Witness History
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 the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest, the disastrous D-Day rehearsal, and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 9 minutes
- Episodes
- 2060
- Years Active
- 2017 - 2025
Heathers: The making of a cult classic
In 1989, a dark teen comedy exploring self-harm and suicide flopped at cinemas.
Heathers would have to wait years before achieving cult status through home video tape releases.
Its stark portrayal of t…
The first global case of coral bleaching
In 1998, a mysterious phenomenon turned many of the world’s most colourful coral reefs deathly white.
It was the first recorded global coral bleaching event in history, and ecologists blamed it on ris…
Cuban blindness
In the early 1990s, as Cuba faced a devastating economic crisis, leading to severe food shortages and malnutrition, around 50,000 Cubans were inexplicably struck down with sight loss.
One of America's…
Oradour massacre
In June 1944, a village in France was destroyed in just one day. German soldiers entered Oradour-sur-Glane and gathered the villagers together. They separated the men from the women and children and…
Jacques Derrida: ‘Rock star’ philosopher
In 1966, at Johns Hopkins University in the US, a little-known glamorous French philosopher called Jacques Derrida took to the stage and eviscerated the prevailing philosophy of the day, making him a…
English TV lessons in China go primetime
In 1981 the first major series of English lessons was broadcast on Chinese television.
President Deng Xiaoping had allowed private enterprise and was pursuing an era of “opening up” to the rest of the…
1968 New York City teachers' strike
A series of unprecedented teachers’ strikes temporarily shut most of New York’s schools in the late 1960s, provoked by an ongoing dispute over whether parents could have a say in the running of their…
Lithuania's 'wolf children'
In the aftermath of World War Two, children were left orphaned, or separated from their families.
They were forced to flee East Prussia when the Red Army advanced.
Whilst trying to survive, on their w…
The Baltic chain protest
On 23 August 1989, approximately two million people joined hands to form a 690-kilometre human chain across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
It was a key moment in the protests in Eastern Europe that be…
The Milltown Cemetery attack
On 16 March 1988, loyalist paramilitary Michael Stone killed three mourners and injured 60 others attending a funeral for IRA members killed in Gibraltar.
The so-called Gibraltar Three had been shot d…
The launch of Windows 95
In August 1995, Microsoft released a new operating system - Windows 95 – following one of the computer industry’s biggest and most expensive marketing campaigns.
Queues formed outside shops at midnigh…
Replacing the Panchen Lama
On 29 November 1995, Tibetan Buddhist leaders attended a secret ceremony in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. They were present to witness the choice of the next Panchen Lama, a position in Tibetan Buddhis…
The murder of Maurizio Gucci
On 27 March 1995, fashion heir Maurizio Gucci was shot dead outside his office in Milan, Italy.
Five people, including his ex-wife, Patrizia Reggiani, and her clairvoyant, were jailed in connection wi…
Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway
In 1995, an obscure Japanese religion launched a chemical attack on the Tokyo metro.
Members of the doomsday cult, which called itself Aum Shinrikyo, dropped plastic bags containing sarin liquid on t…
Hunting the Unabomber
During a 17-year bombing campaign, an elusive terrorist known as the Unabomber killed three and injured 23 Americans.
In 1995, he contacted The New York Times and The Washington Post promising to stop…
Drum: Africa’s revolutionary magazine
Drum was considered to be the first African lifestyle magazine with a readership of 40,000 in its 1950s heyday. It was first printed in South Africa in 1951 and became a voice of resistance during Ap…
'I wrote Schindler's List'
In 1980, Australian author Thomas Keneally stumbled across the story of Oskar Schindler while buying a briefcase in Beverly Hills, in the USA.
The owner of the shop, a Polish Jew called Leopold Pfeffe…
Kobe earthquake
On 17 January 1995, an earthquake devastated the port city of Kobe, in west Japan.
More than 6,000 people died and around 300,000 people were left homeless.
It was one of the most powerful earthquakes …
Confronting Betty Ford’s addiction
In 1978, former first lady of the United States, Betty Ford, announced that she had an addiction to alcohol and prescription medication, and would be seeking treatment.
Wife of the 38th US president G…
Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal
In 1933, newly-elected US President Franklin D Roosevelt attempted to drag the United States out of the depression with the New Deal.
One of the biggest public spending projects in history, the progra…