Witness History Podcast
History as told by the people who were there.
Episodes to download
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Dutch School Siege
Fri 25 May 2012
Thirty-five years ago, gunmen took 105 young children hostage in a school in Holland.
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The Hacienda nightclub
Thu 24 May 2012
How the legendary Manchester venue launched a dance music revolution.
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The murder of Giovanni Falcone
Wed 23 May 2012
Twenty years ago the anti-mafia judge was assassinated by a bomb under his car.
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Monkeys in Space
Tue 22 May 2012
The USA sent two monkeys into space and brought them back alive for the first time
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Star Wars - the film
Mon 21 May 2012
It is 35 years since one of the biggest movie franchises of all time hit cinema screens.
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Mount St Helens
Fri 18 May 2012
On May 18th 1980 there was a huge volcanic eruption in Washington state in the USA.
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The South Asia nuclear standoff
Thu 17 May 2012
In May 1998 a nuclear arms race began in South Asia.
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The execution of Anne Boleyn
Wed 16 May 2012
In May 1536 the Queen of England was executed on the orders of her husband Henry VIII.
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The Anschluss
Tue 15 May 2012
In March 1938 Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany - one Vienna resident remembers.
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Michael Apted and the 7 Up TV series
Mon 14 May 2012
In 1964, a TV documentary series introduced a group of seven-year-olds to British viewers
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The assassination of a Prime Minister
Fri 11 May 2012
On May 11th 1812, the British Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, was killed.
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Paris 1968
Thu 10 May 2012
How student protests and workers' strikes threatened to bring down France's government.
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The Psychiatrist and Rudolf Hess
Wed 9 May 2012
How a British psychiatrist examined the deputy Nazi leader after his flight to Scotland.
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Attack on Fela Kuti
Tue 8 May 2012
The Nigerian military stormed the musician's compound in Lagos, Kalakuta Republic
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The trial of Charles Manson
Mon 7 May 2012
He was responsible for a series of gruesome murders in the Hollywood hills.
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The General Strike
Fri 4 May 2012
In May 1926 workers across Britain went on strike in support of coal miners.
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Suicide of gay footballer
Thu 3 May 2012
Justin Fashanu, Britain's first openly gay footballer, killed himself in May 1998.
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The Los Angeles Riots
Wed 2 May 2012
The people of South Central Los Angeles took to the streets in fury at police brutality
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The capture of President Izetbegovic
Tue 1 May 2012
In May 1992 the Bosnian president was taken captive by Serb soldiers.
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The right to die
Mon 30 Apr 2012
In 2002 a paralysed woman, known as Miss B, was allowed to die in a London hospital.
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Mass Trespass
Fri 27 Apr 2012
How walkers stormed an English peak in 1932 and started a fight for countryside access.
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Studio 54
Thu 26 Apr 2012
It is 35 years since the legendary New York night club opened its doors to cool people.
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Gallipoli
Wed 25 Apr 2012
One New Zealand soldier's account of surviving the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915
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75 years since Guernica
Tue 24 Apr 2012
In April 1937 the Basque town of Guernica was firebombed during the Spanish Civil War.
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The trial of Oscar Wilde
Mon 23 Apr 2012
How a court case ruined the 19th century playwright and wit.
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Rivers of Blood speech
Fri 20 Apr 2012
In April 1968 a politician put race and immigration at the centre of British politics.
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Twenty-five years of the Simpsons
Thu 19 Apr 2012
One of the most successful TV series ever was created by cartoonist Matt Groening.
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Auschwitz Convoy Escape
Wed 18 Apr 2012
How a group of Jews escaped from a train bound for the Auschwitz death camp in 1943.
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Japanese embassy hostage crisis
Tue 17 Apr 2012
In 1997, left-wing rebels held 71 people hostage for over four months in Peru.
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Dissidents Declared Insane
Mon 16 Apr 2012
How dissidents in the USSR were routinely declared insane and kept in mental institutions.
