Witness History

American artist Keith Haring became extremely successful and popular in the 1980s for his mix of graffiti and pop art-style work. In 1986, he was invited to paint a mural on the Berlin Wall by the director of the Wall Museum at Checkpoint Charlie, Dr Rainer Hildebrandt. The mural spanned 300 metres and incorporated the three colours of the German flag. Keith Haring said he wanted the mural to be a sign of unity for people on both sides of the wall. Dr Hildebrandt’s wife, Alexandra, has been telling Tim O’Callaghan about her memories of Keith’s visit to Berlin. Witnes...

In 2011, Maltese voters were called to the polls to decide whether Malta should remain one of the few places in the world where divorce was not permitted.The referendum divided the country. Supporters of divorce, including a group of MPs and civil rights campaigners, argued that couples should have the right to end a marriage that had irretrievably broken down. Opponents, led by the Catholic Church and backed by the government, argued that divorce would weaken family values.The campaign was triggered by a private member's bill introduced by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, then a Nationalist MP. He spoke to Stefania...

In 2006, Ten Canoes made Australian cinema history. It became the first feature film performed entirely in Aboriginal languages and the first to bring a traditional Yolngu story to the screen. Shot in the remote swamplands of Arnhem Land, the production relied on old anthropological photographs, clan languages and ancestral hunting knowledge to recreate life before European settlement.For the cast, many of whom had never acted before, the experience was transformative. One of them was Frances Dulibing, chosen unexpectedly by director Rolf de Heer to play Nolingo, the jealous second wife at the centre of the story.Filming meant confronting...

In 1959, British conservationist and author Gerald Durrell opened the gates to a zoo with one clear aim - to save endangered species from extinction. Gerald had grown up fascinated by the natural world and had spent years travelling across the globe, collecting animals for major zoos in the United Kingdom. It was during these trips that he saw just how quickly the animals he loved were disappearing. He witnessed habitats being destroyed and species being pushed to extinction. Then came his idea of a zoo that would do more than simply display animals; it would protect and breed endangered species...

n the late 1980s and early 1990s, Manchester City supporters became famous for an unusual sight on the terraces: inflatable bananas. What began as a light-hearted joke soon turned into one of the most memorable fan crazes in English football.Uma Doraiswamy tells the story of football, terrace culture and one of the game’s most unlikely symbols. She speaks to former Manchester City striker Imre Varadi, whose name became intertwined with the phenomenon and also hears from Dr Gary James, a lifelong City supporter who was among the first to embrace the fruity craze.Together they recall how thousands of...

In 1990, after years of campaigning by activists, including Dr Jane Goodall, chimpanzees were declared endangered for the first time. The apes had been classed as threatened since 1976, but their situation hadn’t improved. Dr Ron Nowak led the team who wrote the new regulations, working with Dr Goodall to change the chimpanzees’ classification. He's been recalling that period with Tim O’Callaghan. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the wo...

In 1985, American gorilla expert Dian Fossey was murdered in her cabin at the research station she established in the mountains of Rwanda. Lucy Burns spoke to Kelly Stewart in 2013 who worked alongside Dian for 10 years in Volcanoes National Park.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their...

In 1970, Washoe the chimpanzee was widely recognised as the first non-human to learn a human language. She was taught American sign language in a revolutionary experiment led by psychology professors Allen and Trixie Gardner at the University of Reno.But the project faced scepticism from some academics who argued that humans were the only animals capable of language.Dr Roger Fouts was among those recruited by the Gardners in the 1960s. He tells Jane Wilkinson how a hug from Washoe helped him get the job, despite a disastrous interview.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history...

In the late 1950s, psychologist Harry Harlow conducted a series of experiments on baby rhesus monkeys which would become some of the most controversial in modern science.Using wire models as surrogate mothers, he explored how infants form emotional bonds. His findings challenged the widely held belief in the West that babies form attachments to their mothers primarily because they provide food. His tests reshaped ideas about love, attachment and child development.Using archive interviews, Reena Stanton-Sharma tells the story behind these contentious tests and explores their legacy.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that...

