revolution at home. In 1914, Russia went to war against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire. But Russia was unprepared for a conflict on such a scale. Millions were killed or wounded at the front. There were chronic shortages at home. Popular anger led to the fall of the Tsar and the start of the Russian revolution. Using archive recordings we tell the story of the war in the East. Photo: Russian soldiers flee through a village after a provocateur announced that the German cavalry had broken through circa 1916. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In March 1968, Chairman Mao officially launched a scheme to improve healthcare in rural China, by giving thousands of people basic medical training and sending them out to work in villages. They were known as the “barefoot doctors”.
Gordon Liu is a Professor of Economics at Peking University. He tells Lucy Burns about his memories of working as a barefoot doctor.
Picture: Gordon Liu
On the 28th of February 1983 the final episode of the iconic US TV series M*A*S*H was broadcast. It was watched by a record 125 million viewers. Set during the Korean War. M*A*S*H centred on the lives of the doctors and nurses in an army medical unit. Farhana Haider has been hearing from one of the show's writers Karen Hall about the sitcom that presented a wry take on war.
Photo Cast of M*A*S*H 1980 Karen Hall far right. Credit Karen Hall
The Swedish Prime Minister was shot dead on a Stockholm street on February 28th 1986. But the investigation into his killing was never satisfactorily completed. Tim Mansel spoke to public prosecutor Solveig Riberdahl, and police investigator Hans Olvebro, about the case in 2012.
Photo: Portrait of Olof Palme in Stockholm in the 1980s. (Credit:AFP/Getty Images)
A huge steel sculpture, that has become an icon for the north-east of England, was completed in February 1998. Designed by artist Antony Gormley, the Angel of the North was initially met with so much opposition that it was almost never built. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to arts curator Anna Pepperall who was involved in the plans to build the most ambitious piece of public art that Britain had ever seen.
Photo: The Angel of the North (Credit: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire)
Tens of thousands of people died in India in 1974 during the world's last major smallpox epidemic. Individual cases had to be tracked down and quarantined to stop the deadly disease spreading. Ashley Byrne has spoken to Dr Mahendra Dutta and Dr Larry Brilliant who took part in the battle to eradicate smallpox once and for all.
Photo: Smallpox lesions on the human body. 1973. Credit: Getty Images.
One of the biggest novels of the late twentieth century - both literally and figuratively - was published in February 1996. Infinite Jest by American author David Foster Wallace is nearly 1100 pages long, but the ground-breaking work of literary fiction also became a bestseller.
Lucy Burns speaks to the editor of Infinite Jest, Michael Pietsch.
David Vetter lived his whole life sealed off from the outside world in a completely sterile environment. He was born with a rare genetic disorder, Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease, which made him hugely susceptible to infections. He died from the disease at the age of 12 on 24 February 1984, when a bone marrow transplant failed. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to his mother Carol-Ann Demaret.
(Photo: David Vetter and his mother Carol-Ann Demaret Credit: Carol-Ann Demaret)
In February 1988 Jimmy Swaggart, one of America's most successful televangelists, was forced to make a humiliating public confession from the pulpit. He had been caught in the company of a New Orleans prostitute. Swaggart's tough no-nonsense style of preaching had won him a huge global following. He had also been fiercely critical of other evangelical preachers who had become mired in sexual scandals. Mike Lanchin hears from the Baton Rouge news reporter Edward Pratt, who followed Swaggart's rapid rise to fame and sudden fall.
Photo: Jimmy Swaggart breaks down in tears on televised sermon as he confesses his relationship with a prostitute, Feb 1988 (Alamy)
Over a million West African migrants, most of them Ghanaian, were ordered to leave Nigeria at short notice in 1983. The Nigerian economy was suffering a downturn. But hundreds of thousands of Ghanaians then found themselves stuck outside Ghana's border unable to get back home. Alex Last has spoken to one Ghanaian who took part in the forced exodus.
Photo: Migrants leaving Nigeria wait at the border to enter Benin. Credit: Michel Setboum/Getty Images.
A group of feminist activists in Washington DC set up a commune to live independently from men in 1971. They called themselves the Furies Collective, and they were some of the first lesbian separatists. Charlotte Bunch was one of them.
Picture: The Furies, packing and distributing the newspaper at 219 11th St. SE, in 1972. Left to right: Ginny Berson, Susan Baker (not a Fury), Coletta Reid (standing), Rita Mae Brown, Lee Schwing (picture by Joan E Biren)
In February 1967, it was revealed that two notebooks by the great 15th-century Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci, that had been lost for centuries, had been discovered in the national library in Spain. Louise Hidalgo talks to two people with a personal interest in the discovery, Da Vinci scholar Pietro Marani, and robotic engineer, Mark Rosheim, who used Leonardo's drawings to recreate the artist and inventor's lost Robot Knight.
(Photo: A self-portrait by Leonardo da Vinci dated circa 1500. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Iran's first ever minister for Women's Affairs was appointed in 1975. Mahnaz Afkhami was the first person in the Muslim world to hold that position. While she was Minister of Women's Affairs, Iran's legislation granted women equal rights regarding divorce, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 and supported women's employment with maternity leave and childcare provisions. Farhana Haider has been speaking to her about being the only woman in the pre-revolutionary Iranian cabinet.
Photo: Mahnaz Afkhami at the UN in 1975. Credit: Mahnaz Afkhami
In 1968, a group of women from the British fishing port of Hull staged a successful campaign to improve safety in what was then one of the most dangerous industries in the world. Following the deaths of nearly 60 men in three separate trawler accidents, the so-called Headscarf Revolutionaries picketed the port and lobbied ministers in London until the owners agreed to changes. Simon Watts hears the memories of one of the women, Yvonne Blenkinsop.
(Photo: Yvonne Blenkinsop (left) and three other campaigners in 1968. Credit: Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
In November 1987 a South Korean airliner was blown out of the sky, killing 115 people on board. The attack on Korean Air flight 858 is believed to have been the work of agents of the North Korean regime, seeking to disrupt the Summer Olympics in Seoul. Pete Ross has been hearing from relatives of some of those who died that day, as well as from one of the bombers, the North Korean agent Kim Hyun-hui.
(Photo: Former North Korean spy Kim Hyun-hui , who now lives in South Korea. Credit: Kim Kyung-Hoon/AFP/Getty Images)
During the Apartheid period, the South African government began developing a secret nuclear programme, culminating in the construction of six nuclear bombs. Anti-Apartheid campaigner, Renfrew Christie, first became aware of this when he was conscripted into the South African Army. He later gained access to details of the nuclear programme and passed them onto the military wing of the African National Congress, ANC. In 1979 Christie was arrested and later tortured. He spoke to Olga Smirnova about his hunt for South Africa's nuclear weapons and his ordeal in jail.
Photo: A restricted area sign close to the Koeberg nuclear power station, South Africa (Getty Images)
In February 1958, eight players from Manchester United’s famous “Busby Babes” team were among those killed in a plane crash at Munich airport. Goalkeeper Harry Gregg survived the disaster and went back into the wreckage several times to save lives. Simon Watts hears his story.
Photo: Plane wreckage at Munich airport (AFP/Getty Images)
On 6th February 1918, women in Britain were given the right to vote for the first time. The campaign for women's suffrage had begun decades earlier. But it wasn't until the final months of the First World War that the British parliament relented and said property-owning women over the age of 30 could vote in a general election. It would take another ten years before women got parity with men. Louise Hidalgo has been listening back to the voices of the women activists known as suffragettes, and talks to politician Shirley Williams, the daughter of an early feminist.
Picture: suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is arrested outside Buckingham Palace, 1914 (Credit: Jimmy Sime/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In February 1983 the man known as 'the butcher of Lyon' was extradited to France to face charges of murder and torture during World War Two. The former head of the Gestapo in Lyon was traced to South America by two Nazi-hunters, married couple Serge and Beate Klarsfeld. They have been telling their amazing story to Mike Lanchin.
Photo: Klaus Barbie on his way to court in Lyon, France (AFP)
In February 1982 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Britain should end corporal punishment in state schools. The landmark decision came after a lawsuit launched by two mothers in Scotland. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from Andrew Campbell, the son of one of the women behind the campaign.
Photo: A school teacher holds a belt or Tawse, used for punishing pupils (Alamy)
In 2017, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims left their homes in Myanmar fleeing government persecution, in what the UN has called the world's fastest growing refugee crisis. Lucy Burns speaks to Rohingya historian and politician U Kyaw Min to explore the roots of the crisis - and a change in the Burmese citizenship laws in 1982 which left the Rohingyas essentially stateless.
(Photo: Rohingya refugees walk near the no man's land area between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Palongkhali area next to Ukhia on October 19, 2017. Credit: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)
In January 1968, North Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong guerrillas launched a huge surprise attack on towns, cities and military bases across South Vietnam. The American embassy and the Presidential Palace in Saigon was among the targets that were hit. The events had a profound impact on American public opinion and marked a turning point in the war. BBC reporter Julian Pettifer covered the battles in the South Vietnamese capital, Saigon. Photo: Julian Pettifer reporting under fire near the Presidential Palace in Saigon, 31st January 1968 (BBC)
On 30 January 1972 British troops opened fire on a civil rights march in Northern Ireland. Thirteen people were killed that day, which became known as Bloody Sunday. Tony Doherty was nine years old at the time. In 2012 he spoke to Mike Lanchin about his father and the events that changed his life forever.
(Photo: Armed British troop grabs hold of protester by the hair. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
Thomas A Dorsey is credited with developing Gospel music into a global phenomenon. He started his own musical career in jazz clubs and blues bars, but personal tragedy led him back to church, and inspired hundreds of Gospel songs that transformed the genre. Rebecca Kesby has been listening to archive recordings of Thomas A Dorsey and his singing partner Willie Mae Ford Smith, and speaking to Professor Albert J Raboteau from Princeton University.
(PHOTO: Thomas A. Dorsey - 1982. Courtesy of National Endowment For Arts/Humanities/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock. Credit REX)
The Lego brick, one of the world's most popular toys, was invented in the small Danish town of Billund in 1958. Created by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, the plastic bricks can be combined in countless combinations and have sold in the billions. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, the inventor's son, was ten at the time. He used to play in the company workshop and helped test early Lego models. Olga Smirnova spoke to Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen for Witness.
(Image: Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen with a Lego ship. Credit: Kristiansen family archive)
In 1982, American entrepreneur Gregory Sams launched a product that would help take vegetarianism into the mainstream in the UK. "Vege Burgers" were cheap, tasty and a deliberate attempt to provide a meat-free alternative to one of the mainstays of the fast food industry. Gregory Sams talks to Simon Watts.
(Photo: The Vege Burger range, courtesy of Gregory Sams)
The great surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dali died in January 1989. Louise Hidalgo has been talking about his life and work with Christine Argillet, whose father was one of Dali's publishers and who, as a child, spent several summer holidays visiting Dali and his wife Gala in northeast Spain.
Picture: the artist Salvador Dali (1904 -1989) in December 1964. (Credit:Terry Fincher/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
A US spy ship was caught by North Korean forces in the Sea of Japan on January 23rd 1968. Its crew were held prisoner for almost a year before being released. In 2012 Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to Skip Schumacher, one of the young Americans on board.
