Witness History Episodes Available now
The origin of World Book Day
23 April 1996, saw the first World Book Day. It originated from a Spanish tradition
Clearing landmines in Cambodia
Aki Ra laid hundreds of landmines for the Khmer Rouge, but began clearing them in 1992
The Khmer Rouge take power in Cambodia
In April 1975 the four-year rule of the brutal Khmer Rouge began in Cambodia
The invention of the white LED lightbulb
In 1993, a lightbulb moment led to the invention of the first white light emitting diode
The Bali Nine drug smuggling case
In 2005, nine Australians were caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia
Germany’s ‘Green Belt’
In December 1989, environmentalists met to secure the future of Germany’s ‘Green Belt’
Oklahoma City bombing
On 19 April 1995, a huge truck bomb killed 168 people in a US government building
Liberia’s women in white who helped end civil war
In 2003 the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace began protests calling for peace
The Reichstag fire
In February 1933, the home to the German Parliament in Berlin was burned down.
The UN retreat from Somalia
In 1995, a United Nations mission to restore peace in Somalia ended in disaster
