The birth of the Excel spreadsheet
Witness History30 Sep 2025

The birth of the Excel spreadsheet

In September 1985, Microsoft introduced Excel, an electronic spreadsheet program that revolutionised the way we organise and analyse data.

With its grid of rows and columns, it allows users to sort information, do calculations, and make charts with ease. Today it is used worldwide.

Spreadsheets might have a reputation for being dull, but this story features space tourists, knitting, and crazy competitions.

Mike Koss, an American software developer who played a key role in Excel’s creation, shares his fascinating story with Gill Kearsley.

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: Microsoft Excel logo. Credit: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)

Avsnitt(2000)

Colombia's Salt Cathedral

Colombia's Salt Cathedral

In 1995, a cathedral was built 180m underground in the Zipaquirá Salt Mine in Colombia. The idea came from the miners building makeshift altars in the mine in the 1930s, to pray for their safety befor...

25 Nov 202510min

Toy Story: the first digitally-animated feature film

Toy Story: the first digitally-animated feature film

Released in 1995, this buddy movie about a cowboy doll and a toy astronaut was the first to use entirely computer-generated images. The story, about a group of toys who come alive when humans are not ...

24 Nov 202510min

How the Bosnian war ended

How the Bosnian war ended

The Dayton Peace Accords were signed on the 21 November 1995, ending the three-and-a-half-year war in Bosnia. The war was part of the break-up of Yugoslavia; it is estimated that 100,000 people were k...

21 Nov 202510min

The Spanish king reclaims his throne

The Spanish king reclaims his throne

In 1975, the death of General Francisco Franco was announced in Spain, bringing to an end 36 years of dictatorship.Franco had already chosen his successor: Prince Juan Carlos, grandson of the last mon...

20 Nov 202510min

The death of Franco

The death of Franco

General Francisco Franco died in November 1975, ending 36 years of dictatorship over Spain. The general had been in power since 1939 after winning the country’s bloody civil war, and his death followe...

19 Nov 202510min

Angela Merkel suspends EU asylum rules in 2015

Angela Merkel suspends EU asylum rules in 2015

In the summer of 2015, there was a surge in the number of people from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, seeking asylum in Europe. Social Democrat politician Aydan Özoğuz was Angela Merkel's minister of sta...

18 Nov 202510min

Reagan and Gorbachev: The Geneva Summit

Reagan and Gorbachev: The Geneva Summit

Forty years ago, in November 1985, two of the world’s most powerful leaders met for the first time. With Cold War tensions running high and the nuclear arms race dominating global politics, US Preside...

17 Nov 202510min

When Maldives' ministers met underwater

When Maldives' ministers met underwater

On 17 October 2009, the Maldives’ top government officials donned their scuba gear for the world’s first underwater cabinet meeting. Fish floated around while ministers communicated with hand gestures...

14 Nov 202510min

Populärt inom Samhälle & Kultur

en-mork-historia
podme-dokumentar
mardromsgasten
p3-dokumentar
badfluence
nemo-moter-en-van
skaringer-nessvold
killradet
creepypodden-med-jack-werner
hor-har
spar
rattsfallen
svenska-fall
flashback-forever
vad-blir-det-for-mord
rss-brottsutredarna
p3-historia
rss-sanning-konsekvens
aftonbladet-daily
sanna-berattelser