On 28 May 1959, the USA sent two monkeys, Able and Baker, into space.They were the first living creatures to survive a space flight.It was a watershed moment for the American space agency NASA and its rivalry with the Soviet Union and it helped to pave the way for manned space missions. In 2012, Mike Lanchin spoke to Lieutenant Joe Guion, commander of the USS Kiowa, whose mission was to retrieve the rocket's nose cone in the Caribbean Sea. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand...

Trischa Zorn-Hudson is the most decorated Paralympian in history.Competing across seven games, Trischa - who has been blind since birth - won a remarkable haul of 55 medals.In that time, she also saw the Paralympics go through drastic changes, as competitors campaigned to get similar privileges and rights as Olympic athletes.Trischa shared her memories of her career with Matt Pintus in 2024.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports world through the eyes of the people who...

When the first Winnie-the-Pooh book was published in 1926, few could have imagined that the stories of a honey-loving bear would capture the hearts of readers across the world. Author A.A. Milne based the stories on the toys belonging to his young son, Christopher Robin. The books would become a global phenomenon, but they also left Christopher with a complicated relationship to the fame that followed him throughout his life.Using BBC archive spanning decades, Gill Kearsley explores Christopher Robin Milne's own reflections on growing up as the real-life inspiration for one of the world's most famous children's books. Witness...

In 2004, the world's first team of mine-detecting rats passed accreditation tests, opening the way for them to be used in humanitarian demining operations. The project was the brainchild of Belgian researcher Bart Weetjens, who was inspired to tackle the global landmine crisis after seeing Princess Diana walk through a minefield in Angola in 1997. Drawing on a lifelong love of rodents, he worked with researchers at the University of Antwerp to train Giant African Pouched Rats from Tanzania to detect explosives. Bart tells Nicky Edwards about the moment he first saw the animals successfully identify buried landmines. Since then, the rats...

In October 2013, people in the small Norwegian town of Rjukan experienced winter sunshine for the first time in history.This was thanks to the arrival of an unusual invention - giant mirrors high up on one of the mountains that make up the deep and narrow valley where Rjukan sits.They reflected the sun directly down to the town square – to the joy of local people who had previously lived through long, dark winters.Lars Bevanger speaks to inventor and artist Martin Andersen.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments fr...

President Anwar Sadat of Egypt was the first Arab leader to make peace with Israel, two years later he was assassinated. The president was killed at a military parade by a group of army officers, in October 1981. His decision to make peace with Israel had angered many Egyptians, and Sadat, and his wife, Jehan, knew that the decision was a dangerous step. Jehan Sedat spoke to Louise Hidalgo in 2015 about the day her husband was assassinated. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and...

In June 1982, 10 Peruvian pilots were tasked with a secret mission: deliver fighter jets to Argentina as it battled the UK over the Falkland Islands.One of those pilots, Rubén Mimbela, tells Stefania Gozzer about the risks they faced and how the mission remained out of the public eye for more than 25 years.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of s...

On 5 June 1982, a teenage refugee from Vietnam became the first Rubik's Cube world champion. Representing the United States, 16-year-old Minh Thai took on contestants from 18 other countries at the championship in Hungary.He made history by solving the cube in 22.95 seconds.He tells Helen Ledwick about his first encounter with the iconic puzzle, his journey from Los Angeles to Budapest, and a last-minute obstacle that nearly stopped him from taking part.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive and testimony. Sporting Witness is for those fascinated by sporting history. We take you to the events that have shaped the sports...

The siege of Ladysmith was a key moment in the Boer War, also known as the South African War. In 1899, British troops and civilians were trapped in the besieged South African town for 118 days. Using a BBC archive recording, James Dalton, a British Army bandsman with the Gordon Highlanders, recalls shelling, hunger, disease and the dramatic relief of Ladysmith. Produced by Helen Ledwick in collaboration with BBC Archives.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we...

In 1947, a missing goat led to the chance discovery of the first Dead Sea Scrolls. These ancient Jewish manuscripts became one of the most important archaeological finds of the 20th century. British archaeologist Gerald Lankester Harding was one of the key figures in the early investigation of the scrolls. In a BBC recording made in 1949, he describes how they were found, the painstaking excavation that followed and the search to uncover their origins and significance. This episode was produced by Helen Ledwick in collaboration with the BBC Archives.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that...