Photo: Members of the USS Pueblo's crew being taken into custody. Credit: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service
In 1998 the influential painter's studio was moved in its entirety from a London house to a gallery in Ireland. Francis Bacon had worked in the chaotic room for 30 years up until his death. Every drip of paint and scrap of paper was carefully transported. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to Barbara Dawson of the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin about the project.
Photo: Francis Bacon in his studio. Credit:BBC/IWC Media/Peter Stark
In 2007 Guatemala overhauled its much-criticised adoption system. All future foreign adoptions were immediately suspended, while some 3,000 cases already underway were caught in legal limbo. Many of these cases have taken years to resolve. American Ruth Sheehan tells Mike Lanchin about her long struggle to secure the adoption of Luis, a young Guatemalan child she first met ten years ago.
(Photo: Ruth Sheehan with Luis in Guatemala City, courtesy of Ruth Sheehan)
Irish writer Christopher Nolan became the first severely disabled person to win the prestigious British literary prize, the Whitbread Book of the Year in 1988. Nolan was physically disabled at birth by severe cerebral palsy, leaving him paralysed from the neck down. He won for his autobiographical book: Under the Eye of the Clock. Christy wrote by tapping a keyboard with a device strapped to his head. Farhana Haider has been listening to the BBC archives and speaking to the art critic Eileen Battersby about the remarkable writer.
(Photo: The finalists for the Whitbread Book of the Year prize in London Christopher Nolan (seated) (L-R) Bernadette Nolan and fellow finalists Francis Wyndham, Geraldine McCaughrean, Joanna Mackle (representing Seamus Heaney) and Ian McEwan. Credit: PA)
American president Dwight Eisenhower's farewell address in January 1961 is regarded as one of the greatest speeches made by a US president. In it, he warned Americans against the military industrial complex, a phrase that he coined for the first time, and not to live just for today. Eisenhower, who had been the allied commander in Europe during World War Two, was succeeded by his young Democratic rival, John F Kennedy, who was seen as representing the new post-war generation. Louise Hidalgo talks to Dwight Eisenhower's grandson and one of his speech-writers about that time.
(Photo: President Eisenhower (left) and his vice-president Richard Nixon at the president's second inauguration in Washington. Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
When Apartheid was abolished in the 1990's, South Africans had to find a way to confront their brutal past without endangering their chance for future peace. But it was a challenging process for many survivors of atrocities committed by the former racist regime. Justice Sisi Khampepe served on the Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and as she tells Rebecca Kesby, she had to put aside her own emotions and experiences at the hands of the police, to expose the truth about Apartheid.
(PHOTO: Pretoria South Africa: President Nelson Mandela (L) with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, acknowledges applause after he received a five volumes of Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report from Archbishop Tutu. Credit: Getty Images.)
For the first time women were encouraged to join the workforce to help win the war. As millions of men were mobilised for military service, British women began to do many jobs that had been the preserve of men. They worked in industry, on the land, in the civil service. But tens of thousands were employed in munitions factories. It was long, hard and dangerous work. Using the BBC archive we hear from women who worked as 'Munitionettes' Photo: British recruitment posters urging women to work during World War I. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
German children from Dusseldorf were invited to stay in the English town of Reading shortly after WW2 had ended. Hear how two girls became lifelong friends as a result. Chris Browning has been hearing from June Whitcombe and Gretel Rieber about their memories of that time, and about the local mayor, Phoebe Cusden, who single-handedly organised the exchange.
(Photo: June (L) and Gretel (R) in the 1940s. Courtesy of June Whitcombe)
In 1963, France stopped Britain from joining the European Economic Community, now the EU. The news shocked Britain, which had been in talks to join the EEC for more than a year. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Juliet Campbell, a diplomat who was at the talks in Brussels, about the moment when Britain was shut out of the club which was making Europe prosperous.
Photo: 14th January 1963 Charles de Gaulle, President of France, at a press conference during which he stated that Britain was not ready to join the Common Market except on special terms. (Credit: Central Press/Getty Images)
In the 1990s, the Algerian military was locked in a brutal struggle with radical Islamists. It's estimated that more than 150,000 people were killed. The conflict was marked by massacres of entire villages. In 2013, Alex Last spoke to Marc Marginedas, a Spanish journalist who reported on the infamous massacre of Sidi Hamed in January 1998. (Photo: Women mourn victims in Sidi Hamed. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
The touchscreen smartphone changed mobile technology for ever. It was unveiled on January 9th 2007 by the Apple boss Steve Jobs. Within a few years smartphones had changed the way billions of people lived their lives. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Andy Grignon a senior developer on the project.
Photo: Steve Jobs at the iPhone launch in San Francisco in 2007. Credit: David Paul Morris/Getty Images
California high school student Randy Gardner set the world record for staying awake in 1964, going without sleep for over 264 hours. He was monitored by his school friend Bruce McAllister and Stanford University sleep scientist William Dement - they speak to Lucy Burns about their memories of the experiment.
Photo: Randy Gardner (in blindfold) describes scents offered to him by Bruce McAllister, while Joe Marciano Jr. takes notes, San Diego, California, 1964 (Don Cravens/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
In July 1999, students in Iran took to the streets demanding reform. At the time it was the largest anti government protest since the Islamic revolution. Alex Last spoke to Ahmad Batebi in 2013, about how he became an unwitting symbol of the protest movement and suffered years of mistreatment in prison. (Photo: Ahmad Batebi holds up a T-shirt belonging to an injured friend, Tehran, July 12, 1999. Credit: Reuters)
On 4 January 1970 a hijacked plane touched down in Cuba after a dramatic four day journey. The plane, its crew and passengers had been seized on New Year’s Eve by a small group of left-wing guerrillas fighting military rule in Brazil. Mike Lanchin has spoken to one of the hijackers, Marilia Gimaraes, who took her two young children with her.
Photo: Marilia Gimaraes, 2017 (courtesy of the family)
In 1985 one of the most famous children’s competitions in the world was won by an Indian-American for the first time. Balu Natarajan was 13 years old when he won the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which has been running in the USA since 1925. Balu tells Farhana Haider how he first got interested in competitive spelling and why he thinks people of South Asian background have excelled in the Bee.
Photo: Balu Natarajan poses with his National Spelling Bee championship trophy 1985. Credit: Balu Natarajan.
On New Year's Eve 1999 the Russian President went on TV and said he was leaving office. Tired and emotional, he apologised to the people for the state of the country. Dina Newman spoke to his widow, Naina Yeltsina, about that day. Photo: Russian President Boris Yeltsin with his wife Naina in 1998. Credit: ITAR-TASS POOL/AFP/Getty Images
In 1961, Viv Nicholson became a household name in Britain when she and her husband scooped a massive win on the football pools. Asked what she would do with the money, Nicholson famously replied "Spend, Spend, Spend" and the tabloids followed her closely over the next few years as she spent the winnings on the high life. Viv Nicholson's story later became a successful West End musical and stage play. Simon Watts talks to her son, Howard Nicholson, author of "You Don't Know Viv".
PHOTO: Howard and Viv Nicholson (left and centre) with British entertainer Bruce Forsyth (Getty Images)
How two pilots, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, became the first to fly non-stop around the world without refuelling in December 1986. Their experimental aircraft was designed by Dick's brother, Burt Rutan. It had to be incredibly light to carry the huge weight of fuel required. But that meant the plane was vulnerable to breaking up in turbulence. Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager endured storms and equipment malfunctions to set the world record. They spent 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds in the air. Alex Last speaks to Dick Rutan about their achievement. Photo: The Voyager aircraft designed by Burt Rutan (NASA).
Mountaineers risked their lives to camouflage churches and palaces in the great Russian city during World War Two. The city was besieged by the Germans and under bombardment. The climbers used paint and canvas to conceal the landmarks from enemy attack. Mikhail Bobrov was just 18 years old when first got sent up the city's spires. He's been speaking to Monica Whitlock about his wartime experiences.
Photo: A climber suspended from a spire in Leningrad. Credit: Tass/PA.
In December 1966, a group of Black activists in Los Angeles created the winter holiday Kwanzaa to try to reclaim their African heritage. It's now celebrated by millions across the US.
Lucy Burns speaks to Terri Bandele, who attended the first Kwanzaa celebrations aged 11.
Picture: Children at the first Kwanzaa celebration - courtesy of Terri Bandele (on right)
The game has become a holiday tradition with families around the world since its launch in 1981. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to the designer of Trivial Pursuit, Michael Wurstlin, about how it was first created.
Photo: The original Trivial Pursuit game. Credit: BBC.
One of the most successful American films of all time was released on Christmas Day 1962. Written by the best-selling author Harper Lee it starred Gregory Peck as a lawyer who stood against prejudice in the Deep South of the USA. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Gregory Peck's son Carey Peck about the film, and about his family's long-standing friendship with the reclusive Harper Lee.
Photo: Gregory Peck with the author Harper Lee in 1962. Credit: Getty Images.
When Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was a schoolboy, he was not allowed to drink from the same tap as his fellow students because he was a member of what was then known as an "untouchable" caste. But he went on to become a prominent leader in the campaign for Indian independence and oversaw the writing of the Indian constitution - which made the idea of "untouchability" illegal. A hero to many, he died in December 1956.
Lucy Burns hears recordings of BR Ambedkar from the BBC archives and speaks to biographer Ananya Vajpeyi.
Picture: A member of the Indian Congress Party places flowers on a statue of BR Ambedkar to mark the 122nd anniversary of his birth in Amritsar on April 14, 2013 (NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images)
When Chinese universities reinstated entrance exams in December 1977 it was a sign that the Cultural Revolution was really over. For the previous decade students had been judged on their political fervour, rather than their academic abilities. Wu Yuwen, was one of the class of 1977 and she's been speaking to Michael Bristow about her student experiences. Photo: Wu Yuwen in 1978, during her first year at Peking University. Credit: Wu Yuwen
Australian scientists were central to the development of wifi. John O'Sullivan and David Skellern were among the group that gave us the ability to connect to the internet on-the-go. They've been speaking to Olga Smirnova about their breakthrough.
Photo: WiFi prototype Photo credit: Richard Keaney / Radiata
A controversial Islamic movement brought a brief moment of peace to Mogadishu in 2006 after years of war. The Islamic Courts Union (ICU) came to power after defeating rapacious American-backed warlords. They had no unified ideology or leadership. Some were moderates, some were hardline Islamists. But they brought law and order to the capital unseen since civil war began in 1991. But their rule would only last for six months and from the ashes would emerge the radical militant group Al-Shabab.
Photo: Somalia's Supreme Council of Islamic Courts (SCIC) militia display their flag in front of Hotel Ramadan, in Mogadishu, 15, July 2006 (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)
The Australian Prime Minister, Harold Holt, disappeared after going for a swim in the ocean on December 17th 1967 - never to be seen again. Susan Hulme has been speaking to Martin Simpson who was with the group that went to the beach with the Prime Minister that day.
Photo: Harold Holt on the beach with three women the year before his disappearance. Credit: Evening Standard/Getty Images
In December 1967, the great American soul singer, Otis Redding, was killed in a plane crash as he stood on the brink of superstardom. Simon Watts introduces the memories of Otis’s guitarist, Steve Cropper, and trumpeter, Wayne Jackson, as recorded in the BBC archives.
(Photo: Otis Redding in 1967)
Thousands died as a thick polluted fog engulfed London in 1952. People with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions were most at risk. The smog was a combination of pollution from millions of coal home fires and freezing fog. Unusual atmospheric conditions trapped the pall over the city for four days. The civil disaster changed Britain. Two years later, the government passed the Clean Air Act to reduce the use of smoky fuels such as coal. Alex Last speaks to Dr Brian Commins, who worked for the Medical Research Council's Air Pollution Unit set up at St. Bartholomew's hospital in London in the 1950s. Photo: A London bus conductor is forced to walk ahead of his vehicle with a flare to guide it through the smog, 9th December 1952. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
The African-American lab technician, Vivien Thomas, whose surgery helped save the lives of millions of babies but whose work went unrecognised for years. Claire Bowes has been listening to archive recordings of Vivien Thomas describing his long partnership with Dr Alfred Blalock, the man solely credited with inventing an operation in 1944 which helped manage a congenital heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot.
(Photo: Vivien Thomas, US Surgical Technician, 1940) (Audio: Courtesy of US National Library of Medicine)
In 2001, American hypnotist Larry Garrett was invited to Iraq to treat an "important businessman". When he arrived in Baghdad he was told his special patient's true identity: Uday Hussein, the volatile and violent eldest son of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Mike Lanchin speaks to Garrett about the time he spent with Uday, about their long conversations and how he coped with the challenges of treating one of the most feared men in Iraq.
Photo: Larry Garrett in Baghdad, 2001 (courtesy of Larry Garrett)
The Russian Revolution of 1917 led not just to huge political and social change, but to a new artistic freedom. Russian avant-garde artists like Malevich, Kandinsky and Chagall flourished in the immediate aftermath of the revolution. One of their greatest supporters was art curator Nikolai Punin. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Punin's granddaughter, Anna Kaminskaia, about how that freedom was gradually replaced with censorship and repression, and her grandfather ended his life in the Gulag.
Picture: 1920 painting by Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev (1878-1927), Bolshevik (oil on canvas), Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
In 1967 a biologist began listening to strange sounds recorded way out at sea, he realised it was whales and that they were singing. Claire Bowes has been talking to Dr Roger Payne about the discovery that helped change people's perception of whales and helped found the modern conservation movement at a time when whales were close to extinction.
(Photo: Humpback Whale, courtesy of Christian Miller of Ocean Alliance)
In December 1917 Finland proclaimed its independence. For many centuries it had been controlled by its powerful neighbours, Sweden and Russia. As World War One raged across Europe and Russia was embroiled in its own revolution, Finnish intellectuals took the opportunity to push for their own state. But many ordinary people were more concerned with dire food shortages and the chaos caused by conflict. Olga Smirnova hears memories of that time.
(Photo: 1917: A Communist base burning during the Finnish civil war. Credit: Getty Images)
More personal stories from history of independent Finland can be found at the Finnish Institute in London http://www.taleoftwocountries.fi/frontpage/
In 1967 the British withdrawal from their colony of Aden led to the creation of the People's Republic of South Yemen. Britain had colonised the port city in 1839. Aden had been at the centre of the British colonial trading system and had been one of the busiest ports in the world. The handover has been described as one of the most chaotic in British colonial history. Farhana Haider has been speaking to the former British diplomat, Oliver Miles and to Ghassan Luqman who says the scars of Britain's quick withdrawal are still being felt in Yemen today.
Photo: Aden 1967 Copyright: Alamy.
The four huge granite heads of former presidents on Mount Rushmore have become one of America's most famous monuments. Construction started on the site in 1927, led by sculptor Gutzon Borglum. His granddaughter Robin Borglum Kennedy speaks to Lucy Burns about his work.
Picture: Mount Rushmore, June 1995 (KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)
Thousands of scientists moved to deepest Siberia to dedicate their lives to research. The Soviet authorities began building the city in 1957. Academics were enticed there by the promise of housing and interesting work. Olga Smirnova spoke to Dr Victor Varand who made his life in Akademgorodok, or Academic City.
Photo: Scientists at work in Academic City. Credit: Victor Varand.
Alexander Litvinenko was a former colonel in the Russian secret service, but fled to London seeking political asylum when he became critical of the Putin government in 2000. In November 2006 he was poisoned with the highly radioactive substance Polonium 210. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to his wife, Marina, about his life and excruciating death.
(PHOTO: Alexander Litvinenko in a London hospital a couple of days before his death in November 2006. Credit Getty Images.)
In November 2002, an oil tanker, the Prestige, sank off the coast of Galicia in north-west Spain, causing one of the worst environmental disasters in the country's history. In the following months, thousands of people from all over Spain travelled to Galicia to help clean up the spill. Simon Watts talks to Xavier Mulet, one of the volunteers.
(Photo: Volunteers cleaning up after the Prestige. Credit: Xavier Mulet)
Colonel Domingo Monterrosa was one of El Salvador's most successful and ruthless military commanders in the fight against leftist rebels. But in October 1984 the rebels carried out an audacious plan to kill him. Mike Lanchin has spoken to one former rebel and a war correspondent about the man and the plot.
(Photo: Colonel Domingo Monterrosa (R), speaking with one of his company commanders, 1983. Credit: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)
It was one of the most notorious spy cases in US history. On 27th November 1954, former US diplomat Alger Hiss was released after spending four years in jail for allegedly lying about being a Soviet agent. Alger Hiss had been seen as a potential secretary of state, but was unable to shake off allegations that he'd passed official documents to Moscow. His conviction was the prelude to a Communist witch-hunt in America that became known as the McCarthy era. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Alger Hiss's son Tony Hiss about growing up in the shadow of the scandal, and his belief that his father was innocent.
Picture: US state department official, Alger Hiss, denying he was a member of a Communist cell before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in Washington on 28th August 1948. (Credit: William Bond/Keystone/Getty Images)
East Germany's most famous singer-songwriter was exiled to the West in November 1976, causing an international outcry. Wolf Biermann was stripped of his GDR citizenship while on tour in West Germany.
Wolf Biermann speaks to Lucy Burns about his political songs and his fame on both sides of the Berlin Wall.
Picture: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The buddy movie about a cowboy doll and a toy astronaut used computer-generated images to tell a story that appealed to audiences around the world. Animator Doug Sweetland has been speaking to Ashley Byrne about his work on the Pixar film.
Photo: Woody (R) and Buzz Lightyear (L) in a Japanese cinema. (Credit:Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images)
The president of South Vietnam was overthrown and murdered in a coup in November 1963 - with the support of the American government.
Lucy Burns speaks to Ngo Dinh Diem's niece Elisabeth Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, and American official Rufus Phillips.
Picture: Keystone/Getty Images
Charles Manson's followers murdered nine people on his orders. But how to prove his guilt when he wasn't on the scene at the time of the killings? Vincent Bugliosi was the young prosecutor who succeeded in bringing him to trial. Mr Bugliosi spoke to Chloe Hadjimatheou for Witness - the former prosecutor died in 2015.
Photo: Charles Manson in 2009. Credit: Getty Images.
In 1979 Islamic militants seized control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam. Hundreds were killed as Saudi security forces battled for two weeks to retake the shrine. The militants were ultra-conservative Sunni Muslims who believed that the Mahdi, the prophesied Redeemer, had emerged and was a member of their group. The BBC's Eli Melki spoke to eyewitnesses who were inside the Grand Mosque during the siege. Photo: Fighting at the Grand Mosque in Mecca after militants seized control of the shrine, November 1979 (AFP/Getty Images)
Manfred Marx was the man who discovered the diamonds which transformed Botswana's economy. As a young geologist in 1967 his find in the Kalahari desert completely changed the country's fortunes after independence.
(Photo: Uncut diamonds. Credit: Getty Images)
Thousands of people went missing during Lebanon's long and brutal civil war. But in 1982 a group of women started an organisation to try to track down their family members. Nidale Abou Mrad has been speaking to Wadad Halawani whose husband was taken from their home by two gunmen and never came back.
Photo: West Beirut under shellfire in 1982.(Credit:Domnique Faget/AFP/Getty Images)
A British national institution closed in October 1964. The Windmill Theatre had been one of the few places where it was possible to see naked women on stage, due to a loophole in the censorship laws. Lucy Burns speaks to former Windmill Girl Jill Millard Shapiro about her memories of performing at the theatre.
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Curry first became popular in the UK in the 1950s with the arrival of immigrants from South Asia. They introduced spicy food to the British diet. Nina Robinson has been speaking to Nurjuman Khan, an early pioneer of the Indian restaurant business in the English Midlands. His story also forms part of the 'Knights of the Raj' exhibition in Birmingham by Soul City Arts.
Photo: A youthful Nurjuman Khan (Credit: Nurjuman Khan)
A dead sperm whale washed up on a beach in Florence, Oregon in November 1970. It was so big that the authorities decided to blow it up - with disastrous consequences. Years later, a local news report about the story resurfaced in the early days of the internet, and became one of the most famous viral videos ever. Lucy Burns speaks to Paul Linnman, the reporter behind the story.
Picture: a sperm whale washed ashore in Skegness, England in January 2016 (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Remarkable recordings from the BBC archive of two people who felt the cost of war first-hand. Their experiences were tragically common, but for many years, were rarely recorded or voiced in public You'll hear from a German soldier, Stefan Westmann, who tried to come to terms with the act of killing. And the story of Katie Morter, a British civilian from Manchester, and the man she loved, Percy. Photo: Katie Morter (BBC)
The Russian street dog was the first living creature to orbit the Earth. She was sent into space in November 1957. She died after orbiting the Earth four times. Professor Victor Yazdovsky was nine years old when his father brought Laika back from the laboratory to play with him. He has been speaking to Olga Smirnova for Witness.
Photo: Laika the dog. Credit: Keystone/Hulton/Getty Images.
On 7 November 1917, Bolshevik revolutionaries overthrew the provisional government set up in Russia after the fall of the Tsar earlier that year, and created the world's first communist state - a state that would become the Soviet Union. Louise Hidalgo has been listening back to eye-witness accounts of that tumultuous time.
(Photo: Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin addressing crowds in the capital Petrograd during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Days before Kabul fell to anti-Taliban forces in November 2001, Osama bin Laden met Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir in a secret location before going into hiding. It would be 10 years before he was discovered and killed in Pakistan. Hamid Mir tells Rebecca Kesby about their last conversation and how they were both nearly killed in an airstrike.
(PHOTO: Osama bin Laden (left) with Pakistani Journalist Hamid Mir (right) at an undisclosed location. Credit Getty Images)
In 1967 the zoologist and broadcaster, Desmond Morris, wrote about humans in the same way that animals were described. The Naked Ape provoked criticism from religious thinkers and feminists alike, but it was an instant bestseller. His idea that we're not so different from our animal cousins was revolutionary at the time. Farhana Haider speaks to Desmond Morris about his provocative book.
