Witness History Podcast
History as told by the people who were there.
Episodes to download
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Handover of Macau
Today
In 1999, Macau was handed back to China after more than 400 years as a Portuguese colony
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The Siege of Yarmouk
Yesterday
How the Syrian army turned one neighbourhood near Damascus into a bombed-out wasteland
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Iran's secret Christian 'house churches'
Monday
Between 2002 and 2005, Naghmeh Panahi set up a network of 'house churches' in Iran
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Luana Mansilla: Changing gender aged six
Last Thursday
In 2013, the gender of a six-year-old from Argentina was legally changed
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India's capsule coal mine rescue
Last Wednesday
In November 1989, 65 miners were rescued from the Mahabir Coal Mine, in India
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How Greece got rid of their king
Last Tuesday
In a 1974 referendum, the Greek people voted two to one in favour of becoming a republic
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The Pakistan mountain massacre
Mon 11 Nov 2024
In 2013, 11 people were killed by members of a militant group at Nanga Parbat base camp
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The invention of the 鈥楤aby鈥� computer
Fri 8 Nov 2024
In 1948, the first stored-program computer the 鈥楤aby鈥� was invented
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The woman who saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw ghetto
Thu 7 Nov 2024
Polish aid worker Irena Sendler saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw ghetto in WW2
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The Shah of Iran's party
Wed 6 Nov 2024
In 1971, the Shah of Iran, celebrated 2,500 years of the Persian Empire
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In exile from Iran
Tue 5 Nov 2024
Former empress Farah Pahlavi and social scientist Rouhi Shafi speak about leaving Iran
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Iran hostage crisis
Mon 4 Nov 2024
In 1979, Barry Rosen was held hostage after the US embassy in Tehran was stormed
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Siegfried and Roy tiger attack
Fri 1 Nov 2024
In 2003, illusionist Roy Horn was attacked by a tiger live on stage.
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Brazil鈥檚 electronic voting
Thu 31 Oct 2024
In 1996, an electronic voting system in Brazil was used for the first time
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Jean Batten: New Zealand鈥檚 record breaking aviator
Tue 29 Oct 2024
Jean Batten was nicknamed the Queen of the Skies for her pioneering flights of the 1930s
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The creation of Greenwich Mean Time
Mon 28 Oct 2024
Experiments by John Flamsteed in the 17th Century led to the time zone being created
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My dad created Dungeons & Dragons
Fri 25 Oct 2024
In 1974, Gary Gygax created the fantasy roleplay game
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Bonga Kwenda: Music banned in Angola and Portugal
Thu 24 Oct 2024
Outspoken supporter of Angolan independence, Bonga Kwenda was forced into exile in 1972
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Ethiopia's 1984 famine
Wed 23 Oct 2024
In 1984, a news report on a famine in Ethiopia led to a global fundraising campaign
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I found the first dinosaur remains in Antarctica
Tue 22 Oct 2024
In 1986, Argentinian geologist Eduardo Olivero discovered a new kind of Ankylosaurus
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The fight to stop skin lightening in India
Mon 21 Oct 2024
In 2013, Kavitha Emmanuel began campaigning to stop skin lightening in India
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Eight years trapped on the Suez Canal in Egypt
Fri 18 Oct 2024
After the Six Day War in 1967, 14 ships were stuck on the Great Bitter Lake
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Dyke and Dryden: Cosmetic kings
Thu 17 Oct 2024
In 1969, Dyke and Dryden started one the most successful black British businesses
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Fleeing Afghanistan alone as a child
Wed 16 Oct 2024
Dr Waheed Arian escaped poverty and war in Afghanistan to begin a new life in the UK
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The Rose Revolution in Georgia
Tue 15 Oct 2024
In 2003, demonstrators stormed the parliament building in Tbilisi, holding flowers
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The Sunflower Movement
Mon 14 Oct 2024
In 2014, more than 500,000 Taiwanese people protested against a new trade deal with China
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'Robocops鈥� in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Fri 11 Oct 2024
Handmade robots were installed in DRC's capital city Kinshasa to direct traffic
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How the QR code was invented
Thu 10 Oct 2024
In 1994 Japanese engineer Masahiro Hara designed a square of data, now known as a QR code
