Japan surrenders in Beijing

Japan surrenders in Beijing

Eighty years ago, in the autumn of 1945, World War II surrender ceremonies took place across the Japanese Empire.

The one in China was held at the Forbidden City in Beijing bringing an end to eight years of occupation. Thousands of people watched the incredible moment Japanese generals handed over their swords. The United States, China, Russia and the United Kingdom were all represented. John Stanfield, now 105, is the last surviving British person who was there. He recalls to Josephine McDermott how he signed the surrender declaration documents on behalf of the British.

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.

(Photo: Surrender in the Forbidden City. Credit: Hedda Morrison, courtesy of John Stanfield family/University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China)

Episoder(2000)

The Good Friday Agreement

The Good Friday Agreement

In 1998, the political parties in Northern Ireland reached a peace agreement that ended decades of war. But the Good Friday Agreement, as it became known, was only reached after days of frantic last-minute negotiations. In 2012, Louise Hidalgo spoke to Paul Murphy, the junior minister for Northern Ireland at the time.PHOTO: Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern (L) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) pose with the mediator of the agreement, Senator George Mitchell. (AFP/Getty Images)

30 Mar 20188min

Mapping the Ocean's Secrets

Mapping the Ocean's Secrets

The publication of a map of the floor of the Atlantic ocean in 1957 by an American female cartographer, Marie Tharp, helped to change forever the way we view our world. Her discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was eventually taken as evidence of the theory of plate tectonics. Yet her work was initially dismissed as 'girls' talk', her colleague geologist Bill Ryan tells Louise Hidalgo.Picture: Marie Tharp working on a map of the ocean floor at Columbia University in the 1960s. (Credit: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory courtesy of the Marie Tharp estate)

29 Mar 20189min

The 'Oasis of Peace'

The 'Oasis of Peace'

In 1978 a small community called Wahat al-Salam, Neve Shalom, was founded by four families, Jews and Arabs, on a hill-top between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. It was a pioneering experiment in peaceful co-existence in the long Middle East conflict. Four decades on, it is now home to more than 60 families. Mike Lanchin travels to the community and speaks to two of its long-standing residents, Nava Sonnenschein and Daoud Boulus about life in this "oasis of peace."(Photo courtesy of Daoud Boulus)

28 Mar 20189min

Sarajevo: Singing for Peace

Sarajevo: Singing for Peace

After the bitter Bosnian war in the 1990's, Catholic Monk, Friar Ivo Markovic, launched a multi-faith choir to bring survivors of the violence together and promote understanding between different ethnic groups. The choir is called "Pontanima", an invented word based on Latin that means, "bridge among souls". Rebecca Kesby spoke to Friar Ivo and saw the choir perform. (PHOTO: Members of the Pontanima Choir of Sarajevo: Courtesy of The Woolf Institute)

27 Mar 201811min

First Women on the London Stock Exchange

First Women on the London Stock Exchange

London's Stock Exchange, one of the world's oldest, welcomed women as members for the first time in March 1973. It meant they could earn much more money, as partners in their firms. It also meant they were finally allowed to cross the famous trading floor. Hilary Pearson told Claire Bowes how she and a handful of other women made their way in a very traditional man's world.Photo: One of the first women to be admitted to the floor of the London Stock exchange, 26th March 1973. (Credit: Arthur Jones/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

26 Mar 20189min

Who Killed Luis Colosio?

Who Killed Luis Colosio?

On 23 March 1994 the presidential candidate for Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, was shot dead in the border town of Tijuana. Luis Donaldo Colosio, who was expected to be the country's next leader, was killed when out campaigning. A sole gunman is still in jail for his murder, but Alfonso Durazo, Colosio's former private secretary, tells Mike Lanchin why he believes the murder was part of a wider political plot.Photo taken from Televisa TV broadcast showing amateur video footage of the moment that Luis Colosio was about to be shot dead during a campaign rally (credit: TELEVISA/AFP/Getty Images)

23 Mar 20189min

The Skull Valley Sheep Kill

The Skull Valley Sheep Kill

In March 1968 more than 6,000 sheep died while grazing close to the Dugway Proving Ground, the US military's leading chemical warfare testing site, located in the US state of Utah. One theory was that they were killed by a nerve agent. Deputy Sheriff William Pitt arrived at the scene as some of the sheep were still in convulsions. He has been telling Mike Lanchin about that strange event, which became known as the Skull Valley Sheep Kill.Photo: Two farmers checking the corpses of dead sheep on a farm ranch, possibly connected to a chemical and biological warfare testing at Dugway Proving Ground, March 1968. (Photo by Rolls Press/Popperfoto/Getty Images)

22 Mar 20189min

Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud

Radiocarbon Dating of the Turin Shroud

The Turin Shroud is one of the most revered relics of the Catholic Church: a piece of linen cloth that appears to show the imprint of a blood-stained crucified man. Some Christians believe it is the ancient cloth that Jesus Christ was buried in. In 1988, the Church allowed scientists to perform a radiocarbon dating test on a small sample of the shroud. The results are still controversial. In 2016 Rob Walker spoke to Professor Michael Tite who supervised the testing process. This programme is a rebroadcast.(Photo: Picture showing a facsimile of the Shroud of Turin at the Cathedral of Malaga. Credit: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images)

22 Mar 20188min

Populært innen Samfunn

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
rss-spartsklubben
konspirasjonspodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
vitnemal
wolfgang-wee-uncut
grenselos
synnve-og-vanessa
frokostshowet-pa-p5
alt-fortalt
rss-dannet-uten-piano
fladseth
fryktlos
den-politiske-situasjonen
rss-herrepanelet
opptur-med-annette-og-ingeborg
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem