Witness History Podcast
History as told by the people who were there.
Episodes to download
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The fight to stop skin lightening in India
Mon 21 Oct 2024
In 2013, Kavitha Emmanuel began campaigning to stop skin lightening in India
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Eight years trapped on the Suez Canal in Egypt
Fri 18 Oct 2024
After the Six Day War in 1967, 14 ships were stuck on the Great Bitter Lake
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Dyke and Dryden: Cosmetic kings
Thu 17 Oct 2024
In 1969, Dyke and Dryden started one the most successful black British businesses
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Fleeing Afghanistan alone as a child
Wed 16 Oct 2024
Dr Waheed Arian escaped poverty and war in Afghanistan to begin a new life in the UK
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The Rose Revolution in Georgia
Tue 15 Oct 2024
In 2003, demonstrators stormed the parliament building in Tbilisi, holding flowers
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The Sunflower Movement
Mon 14 Oct 2024
In 2014, more than 500,000 Taiwanese people protested against a new trade deal with China
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'Robocops鈥� in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Fri 11 Oct 2024
Handmade robots were installed in DRC's capital city Kinshasa to direct traffic
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How the QR code was invented
Thu 10 Oct 2024
In 1994 Japanese engineer Masahiro Hara designed a square of data, now known as a QR code
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The world's first general purpose electronic computer
Wed 9 Oct 2024
In 1946, one of the world鈥檚 first electronic computers was unveiled in the USA.
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WABOT-1: The first humanoid robot
Tue 8 Oct 2024
Scientists at Waseda University in Japan built the world's first humanoid robot in 1973
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Eliza: When chatbots started
Mon 7 Oct 2024
1966 saw the invention of Eliza, which is said to be the first chatbot
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The longest plane hijacking in Latin America
Fri 4 Oct 2024
In 1973, two men pretending to be Colombian guerrillas hijacked a plane for 60 hours
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The speech that inspired the Law of the Sea
Thu 3 Oct 2024
In November 1967, the Maltese diplomat, Arvid Pardo, gave a historic speech at the UN
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South Africa鈥檚 nuclear weapons
Wed 2 Oct 2024
In 1989, South Africa became the first country to make and then dismantle nuclear weapons
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Cambodia war crimes
Tue 1 Oct 2024
Kerry Hamill mistakenly sailed into Cambodian waters and was killed by the Khmer Rouge
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Kristallnacht: The night of broken glass
Mon 30 Sep 2024
In 1938, the Nazis launched a violent anti-Jewish attack, known as Kristallnacht
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The Estonia ferry disaster
Fri 27 Sep 2024
In 1994 the Estonia ferry sank off Finland in one of Europe's biggest shipping tragedies
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South Africa鈥檚 first inter-racial marriage
Thu 26 Sep 2024
For almost 40 years, marriage between people from different ethnic backgrounds was banned
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Why Tupac was fired from Menace II Society
Tue 24 Sep 2024
In 1993, the Hughes brothers released their debut movie
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India's Mars Orbiter Mission
Mon 23 Sep 2024
India placed a satellite into orbit around Mars on its first attempt in 2014
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Designing the Google logo
Fri 20 Sep 2024
Brazilian artist and designer, Ruth Kedar鈥檚 story of designing the Google logo.
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The discovery of New Zealand鈥檚 first dinosaur
Thu 19 Sep 2024
The discovery of New Zealand's first dinosaur by Joan Wiffen
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India鈥檚 plague outbreak
Wed 18 Sep 2024
In 1994, hundreds of thousands of people fled the city of Surat
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Camouflaging Leningrad
Tue 17 Sep 2024
In 1941, landmarks were painted and covered in the Russian city during World War Two
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The invention of the CT scanner
Mon 16 Sep 2024
In 1971, the CT scanner was invented by Allan Cormack and Godfrey Hounsfield
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When Italy gave back Ethiopia鈥檚 stolen obelisk
Fri 13 Sep 2024
The Axum Obelisk was looted by Italian soldiers in 1937 on the orders of Benito Mussolini
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Abebech Gobena: Africa's 'Mother Teresa'
Thu 12 Sep 2024
In 1980, Abebech Gobena founded an orphanage in Ethiopia to save children from starvation
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Ardi: The oldest skeleton of a human ancestor
Wed 11 Sep 2024
In 1994, a college student discovered a 4.4 million-year-old skeleton in Ethiopia
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Haile Selassie in Bath
Tue 10 Sep 2024
In 1936, the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie was exiled in Bath in the UK
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Emperor Haile Selassie overthrown
Mon 9 Sep 2024
In September 1974, a military junta launched a coup against Ethiopia's monarchy
