The deadly Vargas mudslides in Venezuela

The deadly Vargas mudslides in Venezuela

In December 1999, torrential rain in Venezuela led to floods and mudslides. Government estimates put the number killed at 3,000 but other reports suggest between 10,000 and 30,000 were killed. Many bodies were buried under mud, rocks or trees. Tens of thousands more people were made homeless. The state of Vargas, known as La Guaira, was one of the worst areas affected. Leydys Crespo speaks to Jen Dale about her experience.

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 the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.

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Martín Chambi: Peru's pioneering documentary photographer

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Nigerian photographer’s iconic 'Hairstyles' series

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In 1932, a photo was taken showing 11 New York ironworkers casually eating their lunch while sitting on a steel beam at the top of a skyscraper. No safety harnesses, no helmets. Their legs dangled fre...

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Sweden’s shocking sugar experiment

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In the 1940s, some vulnerable Swedish hospital patients were fed large amounts of sugary sweets as part of an experiment to see what it would do to their teeth. Researchers considered the study a succ...

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Mexico’s soda tax: Confronting soft drink giants

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In 2013, Mexico’s government approved a tax on sugary soft drinks. The country has one of the highest rates of fizzy drink consumption in the world. Some rural homes do not have access to safe drinkin...

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The founding of the Warsaw Pact

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On 14 May 1955, the leader of the Soviet Union and leaders from seven European countries met to sign the Warsaw Pact. In the years following World War Two, the Soviet Union and the United States start...

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Tesla and Edison: Electricity rivals

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By 1915, the two great rivals, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, had brought electricity to the world. It was reported that they were set to share the Nobel Prize for Physics, but it never happened. In ...

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Intervision Song Contest

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In 1980, Finnish singer Marion Rung won the Intervision Song Contest. Born in the 1960s, Intervision was the Eastern Bloc’s answer to Eurovision. It ran until 1980, although in 2025 Russia’s President...

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