Witness History Podcast
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
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.
Episodes to download
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Crossing Antarctica
Tue 18 Jan 2011
In January 1997 Borge Ousland became the first person to cross the Antarctic alone
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Kindertransport - Oliver's story
Mon 17 Jan 2011
The story of a boy who escaped Nazi Germany on a kindertransport train heading for Britain
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Football wages
Fri 14 Jan 2011
We take you back to 1961 when the cap on football wages was abolished in England
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Wikipedia - 10 years on
Thu 13 Jan 2011
It is 10 years since the Wikipedia online encyclopedia was launched
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Cryonic freezing
Wed 12 Jan 2011
In 1967 a group of enthusiasts first tried to cryonically freeze a human being.
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Crossing the Rubicon
Tue 11 Jan 2011
When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon river 2,000 years ago he changed history
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Bojinka Airline Plot
Mon 10 Jan 2011
The Manila-based plot to blow up a dozen airliners over the Pacific Ocean
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Clinton impeachment
Fri 7 Jan 2011
On January 7 1999 the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton began in the US Senate
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Sudan's civil war
Thu 6 Jan 2011
In 1983 a civil war broke out in Sudan which would last for more than 20 years.
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Afghanistan's Secret Schools for Girls
Wed 5 Jan 2011
How Afghan women resisted the Taliban's efforts to prohibit education for girls
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LBJ State of Nation
Tue 4 Jan 2011
US President Lyndon B Johnson makes his first State of the Nation address.
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Alaska statehood
Mon 3 Jan 2011
On January 3 1959 Alaska finally became a fully fledged member state of the USA.
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Chiapas Uprising
Fri 31 Dec 2010
On January 1 1994 indigenous people in southern Mexico began their rebellion.
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Hamlet
Thu 30 Dec 2010
Hamlet - by William Shakespeare - is still popular four centuries after it was written.
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The Great Escape
Tue 28 Dec 2010
One of the Great Escapees from a German prisoner of war camp speaks out
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Jamaica Slave Rebellion
Mon 27 Dec 2010
The rebellion was brutally crushed, but it had a significant impact
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Christmas Truce
Christmas Eve 2010
When British and German troops sang carols, exchanged gifts and played football together
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Andrei Sakharov
Thu 23 Dec 2010
On 23 December, 1986 the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov was allowed to return to Moscow
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Georgia in crisis
Wed 22 Dec 2010
Christmas 1991 was a very difficult time for the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
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Lockerbie
Tue 21 Dec 2010
On December 21 1988 a US passenger plane blew up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
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US invasion of Panama
Mon 20 Dec 2010
It is 21 years since the US invaded the tiny Central American state of Panama.
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Washington Snipers
Fri 17 Dec 2010
It is 7 years since one of the Washington snipers, Lee Boyd Malvo, was convicted of murder
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Operation Desert Fox
Thu 16 Dec 2010
On 16 December 1998 the US and Britain began a four day bombardment of Iraq.
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Siege of Grozny
Wed 15 Dec 2010
In December 1994 Russian forces invaded Chechnya and laid siege to the capital Grozny.
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Capture of Saddam Hussein
Tue 14 Dec 2010
It was on this day in 2003 that Saddam Hussein was finally captured by US forces
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Argentina's disappeared
Mon 13 Dec 2010
On 13 December 1983, the government of Argentina promised to investigate military crimes
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Albert Luthuli Receives the Nobel Peace Prize
Fri 10 Dec 2010
Chief Albert Luthuli was the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Peace - in 1960
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Smallpox Eradication
Thu 9 Dec 2010
It was once one of the most feared diseases in the world - disfiguring and often deadly
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John Lennon
Wed 8 Dec 2010
It is exactly 30 years since the former Beatle, John Lennon, was shot dead in New York.