The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes, all with a Nigerian theme.We hear two personal stories of the Biafra war, which began in 1967, including the writer Wole Soyinka who was jailed for trying to stop it. Plus, we hear from Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe about escaping the conflict. She's now better known as TV and music star Patti Boulaye.We speak to Dr Louisa Egbunike, who is an Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University in England.Also, a retired Brigadier General speaks about West African countries fighting back against the jihadist militant group Boko Haram in 2015. Then, the opening of the New Afrika Shrine in 2000, by Fela Kuti's children to honour his legacy. Finally, we hear from Omoyemi Akerele who founded Lagos Fashion Week in 2011.Our Sporting Witness programme this week looks at Nigeria becoming the first team to represent Africa at the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. This is a Made in Manchester Production.Contributors:Wole Soyinka - Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright. Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe - TV and music star. Dr Louisa Egbunike - Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University. Sani Kukasheka Usman - retired Brigadier General. Omoyeni Anikulapo-Kuti, also known as Yeni Kuti - the eldest daughter of Fela Kuti. Omoyemi Akerele - founder of Lagos Fashion Week. Nkiri Okosieme – captained Nigeria women's national football team.(Photo: Biafran national army soldiers. Credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is literature lecturer Dr Hetta Howes on major literary hoaxes around the world.We hear about Howard Hughes' fake autobiography, the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Colombia and how the Indian musician Ravi Shankar taught George Harrison the sitar.Plus, the Indian woman who led her country's first delegation to the United Nations, the Premier League's first female photographer and how Toy Story revolutionised animation.Contributors: Clifford Irving - American author who faked an autobiography of Howard Hughes. Dr Hetta Howes - a senior lecturer in English Literature at City St George’s, at the University of London. Jorge Enrique Castelblanco - Colombian engineer behind the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá. Ravi Shankar - Indian sitar maestro. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit - led India's first delegation to the United Nations in 1946. Magi Haroun - the Premier League's first female photographer. Doug Sweetland - animator on Toy Story.(Photo: Clifford Irving leaving the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, followed by news crews in 1972. Credit: Bettmann Archive / Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Mercedes Peñalba- Sotorrío, a senior lecturer in modern European history at Manchester Metropolitan University, England.We start with the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975 ending 36 years of dictatorship over Spain.Then, we use archive to hear how King Juan Carlos reclaimed the Spanish throne in 1975 and led the country to a democracy. This episode was made in collaboration with BBC Archives.We hear from a Social Democrat politician about Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to suspend asylum rules for Syrians fleeing war in 2015.How the Bosnian war ended with the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995.Next, how a substitute fielder ran out the Australian captain in the fourth test of the 2005 Ashes, turning the game in England's favour.Finally, we use archive to hear about cold war diplomacy in the Geneva summit in 1985.Contributors:José Antonio Martínez Soler - a journalist.King Juan Carlos - the former King of Spain (from archive).Aydan Özoğuz - a Social Democrat politician and former minister of state for immigration.Milan Milutinović - a negotiator in the Dayton Peace Accords.Gary Pratt - a fielder in the England cricket team in the 2005 Ashes series.Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev - The former US President and former Soviet leader (from archive).(Image: King Juan Carlos, 1975. Credit: Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor.We start with an archive interview of American Chuck Yeager who became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947. Then, a couple who were caught up in the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015.We hear from a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials in 1945 after World War Two.France’s former finance minister recalls how an economic crisis in the 1970s led to the birth of the G7.Next, how a heated NBA game in 2004 spiralled into one of the most infamous brawls in sports history. Finally, we hear the story of the first ever underwater cabinet meeting in 2009.Contributors:Chuck Yeager (from archive) - the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound.Justine Merton-Scott and Tony Scott - a couple who survived the Bataclan attack in Paris.Benjamin Ferencz - a prosecutor in the Nuremburg trials.Jean-Pierre Fourcade - France's former finance minister.Mark Boyle - radio broadcaster for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.Mohamed Nasheed - former President of the Maldives.(Photo: The first powered take off of Chuck Yeager's supersonic plane in 1947. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Darja Dankina, who's a palaeontologist from the Natures Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. We start with the discovery of the largest dinosaur ever, uncovered by a shepherd on a ranch in Argentina in 2012. Then, we hear from the daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who created children's show Thunderbirds in 1965.Plus, the impeachment of US President Clinton in 1999.How an American historical document typed out on a university computer in 1971 played a vital role in the digital revolution of electronic books.Also, Colonel Gaddafi’s son being signed to Italy’s top football league in 2003.Finally, we use BBC archive to hear how children's book character Miffy was created in 1955. In the programme Dick Bruna reads from Miffy Goes Flying with permission from Mercis Publishing bv.Contributors: Dr Diego Pol - palaeontologist who lead the dig for the Patagotitan. Darja Dankina - palaeontologist from the Natures Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. Dee Anderson - daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Joe Lockhart - Bill Clinton’s former press secretary. Greg Newby - Project Gutenberg’s CEO and director. Jay Bothroyd and Zeljko Kalac - former Perugia players. Dick Bruna - Dutch author and illustrator.(Photo: The Patagotitan. Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Emerante de Pradines's son, Richard Morse, tells us about his mother’s life and her commitment to de-demonising vodou culture through her music. Haiti expert Kate Hodgson, from University College Cork in Ireland, expands on the history of the country in the 20th Century. The story of how an Argentinian doctor was inspired to create a new treatment for heart disease and when the death of a Catholic priest sent shockwaves through El Salvador in 1977. Plus, the memories of a survivor of the Srebrenica massacre in 1995, when thousands of Bosnian Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serb Soldiers thirty years ago. The first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup and Orson Welles’s famous re-telling of the War of the Worlds, which sparked mass panic in America. Contributors: Richard Morse – son of Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines Kate Hodgson – lecturer in French at University College Cork in Ireland Dr Julio Palmaz – the inventor of the balloon-expandable stent Gabina Dubon – colleague of Father Rutilio Grande Sister Ana Maria Pineda – theologian and author Hasan Nuhanovic – survivor of the Srebrenica massacre Michelle Payne – 2015 Melbourne Cup winner Archive recordings of Orson Welles, his producer John Houseman and writer Howard Koch Presenter: Max Pearson(Photo: Orson Welles rehearsing a radio broadcast of H.G. Wells' classic, The War of the Worlds on 10 October, 1938. Credit: Photo12/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Sonny Roberts’ daughter tells us about how her father created the UK’s first black-owned music studio - this programme contains outdated and offensive language. Music producer and professor emerita at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Lucy Durán takes us through the history of music studios around the world. How a Macedonian scientist’s discovery led to treatments for diabetes and obesity, and the story of the Kenyan ecologist who became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Plus, the mysterious sinking of a British oil tanker in Indonesia in the the 1950s and how the first lottery scratchcard was invented by an American mathematician. As well as the story of the first South American to win the International Surfing Association world title back in 2004. Contributors: Cleon Roberts – daughter of Sonny Roberts. Lucy Duran – music producer and professor at the School of Oriental and African studies at the University of London. Svetlana Mojsov – Macedonian scientist who discovered the hormone called GLP-Joseph McCorry – who was on the San Flaviano oil tanker. Wanjira Mathai – daughter of Wangari Maathai. Sofia Mulanovich – three-time world surfing champion. John Koza – the inventor of the scratchcard. (Photo: Jamaican record producer Sonny Roberts Record Shop in Willesden Junction, London, UK in December 1982. Credit: David Corio/Redferns via Getty)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Indian-based author and podcaster Purba Chakraborty talks about the history of fiction writing.We hear about the rise in popularity of 'Nordic Noir', following the publication of Henning Mankell's crime novels.Then we listen to BBC archive of writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges - regarded as one of the most influential Latin American writers in history.Plus, the trial of two Soviet writers, Yuli Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky, accused of smuggling their works to the west.Helen Fielding looks back at her weekly newspaper column about a 30-something, single woman in London, which became a cultural phenomenon in the 1990s.The niece of Finnish writer and artist Tove Jansson talks about her iconic Moomin books - which have been published in more than 60 languages.And finally, we hear the personal story of young Nepalese athlete Mira Rai, which shocked the ultra-running world. Contributors: Anneli Høier - literary agent. Jorge Luis Borges - short story writer and poet. Purba Chakraborty - writer and podcaster. Andrei Sinyavsky - Russian writer and Soviet dissident. Alexander Daniel - son of Yuli Daniel, Russian writer and Soviet dissident. Helen Fielding - journalist and writer. Sophia Jansson - niece of Tove Jansson, author and artist. Mira Rai - Nepalese trail runner.(Photo: Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell and a copy of one of his books. Credit: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. We start with a BBC archive interview where one woman recounts what it was like to survive the earthquake and landside in 1961 following the volcanic eruption in Tristan da Cunha. Our guest is Anne Green, a retired schoolteacher from the island of Tristan da Cunha. She describes what it was like to return to the island in 1963. Then, the rare eyewitness account from a 105-year-old who is the only Briton alive today, that was at the ceremony when Japan surrendered to China in Beijing at the end of eight years of brutal occupation. Next, the economist who in 2001 wrote a report about countries set to shape the world economy, accidentally coining the acronym BRICS. Plus, the man who won the national competition to design the Indian rupee symbol when he was just a student. Finally, the story of how VHS and Betamax battled over which video recorder would win the home entertainment market. Contributors: Anne Green - former teacher from Tristan da Cunha Archive interview with Mary Swain - resident of Tristan da Cunha John Stanfield - British Army veteren Jim O'Neill - economist Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam - Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Marc Wielage - digital colourist(Photo: Tristan Da Cunha islanders arriving in England in 1961. Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes.Tea expert Sabita Banerji talks about the history of tea in India. We look back at how women teapickers in 2015 fought for justice - and improved the lives of thousands of tea plantation workers.We hear the story of a famous photo of American president John F Kennedy working at his desk in the White House - with his cheeky young son underneath.Also, from 1985 one of the most notorious killings from the apartheid era in South Africa of the men who became known as the Cradock four - this includes graphic descriptions of violence.It’s 30 years since American football star OJ Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend. We hear from one of his former friends who testified against him in the criminal trial including his desciptions of the injuries suffered by the victims.And finally, it’s 40 years this week since the release of Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet software that's now used all over the world. We hear from one of the creators.Contributors: Rajeshwary - tea plantation worker. Sabita Banerji - founder of Thirst tea charity. Lukhanyo Calata - son of Fort Calata, one of the Cradock Four. Ron Shipp - who testified against OJ Simpson. Mike Koss – one of the creators of Microsoft Excel. Plus, archive recordings of American photographer Stanley Tretick from the John F Kennedy Library and Museum.(Photo: Female tea pickers on strike in Munnar. Credit: Countercurrents.org)