Photo: Desmond Morris author of the Naked Ape. Credit: BBC
In 1997 the US Supreme Court ruled against censoring sex on the internet. It overturned a law, signed the previous year which had been designed to protect children from sexual content on the internet. Claire Bowes has been speaking to an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who fought the case for freedom of speech.
Photo: A computer. Credit: Anilakkus/iStock
In the Lebanese city of Tripoli there is an exceptional architectural site which has never been used. The great modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer designed all the buildings for an international fair which was about to open when civil war broke out in the 1970s. Architect Wassim Naghi has been speaking to Nidale Abou Mrad about the fair.
Photo: The Tripoli international fair from above. Credit: BBC.
When German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of All Saint's Church in Wittenberg on 31 October 1517, he started a religious revolution. The document was about the church's practice of selling indulgences - but Luther's protest would grow into the Protestant Reformation. Witness hears primary sources from the time, and speaks to historian Lyndal Roper.
(Photo: A portrait of Martin Luther by Lucas Cranach the Elder on display at the German Historical Museum in Berlin, Germany (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
In October 1975 the prominent Brazilian journalist Vladimir Herzog was killed by the secret police. His murder became a symbol of the brutality of the military regime. Mike Lanchin speaks to his son, Ivo, who was just nine years old at the time.
Photo: Vladimir Herzog with Ivo as a baby (courtesy of the Herzog family).
In October 1929 Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir began their fifty-year love affair after meeting in Paris. Louise Hidalgo speaks to the writer and leading French feminist, Claudine Monteil, who knew Sartre and de Beauvoir, about their legendary status and their famously open relationship.
Photo: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre sitting in a cafe in Paris, 1970. (STF/AFP/Getty Images)
An eyewitness to the assassination of the campaigning Nigerian journalist Dele Giwa. He was murdered in Lagos in 1986 while the country was under military rule.In October 1986, Dele Giwa was the founder of the investigative magazine Newswatch. In 2014, Alex Last spoke to his friend and colleague, Kayode Soyinka, who was with him when he died. Photo: Dele Giwa
Soon after Hitler ordered the invasion of Hungary in March 1944, the Nazis began rounding up hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews. Most were immediately sent to their deaths in the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. David Gur was a member of the Jewish Hungarian underground, who helped produce tens of thousands of forged identification documents. These allowed Jews to hide their true identities and escape deportation to the death camps. Now 91 years old, David has been telling Mike Lanchin about his part in one of the largest rescue operations organised by Jews during the Holocaust.
Photo: False Hungarian ID document (BBC)
On October 25th 1961 a new satirical magazine called Private Eye was published for the first time in London. It was part of a new era of comedy, poking fun at the powerful and politicians, and helping Britain to laugh at itself after the austerity of the post-war years. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to one of Private Eye's founders, Richard Ingrams.
Picture: the Private Eye office in 1963. From left to right, editor Richard Ingrams, Christopher Booker and actor, cartoonist and broadcaster Willie Rushton. (Photo by John Pratt/Keystone Features/Getty Images)
Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu made abortion illegal in October 1966 - but many women still tried to end their pregnancies, by sometimes desperate means.
Sorina Voiculescu was one of the millions of Romanian women who had an illegal abortion under the ban.
(Photo shows: A pregnant woman. Photo credit: PA)
How British Jewish ex-servicemen and volunteers came together to form The 43 Group to fight a resurgent British fascist movement on the streets of post-war Britain. Fascist leaders, like Sir Oswald Mosley, had been released from detention at the end of the World War Two. Soon they were holding meetings in London and around the country, often espousing the same violently anti-Semitic rhetoric used before the war.
In response the 43 Group was formed in the late 1940s to gain intelligence on the fascist movement, expose their activities and physically break up their meetings. Its activities became a model for future militant anti-fascist groups. Alex Last has been speaking to 43 Group veteran, Jules Konopinksi.
(Photo: British Fascist Sir Oswald Mosley speaking at a rally, Hertford Road, Dalston, London, 1 May 1948. Credit: Getty Images)
When the socialist leader of Mozambique and many of his senior advisers were killed in a plane crash on the border with South Africa, many were suspicious. It was October 19th 1986 and the two countries were divided over Apartheid. The plane made a sudden direct turn straight into a range of mountains, and one of the air crash investigators at the scene, Dr Alan Diehl, told Rebecca Kesby there are reasons to suspect the plane was deliberately diverted off course.
(PHOTO: The socialist leader of Mozambique Samora Machel delivers a speech. Credit: Getty Images.)
In October 2002 Chechen rebels seized a packed theatre in central Moscow and took hundreds of people hostage. They demanded the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. Olga Smirnova has been hearing the story of Svetlana Gubareva who was in the theatre that night with her fiancé and daughter.
Photo: Images of some of the victims amid candles and floral tributes (Denis Sinyakov/Getty Images)
The two-time Booker prize-winning author drowned off the south-west coast of Ireland in 1979. Vincent Dowd has been speaking to people who knew him, and to Pauline Foley who was the last person to see him alive.
Photo: The road in front of Farrell's home in West Cork, leading down to the sea where he drowned. Credit: BBC.
On October 16th 1962 the American president, John F Kennedy, received news that the Soviets were secretly deploying nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba. In the two weeks that followed, the Cuban Missile crisis took the world to the brink of nuclear war. Louise Hidalgo has been listening back through the BBC's archives to some of those at the centre of the crisis in Washington and Moscow.
Picture: President Kennedy goes on national television to tell the American public about the Soviet nuclear missile deployment and announces a strategic blockade of Cuba, 22nd October 1962 (Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
Ron Shipp was a close friend of OJ Simpson's but was also a police officer and decided to testify against him in a criminal trial for double homicide. In 1995 OJ Simpson was acquitted of killing his ex wife, Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. Ron Shipp tells Rebecca Kesby why he wanted to testify.
Photo: O.J. Simpson (C) confers with attorneys Johnnie Cochran (L) and Robert Shapiro (R) during Simpson's murder trial in Los Angeles, CA. (Credit: POOL/AFP/Getty Images)
Italy's great works of art were threatened by bombing and looting during World War Two. But a plan known as 'Operation Rescue' was devised to keep the paintings and sculptures safe. Some were hidden in remote spots, others were moved to the Vatican. Pasquale Rotondi was a leading figure in the operation, his daughter Giovanna Rotondi spoke to Alice Gioia about his wartime work.
Photo: St George by Andrea Mantegna, circa 1460.(Credit DeAgostini/Getty Images)
In October 1940, the elected Catalan leader, Lluis Companys, was executed by a Spanish fascist firing squad in Barcelona. His death made Companys a hero to generations of Catalan nationalists, although his legacy is debated to this day. Simon Watts tells his story using accounts from the time.
PHOTO: A Catalan nationalist marking the 50th anniversary of Companys' death in 2010 (Getty Images)
In October 1967 the Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara was captured and killed in Bolivia. He had gone there to try to organise a Cuban-style revolution. Mike Lanchin has spoken to Felix Rodriguez, the CIA operative who helped track him down, and was one of the last people to speak to him.
(Photo: Felix Rodriguez (left) with the captured Che Guevara, shortly before his execution on 9 October 1967. Courtesy of Felix Rodriguez)
The murder of gay student Matthew Shepard in October 1998 shocked America. After a decade of campaigning, his mother, Judy Shepard, convinced lawmakers to change hate crime legislation, outlawing attacks based on gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Judy Shepard.
Photo: Matthew Shepard (Handout image from the Matthew Shepard Foundation)
There were riots when the first black student was enrolled at the University of Mississippi in the American south in October 1962. Mississippi's white segregationist governor only allowed James Meredith to be admitted after President John F Kennedy himself intervened. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Norma Watkins, the daughter of the governor's lawyer, about that watershed moment and about growing up in one of America's most segregated states.
Picture: James Meredith walks to class at Ole Miss university accompanied by US marshals, October 1st 1962 (Credit: Marion S Trikosko courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington)
For five years Maisoon Bashir and her family lived on the front-line of the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip. Their house was directly opposite one of the Jewish settlements built by Israel after it captured the tiny heavily-populated territory from Egypt in the Six Day war in October 1967. Israeli troops occupied the top floors of Maisoon’s house, using it as a military look-out post, while Maisoon and her family continued living in the rooms below. They finally re-gained possession of their home when Israel withdrew from Gaza in September 2005. Maisoon tells Mike Lanchin about living with soldiers in her own home.
Photo: An Israeli armored personnel carrier deploys at sunrise to protect the evacuation of the Gaza Strip Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom (David Silverman/Getty Images).
King Henry VIII's favourite warship sank during a naval battle over 400 years ago. But the wreck and its contents were preserved in silt for centuries and finally raised to the surface in October 1982. Susan Hulme has spoken to Christopher Dobbs, one of the archaeologists who helped excavate the Mary Rose while she lay on the sea bed, and who is still uncovering its secrets today.
Photo: A reconstruction of the Mary Rose, in full sail. Copyright: BBC.
A very modern museum opened in the Iranian capital in October 1977. It contains one of the finest collections of Western art outside Europe and North America. Iran's Islamic revolution just over a year later, led to many of the paintings being hidden from public view. Rozita Riazati spoke to Kamran Diba who was the architect, and first director, of the museum.
Photo: A woman visitor to the Museum. Credit: AFP/Getty Images.
Just 33 days into his reign, Pope John Paul I unexpectedly died in September 1978. He was discovered in the early morning lying on his bed, a collection of sermons in his hand. He was considered an excellent communicator, and his warm personality earned him the nick name of "the smiling Pope". But his death shook the church. Rebecca Kesby spoke to Cardinal Beniamino Stella who knew him well.
(PHOTO: Pope John Paul I. Credit: Getty Images.)
Guinea became the first French West African colony to declare independence in October 1958. In a referendum held throughout French colonies, Guinea had been the only nation to vote for independence. Guinea was led by the charismatic politician Sekou Toure who famously declared "We prefer poverty in freedom, than riches in slavery". The French government under General Charles De Gaulle reacted to the decision by cutting off aid, withdrawing French workers, and stripping Guinea of equipment and resources. Alex Last has been speaking to Professor Lansine Kaba, a Guinean historian who was in Guinea as a student in 1958. Photo of Guinean leader, Sekou Toure, during a visit to London in 1959 (AFP/Getty Images)
It took 508 days for three friends to complete the first trek along the entire length of the ancient structure, well over 8000 kms. They finally reached the Jiayu Pass on September 24th 1985, having documented the condition of the wall every step of the way. The three men became national heroes as the press followed their progress. Their expedition also drew attention to the Great Wall, Chinese culture and history and sparked a new era of Chinese tourism. Yaohui Dong spoke to Rebecca Kesby about what inspired him to make the journey.
(PHOTO: Yaohui Dong, Wu Deyu and Zhang Yuanhua. Courtesy of Yaohui Dong)
Around 80 thousand women and girls volunteered to join the Women's Land Army during the Second World War. They helped provide vital food supplies to a country under siege. Kirsty Reid has spoken to Mona McLeod who was just 17 years old when she started working 6 days a week on a farm in Scotland. Mona has written a book about her experiences: 'A Land Girl's Tale'.
