Witness History Podcast
History as told by the people who were there.
Episodes to download
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The mysterious death of Pablo Neruda
Wed 20 Dec 2023
In 1973, the poet and prominent communist tried to flee persecution in Chile
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The assassination of King Faisal
Tue 19 Dec 2023
In 1975, the king of Saudi Arabia was shot by his nephew
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Tsunami devastates Samoa
Mon 18 Dec 2023
In 2009 a tsunami killed 149 people. Lumepa Hald tells the story of destruction and loss
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The funeral of Nelson Mandela
Fri 15 Dec 2023
In 2013, South Africa's first black president was buried in his ancestral village
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Vatican citizen Emanuela Orlandi disappears
Thu 14 Dec 2023
In 1983, a suspected kidnapping led to scandal
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Anna Akhmatova: The poet who defied a regime
Wed 13 Dec 2023
How the great poet kept writing even through the darkest days of Soviet history
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Yeltsin speaks at the reburial of the Romanovs
Tue 12 Dec 2023
In 1998, the Russian president condemned the Soviet violence that killed Tsar Nicholas II
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Murder of the Romanovs
Mon 11 Dec 2023
In 1918, the Russian royal family were killed by the Bolsheviks
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The release of DOOM
Fri 8 Dec 2023
In 1993, a controversial sci-fi video game called DOOM was released
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鈥楾he disappeared鈥� of Argentina
Thu 7 Dec 2023
In 1977 a woman became one of thousands who disappeared from the streets of Buenos Aires
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A Greek coup: The day the colonels took power
Wed 6 Dec 2023
In 1967, army officers seized power in Greece in a US-backed coup
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Thousands of Danish brains in plastic buckets
Tue 5 Dec 2023
In 1945, a collection that would amass 9,479 brains was started
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La Haine: The film that shocked France
Mon 4 Dec 2023
How Mathieu Kassovitz's critique of policing shocked French society
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World's first solar-heated home
Fri 1 Dec 2023
In 1948, the Dover Sun House, in the US, was the first home to be heated by solar power
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Tanzania adopts Swahili to unite the country
Thu 30 Nov 2023
Tanzania's leader, Julius Nyerere, made Swahili the official language in the early 1960s
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Cameroon鈥檚 mysterious lake deaths
Wed 29 Nov 2023
In 1986, remote parts of Cameroon were turned into ghost villages overnight
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The bird that defied extinction
Tue 28 Nov 2023
In 1977, the white-winged guan was rediscovered in Peru after a century
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Cabbage Patch Kids
Mon 27 Nov 2023
Christmas 1983 saw frenzied shoppers buy three million Cabbage Patch Kids
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The Mumbai attacks
Fri 24 Nov 2023
In 2008, 10 gunmen killed more than 100 people in Mumbai鈥檚 busiest hot spots
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The Paris heatwave
Thu 23 Nov 2023
In 2003, Paris was overwhelmed by the hottest European heatwave for 500 years
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Kennedy鈥檚 nail-biter election victory
Wed 22 Nov 2023
In 1960, John F Kennedy became the youngest person to be elected United States president.
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The invention of bubble tea
Tue 21 Nov 2023
Chun Shui Tang tea house in Taiwan began selling bubble tea in 1987
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Discovering the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion
Fri 17 Nov 2023
In 2000 Franck Goddio made one of the greatest ever underwater discoveries
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The Bolivian Water War
Thu 16 Nov 2023
How Bolivians in the city of Cochabamba fought against the 鈥渓easing of the rain鈥�
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Rosalind Franklin: DNA pioneer
Wed 15 Nov 2023
The scientist produced an X-ray photograph in 1952, that helped show the structure of DNA
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Eyjafjallaj枚kull: The volcano that stopped a continent
Tue 14 Nov 2023
In 2010, a cloud of volcanic ash brought Europe鈥檚 planes back to earth
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The invention of the EpiPen
Mon 13 Nov 2023
How engineer Sheldon Kaplan and his team made the EpiPen, the lifesaving allergy device
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The hippo and the tortoise
Fri 10 Nov 2023
In 2004, a hippo and a tortoise became friends. Their story gained worldwide fame
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Destruction of Mostar Bridge
Thu 9 Nov 2023
On 9 November 1993 the historic bridge was destroyed during the Bosnian War