After decades of campaigning in Japan, the pill was finally legalised in 1999. In contrast, the male impotency drug Viagra was approved for use in just six months, and legalised before the contraceptive pill for women. Politician Yoriko Madoka pushed hard for the right to take the pill and told Rebecca Kesby that sexism and male dominance in parliament is why it took so long.This programme was first broadcast in 2020.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine...

In 2012, the discovery of rock art in caves on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi changed our understanding of early human history. Archaeologist Maxime Aubert tells Leo Dunlop how his team used a new dating technique to reveal that some of the cave paintings were tens of thousands of years older than previously thought.This challenged long-held ideas that art and storytelling originated in Western Europe. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment...

On an English field in 1957, the final touches were made to what was then the largest radio telescope in the world. But designing and building the Jodrell Bank Observatory hadn’t been easy.Sir Bernard Lovell, the mastermind behind the 76m wide dish, had to overcome money shortages, engineering difficulties and media scepticism. But as the space race took off in the 1960s, Jodrell Bank proved its worth, tracking American and Soviet missions.Jane Wilkinson has been through the BBC archives to find out more.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside bi...

Harold Riley was the only artist in the world given the opportunity to paint Nelson Mandela from life.When Mandela agreed to pose for the English artist, it marked the beginning of a remarkable relationship. Over 18 months, the pair met on six occasions in South Africa, resulting in a portrait unveiled in 2005 that later raised more than $1m for children's charities when it was sold at auction in New York.In 2025, Reena Stanton-Sharma used archive recordings of Harold Riley to tell the story behind the artist's unique access to Nelson Mandela.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast...

In 1932, hundreds of walkers organised a mass trespass on Kinder Scout, the highest point in England's Peak District.It was a major step in the campaign by workers from the industrial city of Manchester for access to the surrounding countryside, much of which was privately owned. In 2012, Simon Watts used interviews from the BBC archives to tell the story through the memories of those who took part in the trespass.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine...

The Fifth Pan-African Congress was held in Manchester, England, in 1945, helping to shape the post-war struggle against colonialism and racial discrimination. Prominent black activists, intellectuals and trade union leaders from around the world attended, including Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta, who would later become the leaders of independent Ghana and Kenya.In 2020, Alex Last explored the story through archive recordings of one of the delegates, the late African National Congress activist and writer Peter Abrahams, and spoke to Professor Hakim Adi of the University of Chichester about the significance of the meeting.Witness History is a short BBC World Service...

In June 1948, the ‘Baby’ was invented. It was the first stored-program computer, meaning it was the first machine to work like the ones we have today. It was developed in England at the University of Manchester.The computer was huge; it filled a room that was nearly six metres square. The team who made it are now recognised as the pioneers of modern computing.Gill Kearsley has been looking through the archives to find out more about the 'Baby'.This programme was first broadcast in 2024.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big...

In 1962, Nigerian-born Phil Magbotiwan opened a brand-new nightclub in Manchester, England. In part because of his own personal experiences of racism, Phil wanted to create somewhere where everyone would be welcome – Manchester’s first racially inclusive nightclub The Reno was born.The nightclub became a particularly important space for Manchester's mixed heritage community, who felt unwelcome in city centre venues.Phil’s youngest daughter, Lisa Ayegun shared her memories of the Reno and her dad, with Matt Pintus in 2022.This programme contains descriptions of racial discrimination.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside...

In November 2015, the 'holy grail' of shipwrecks, laden with treasure worth an estimated $18 billion, was found off the coast of Colombia.The San José, a Spanish galleon, sank in 1708, when a British warship intercepted it. Rachel Naylor speaks to former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos about how it was located and the ongoing international dispute over who owns it. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and h...

In 1997, after years working abroad, Pramod Bhasin returned to India and spotted an opportunity that would help transform his country's economy.Despite major telecommunications challenges, he went on to set up India's first call centre, laying the foundations for a new outsourcing industry.In 2019, he told Rebecca Kesby how he overcame unreliable phone lines, scepticism and technical hurdles to turn an ambitious idea into reality.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment...

In the early hours of 14 February 1981, a fire broke out at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin which was filled with more than 800 people. The blaze killed 48 people and injured 200. A tribunal in 1983 found the cause to be probable arson. This was rejected by many victims' families and survivors and the ruling was dismissed in 2009. Fresh inquests were granted in 2019. In April 2024, the jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing. The Irish prime minister made a state apology. Antoinette Keegan survived the fire but lost two sisters. She tells Jen Dale her memories of that night and how it felt...