Photo: Land girls carrying bundles of straw in 1941. (Credit: Maeers/Fox Photos/Getty Images)
The anti-apartheid activist was buried on September 25th 1977. He had died in police custody just two weeks earlier. Thousands of people attended the funeral. Alex Last spoke to one of the early members of the Black Consciousness movement, Mamphela Ramphele who had a relationship with Steve Biko.
Photo: Anti-apartheid activist attending the burial ceremony of Steve Biko, October 1977. (Photo credit STF/AFP/GettyImages)
A showdown on the American/Mexican border on September 14th 1958 - in which two horses raced along either side of the border fence. Lucy Burns speaks to Ralph Romero, whose father was the owner of Relampago, the Mexican horse.
Photo: Relampago, courtesy of Ralph Romero
After the 9/11 attacks, a New York guide dog called Roselle was hailed as a hero for helping her owner safely down 78 flights of stairs and away from the Twin Towers before they collapsed. Simon Watts talks to Roselle's owner, Michael Hingson.
PHOTO: Roselle and Michael Hingson, right, meeting a 9/11 rescue team (Getty Images)
For decades, Australia's countryside was ravaged by billions of rabbits. So in the 1950s, the government released the disease myxomatosis to kill off the rabbit plague. We hear from farmer, Bill McDonald, who remembers Australia's battle against the bunnies. (This programme is a re-broadcast).
(Photo: Rabbits around a waterhole at the myxomatosis trial enclosure on Wardang Island in 1938. Credit: National Archives of Australia)
When Australian spearfishing champion Rodney Fox survived an horrific attack by a Great White Shark in 1963, it inspired him to learn more about the predator that tried to eat him. He invented the Shark Cage to help him do it safely. Rodney's was one of the worst non-fatal shark attacks ever recorded. He's been describing his miraculous escape from the jaws of death to Rebecca Kesby.
(Photo: A Great White Shark - Getty Images)
A plague of African desert locusts flew 5,000 kilometres non-stop to the Caribbean in 1988 in a journey never before recorded. They are thought to have come over with Hurricane Joan and the islanders were horrified at the sight of millions of dead and dying locusts on the beaches. Ministries of Agriculture feared the insects would become an established pest and would ruin crops but the surviving locusts seemed disorientated and soon died out. Claire Bowes has been speaking to an entomologist from St Lucia about the strange visitors who didn't like bananas.
Photo: Getty Creative Images
A doctor working in Sabra and Shatila refugee camp in Lebanon recalls the massacre there in September 1982. Over the course of three days, Lebanese Christian militiamen killed and raped hundreds of the Palestinian inhabitants of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut in revenge for the assassination of their leader, Lebanese president elect, Bashir Gemayel. Dr Swee Ang treated the wounded in the basement of the only hospital in the camp; she tells Louise Hidalgo her story.
Photo: A Palestinian woman cries while civil defence workers carry the body of one of her relatives from the rubble of her home in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila in West Beirut, 19th September 1982 (Credit: STF/AFP/Getty Images)
Karl-Heinz Borchardt was arrested just after his 18th birthday by communist secret police in East Germany. His crime was writing a letter to the BBC World Service in protest at the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. He has been speaking to Abby Darcy about how he was caught out by the Stasi.
Photo: Karl-Heinz Borchardt at the time of his arrest. Copyright: Dr Karl-Heinz Borchardt .
A group of hippies known as the London Street Commune occupied a sixty-room mansion in central London in September 1969. 144 Piccadilly became a flash point for the conflict between alternative culture and the mainstream – and it was later cleared by the police. Lucy Burns speaks to Richie Gardener, who was one of the squatters.
Picture credit: A policeman removes a flag from the balcony of 144 Piccadilly as squatters are evicted from the building, London, 21st September 1969. (Photo by Terry Disney/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Customers queued for hours to take their savings out, fearing the mortgage lender was about to go under. The Bank of England had to step in to support it. It was the first sign in Britain of the coming global financial crisis.
Photo: Northern Rock customers queuing outside the Kingston branch, in order to take their money out on September 17th 2007. Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
When West African tin miners unearthed evidence of a lost civilization. In the 1920s, terracotta heads and figurines were unearthed near the village of Nok in central Nigeria. They were ignored until a British colonial officer and archaeologist, Bernard Fagg, realised they were evidence of an unknown African culture dating back over 2,500 years. Alex Last speaks to Bernard's daughter, Angela Rackham. Photo: A Nok terracotta (Marie-Lan Nguyen)
The last man to be executed by guillotine in France was a disabled Tunisian murderer, Hamida Djandoubi. He was beheaded on September 10th 1977 at the Baumettes prison in Marseille. Ashley Byrne has spoken to the daughter of lawyer, Emile Pollak, who defended Hamida Djandoubi and who was present at his execution. The death penalty was outlawed in France in 1981.
Photo: A man looks at a guillotine in an exhibition. Credit: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images.
In 1974 during a live broadcast of Carl Orff's, Carmina Burana as part of the BBC classical music season 'The Proms', the principal baritone singer collapsed into the orchestra pit in a dead faint. A member of the audience stepped forward to sing the rest of the piece. Patrick McCarthy had only just graduated from music school, but became something of a national hero when he rescued the show. He describes the night he saved The Proms at The Albert Hall in London to Rebecca Kesby for Witness.
(PHOTO: Patrick McCarthy outside The Albert Hall, London 1974. Getty Images)
An ambitious ecological experiment was launched in Arizona in September 1991. It aimed to see if human beings could produce everything they needed to survive - in a man-made environment. Rachael Gillman has been speaking to Linda Leigh, one of the eight scientists who spent two years sealed inside the giant greenhouse known as 'Biosphere 2'.
Photo credit: TIM ROBERTS/AFP/Getty Images
The photos taken in 1917 by two young girls were heralded by the Sherlock Holmes author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as proof of the existence of fairies. Cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths were 15 and 9 when they took the photos in the village of Cottingley near Leeds in the north of England. In 1920 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published the photos in an issue of the Strand magazine as part of an article on fairy life. He was a leading member of the Theosophical Society, a movement interested in the spirit world which had gained a following in the devastating aftermath of World War One. In 1983 Elsie Wright finally admitted that the photos had been faked.
Photo: Copyright Alamy. Frances Griffiths and the "Cottingley Fairies" in a photograph made in 1917 by her cousin Elsie Wright with paper cutouts and hatpins.
A train carrying day-trippers crashed in September 1957 near the small town of Kendal, Jamaica. More than 200 passengers died and over 700 were injured. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Earl Clarke, who was 14 years old when he survived the accident. Photo: (Alamy)
Diana's brother Earl Spencer made a passionate speech at her funeral, which was interpreted by many as an attack on the Royal Family and the British press. He speaks to Mishal Husain about delivering the eulogy - and about the "bizarre and cruel" decision that her children William and Harry should walk behind her coffin.
Picture: Earl Spencer and Prince William outside the funeral ceremony for the Princess of Wales. Credit: Joel Robine/AFP/Getty Images
The online auction site first went live in September 1995. Initially, it targeted collectors of antiques and memorabilia. Soon, you could sell virtually anything on eBay. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Jim Griffith one of the company's first employees.
Photo: the eBay logo.
The novel Animal Farm was an allegory about the dangers of Soviet communism and of the communist leader Joseph Stalin. It was first published shortly after the end of World War Two, as the Cold War was just beginning. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Orwell's adopted son, Richard Blair, about George Orwell's work, and about his memories of his father.
Photo: George Orwell with Richard on his knee in the 1940s. Credit: Vernon Richards
1983 saw a major breakthrough in the treatment of facial deformities. When the first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head using CT scans was presented to the medical world. The images allowed plastic surgeons a far more precise way of planning surgical procedures. Farhana Haider has been speaking to radiologist Dr Michael Vannier who invented the 3D imaging technique which has revolutionised medicine.
Photo: Three-dimensional CT scan of a male skull and arterial system. Credit SPL
In August 1958, Britain was shocked by nearly a week of race riots in the west London district of Notting Hill. The clashes between West Indian immigrants and aggressive white youths known as Teddy Boys led to the first race relations campaigns and the creation of the famous Notting Hill Carnival. Simon Watts reports.
PHOTO: Police making arrests in Notting Hill in 1958 (Getty Images)
Germany saw its worst racial violence since World War Two in August 1992, when a home for asylum seekers was set on fire in the city of Rostock. Lucy Burns speaks to journalist Jochen Schmidt, who was trapped in the burning building.
In BBC archive recordings, veterans tell the story of how medical care dealt with the horrors of WW1. Photo: Australian wounded on the Menin Road on the Western Front, 1917 (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
How an ophthalmologist and a dermatologist in Vancouver, Canada, discovered that small amounts of a deadly toxin could make frown lines disappear. Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to Drs Jean and Alastair Carruthers about their breakthrough.
Photo: Doctor injecting a woman's face with botulinum toxin. Copyright: Pascal Goetgheluck/Science Photo Library.
Hear from one of the German prosecution lawyers who helped put Nazi war criminals on trial 20 years after World War Two had ended. Gerhard Wiese has been speaking to Lucy Burns about the trial, and about visiting the Auschwitz death camp with other members of the court.
Photo: Members of the Frankfurt court and several journalists pass through the Auschwitz camp gate with the words "Arbeit macht frei" (work brings freedom) above them. December 14,1964. Credit: Press Association.
In August 1941 one of the greatest poets India has ever produced died. Known as the "Bard of Bengal" Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize for Literature and has been called one of the outstanding thinkers of the 20th century. Farhana Haider and has been listening to material from the BBC archives and hearing from Professor Bashabi Fraser, Director of the Scottish Centre of Tagore Studies.
Photo June 1921, Indian poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore in London. Credit: Getty Images
In August 1974, Turkey ordered its troops into northern Cyprus for the second time in less than a month, leading to the division of the island into a Greek Cypriot part and a Turkish Cypriot part, a division that still exists today. Louise Hidalgo has been listening to a Turkish account of those events from the son of Turkey's foreign minister at the time, Hursit Gunes.
Picture: an armoured vehicle filled with soldiers during fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, August 16th 1974 (Credit: Reg Lancaster/ Express/Getty Images
The English-language newspaper was credited with standing up to Argentina's military dictatorship during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It published reports of people who'd disappeared when other newspapers were effectively silenced by the authorities. The paper's editor at the time, Robert Cox, has been speaking to Simon Watts for Witness.
Photo: Argentinian soldiers frisking a civilian at a checkpoint in Buenos Aires in 1977. Credit: Ali Burafi/AFP/Getty Images.
In the 1990s students began boycotting Nike after it became linked to sweatshops. Many were horrified to find their trainers were being made by poorly paid Indonesian workers.
Photo: Cicih Sukaesih telling her story in America in 1996 (courtesy of Jeff Ballinger)
For years Germans have been bathing nude at the beach. Many are members of a naturist movement called the FKK, which was banned under the Nazis and faced official disapproval during the early years of communist rule in East Germany. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to one East Berliner who recalls the heyday of naked sunbathing beside the Baltic Sea, and who still likes to bare all when he goes on holiday.
Photo: Bathers enjoying the beach at Baerwalder See, Eastern Germany (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
"We have outlawed Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes". It was just an unscripted joke by US President Ronald Reagan but it terrified ordinary Russians. Reagan's advisor Morton Blackwell tells Dina Newman about the president's love of anti-Soviet jokes and his determination to destroy Communism.
Photo: American president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s at his desk in the White House, Washington DC. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale - known to generations as the "lady with the lamp" - died on August 13th 1910. Lucy Burns hears a recording of Florence Nightingale's voice from 1890, along with memories of her life from her great-nephew Harry Verney and her private doctor May Thorne - and Dr Rosemary Wall from the University of Hull explains her legacy in the world of public health.
Recording courtesy of the Library at the Wellcome Collection
Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Exactly a year before Indian independence there were deadly riots in India's second city of Calcutta. They followed mass demonstrations calling for the creation of a Muslim-majority state and persuaded many political leaders that India should be divided on its independence. Thousands of people were killed and thousands more left the city. Justin Rowlatt has been speaking to 2 survivors of the killings.
Photo: Calcutta policemen use tear gas during the communal riots in the city. (Credit: Keystone Features/Getty Images)
The acclaimed Palestinian cartoonist was gunned down in London in 1987. His attackers have never been identified. Naji al-Ali's cartoons were famous across the Middle East. Through his images he criticised Israeli and US policy in the region, but unlike many, he also lambasted Arab despotic regimes and the leadership of the PLO. His signature character was called Handala - a poor Palestinian refugee child with spiky hair, who would always appear, facing away with his hands clasped behind his back, watching the events depicted in the cartoon. Alex Last has been speaking to his son, Khalid, about his father's life and death. Photo: A cartoon by Naji al-Ali published with the permission of Naji Al-Ali family. Copyrights reserved.
In the summer of 1997 Captain Charles Moore was on his way home from a yacht race when he came upon a huge patch of floating rubbish in the Pacific Ocean. In 2013 he spoke to Lucy Burns about the discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and how it opened up a new chapter in research into ocean waste.
Photo: Fishing nets and assorted garbage collected from the North Pacific Gyre (Credit: Environmental Images/Univers/REX/Shutterstock)
In 2000 the US led a major effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. President Bill Clinton brought the two sides together at the leafy presidential retreat in Maryland. The Israeli leader, Ehud Barak and the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, failed to reach any agreement and the summit ended in failure. Farhana Haider has been speaking to the senior American diplomatic interpreter and policy adviser, Gamal Helal who attended the Camp David summit.
White House photo released 16 July 2000 US President Bill Clinton (C) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (L) and Palestinian Chairman Yassar Arafat and Gamal Helal at a working dinner at Camp David, Maryland during the Middle East Peace Summit. Credit: SHARON FARMER/AFP/Getty Images
In July 1999, the spiritual movement Falun Gong was banned in China. Thousands of people were arrested. The Chinese government says Falun Gong is an "evil cult", but followers of the movement say they have been the victims of state persecution.
Witness speaks to Falun Gong practitioner Chao Yu and journalist Ian Johnson.
(Photo: Falun Gong practitioners stage a sit-in protest outside the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Hong Kong, 2002. Credit: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1977 a state hospital near Paris began quietly changing the way women gave birth. Obstetrician, Dr Michel Odent, believed that childbirth had become too medicalised and he wanted a more natural approach. He introduced a pool to ease the pain of labour. Eventually some babies were even born in the pool. Claire Bowes speaks to Dr Odent about the innovation that has become a revolution using the power of water.
(Photo: Getty Images)
During World War Two, Croatian fascists tortured and killed tens of thousands of Serbs, Jews and Roma people in several concentration camps. The most notorious was Jasenovac. Dina Newman speaks to Milinko Cekic, a Serb survivor of Jasenovac.
Photo: Milinko Cekic speaking to the BBC in 2017. Credit: BBC.
On July 26 1952 Argentina's controversial First Lady, Eva Peron, died in Buenos Aires. During her short life she had become an icon for women and the poor in the South American nation. In 2012 Krupa Padhy spoke to two very different Argentine women who remember meeting her.
Photo: President Juan Peron and his wife, Eva Peron, at a demonstration in Buenos Aires, August 1951. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
In the 1970s, deep sea divers were at the sharp end of the North Sea oil boom. Alex Last has been speaking to the former diver David Beckett, who wrote The Loonliness of a Deep Sea Diver, about his dangerous life working under the waves. Photo: A saturation diver works to fix an undersea oil pump in the North Sea (BBC)
The battle for China between Communists and Nationalists left Mao the victor in 1949. Defeated Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai Shek, fled with his troops to the island of Taiwan, but he vowed to return. Hau Pei Tsun is a former chief aide to Chiang Kai Shek. Now 99 years old, he speaks to Rebecca Kesby about his memories of the controversial leader, and their fight for the soul of China.
Photo: General Chiang Kai Shek, cerca 1943 (Keystone/Getty Images)
In July 1967, homosexuality was legalised in England and Wales for the first time. Before that gay men lived in fear of arrest, beatings and blackmail. Some even underwent so-called aversion therapy at psychiatric hospitals in an attempt to 'cure' themselves. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Liverpool comedian and radio presenter, Peter Price, who still bears the psychological scars of what he was put through when he was 18.
Picture: Comedian Peter Price (copyright: private collection)
In the 1960s, millions of Soviet families were able for the first time to move to a flat of their own. This was due to a mass construction programme of standardized housing. Dina Newman speaks to a resident of one of the first five storey apartment blocks, and to Clem Cecil, a campaigner for preserving architecture.
Photo: a five-storey building dating from the 1960s in western Moscow on June 11, 2017. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
In July 1967 there was a breakthrough for the Welsh language. The Welsh Language Act allowed people in Wales to use Welsh in a court of law - and it was also the first significant victory for a campaign to preserve the ancient language. Lucy Burns speaks to Dafydd Iwan and Lord Elystan Morgan about the campaign.
PICTURE: Rain clouds gather over the Welsh flag flying beside the beach on June 15, 2012 in Barry, Wales (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
During the Vietnam war, the US army's Psychological Operations, or PSYOP, teams were deployed to battle communist Viet Cong guerillas and the North Vietnamese Army. Their goal was to try to weaken the enemy's willingness to fight. They used a variety of methods including playing spooky "Wandering Soul" tapes which preyed on local beliefs about the afterlife. Alex Last has been speaking to PSYOP veteran Rick Hofmann who was deployed to Vietnam in the late 1960s. Photo:Viet Cong guerrillas on patrol during the Vietnam War, 2nd March 1966: (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
In the summer of 1932, tens of thousands of American First World War veterans marched on Washington DC to demand the bonus they'd been promised by the government for their part in the war. It was the height of the Great Depression and many were unemployed and hungry. They called themselves the Bonus Army. Louise Hidalgo talks to author Paul Dickson about their story.
Photograph: Bonus Army marchers stage a mass vigil on the steps of the Capitol building in Washington while the Senate debates their case (Copyright: Getty Archive)
On July 15th 1997 the Italian fashion designer was shot dead on the steps of his Florida mansion. His murder sparked a huge manhunt and shocked the world of fashion. Mike Lanchin spoke to journalist Cathy Horyn about the man, and his life.
Photo: A police car outside Gianni Versace's Miami home in July 1997. Credit: Robert Sullivan/AFP/Getty Images
The Famicom gaming console was a breakthrough in the world of computer games. Launched in Japan in 1983, it brought games out of arcades and into people's living rooms. When it reached markets in the West it was renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System. Nintendo designer Masayuki Uemura has been speaking to Ashley Byrne about how it was developed.
Photo: Masayuki Uemura, holding Donkey Kong software for the original Famicom console. (Credit: Kyodo News via Getty Images.)
In July 1965 an 11-km tunnel dug deep beneath the Alps was opened to traffic. Linking France and Italy, the Mont Blanc tunnel was a remarkable feat of engineering. Franco Cuaz, a consultant on the project and the tunnel's first operations manager, speaks to Mike Lanchin about the risks and challenges of the ambitious project.
Photo: Final preparations are made for the opening of the Mont Blanc Tunnel on the French-Italian border, July 1965. (Keystone/Getty Images)
Indigenous Canadians objected to plans to develop a golf course on the site of a burial ground in Quebec in 1990. The dispute led to a summer-long siege between Mohawk protestors and Canadian security forces. Ellen Katsi'tsakwas Gabriel is a Mohawk activist who spoke to Rebecca Kesby about the crisis.
Photo: A Mohawk activist confronts a soldier. Credit: IATV NEWS.
In the summer of 1992, thousands of ravers and New Age travellers gathered for an illegal free festival on common land near the Malvern Hills in the English Midlands - to the horror of local residents. It was a high point for British rave culture, but also the beginning of the end. The Castlemorton Common event led to a change in the law giving police increased power to shut down events playing music "characterised by the emission of repetitive beats".
Lucy Burns speaks to Lol Hammond, a former member of music collective Spiral Tribe, who played at the event.
Photo: Murray Sanders/ANL/REX/Shutterstock: New Age travellers camping at Castlemorton Malvern Hills in 1992.
In 1961, one of the world's best ballet dancers, Rudolf Nureyev, defected from the USSR to the West, causing a worldwide sensation. Dina Newman spoke to Victor Hochhauser, the international impresario who organised that historic tour.
Photo: Rudolf Nureyev receives flowers after his performance of 'Swan Lake' in Paris in 1963. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
The dissident poet was sentenced to 7 years in a Soviet Labour camp. She suffered from cold, malnutrition and harsh treatment, but she continued to write poems secretly. She was released on the eve of a nuclear summit between the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan in 1986. Irina Ratushinskaya died on July 5th 2017. She spoke to Louise Hidalgo for Witness in 2016.
(Photo: Irina and her husband Igor, arriving in London in December 1986. Credit: Topfoto)
In 1993, academic Dr Alan Sked formed the UK Independence Party to campaign against Britain's membership of the European Union. The party played a vital part in the debate about Europe before and after the referendum which led to Brexit - Britain's exit from the Union.
Photo: Dr Alan Sked during an early party political broadcast.
In July 1987 separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka attacked an army camp. It was the first of hundreds of suicide attacks carried by the group known as the "Black Tigers" against both military and civilian targets during the country's long running civil war. Farhana Haider hears from a former Tamil resident of Sri Lanka and from one of the only filmmakers to have spent any time with the Black Tigers.
Photo: Captain Miller shrine at Nelliady, Jaffna, Sri Lanka on Black Tigers Day, 2004. Credit: Public Domain
In 2009, a metal detectorist found the largest ever hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver in a field in England. More than 3,000 pieces were recovered. Many appeared to be decorations taken from swords, as well as Christian artefacts. The hoard is believed to date back to the 7th Century when Anglo-Saxon kingdoms battled each other for supremacy in England. Alex Last has been speaking to Terry Herbert who found the treasure and archaeologist Dr Kevin Leahy who examined the hoard. Photo: Just some of the treasures from The Staffordshire Hoard (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
In the summer of 1986 in an effort to promote 'Glasnost' or openness, Soviet women were linked up with American women via satellite for a TV debate. But the dialogue would be remembered above all for the moment when a Russian woman stated "We have no sex in the USSR". Dina Newman has tracked down the woman who blurted that out, and Vladimir Posner the talk show host in the studio at the time.
