Cuba's Mariel boatlift

Cuba's Mariel boatlift

In April 1980, thousands of Cubans tried to escape the country by claiming asylum at the Peruvian embassy in Havana.

In response, Cuban President Fidel Castro opened the port of Mariel to anyone who wanted to leave, including criminals. From April until October more than 100,000 Cubans left for the US. Mirta Ojito was one of them. She spoke to Simon Watts in 2011.

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: Cuban refugees in 1980. Credit: Bettmann/Contributor via Getty Images)

Avsnitt(2000)

Inventing Nutella

Inventing Nutella

In 1946, Italian confectioner Pietro Ferrero set out to bring chocolate to the masses. His recipe evolved over the years to become a world-famous product.Thomas Chatenier from the manufacturer tells U...

25 Dec 20238min

'The bad boy of Welsh politics'

'The bad boy of Welsh politics'

In the 1960s, the singer Dafydd Iwan started campaigning for the Welsh language to gain official status in Wales. For years, Dafydd received little support. In January 1969 he decided to up the pressu...

22 Dec 20239min

Al Jazeera Three: Imprisoned in Egypt

Al Jazeera Three: Imprisoned in Egypt

In 2014 three journalists were sentenced to seven years in jail in Egypt.Peter Greste, Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed became known as the Al Jazeera Three.The jail terms handed out to them led to an...

21 Dec 20239min

The mysterious death of Pablo Neruda

The mysterious death of Pablo Neruda

In late 1973, Chile was in turmoil. General Augusto Pinochet had led a military coup deposing the socialist president Salvador Allende who was now dead.The army was rounding up leftists; torturing, im...

20 Dec 20239min

The assassination of King Faisal

The assassination of King Faisal

On 25 March 1975, Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal was murdered, shot by his nephew as he bent to kiss him as a greeting.The king’s oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani was standing beside him when the gun went o...

19 Dec 20238min

Tsunami devastates Samoa

Tsunami devastates Samoa

On 29 September 2009, a devastating tsunami hit Samoa, killing 149 people and leaving a trail of destruction. For Lumepa Hald it was a terrifying day which resulted in a tragic loss. She tells he...

18 Dec 20239min

The funeral of Nelson Mandela

The funeral of Nelson Mandela

On 15 December 2013, South Africa held the funeral of Nelson Mandela who led the struggle in defeating apartheid and became the country’s first black president. His ancestral home in the village of Qu...

15 Dec 202315min

Vatican citizen Emanuela Orlandi disappears

Vatican citizen Emanuela Orlandi disappears

In 1983, the disappearance of a teenage girl who was a citizen of Vatican City led to a scandal.When Pope John Paul II made a public appeal to the people holding Emanuela Orlandi captive, the world to...

14 Dec 20239min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

podme-dokumentar
aftonbladet-krim
gynning-berg
p3-dokumentar
badfluence
en-mork-historia
mardromsgasten
nemo-moter-en-van
blenda-2
skaringer-nessvold
killradet
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
flashback-forever
kod-katastrof
hor-har
vad-blir-det-for-mord
p1-dokumentar
historiska-brott
svenska-fall
rss-brottsutredarna