Witness History
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Witness History
Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there....
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2143 episodi
Ashley Kriel: South Africa's anti-apartheid 'Che Guevara'
In the 1980s, townships in the Cape Flats area of Cape Town became an unexpected hotbed of activity against South Africa's apartheid government.
The first carbon offset
In 1988, as floods struck Bangladesh and a heat wave swept across the United States, climate change became a political issue. Governments and business...
City of God: The film that reshaped global cinema
In 2001, filming began on City of God which would stun audiences with its unflinching honesty.
It captured the brutal realities of child gangste...
The cellist who survived Auschwitz-Birkenau
In 1943, the cellist, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch was sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. She expected to be killed in the gas chambers but...
'I organised the first Comic Con'
In 1964, a group of teenage boys organised a convention in New York – it became known as the first official Comic Con.
The idea began after 16-y...
Sweden's summer shutdown
In the summer of 1978, many Swedish workers relished the chance to take longer, paid vacations than ever before.
This was thanks to an update to...
The last execution by garrote: Salvador Puig Antich
In 1974, an execution method known as the garrote, a chair with a metal collar tightened by a screw to break the neck, was used for the last time.
Creating Africa’s largest film festival
On 1 February 1969, the first African film festival of Ouagadougou opened in the Republic of Upper Volta, now known as Burkina Faso.
In 1972, th...
The first solar-powered flight around the world
In 2016, a fragile-looking aircraft with the wingspan of a jumbo jet and the power of a scooter attempted something no-one had ever managed before: fl...
Unveiling the face of Crazy Horse
On 3 June 1998, a stone carving of Native American warrior Crazy Horse's face was unveiled in South Dakota.
It is 27m tall and is part of a much...
How a Peruvian instrument revolutionised flamenco
Before 1977, flamenco percussion relied solely on hand‑clapping and dancers' footwork. But that year, at a party in Lima, Peru, the cajon entered the...
Mexico’s ‘little old lady killer’
In March 2008, former female wrestler Juana Barraza was found guilty of murdering at least 11 elderly women in Mexico City.
The murders took p...
The British love of tea (from Here for The History)
How and when did tea arrive in the UK?
Alice Loxton and Ben Henderson take a look at the mythological origins, the role of a Portuguese princes...
A child's return to Franco's Spain
During the Spanish Civil War, the fascist dictator Francisco Franco rose to power.
Around half a million people fled the fighting, but some chos...
Birkin bag: Creating fashion’s iconic accessory
In 1985, one the world’s most recognisable fashion accessories was first launched – the Birkin handbag.
Its origins have since become legend. Th...
Turkey’s failed coup
On 15 July, over 300 people were killed and more than 2,100 injured when rogue soldiers commandeered warplanes, tanks and helicopters in a failed coup...
Creating Canada’s largest territory
For generations, Inuit communities lived across the Arctic, travelling with the seasons and relying on the land. But in the mid-20th century, Canadian...
The Kiss of Life photo that earned a Pulitzer Prize
In 1967, American lineman JD Thompson was working on overhead power lines in Jacksonville, Florida, when his colleague Randall Champion accidentally g...
Dada: The birth of an art movement
In 1916, Zurich was a beacon for refugees. Fleeing the death and destruction of World War I, artists and free-thinkers from all over Europe fled to th...
South Sudan celebrates independence
On 9 July 2011, a new flag was raised in the city of Juba as South Sudan became the world's newest nation.
It followed a peace deal that ended a...
Seveso Disaster
On the afternoon of 10 July 1976, there was an explosion at the ICMESA chemical factory near Seveso, in northern Italy.
A cloud containing a poi...
The immigrant workers who refused to pay rent in 1970s France
In the 1970s, thousands of immigrant workers living in "foyers" or workers' hostels across France stopped paying rent.
They were protesting aga...
The making of Oasis’ Wonderwall
In 1995, the British band Oasis released one of their biggest hits as a single from their number one album: (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?
Th...
Jackie Kennedy renovates the White House
In 1962, cameras were allowed into the White House for the first televised tour of the American president’s renovated residence. And acting as the gui...
Restoring the Statue of Liberty
Between 1984 and 1986, to celebrate 100 years since it was dedicated, the Statue of Liberty underwent a multi-million-dollar restoration project.
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
In 1955, Rosa Parks made civil rights history in the US when she refused to give up her seat on the bus.
Segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama...
The final journey of Chief Long Wolf
In September 1997, the remains of a Native American chief were returned to the United States, more than a century after his death in England.
Ch...
Hawaii becomes the 50th American state
On 18 March 1959, Hawaii was brought into the United States of America as the 50th state with the passing of the Hawaiian Admission act.
Five mo...
Rata de dos patas: Mexico’s famous insult song
For more than 25 years, Rata de dos patas has been one of Mexico’s most recognisable - and unusual - songs. A relentless string of insults, it was mad...
WW1: The Battle of the Somme
In July 1916, Britain led an Allied offensive against German positions on the Western Front near the Somme river in France. The British army suffered...
Sid the Seagull and the Slip Slop Slap campaign
In 1981, Australia launched a fight against skin cancer with help from a yellow cartoon seagull and a catchy jingle.
The Slip Slop Slap campaig...
Brexit: Ireland watches the vote unfold
In June 2016, voters in the UK were asked whether they wanted to remain in the European Union or leave. It was a decision that would divide the countr...
China detains Hong Kong booksellers
It's 10 years since a Hong Kong bookseller who was detained for selling material critical of China’s leaders, was released and went public.
In 2...
The discovery of Lyme disease
In 1975, a mysterious outbreak of illness struck children in the United States, triggering a medical breakthrough.
Prof Allen Steere un...
The discovery of Mungo Man
On 26 February 1974, geologist Dr Jim Bowler discovered a 42,000-year-old skeleton in New South Wales, Australia.
The remains were nicknamed Mun...
Women Walk Home: Cyprus' forgotten peace march
In June 1987, hundreds of women walked towards a ceasefire line that had divided Cyprus since 1974.
The island was split after a coup backed by...
50 years since the Soweto Uprising
Half a century ago, an event took place that shook the apartheid regime in South Africa to its foundations - the Soweto Uprising.
It began with...
Hussein of Jordan: The survivor king
In 1970, King Hussein of Jordan survived after gunmen opened fire on his motorcade close to his summer palace. The king remained unharmed, but his dri...
The inspiration for Chekhov's Three Sisters
In 1897, Paul Shishkoff was 10 years old and living with his family in rural Russia.
It was there he met the great Russian playwright, Anton Che...
Picasso and the Surrealist summer
In the summer of 1937, some of the 20th Century's most famous artists, writers and photographers were holidaying in the south of France.
They i...