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
Apr 5, 2022 • 9min
The Falklands War - an Argentine account
In our second programme on the Falklands War, Witness History hears from an Argentine soldier who fought in the conflict. Miguel Savage recalls the atrocious weather conditions faced by Argentine conscripts, as well as their mistreatment by officers. And he remembers a terrifying final attack by British troops shortly before the Argentine surrender. Presented by Simon Watts; original interview conducted in 2012 by Tim Sturtridge.PHOTO: Argentine troops in the Falklands shortly after the invasion (Getty Image)
Apr 1, 2022 • 9min
Escaping a Maoist cult
In 2013, three women escaped from a cult that had been based in an ordinary house in Brixton, South London, since the 1970s. The cult was led by Aravindan Balakrishnan, a former student at the London School of Economics, who claimed to be a Maoist revolutionary, but actually brainwashed his followers and kept them prisoner in cruel and violent conditions. The Metropolitan Police said it was the worst case of its kind they had ever seen. Reena Stanton-Sharma talks to Katy Morgan-Davies, one of the women who escaped the cult.PHOTO: Aravindan Balakrishnan in 2015 (Getty Images)
Mar 31, 2022 • 9min
Selling Van Gogh's Sunflowers
Vincent Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" was sold at auction at Christie's in London in March 1987 for 39.9 million dollars - then a world record and more than double the previous top price paid for an artwork at auction. The sale made front-page headlines and is now seen as the moment the international art market went through the roof. Uma Doraiswamy talks to Lord Charles Hindlip, then the chairman of Christie's and the man who auctioned the painting. PHOTO: "Sunflowers" arriving in Japan in 1987 after its sale at Christie's (Getty Images)
Mar 30, 2022 • 9min
Afghanistan's women's newspaper
Aina-E-Zan, the first women's newspaper in Afghanistan, was launched in 2002. Edited by Shukria Barazkai, the newspaper covered women's rights issues in depth, as well as criticizing the warlords who controlled much of the country at the time. Even though this was a relatively open period in Afghan history, the women journalists still faced death threats and at one point Aina-E-Zan was even banned by the Afghan parliament after it printed an article about a woman being stoned. Shukria Barazkai talks to Laura Jones.PHOTO: Shukria Barazkai in 2005 (Getty Images)
Mar 29, 2022 • 9min
Banksy’s first street art mural
World-renowned street artist Banksy started spray-painting the walls of his home city of Bristol in the 1990s. It is widely believed that his first large mural was a piece called Mild, Mild West painted on a wall next to a record shop. Jim Paine owned the shop and has been telling Bethan Head how he played a pivotal role in getting Banksy to do the artwork in the first place.(Graffiti street art, entitled Mild, Mild West, by British street artist Banksy, is pictured on the side of a building in Bristol, south west England, on May 8, 2019.. Credit: Geoff Caddick/Getty Images)
Mar 28, 2022 • 9min
The 'Snow Revolution' against Vladimir Putin
Starting in late 2011, tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets to try to stop what they saw as a power grab by Russian leader Vladimir Putin. The demonstrators wanted to stop what they considered a fraudulent parliamentary election and a surprise announcement that Putin would run for president for a third time. The movement was not successful, but analysts say it worried the Russian leader so much that he launched a crackdown on dissent that has lasted to this day. Rachel Naylor talks to Russian rock journalist, Artemy Troitsky, who composed a song that became an anthem of what was sometimes called the "Snow Revolution".(Photo: An anti-Putin rally in Moscow in December 2011. Credit: Getty Images)
Mar 25, 2022 • 9min
Soviet holidays in Crimea
Artek, on the shores of the Black Sea in Crimea, was the Soviet Union's most popular holiday camp. Thousands of children visited every year. Maria Kim Espeland went there in the 1980s. She spoke to Lucy Burns in 2014.Photo: Group of children attending Artek. (Credit: Irina Vlasova)
Mar 24, 2022 • 9min
Ukraine's Babi Yar massacre
During World War Two, Ukraine was occupied by Nazi Germany and on 29th September 1941, the organised massacre of Ukrainian Jews began. In the capital Kyiv, most of the victims were taken to a ravine on the outskirts of the city called Babi Yar, and shot. In 2011, David Stern spoke to Raissa Maistrenko, who escaped the shooting as a three-year-old girl, and to Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny, whose mother survived the Holocaust outside the city.PHOTO: The memorial at the Babi Yar site near Kyiv (Getty Images)
Mar 22, 2022 • 9min
The Budapest Memorandum
Following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited the Soviet-era atomic weapons on its soil and became - for a few years - the world's third biggest nuclear power. After months of tense diplomacy, the newly independent Ukraine agreed to give up the weapons in return for what were termed "assurances" about its future security and territorial integrity. These "assurances" were agreed by Russia, the USA and Britain in the Budapest Memorandum, signed in December 1994. They are now controversial given the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 and then the rest of Ukraine in 2022. Louise Hidalgo talks to Steven Pifer, a senior American diplomat involved in the talks.PHOTO: Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators in London in 2022 (Getty Images)
Mar 21, 2022 • 9min
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster
In April 1986 a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, in the USSR, causing the worst nuclear accident ever. Sergii Mirnyi was in charge of a monitoring unit which measured radiation levels in the 30 km exclusion zone around the plant.(Photo: The Chernobyl plant shortly after the explosion in 1986. Credit: Getty Images)
