Witness History

Witness History is a short BBC World Service podcast about history that takes you inside big moments from the past through first-hand testimony and archive. Each weekday, in around nine minutes, we revisit one moment that helped shape the world and hear it through the voice of someone who was there. Scientists, artists, campaigners, soldiers, leaders and everyday people tell their true stories. When you subscribe to Witness History, you’ll be taken inside turning points in world affairs, from West Africa’s fight back against Boko Haram in 2015, to the behind-closed-doors talks that led to the US-Cuba “thaw” and the surprise announcement of restored relations. You’ll discover what it was like to experience disasters and how people recovered from them, including the Tabasco floods in Mexico, Portugal's worst train disaster, and the huge clean-up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

You’ll explore culture and ideas too: Sweden’s Expedition Robinson, often credited as the first modern reality TV game show; the friendship between The Beatles’ George Harrison and Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar; and the night a tiger attack brought Las Vegas superstars Siegfried and Roy’s show to a sudden end.

And if you’re curious about inventions, we’ll tell you how air fryers, BlackBerry, YouTube, Alexa, GPS, superglue, the shopping cart (shopping trolley) and bubble tea were created.

If you’re new to Witness History, the appeal is simple: real voices, one strong true story, and a fresh way to understand today through events from history – all in the time it takes to enjoy a cup of tea or a walk around the block. Join millions of BBC World Service podcast listeners around the globe and enjoy the insight, context and detail Witness History will bring you.

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Jaksot(2000)

Poland’s underground newspaper

In 1981, Poland's communist regime imposed martial law and the dissident Solidarity movement was suppressed. In response, Helena Luczywo helped set up an underground newspaper called Mazovia Weekly to...

18 Touko 9min

The Sami protest song that made Eurovision history

In 1980, Norway’s entry to the Eurovision Song Contest included a traditional Sami joik song from the country’s indigenous community. It was the first time joiking was heard by an international audien...

15 Touko 10min

When Sweden invented the reality game show

In 1997, Sweden changed television history. That year saw the launch of Expedition Robinson, widely regarded as the world’s first reality-based competitive television programme.The premise was strikin...

14 Touko 10min

Uncovering a lost burial ground in Rio

In 1996, the bricklayer renovating Merced dos Anjos’ home in Rio de Janeiro told her something strange had happened. Bones appeared as he was breaking ground. As she inspected the site, she found they...

13 Touko 9min

The fossil that revealed the first dinosaur feathers

In 1996, a fossil unearthed in China became the first confirmed record of a dinosaur covered in feathers.Before this discovery, some palaeontologists had suggested that dinosaurs might have developed ...

12 Touko 10min

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission was a seven-year project which examined the country’s residential school system. For more than 100 years, Indigenous children were taken from their famili...

11 Touko 10min

Sir David Attenborough's first Zoo Quest

In 1954, the BBC broadcast a new television programme in the United Kingdom. It was called Zoo Quest and it launched the career of a man who has since brought the natural world into millions of homes ...

8 Touko 10min

Africa's worst stadium disaster

On 9 May 2001, 127 people died and dozens more were injured at the Accra Stadium in Ghana.It is Africa's worst football stadium tragedy. The disaster happened at the end of a match between Asante Ko...

7 Touko 10min