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)

The first Aboriginal MP

A warning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners - this programme contains the names and voices of people who have died.In 1971, Neville Bonner became the first Aboriginal person to becom...

29 Touko 202410min

The first ever quintuplets

Ninety years ago, the first surviving quintuplets were born in a small village in northern Canada.The Dionnes grew up in a specially-adapted nursery where millions of people could visit them. But, yea...

28 Touko 20249min

Carlos Lamarca: From army captain to Brazil's 'most wanted'

In 1964, João Goulart, the president of Brazil, was overthrown in a military coup. In the repression which followed, hundreds of people were disappeared or killed, and many more detained and tortured....

27 Touko 202410min

How Air Jordans were created

In 1984, Nike signed rookie basketball player Michael Jordan and created a shoe in his name – the Air Jordan.The unprecedented deal would change sports marketing forever.Former executive Sonny Vaccaro...

24 Touko 202410min

Imelda Marcos's famous shoe collection

In 2001, more than 700 pairs of Imelda Marcos’s shoes were put on display at the Marikina Shoe Museum in the Philippines. The wife of the dictator President Ferdinand Marcos, became famous for buying ...

23 Touko 202410min

Adi Dassler's sports shoe obsession

How the Dassler brothers created two global sportswear firms.In 1948, Adi and Rudi Dassler who lived in a small German town fell out. They went on to set up Adidas and Puma. Adi Dassler played a cruci...

22 Touko 20249min

How a Brazilian flip-flop took over the world

In 1962, a new brand of footwear launched that would become one of Brazil’s most successful and best-known exports: Havaianas. As the country’s footwear industry started to expand, one company wanted ...

21 Touko 202410min

Bata: Pioneering shoemakers

Bata was a Czech company which pioneered assembly line shoemaking and sold affordable footwear around the world. The factory near London was opened in 1933 and it became key to its expansion. In 2018,...

20 Touko 20248min