In 1991, a small company led by an Iranian-born engineer, Rouzbeh Yassini, created a technology which enabled millions of homes across America to access the internet for the first time. Rouzbeh and his team found a way to use the existing cable TV infrastructure that was already installed all over the country to allow data to go both to and from the home, making it possible for everyone to use the World Wide Web.He tells Guy Kilty about the challenges when they first tested the technology in a small town in Massachusetts.Witness History is a short BBC World Service...

When Norway was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940, a collaborative government led by Norwegian Vidkun Quisling was put in place. Quisling believed that Norwegians would become more receptive to Nazi ideology if the education system was controlled. However, thousands of the country’s teachers resisted joining a new union. More than 1,000 of them were sent to concentration camps for their refusal. Mr Roll Hansen taught in Norway during the occupation. He told the BBC in 1944 about what it was like working in those conditions. This edition of Witness History is produced and presented by Tim O’Callaghan in collaboration with the...

On 11 September 2001, firefighter Jay Jonas and his crew were sent into New York's North Tower after a hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Center.As they climbed the stairs searching for people who needed help, the South Tower collapsed.Realising their rescue mission could no longer continue, the firefighters turned around and began making their way down.On their descent they came across a woman, Josephine Harris."She was crying. She was in distress. And I said, 'Alright, bring her with us.'"The firefighters took her with them, but she could not move at their pace."We made...

In 1944, a young Irishwoman called Maureen Flavin drew up a weather report that helped change the course of World War Two.Maureen was working at a post office on the far west coast of Ireland. Her duties included recording rainfall, wind speeds, temperature and air pressure.On 3 June, she sent one of her hourly reports to Dublin, unaware that the figures were being passed on to the Allied headquarters in England. It was the first indication of bad weather heading towards the coast of France, where hundreds of thousands of servicemen had gathered for the most ambitious operation of the...

In 1994, documents from a Nazi study of the Bayeux Tapestry were rediscovered after more than 50 years. Former curator of the tapestry, Sylvette Lemagnen, tells Helen Ledwick how the missing archive was found and returned to Bayeux, revealing new details about a wartime investigation into one of the world's most famous medieval artworks. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone...

In 1985, reports of a moving statue of the Virgin Mary drew thousands of people to the village of Ballinspittle in County Cork, Ireland. Helen Ledwick speaks to Ita Dungan, who travelled there as a teenager and remembers the crowds gathering at the shrine. Similar reports soon spread across Ireland, and that summer became known as the 'summer of the moving statues'.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the...

In 1935, tens of thousands who had followed Mao Zedong on the Long March across China struggled to survive. They were fleeing Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces during the country's civil war.Zhong Ming was one of them. In 2014, a year before his death, he spoke to the late Edward Stourton about his experience.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone...

In 1968, American television boldly went where it had never gone before, broadcasting what's claimed to be the country's first interracial kiss in a TV programme. The moment of passion was between Captain Kirk of the starship USS Enterprise and communications officer Lieutenant Uhura, in Star Trek. Nichelle Nichols played Uhura in the cult series, and she was one of the first black women to be featured on American TV in a non-subservient role. Through archive BBC interviews, Nichelle explains the story behind that famous scene. Produced and presented by Reena Stanton-Sharma. Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast...

In 1982, audiences around the world fell in love with a gentle alien stranded on Earth and the young boy determined to help him get home. Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial became a global phenomenon and gave us one of cinema's most memorable lines, ‘E.T. phone home.’Peter Coyote played Keys, the mysterious government agent on the trail of E.T., a role that became one of the film's most memorable characters.More than four decades later, Peter tells Gill Kearsley about the making of the film, reliving his favourite memories from the set and reflecting on its enduring appe...

In 1995, Octavia E Butler became the first author to receive a MacArthur “genius” award for science fiction writing.From a young age she dreamed of writing books, but faced many challenges, including poverty, sexism and racism in the publishing industry.Her sci-fi books are now taught in schools and universities across the United States. She died aged 58 in 2006. Her friend Nisi Shawl spoke to Alex Collins in 2023.Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one...