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 surp...
Latest episodes
-
11 min ↗
Bonn v Berlin: How Germany chose its capital
In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and a reunited Germany had to decide which city would be its new capital.The contenders were the West German city of Bonn and the East German city of…
-
11 min ↗
The Siege of Paris
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the city of Paris was besieged by the Prussian army. The citizens of Paris experienced starvation and fuel shortages during a period of extr…
-
11 min ↗
The Hungarian Revolution
In October 1956, students and workers took to the streets of Budapest to protest at Soviet rule in Hungary.The demonstrations turned violent and for a while, the revolutionaries we…
-
10 min ↗
Keith Haring’s Berlin Wall mural
American artist Keith Haring became extremely successful and popular in the 1980s for his mix of graffiti and pop art-style work. In 1986, he was invited to paint a mural on the Be…
-
11 min ↗
Malta’s divorce referendum
In 2011, Maltese voters were called to the polls to decide whether Malta should remain one of the few places in the world where divorce was not permitted.The referendum divided the…
-
9 min ↗
How Ten Canoes made cinema history
In 2006, Ten Canoes made Australian cinema history. It became the first feature film performed entirely in Aboriginal languages and the first to bring a traditional Yolngu story to…
-
11 min ↗
Gerald Durrell's mission to save species from extinction
In 1959, British conservationist and author Gerald Durrell opened the gates to a zoo with one clear aim - to save endangered species from extinction. Gerald had grown up fascinated…
-
10 min ↗
Manchester City’s inflatable banana craze
n the late 1980s and early 1990s, Manchester City supporters became famous for an unusual sight on the terraces: inflatable bananas. What began as a light-hearted joke soon turned…
-
11 min ↗
Declaring chimpanzees an endangered species
In 1990, after years of campaigning by activists, including Dr Jane Goodall, chimpanzees were declared endangered for the first time. The apes had been classed as threatened since…
-
11 min ↗
When Dian Fossey was murdered
In 1985, American gorilla expert Dian Fossey was murdered in her cabin at the research station she established in the mountains of Rwanda. Lucy Burns spoke to Kelly Stewart in 2013…
-
11 min ↗
Washoe: The chimp who learnt to sign
In 1970, Washoe the chimpanzee was widely recognised as the first non-human to learn a human language. She was taught American sign language in a revolutionary experiment led by ps…
-
10 min ↗
Harry Harlow's monkey attachment studies
In the late 1950s, psychologist Harry Harlow conducted a series of experiments on baby rhesus monkeys which would become some of the most controversial in modern science.Using wire…
-
11 min ↗
The first monkeys to survive space travel
On 28 May 1959, the USA sent two monkeys, Able and Baker, into space.They were the first living creatures to survive a space flight.It was a watershed moment for the American space…
-
9 min ↗
The most successful Paralympian in history
Trischa Zorn-Hudson is the most decorated Paralympian in history.Competing across seven games, Trischa - who has been blind since birth - won a remarkable haul of 55 medals.In that…
-
11 min ↗
The boy behind the creation of the Winnie-the-Pooh books
When the first Winnie-the-Pooh book was published in 1926, few could have imagined that the stories of a honey-loving bear would capture the hearts of readers across the world. Aut…
-
11 min ↗
How rats were trained to clear landmines
In 2004, the world's first team of mine-detecting rats passed accreditation tests, opening the way for them to be used in humanitarian demining operations. The project was the brai…
-
10 min ↗
The mirrors that lit up a dark Norwegian town
In October 2013, people in the small Norwegian town of Rjukan experienced winter sunshine for the first time in history.This was thanks to the arrival of an unusual invention - gia…
-
11 min ↗
Egypt’s President Sadat is assassinated
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt was the first Arab leader to make peace with Israel, two years later he was assassinated. The president was killed at a military parade by a group of…
-
11 min ↗
The Peruvian pilots who secretly delivered fighter jets during the Falklands War
In June 1982, 10 Peruvian pilots were tasked with a secret mission: deliver fighter jets to Argentina as it battled the UK over the Falkland Islands.One of those pilots, Rubén Mimb…
-
11 min ↗
The first Rubik's Cube world champion
On 5 June 1982, a teenage refugee from Vietnam became the first Rubik's Cube world champion. Representing the United States, 16-year-old Minh Thai took on contestants from 18 other…