Photo: Soviet women in the Leningrad TV studio, with Vladimir Posner standing in the background. Courtesy of Ludmilla Ivanova.
In 2002 Steve Fossett succeeded in flying solo around the world in a hot air balloon. He touched down in Australia on the 4th of July. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to his chief engineer and project manager, Tim Cole, about the man and his record-breaking journey.
Photo: Steve Fossett on an earlier balloon trip. Credit: BBC.
In July 1947 members of the US military reported finding unidentifiable debris in the desert of New Mexico. The only explanation seemed to be that it had come from outer space. Major Jesse Marcel was one of the men who came across the material. In 2010, his son, Jesse Marcel Junior talked to Ed Butler for Witness about the so-called 'Roswell Incident'.
Photo: Major Jesse Marcel with some of the debris in July 1947. Credit: Alamy
In 1992 Disney opened its first theme park in Europe. But it had taken years of delicate negotiations and diplomacy get it off the ground. In 2013 Rebecca Kesby spoke to Robert Fitzpatrick who had the job of bringing the magic of Mickey Mouse to France.
Photo: Celebrations during the 25th anniversary of Disneyland Paris at the park in Marne-la-Vallee in April 2017. Credit: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
A dispute between Israel and Egypt over a tiny strip of beach on the Red Sea soured relations between the two countries for years. Israel captured Taba on the Sinai Peninsula during the Six Day War, but refused to return it until 1989 when the Egyptians bought the luxury hotel and beach-hut village that Israeli developers had built on it. Louise Hidalgo talks to former US judge Abraham Sofaer who helped negotiate the deal.
Picture: Egyptian soldiers present arms as Israel returns control of Taba to Egypt after 22 years; in the background is the five-star hotel that an Israeli developer built at the resort (Credit: Maggi Ayalon/GPO via Getty Images)
In July 1972 Tony and Maureen Wheeler set off on the holiday of a lifetime travelling from London to Sydney in Australia . The book they wrote when they returned was the first Lonely Planet travel guide. The series helped thousands of young travellers to make their way around the world on a budget. Farhana Haider has been talking to co-founder Tony Wheeler. (Photo: Maureen and Tony Wheeler. Credit: Lonely Planet)
In the 1960s and 70s, thousands of westerners travelled to India and Nepal by overland bus. They were searching for adventure, enlightenment and cheap hashish. Simon Watts talks to Richard Gregory, who did the Hippie Trail in 1974.
PHOTO: Richard Gregory in Kabul in 1974 (Private Collection)
In 1955 a small Icelandic airline called Loftleioir Icelandic slashed the cost of flying across the Atlantic. For the first time thousands of young Americans were able to afford air travel to Europe on what became known as the 'Hippie Express.' Mike Lanchin speaks to Edda Helgason, whose father Sigurdur Helgason, launched the ambitious scheme, and to Hans Indridason, who ran the company's sales and marketing department at the time.
Photo: An Icelandic Airlines advertisement from May 1973, in New York's Fifth Avenue (US National Archives)
In 1937 Italian forces occupying the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa began a three day campaign of killings which left thousands of Ethiopian civilians dead. Alex Last has been speaking to Ambassador Imru Zelleke, who witnessed the massacre as a child. The violence began after a grenade attack wounded Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, the man appointed by Mussolini to govern Ethiopia. Italian forces had invaded the country in 1935 as Mussolini tried to expand Italian colonial territories in East Africa. Haile Selassie, the Emperor of Ethiopia, then called Abyssinia, was forced into exile. Ethiopia was a member of the League of Nations, but despite appeals, Western powers refused to intervene to stop the Italian invasion. The massacre is known in Ethiopia by it's date in the Ethiopian calender,Yekatit 12. Photo: The arrival of an Italian official in Italian-occupied Addis Ababa. The slogan on the banner reads: 'To whom does the empire belong? Duce! Duce! To ourselves!' (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In June 1982 a young Chinese-American engineer was murdered with a baseball bat by two white men in the US city of Detroit. The lenient sentences the perpetrators received sparked an Asian-American activist movement with protests across the US. At the time America was going through an economic depression and many were blaming Japan which was perceived to be flooding the US with its cars. For Asian-Americans it was a time of fear. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Helen Zia, one of the activists leading the fight for justice.
(Photo: Helen Zia addressing a 10th anniversary commemoration event New York City, 1992. Credit: Helen Zia)
In 1950, tens of thousands of Christians in South Korea were beaten, killed or forcibly taken to the north by the invading North Korean communist army. Dina Newman has been speaking to Peter Chang, who came from a family of Salvation Army officers in Seoul and had to flee the North Korean advance.
Photo: Fifth US air force of the UN forces bomb a train bridge over the river Han south of Seoul during the Korean War on July 11, 1950. AFP/Getty Images
In 1995 Tokyo University staged the first public exhibition to feature human corpses that had been preserved through the process of plastination using silicone. The process was developed by the German anatomist, Gunther Von Hagens - but it was Professor Takeshi Yoro of Japan who first suggested they should be put on public display. He speaks to Rebecca Kesby for Witness.
(Photo: Base-ball player at the Body Worlds exhibition of real human bodies, San Diego, California, 2009. Credit: Gabriel Bouys/AFP)
On 19th June 1982, the body of Italian banker Roberto Calvi was found hanging beneath a bridge in London. It was the latest twist in a drama that had gripped Italy for more than a year involving a mysterious masonic lodge, whose members included many of the most powerful men in Italy, and which stretched all the way to the mafia and to the Catholic church. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to retired magistrate Giuliano Turone who helped discover this secret state-within-a-state, and to journalist Leo Sisti who reported on it.
Picture: Robert Calvi, head of Banco Ambrosiano, who was convicted of fraud but released on appeal shortly before his death (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
On 17 June 1940, a packed British troopship was sunk off the coast of France by German bombers. The ship had just picked up thousands of British military personnel left behind in France after the evacuation of the army at Dunkirk. It's believed around 5,000 people lost their lives. It was one of the worst maritime disasters in British history and news of the sinking was initially supressed in Britain. Alex Last spoke to 99-year-old Ernest Beesley, a sapper in the Royal Engineers, who is among the last survivors of the Lancastria. Photo: The Lancastria after being hit by German bombers off the coast of France in 1940 (Lancastria Association of Scotland)
Hundreds of thousands of Algeria's indigenous people, the Berbers, marched to the capital Algiers in June 2001 for a massive demonstration demanding more rights. In particular, they wanted official recognition for the Berber language, Tamazight. Zeinab Dabaa has spoken to Berber activist Rasheed Alwash about the demonstration.
Photo: Berber youths, who walked from their village in Kabylia region to take part in the rally in the capital Algiers. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
In June 1982 an attempt to amend the US constitution to guarantee equal rights for men and women was defeated. Despite two decades of women's liberation activism and a huge groundswell of political support, the amendment was prevented from going through. The defeat was in large part down to one woman, staunch Republican and leading conservative, Phyllis Schlafly. Claire Bowes has been listening to archive recordings of Mrs Schlafly, held by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential library.
PHOTO: American political activist Phyllis Schlafly smiles from behind a pair of podium mounted microphones, 1982. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In June 1997 a huge eruption destroyed the airport on the Caribbean island of Montserrat and engulfed its main town, Plymouth, in volcanic ash. 19 people were killed but most of the population had already fled the area. In 2011 Mark Sandell heard from local broadcaster Rose Willock about the devastation.
Photo: Houses covered in ash in June 1997. Credit: Dominique Chomereau-Lamotte/AFP/Getty Images
In 1967 East Jerusalem was under the control of Jordan and Captain Nabih El Suhaimat was stationed there. In early June he and his soldiers fought in vain against Israeli paratroopers. But they lost control of the Old City and he was forced to flee Jerusalem in disguise. He has spoken to Zeinab Dabaa about the Six Day War.
Photo: Nabih El Suhaimat in his Jordanian Army Uniform. Credit: Nabih El Suhaimat.
On 7 June 1967, Israel captured the whole of Jerusalem during the Six Day War, including its most holy site, the Temple Mount that is revered by both Jews and Muslims. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to Arik Achmon, one of the first Israeli paratroopers to enter the old city that day and reach the Western Wall.
(Photo: Israeli photographer David Rubinger's iconic photograph of Israeli soldiers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's old city following its capture by Israel. Credit: David Rubinger/AFP/Getty Images)
Senator Robert Kennedy died in the early hours of June 6th 1968. He had been shot the day before in a Los Angeles hotel as he prepared to celebrate winning the California primary in the race to become the Democratic Party's nominee for President. His labour adviser Paul Schrade, who was standing next to him, was also injured in the attack. He spoke to Ashley Byrne about Robert Kennedy the man, and about the events surrounding his death.
Photo: Robert Kennedy speaking in the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles shortly before the shooting took place. Copyright: BBC.
The story of a Pakistani boy, Iqbal Masih, who was forced into bonded labour as a carpet weaver at the age of four. He later escaped and began speaking out against child labour. He became an international campaigner for the rights of children, speaking at schools in the US and Europe. Iqbal was tragically killed in 1995 at the age of 12. Farhana Haider has been talking to Ehsan Ullah Khan, whose organisation helped free Iqbal.
Photo: Ehsan Ullah Khan and Iqbal Masih in Sweden, 1995. (Credit: Ehsan Ullah Khan)
On June 3rd 1972 Sally Priesand became the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in the USA. However it still took her another nine years to secure a full-time post in a synagogue. She spoke to Zeinab Dabaa about overcoming the traditional gender barriers in her ground-breaking career.
Photo: Sally Priesand in 1972 (With thanks to the American Jewish Archive)
On May 31st 1986 a small group of musicians staged the first charity rock concert ever held in the USSR. It was organised in less than two weeks to raise money for the victims of the Chernobyl disaster. The nuclear reactor accident had happened just a month before in Ukraine. Some of the artists who played at the concert had been previously banned by the Soviet authorities, so the concert was a social revolution, as organiser - Artemy Troitsky explains to Rebecca Kesby.
(PHOTO Credit TASS: Soviet pop star Alla Pugacheva performs at a concert for the victims of the Chernobyl disaster)
In June 1972 one of Hitchcock's most controversial movie was released. It was his penultimate film and provoked some critics to accuse him of revelling in scenes of violence against women. Vincent Dowd speaks to actor Barbara Leigh-Hunt about working with the renowned director and about her role as the female victim in Frenzy.
(Photo: Alfred Hitchcock on location of the film "Frenzy" in Covent Garden, London, 1971. Credit: Jack Kay/Daily Express/Getty Images)
In 1968 Dr Bindeshwar Pathak began his mission to improve toilet facilities for the poorest people of India. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, he developed an affordable, ecological twin-pit latrine system that has helped millions of people in India and around the world to avoid potentially fatal diseases. He explained to Rebecca Kesby, why sanitation became his life's passion.
