The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dolly Jørgensen, Professor of History at the University of Stavanger in Norway and a specialist in the history of extinction.We start in 2012 with the death of a famous Galapagos tortoise called Lonesome George, who was the last of his species.Then, the incredible tale of how an Irish priest, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty, saved thousands of prisoners of war and Jews in Rome during World War 2.We hear how the Sino-Indian War of 1962 left a painful legacy for Indian families of Chinese descent.Plus, one of the signatories of the Schengen Agreement recalls the day it was signed in 1985.Finally, Ronald Reagan's former speechwriter looks back on the President's 1987 'Tear down this wall' speech, delivered in Berlin.Contributors: Dolly Jørgensen - Professor of History at the University of Stavanger. James Gibbs - Vice President of Science and Conservation at the Galapagos Conservancy. Hugh O’Flaherty - relative of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty. Joy Ma - Indian woman of Chinese descent born in the Deoli camp. Robert Goebbels - signed the Schengen Agreement. Peter Robinson - US President Reagan's former speechwriter.(Photo: Lonesome George the tortoise. Credit: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.Our guest is Dr Jeni Millard, a science presenter, astrophysicist and astronomer. First, how two astronomers announced they had discovered the first two planets outside our solar system.Then, German twins Frederik and Gerrit Braun on building Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, which is now a world-famous destination visited by celebrities like Adele and Sir Rod StewartAnd in 1949, South Africa’s first feature film, Jim Comes to Jo’burg, also known as African Jim, aimed at black audiences was released, launching Dolly Rathebe’s career.Finally, how a goal kick in 1970, meant to pick out a striker, instead hit and killed a seagull in a Dutch football match. The dead bird was later stuffed and now resides in the club’s museum.Contributors:Alex Wolszczan - astronomer Dale Frail - astronomer Roland Reisley - resident of Usonia Dolly Rathebe - actor Eddy Treijtel - goalkeeper(Photo: A gull on a football pitch. Credit: Ray McManus/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Nivi Manchanda, a reader in international politics at Queen Mary University in London.First, a moment when two cultures clashed in 1985 at Stonehenge.We hear about an English language novel from 1958, called Things Fall Apart.Then, the 1992 creation of the iconic Champions League anthem.Plus, how police raided the popular but controversial file-sharing website The Pirate Bay in 2006.Finally, how Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip went on one final tour, after their guitarist was given months to live in 2015.Contributors: Helen Hatt - one of more than 500 people arrested at the Battle of the Beanfield. Dr Nivi Manchanda - reader in international politics at Queen Mary University in London. Nwando Achebe - Chinua Achebe's youngest daughter. Tony Britten - composer of the Champions League anthem. Peter Sunde - co-founder of The Pirate Bay. Rob Baker - lead guitarist in the Tragically Hip.(Photo: Stonehenge protests. Credit: PA/PA Archive/PA Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. The expert guest is Dr Mirjam Brusius, a research fellow in colonial and global history at the German Historical Institute.First, we hear about Martín Chambi - Peru's pioneering documentary photographer.Then Amaize Ojeikere talks about his father, JD 'Okhai’ Ojeikere, who created an iconic collection revealing the elaborate ways African women styled their hair.Plus, the story of Magnum Photos – the picture agency started up by World War Two photographers.And, Vivian Maier, the nanny who - since her death - has been hailed as one of the best street photographers of the 20th century.Finally, the mystery behind Lunch Atop a Skyscraper – the famous photograph showing 11 ironworkers eating lunch nearly 70 storeys high.Contributors:Roberto Chambi – grandson of photographer Martín Chambi Dr Mirjam Brusius - research fellow in colonial and global history at the German Historical Institute Amaize Ojeikere – son of photographer JD 'Okhai’ Ojeikere Christine Roussel – Rockefeller Center archivist Jinx Rodger - widow of George Rodger, one of the founders of Magnum Photos Inge Bondi - Magnum Photos employeeThis programme has been updated since the original broadcast.(Photo: Two books of photographs in the exhibition 'Martin Chambi and his contemporaries’. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Elizabeth Abbott, writer, historian and author of the book, "Sugar: A Bittersweet History".First, we confront the dark history of sugar. We hear how a researcher in the 1990s uncovered the unethical aspects of Sweden’s Vipeholm experiments in the 1940 which led to new recommendations for children to eat sweets just once a week.And, how Mexico, a country which had one of the highest rates of fizzy drink consumption in the world, approved a tax on sugary soft drinks in 2013. Then an event which shaped the second half of the last century - On 14 May 1955, the leader of the Soviet Union and Heads of State from seven European countries met to sign the Warsaw Pact.Plus, the story of how two rival electricity pioneers, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison brought electricity to the world. Finally, we hear from Finnish singer Marion Rung on winning the 1980 Intervision Song Contest, the USSR’s answer to Eurovision. Contributors: Dr Elin Bommenel - academic Dr Simon Barquera - director of health and nutrition research at The Institute for Public Health of Mexico Dr Elizabeth Abbott - writer and historian Otto Grotewohl - German politician Mark Seifer - biographer of Nikola Tesla William Terbo - relative of Nikola Tesla Marion Rung - Finnish winner of Intervision song contest 1980(Photo: sugar cubes and fizzy drinks, Credit: Anthony Devlin/Press Association)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Rubina Raja, professor of classical archaeology and art at Aarhus