About
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about 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 how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
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BBC World Service
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Episodes(5)
Elvis visits Scotland
In 1960, as he headed home from military service, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll made an unexpected stop at Prestwick Airport. It's believed to be the only time Elvis Presley is known to have set foot on British soil. It was only a brief visit, but for 16 year old Anne Murphy, watching him walk down the
Sweden’s diplomatic freeze with the USA
Outraged by the Christmas bombings of Hanoi in 1972 by the USA during the Vietnam War, the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme made a critical speech. He compared the US’s actions to several massacres from history, including the killing of hundreds of thousands of Jews at the Treblinka Concentration C
Syria's secret library
A group of young men in the besieged town of Darayya came together to build a secret library during the Syrian civil war, which started in 2011 and ended in 2024. Braving snipers and bombardment, they rescued thousands of books from bombed-out buildings to rehouse. The library was a symbol of hope f
Charles Taylor and the blood diamond trial
In 2008, the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, faced a courtroom in the Hague accused of war crimes. His trial would last more than three years at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, and involve witness appearances by the supermodel Naomi Campbell and the Hollywood actress Mia F
The Japanese invasion of Malaya
On 8 December 1941, Japanese troops landed in northern Malaya marking the start of the second world war in the Pacific. Invasion forces moved quickly down the British colony – which is now called Malaysia - capturing Singapore in just 55 days. Their occupation ended on 15 August 1945, when Japan sur