Witness History Podcast
History told by the people who were there. For nine minutes every weekday, Witness History takes you back to moments which have shaped our world.
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. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories.
When you subscribe to Witness History, you’ll be taken inside turning points in world affairs, from West Africa’s fight back against Boko Haram in 2015, to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations.
You’ll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
You’ll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden’s Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles’ George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy’s show to a sudden end.
And if you’re curious about inventions, we’ll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.
If you’re new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.
Episodes to download
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Tito on Vis
Wed 9 Jan 2013
In 1944 the Yugoslav partisan leader found sanctuary on a tiny island in the Adriatic.
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Johnny Cash plays Folsom Prison
Tue 8 Jan 2013
It is 45 years since the Country and Western star played his first gig in a jail.
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Operation No Living Thing
Mon 7 Jan 2013
In January 1999, a combined rebel force invaded the capital of Sierra Leone, Freetown.
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Donald Campbell's Fatal Crash
Fri 4 Jan 2013
In January 1967 the record-breaking driver was killed at the helm of his jetboat Bluebird
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Waiting for Godot
Thu 3 Jan 2013
How Samuel Beckett's existentialist masterpiece revolutionised the theatre 60 years ago.
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The Keeling Curve
Wed 2 Jan 2013
Meticulously recorded levels of CO2 in the atmosphere show how our climate is changing
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Donald Woods flees South Africa
New Year's Day 2013
It is 35 years since the South African newspaper editor was forced into exile.
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Pong and the birth of the computer game
Mon 31 Dec 2012
It is 40 years since a video game was invented which would change the way we play.
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Big Brother - the beginning of reality TV
Fri 28 Dec 2012
In December 1999 a young Dutch man won the first ever Big Brother reality TV show.
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Maitatsine
Thu 27 Dec 2012
In 1980 thousands died in the Nigerian city of Kano in an uprising by an Islamic sect.
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Vietnam War - Christmas bombing campaign
Boxing Day 2012
40 years ago the US launched its heaviest aerial bombardment of the Vietnam War.
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The Execution of the Ceauşescus
Christmas Day 2012
On December 25th 1989, Nicolae and Elena Ceauşescu were executed by firing squad.
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Dusty Plays South Africa
Christmas Eve 2012
The British popstar Dusty Springfield went on tour in apartheid South Africa in 1964
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Mad cow disease - CJD
Fri 21 Dec 2012
In the 1990s it became clear that a brain disease could be passed from cows to humans.
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Libya and Weapons of Mass Destruction
Thu 20 Dec 2012
In December 2003 Colonel Gaddafi announced Libya was giving up trying to make WMD
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The last men on the moon
Wed 19 Dec 2012
The story of the last US space mission to the moon 40 years ago
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Piltdown Man
Tue 18 Dec 2012
In 1912, Britain's top palaeontologists were hoaxed by a "missing link" in human evolution
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The M Room
Mon 17 Dec 2012
How exiles from the Nazis helped British intelligence listen in on German prisoners-of-war
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Discovering Cleopatra's Palace
Fri 14 Dec 2012
Twenty years ago underwater excavations began which unearthed a 2000 year old palace.
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Marsha Hunt and the 1960s
Thu 13 Dec 2012
In the late 1960s a young black American woman rolled up in 'Swinging' London.
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Archive of Terror
Wed 12 Dec 2012
How a huge cache of papers showed the true extent of torture across 1970s South America.
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The Origin of Nollywood
Mon 10 Dec 2012
The story of the 1992 film which launched Nigeria's hugely successful movie industry
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Landing in Red Square
Fri 7 Dec 2012
A German teenager managed to evade Soviet defences to land in Moscow's Red Square.
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The Montreal massacre
Thu 6 Dec 2012
On 6 December 1989, a college shooting in Canada left 14 women dead.
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Great London Smog of 1952
Wed 5 Dec 2012
How the worst smog in living memory lasted five days and killed thousands of Londoners.
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The Bodyline Tour
Tue 4 Dec 2012
How a cricket row between England and Australia sparked a diplomatic incident.
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The Bhopal gas disaster
Mon 3 Dec 2012
In December 1984 thousands of people in the Indian city were killed by a chemical leak.
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First Successful Sex Change
Fri 30 Nov 2012
The story of Christine Jorgensen who had surgery to change her sex from a man to a woman.
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Iran Hostage Crisis - The Canadian Story
Thu 29 Nov 2012
In November 1979, Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran.
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Eric Hebborn - Forger Extraordinary
Wed 28 Nov 2012
The story of one of the most prolific art forgers of the 20th Century.
