Witness History
BBC World Service
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 5, 2020 • 9min
The portable defibrillator
In the 1960s, doctors in Northern Ireland launched the world’s first mobile coronary emergency service using a new invention – the portable defibrillator. The defibrillators – which initially worked off ambulance car batteries - saved dozens of heart attack victims every year. Modern versions are now commonly seen and used in places like offices and shopping malls. The man behind the portable defibrillator was Belfast hospital doctor Frank Pantridge. Simon Watts tells his story using the BBC Northern Ireland archives.PHOTO: A defibrillator in use (Science Photo Library)
Jun 4, 2020 • 9min
The origin of the WHO
The WHO was first proposed as part of the new United Nations programme to reform the post-war world. The idea for an international health organisation to help promote good health globally was put forward by a member of the Chinese delegation, Szeming Sze. His memoirs reveal the political difficulties which dogged the process and his son remembers his passion for the project. We also hear from historian, Professor Theodore M Brown on what was really going on behind the scenes.Photo: Official logo of the World Health Organisation 1950 (Getty Images).
Jun 3, 2020 • 9min
How Christo wrapped the Reichstag
The artist Christo died on May 31st 2020. Famous for wrapping landmarks in fabric and plastic, one of his most ambitious projects was the former German parliament building which sat on the border between East and West Berlin. It had been gutted by fire in 1933 and extensively damaged during the Second World War. In June 1995 Christo and his wife Jeanne-Claude completed the monumental public art project which was seen by more than five million people and became a symbol for Berlin’s renewal after the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany.Christo spoke to Lucy Burns in 2019. This programme is a rebroadcast.Picture: view of west and south facades of Wrapped Reichstag, Berlin 1971-1995 by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Photo by Wolfgang Volz, copyright Christo.
Jun 2, 2020 • 11min
The Zanzibar Revolution
Just one month after gaining independence there was an uprising in Zanzibar in 1964. It was billed as a leftist revolution but the worst of the violence was ethnically targeted. Zanzibar’s complex history meant the islands were home to a very diverse population, and the legacy of the slave trade had left deep scars and lingering resentment. Ahmed Rajab was a student in 1964 and remembers the night the revolution broke out. He’s been telling Rebecca Kesby what it was like, and how it was a Ugandan man, John Okello, not a Zanzibari who lead the uprising.(PHOTO: Ugandan revolutionary and self-styled Field Marshal John Okello (1937 - 1971), leader of the Afro-Shirazi anti-Arab coup in Zanzibar which led to the country's independence, circa 1964. Behind him is the new flag of the People's Republic of Zanzibar. (Photo by Pix/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Jun 1, 2020 • 9min
The start of eco-tourism
The Monteverde cloud forest reserve in Costa Rica was established in the 1970s with the help of a group of American Quakers. The aim was to protect its unique habitat and abundant exotic wildlife. It has become one of Central America's top tourist attractions. Mike Lanchin has been hearing from 97-year-old Marvin Rockwell and 88-year-old Lucky Guindon, two of the Quakers who left the US to settle in the mountains of Costa Rica.(Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
May 29, 2020 • 9min
Ann Lowe - African American fashion designer
Ann Cole Lowe designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress in the 1950s. As a black woman working in high fashion she was a groundbreaking figurein New York. Sharon Hemans has been speaking to Judith Guile who went to work with Ann Lowe in her Madison Avenue studio in the 1960s.
May 28, 2020 • 9min
Winston Churchill's doctor
Many people were shocked when Winston Churchill's personal doctor published his memories of Britain's wartime leader in 1966. Churchill's family tried to halt the publication, but as historian Piers Brendon has been telling Vincent Dowd, the doctor, Lord Moran, had unique insights into the great man's behaviour.Photo: Winston Churchill arriving in Downing Street, May 1940. Credit: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images.
May 27, 2020 • 9min
The Gwangju massacre
The South Korean army crushed a popular uprising in the city of Gwangju on 27 May 1980. Pro-democracy demonstrators had taken control of the city and were calling for an end to military rule. Hundreds of people, many of them students, were shot and beaten to death. Mike Lanchin spoke to Kim Jong and Linda Lewis who were living in Gwangju at the time.This programme is a rebroadcast.Photo: soldiers beating men in Gwangju in May 1980. Credit: 5.18 Memorial Foundation/AFP via Getty Images
May 25, 2020 • 12min
The book that changed the way we eat
The best selling book that highlighted the health and environmental benefits of a plant based diet. The publication of "Diet for a Small Planet" in 1971 helped start a conversation about the social and environmental impacts of the foods we choose. Frances Moore Lappé has been telling Farhana Haider about the writing of her ground breaking book.Photo Cover of first edition, first print Diet for a Small Planet 1971. Courtesy of Frances Moore Lappé
May 22, 2020 • 9min
Britain's World War Two crime wave
During times of crisis in the UK, World War Two is often remembered as a period when the country rallied together to fight a common enemy. British politicians still refer to the so-called "Blitz Spirit" when calling for national unity. But as Simon Watts has been finding out from the BBC archives, there was a crime wave during the war years, with a massive increase in looting and black marketeering.PHOTO: A government poster from World War Two (Getty Images)