University in Denmark.First, we go back to May 2015, when the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria was about to fall to Jihadist fighters and how of a group of men risked their lives to preserve the world-famous archaeology.Plus, the entrepreneur and engineer Yoshitada Minami and his wife Fumiko Minami who came up with a way to liberate women from two to three hours of housework a day through the invention of the rice cooker in 1955.Then the story of the sinking of the Lusitania, the British ocean liner sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland during the First World War.Also, celebrating 80 years since the end of the Second World War in Europe we dive into the BBC archives to listen to correspondents capturing the scenes of joy across London on VE day in 1945.Finally, how in 2000, keen cricketer Paul Hawkins wanted to turn his passion into innovation when he created the technology we now known as ‘HawkEye’.Contributors: Khalil Hariri - archaeology expert who worked at Palmyra’s museum Rubina Raja - professor of classical archaeology and art at Aarhus University in Denmark Aiji Minami - son of Yoshitada and Fumiko Minami Margaret Hague Thomas – passenger on the Lusitania Leslie Morton – merchant seaman on the Lusitania Paul Hawkins – founder of ‘Hawkeye’(Photo: Palmyra. Credit: PHAS / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service about the Vietnam War and the invention of the hugely popular mobile phone game, Snake. Don Anderson, a former BBC TV reporter during the final days of Vietnam, discusses the atmosphere in Saigon as the North Vietnamese forces closed in. We also hear about the network of tunnels in the south of the country which Viet Cong guerrillas built during the fighting. Finally, the former president of the European Commission and two-time prime minister of Italy, Romano Prodi on steering through the ten-state expansion of the European Union in 2004.Contributors:Le Van Lang - a Viet Cong veteran.Dr Xuan Dung Tran - a doctor in the South Vietnamese Marines. Don Anderson - former BBC TV reporter.Phạm Chi Lan - economist at Vietnam’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Romano Prodi - former president of the European Commission and two-time prime minister of Italy.Taneli Armanto - mobile phone game Snake, inventor.(Photo: Viet Cong soldier inside the Cu Chi tunnels. Credit: Dirck Halstead/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is World War Two military historian and archivist Elisabeth Shipton. We start by concentrating on two events from the last year of the Second World War.Exercise Tiger took place in April 1944 in preparation for the D-Day landings of Allied forces in Normandy. But during that rehearsal a German fleet attacked and about 749 US servicemen died. We hear remarkable archive testimony from Adolf Hitler's secretary who witnessed his last days in a bunker in Berlin before he took his own life. Plus, 20 years since the video sharing platform, YouTube, was first launched.We hear about the apartheid-era production of the play Othello in South Africa, which broke racial boundaries.And finally, how in 1985, Coca-Cola messed up a reworking of the drink's classic formula.Contributors: Paul Gerolstein - survivor of Exercise Tiger (from archive audio gathered by Laurie Bolton, from the UK Exercise Tiger Memorial, and the journalist, David Fitzgerald).Traudl Junge - Adolf Hitler's secretary.Jawed Karim, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen - on the start of YouTube.Dame Janet Suzman - on the staging of Othello in 1987.Mark Pendergrast - author.(Photo: US troops ahead of D-Day. Credit: Keystone/ Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. It’s 50 years since soldiers of the communist Khmer Rouge party stormed into the capital, Phnom Penh. It was the start of a four year reign of terror which resulted in up to two million people being killed. We hear two stories from people affected by the regime. Our guest is journalist and author, Elizabeth Becker. She is one of the foremost authorities on the history of Cambodia, and one of the few westerners to have interviewed Pol Pot.The scientist who invented the white LED lightbulb in 1993 tells his story.Plus, the Bali Nine: young Australians facing the death penalty for drug smuggling and, Spain’s historic link to World Book Day.Contributors:Youk Chang – lived through the Khmer Rouge regime Aki Ra - child soldier of Cambodia Elizabeth Becker – journalist and author Professor Shuji Nakamura – inventor of the white LED lightbulb Bishop Tim Harris – friend of one of the Bali Nine families Pere Vicens - book publisher and one of the creators of World Book Day(Photo: The fall of Phnom Penh in 1975. Credit: Roland Neveu/LightRocket via Getty Images)

8th May 1945 was a day of rejoicing in Britain, the US and many other countries: Germany had surrendered, and World War II was over, at least in Europe.Yet it was not a day of celebration for everyone: for the vanquished Germans, it marked the end of bombings and of Nazi rule. But it was also a time of deprivation and chaos, fear and soul-searching. Millions of ethnic Germans had fled their homes to escape the approaching Red Army. In this documentary, Lore Wolfson Windemuth, whose own father grew up under Nazi rule, unfolds the stories of six ordinary Germans who lived through that extraordinary time, through their memoirs and diaries. Amongst others, we hear from:Siegbert Stümpke, a 12-year-old schoolboy who was used as a runner by the German Wehrmacht in the final days of the war;Lore Ehrich, a young mother from East Prussia (now Poland) who had to flee with two small children across a frozen lagoon;Hans Rosenthal, who was Jewish and had survived the Holocaust hidden in a Berlin allotment colony before very nearly getting shot by the Soviet liberators;Melita Maschmann, who got hooked on Nazi ideology aged 15, became a youth leader and took years to acknowledge her share of the responsibility for the crimes committed by the National Socialists. Narrator: Lore Wolfson Windemuth Producer / Editor: Kristine Pommert Research: Katie HarrisA CTVC production for the BBC World Service.