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In 1979, Canadians launched a revolutionary private sponsorship scheme to aid thousands of Indochinese refugees fleeing Vietnam. Under the scheme, groups of ordinary Canadians could pay for a refugee to be resettled in Canada. Thousands of Canadians took part, and supported the resettlement of 34,000 refugees in a year. Alex Last speaks to Professor Howard Adelman who set up Operation Lifeline - the first private sponsorship campaign in Canada. Photo: A Vietnamese boat crowded with refugees runs aground on the Malaysian coast. 1979 (BBC)
In May 1998 Pakistan courted international criticism after it responded to an Indian nuclear test, with an explosion of its own. In 2011 Rob Walker spoke to Dr Samar Mubarakmand who organised the test on the Pakistani side.
Photo: Pakistan nuclear scientist Dr. Samar Mubarakmand (right) alongside Dr. Ishfaq Ahmed and Minister of Information Mushahid Hussain, in front of the hill under which Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests in May 1998 (SAEED KHAN/AFP/Getty Images)
In May 1975 one of Latin America's leading young poets was shot dead in El Salvador by members of his own rebel group. Roque Dalton was a prolific writer, who spent years in exile before returning to his native El Salvador to join the guerrillas fighting to overthrow the military regime. Dalton was killed along with another rebel, accused of spying for the Americans. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to one of the poet's sons, Juan Jose, about his father's short life and untimely death.
Photo: Roque Dalton receiving the Casa de las Américas prize for poetry in 1969.
In May 1970 Ireland's banks were forced to close for 6 months when workers went on strike. But in an age before ATMs and debit cards the Irish found a way of getting hold of their money - at the pub.
Photo:Three glasses of Guinness on a bar in Downings, Co. Donegal, Ireland (BBC)
In 1942, the fascist government of Romania deported 25,000 of its Roma citizens to the former Soviet territory of Transdniestria. Half of them died of hunger and disease. Dina Newman spoke to one Roma Gypsy man who was five years old when he was sent to Transdniestria with his family.
Photo: Nomadic Roma in Bucharest, Romania, outside their tent. Circa 1930. (General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)
Teresa Teng was a Taiwanese singer who gained popularity with her soft-focus image and romantic songs. But when her music reached mainland communist China, she became a superstar - and part of a propaganda battle between Taiwan and the mainland. Lucy Burns has been speaking to Teresa's brother Frank Teng about her life and early death. Image copyright: Teresa Teng Foundation
In June 2009 after the presidential elections in Iran, millions took to the streets to dispute Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory. A young woman, Neda Agha Soltan, became a symbol of the protest movement after she was shot dead at a demonstration in Tehran. Her death was captured on a mobile phone and uploaded on to the internet. That footage was seen around the world within hours. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Arash Hejazi who tried to save Neda's life as she bled on the streets.
(Photo: Supporters of then-defeated Iranian presidential candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, attend a rally in Tehran on June 18th 2009. Credit: Reuters)
A Broadway musical has led to renewed interest in the story behind the 18th century American politician. He fought alongside George Washington for independence from British rule, and was key to the formation of the American financial system.
Photo: Alexander Hamilton on the US ten Dollar bill. Credit: KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images.
In 1954 the US Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of public schools on the basis of race was unconstitutional. The case was a turning point in the long battle for civil rights in America. Farhana Haider has been speaking to Cheryl Brown Henderson, the youngest daughter of Oliver Brown, who was the named plaintiff in the class action against the local board of education.
(Photo African American student Linda Brown, Cheryl Brown Henderson's eldest sister (front, C) sitting in her segregated classroom.Credit: GettyArchive)
New York housewife, Jean Nidetch, started by simply talking to her friends about how to lose weight. They weighed each other and swapped dietary advice, but soon Weight Watchers had turned into a franchise. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Lauren Cohen who joined in the 1960s and eventually became a 'trainer' leading her own Weight Watchers group.
Photo: Jean Nidetch in 1969. Credit Alamy.
In May 1972, the controversial American populist politician, George Wallace, was shot while running for President of the United States. The governor of Alabama had made his name as a supporter of segregation during the civil rights era. Simon Watts talks to his son, George Wallace Junior, author of "Governor George Wallace - The Man You Never Knew"
PHOTO: Governor George Wallace, in 1963, rejecting a federal government order to allow black students into the University of Alabama (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In May 1981, documents surfaced that eventually led to the trial of the most senior French official to be convicted of war crimes during the German occupation of France in the Second World War. Former government minister, Maurice Papon, who was considered the most distinguished civil servant of his generation, went on trial twenty years ago for helping the Nazis to deport French Jews. He was sentenced to ten years in jail. Louise Hidalgo has been talking to American academic Stephanie Hare who did a series of interviews with Maurice Papon after his release.
Picture: Maurice Papon in October 1997, shortly after his trial for war crimes opened. (Credit: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images)
In May 1976, new unknown Californian wines beat top French wines in a blind wine tasting in Paris. The result shocked the wine world, it transformed the reputation of Californian wine, and horrified the French wine industry. We hear from Steven Spurrier, the man who organised the wine tasting.
Photo: A man smells wine in a wineglass. (Getty Images)
In 1977 a US government body first warned Americans that the food they were eating represented as great a threat to their health as smoking. A Senate Select Committee investigating the links between diet and killer diseases, such as Diabetes and Stroke, reported back that Americans should cut back on red meat, eggs,whole milk and refined sugar. Claire Bowes has been speaking to Nick Mottern whose idea it was to launch a set of 6 dietary goals for the United States.
In 1973, the most successful TV spy series ever to be broadcast in the USSR, went on air. The central character was a Soviet secret agent in Nazi Germany, Max Otto von Stierlitz. Dina Newman speaks to actor Eleonora Shashkova who played Stierlitz's wife. Photo: the script-writer Julian Semenov (l) and actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov, who played Stierlitz (r), on set in Moscow in 1972. Credit: courtesy of Julian Semenov Foundation.
In May 1980 China allowed capitalist activity for the first time since the Communist Revolution, in four designated cities known as the Special Economic Zones. The most successful was Shenzhen, which grew from a mainly rural area specialising in pigs and lychees to one of China's biggest cities.
Lucy Burns speaks to Yong Ya, a musician who has lived in Shenzhen since the 1980s, and to ethnographer Mary Ann O'Donnell.
IMAGE: Pedestrians and cars stream by a giant poster of Chinese patriarch Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen, the first of China's special economic zones. TOMMY CHENG/AFP/Getty Images
Father and son, Arpad and Giorgio Fischer, were the Italian cosmetic surgeons who spent years developing the modern technique of liposuction, which involves sucking out fat from under the skin. Ashley Byrne has spoken to Giorgio Fischer about how they perfected their invention. Photo: A doctor performs a liposuction at a hospital in Shanghai, China. Credit: AFP /LIU Jin
In May 1976 the German left-wing extremist Ulrike Meinhof killed herself in prison. She and Andreas Baader had led a terror campaign against the West German state in the early 1970s. Journalist Stefan Aust knew her well - he talks to Witness.
Photo:A police photo of German left-wing terrorist Ulrike Meinhof of the Red Army Faction, aka the Baader-Meinhof Group, circa 1972. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
In the Spring of 1917, many French army units mutinied after enduring years of slaughter and appalling conditions during World War One. Much of the French army on the Western Front was affected. Hear first-hand accounts of the mutiny from the BBC archive. Photo: French soldiers attack from their trench during the Verdun battle, eastern France in 1916 (ARCHIVES/AFP/Getty Images)
In 1992, shortly after the collapse of the USSR, a civil war erupted in Tajikistan, a Central Asian country bordering Afghanistan. Over 30,000 people lost their lives during the five years of fighting. Dina Newman speaks to a villager whose family got caught up in the Islamic opposition. Photo: an opposition supporter holds his self-made weapon as he listens to Islamic leaders in central Dushanbe, on 7th May 1992; credit AFP/Getty Images.
In May 1947, the legendary photographic co-operative Magnum Photos was set up by a group of famous photographers, including Robert Capa and Henri Cartier-Bresson whose work would inspire generations of photographers. Members of Magnum would go on to produce many of the most iconic images of the 20th and 21st centuries. Louise Hidalgo talks to Jinx Rodger, widow of one of the founders, George Rodger, and to Inge Bondi, who knew them all.
Photograph: US troops’ first assault on Omaha Beach during the D-Day landings, Normandy, France. June 6, 1944. (Credit: International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos. With thanks to Magnum Photos)
In April 1977 a group of women in Argentina held the first ever public demonstration to demand the release of thousands of opponents of the military regime. It was the start of a long campaign by the women, who became known as the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from ninety-two year-old Mirta Baravalle who has spent decades searching for her missing daughter and son-in-law, and for the grandchild she has never met.
(Photo: Mirta Baravalle, with the black-and-white photograph of her daughter, Ana Maria)
During the Bosnian war of the early 1990's, thousands of women were raped. Some were kept in concentration camps and repeatedly assaulted. One survivor of Omarska camp, Nusreta Sivac tells Rebecca Kesby her story. As a former judge, she was determined to try to get some justice for the victims of that war, her testimony helped make rape an internationally recognised war crime.
(PHOTO: Bosnian Muslim women protest in Sarajevo for justice for rape and other war crimes. Getty Images.)
On April 26th 2005, Syrian forces finally pulled out of Lebanon, after being stationed there for almost 30 years. The withdrawal came after a series of massive popular protests, and international criticism following the assassination of a popular Lebanese politician - Rafik Hariri. Zeinab Dabaa has been speaking to two Lebanese people with very different opinions about the Syrian presence in their country.
Photo: Syrian Army trucks carrying tanks cross the Lebanese-Syrian border crossing point of Masnaa in April 2005. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
The man who changed the way people thought about mental illness. RD Laing became famous in the 1960s for rejecting traditional psychiatric drug treatments in favour of talking to patients.
Photo: 3rd February 1967: British psychiatrist R D Laing attends a discussion on the legalisation of marijuana. (Photo by Stan Meagher/Express/Getty Images)
In the 1980s, Bulgaria's communist regime launched a brutal policy of forced assimilation against the country's ethnic Turkish minority. People's names were forcibly changed to sound more Slavic, the Turkish language was banned, cultural and religious practices outlawed. In 1989, Bulgaria's government issued passports to Bulgarian Turks, and hundreds of thousands fled the country to neighbouring Turkey. We hear the account of one family caught up in the policy the Bulgarian government called "The Revival Process". Photo: Bulgarian Turks joining a mass exodus to Turkey in 1989 (BBC)
In post-WW2 Japan, musician Shinichi Suzuki developed a new method of teaching the violin - which would spread around the world. Brothers Hideya and Toshiya Taida were two of the first students to graduate from the Suzuki Method.
IMAGE: Children of the Suzuki Method music school play the violin at founder Shinichi Suzuki's memorial concert in Tokyo on March 28, 2008. KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP/Getty Images
In April 1990 the huge space telescope was launched into orbit above the earth. But when it began sending images back to Nasa - they were out of focus. In 2010 Lucy Williamson spoke to Mike Weiss, the Nasa engineer in charge of fixing it.
(Photo: The Hubble Space Telescope. Credit Nasa)
En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.