Sinking of the Lusitania
Witness History7 Touko 2025

Sinking of the Lusitania

On 7 May 1915, the British ocean liner, the Lusitania, was sunk by a German submarine off the Irish coast, as it sailed from New York to Liverpool.

Thousands of passengers were onboard and 1,200 people died.

The attack helped turn American opinion against Germany.

In 2015, Alex Last used BBC archives to tell the story.

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 football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Sinking of the Lusitania. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Jaksot(2000)

Egypt's Facebook Girl

Egypt's Facebook Girl

A wave of popular anti-government uprisings swept through the Arab world in the early months of 2011. Many of the activists who took to the streets were inspired by social media posts. Israa Abd el Fa...

25 Tammi 20218min

Fighting for justice for India's Sikhs

Fighting for justice for India's Sikhs

Anti-Sikh violence erupted in India after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984. Looting, raping and killing broke out in Sikh areas. One of those killed was...

22 Tammi 202110min

Kenya's pioneering publisher

Kenya's pioneering publisher

When Dr Henry Chakava became Kenya's first African book editor in 1972, there were virtually no books or educational material published in African languages, even in Kiswahili. He made it his priority...

21 Tammi 202110min

The Turner Diaries - America's manual of hatred

The Turner Diaries - America's manual of hatred

Following the assault on the US Capitol earlier this month, Amazon banned The Turner Diaries, a racist novel blamed for inciting American neo-Nazis to violence. The book calls for a race war and a cou...

20 Tammi 20219min

Hitler's beer hall putsch

Hitler's beer hall putsch

Adolf Hitler made his first attempt to overthrow democracy in Germany in Munich in 1923. It started at a beer hall called the Bürgerbräu in Munich, so it has become known as the "beer hall putsch" or ...

19 Tammi 20218min

Landing on Titan

Landing on Titan

The story of the remarkable mission to land on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn. The large mysterious moon has a thick orange atmosphere. No-one had ever seen the surface. In the late 1990s, the Cass...

14 Tammi 202113min

Cornelia Sorabji: India's first woman lawyer

Cornelia Sorabji: India's first woman lawyer

Cornelia Sorabji was the first woman lawyer working in India. She helped women living in purdah or seclusion in the 19th century who had no access to the law. The women were married into royal famili...

13 Tammi 20219min

Puerto Rican attack at the US Capitol

Puerto Rican attack at the US Capitol

In March 1954, a group of Puerto Rican militants opened fire from the public gallery of the US Congress in an effort to promote their fight for independence for the American territory. Five members of...

12 Tammi 202110min

Suosittua kategoriassa Yhteiskunta

olipa-kerran-otsikko
siita-on-vaikea-puhua
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
i-dont-like-mondays
kolme-kaannekohtaa
poks
antin-palautepalvelu
kaksi-aitia
aikalisa
sita
yopuolen-tarinoita-2
rss-murhan-anatomia
mamma-mia
meidan-pitais-puhua
rss-ootsa-kuullut-tasta
loukussa
rss-nikotellen
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
ootsa-kuullut-tasta-2
rss-haudattu