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.

Episoder(2000)

Assassination of Malcolm X

Assassination of Malcolm X

Sixty years ago, on 21st February 1965, the controversial black leader, Malcolm X, was assassinated in Harlem, New York as he was preparing to speak there.In 2011, Simon Watts spoke to Herman Ferguso...

21 Feb 202510min

Murder at the Berlin Wall

Murder at the Berlin Wall

On 29 March 1974, Czesław Kukuczka stormed into the Polish embassy in East Berlin, threatening to detonate a bomb unless he was allowed to escape to the West. Shot at point-blank range while trying to...

20 Feb 20259min

Bolivia’s first indigenous president

Bolivia’s first indigenous president

In December 2005, Evo Morales made history in Bolivia when he became the country’s first indigenous president. The country is one of the poorest in South America and has the highest proportion of ind...

19 Feb 20259min

Bo: The death of a language

Bo: The death of a language

In 2010, one of the oldest languages in the world died after the death of its last remaining speaker.For 40 years, Boa Senior from the Indian Andaman Islands was the only person who spoke the Bo langu...

18 Feb 20259min

The world's longest kiss

The world's longest kiss

In 2013, Guinness World Records deactivated the record for the longest kiss after 15 years, saying it had become too dangerous and some of the rules conflicted with their current updated policies. It ...

17 Feb 202510min

Eva Peron: Argentina’s Evita

Eva Peron: Argentina’s Evita

Eva Peron – otherwise known as Evita - became an icon in 1940s Argentina, famous for her passionate speeches and populist rhetoric. Born into poverty, she moved to Buenos Aries at the age of 15 to bec...

14 Feb 202510min

Paul Keating's Redfern speech

Paul Keating's Redfern speech

On 10 December 1992, Australia’s Prime Minister, Paul Keating, addressed a crowd in a Sydney suburb called Redfern, to mark the UN’s International Year of the World’s Indigenous People. What started a...

13 Feb 20259min

Mary Fisher's 'A Whisper of Aids' speech

Mary Fisher's 'A Whisper of Aids' speech

When Mary Fisher was diagnosed with HIV in 1991 she did not represent the typical stereotype of someone HIV-positive. She was white, heterosexual and contracted the disease in marriage. She used her p...

12 Feb 202510min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
konspirasjonspodden
popradet
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
grenselos
wolfgang-wee-uncut
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-dannet-uten-piano
alt-fortalt
min-barneoppdragelse
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
fladseth
opptur-med-annette-og-ingeborg