Witness History

In November 1975, Vietnamese Navy commander Minh Nguyen, left behind his macho military life and retrained as a manicurist. He migrated from Vietnam to the United States during the fall of Saigon. He went on to open a beauty school in Little Saigon, California and encouraged thousands of Vietnamese refugees to become nail technicians. Today, more than 40,000 students have graduated from Minh’s beauty schools and they have helped establish Vietnamese-Americans as the mainstay of the nail salon industry. Minh’s wife Kien talks to Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty. (Photo: Minh Nguyen. Credit: Minh Nguyen)

The city of Bengaluru in southern India, previously called Bangalore, is renowned for its huge technology companies and buzzy start-up culture. But, 50 years ago it was a technological backwater. Entrepreneurs like Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys, which is one of India’s biggest tech companies, were right at the heart of the city’s remarkable transformation into India’s Silicon Valley. He tells his story to Ben Henderson.(Photo: Narayana Murthy and Infosys colleagues in 2004. Credit: INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images)

In 1978, with energy prices rocketing due to the oil crisis, a group of volunteers in Denmark took matters into their own hands and built a wind turbine to power the town's school. They called it Tvindkraft and its design revolutionised the wind industry. Rachel Naylor speaks to Britta Jensen, a teacher from the school, who worked on the turbine.(Photo: Tvindkraft. Credit: Tvindkraft)

In 1998, Keiko became the first ever killer whale to be released back into the wild after a life of captivity.Keiko shot to fame as the star of the 1993 Hollywood blockbuster, Free Willy.A multimillion dollar campaign to free Keiko began following the success of the movie and he was flown back to his native country, Iceland. Dave Phillips was in charge of making it all happen. He has been sharing his memories with Matt Pintus.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by 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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.(Photo: Keiko in Iceland. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1988, Mehran Karimi Nasseri, from Iran, flew into Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris intending to transfer onto a flight to London. But he wasn’t allowed to board, as he didn’t have a passport. Caught in diplomatic limbo, he ended up staying at the airport for 18 years. Rachel Naylor speaks to his biographer, Andrew Donkin, who spent nearly three weeks with him at his ‘home’, in the departures lounge of Terminal 1.(Photo: Mehran Karimi Nasseri on his red bench at the airport in 2004. Credit: Eric Fougere via Getty Images)

In 1995, Bollywood film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge was released to critical acclaim. It premiered at the Maratha Mandir cinema in Mumbai. It's been screened there every day since then for the past 27 years, stopping only briefly because of the Covid pandemic, and has become the longest-running film in Indian cinema history. Actress Kajol starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan; following its release, they became superstars overnight. Kajol, who played Simran in the film, spoke to Reena Stanton-Sharma about her memories of shooting the iconic movie.(Photo: Kajol (r) in Hindi film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Credit: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP via Getty Images)

In June 1962 three prisoners escaped from the maximum security US jail on the island of Alcatraz.They achieved this using a homemade raft, papier-mâché and... spoons.In 2013, Ashley Byrne spoke to Jolene Babyak who was living on the island at the time.A Made in Manchester production for the BBC World Service. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by 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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.(Picture: Alcatraz. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1974, legendary Vietnamese actress Kieu Chinh found herself on a farm in Canada cleaning up after chicken.She had narrowly escaped the fall of Saigon and a jail sentence in Singapore but Kieu was determined to get back to doing what she loved... making movies.How would she do it? Well, it involved Hollywood stars Burt Reynolds, William Holden and Tippi Hedren!Kieu tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty of her cinematic survival.(Picture: Kieu Chinh and Tippi Hedren. Credit: Getty Images)

It has been 20 years since the start of the Iraq War.On 16 September 2007, private security guards employed by the American firm Blackwater opened fire on civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square. Seventeen Iraqis were killed, and another 20 injured. The Blackwater guards, who were escorting a convoy from the American embassy, claimed that they had come under attack from insurgents, but eye-witnesses and Iraqi officials quickly dismissed that version of events.Mohammed Kinani's nine year old son, Ali, was one of the victims.In this programme, first broadcast in 2020, Mohammed shares his story with Mike Lanchin.(Photo: An Iraqi looks at a burnt car on the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians in Baghdad. Credit: Ali Yussef/AFP via Getty Images)

It has been 20 years since the start of the Iraq War.On 13 December 2003 the deposed president of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, was captured by US forces.Muwafaq al Rubaie was asked to help to identify the former dictator, face-to-face.In this programme, first broadcast in 2012, he shares his memories of that time with Louise Hidalgo. (Picture: Saddam Hussein shortly after being captured. Credit: Getty Images)