Witness History Episodes Episode guide
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The Gratitude Train: France thanks America
In 1949, the Gratitude Train arrived in the US, 49 wagons of thank you gifts from France
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Making Jaws
On 20 June 1975 the film premiered, launching summer blockbusters and scaring beachgoers
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The signing of the Treaty of Versailles
The signing of a peace agreement that marked the end of World War One took place in 1919
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Civil rights swim-in
In 1964, a civil rights swimming protest ended when acid was poured into the pool
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'Tripperburgen' the sexual health clinics that detained women
In 1977, in the former East Germany, tens of thousands of women and girls were abused
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Charleston church shooting
Polly Sheppard, a survivor of the 2015 Charleston shooting, describes how it unfolded
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The Schengen Agreement
In 1985, five European politicians agreed to scrap border checks between their countries
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Ronald Reagan’s ‘Tear down this wall’ speech
In 1987 the US President called on the Soviet Union leader to take down the Berlin Wall
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Lonesome George: The celebrity tortoise
In 2012, Lonesome George, the last tortoise of his species died
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The woman born in a prisoner of war camp
The Sino-Indian war in 1962, left a lasting legacy on Indian families of Chinese descent
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World War Two’s Rome escape line
How an Irish priest saved thousands of allied prisoners of war and Jews in Rome in WW2
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Usonia: Frank Lloyd Wright’s ‘utopian’ town
In 1948, a “utopian” town of houses was designed by America’s greatest architect
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The discovery of the first exoplanets
In 1992, astronomer Alex Wolszczan discovered the first planets outside our solar system
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Favela life: The diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus
In 1960, the diary of a poor Brazilian mum became an international bestseller.
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The world’s largest model train set
In 2000, twins Frederik and Gerrit started building Miniatur Wunderland
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Dolly Rathebe: South Africa’s first international film star
Jim Comes to Jo’burg, also known as African Jim, launched Dolly Rathebe’s career in 1949
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The Battle of the Beanfield
In 1985, police and hippies clashed at the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge, in England
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The legacy of The Pirate Bay
In 2006 police raided the popular but controversial file-sharing website The Pirate Bay
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Chinua Achebe’s revolutionary book Things Fall Apart
Achebe's English language novel from 1958 about life in Nigeria before colonialism
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The Tragically Hip's final gig
In 2015 Canadian rockstar Gord Downie was given months to live, he went on one last tour
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'I wrote the Champions League anthem'
The story of how one of the most iconic tunes in sport was created in 1992
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Vivian Maier: Secret street photographer
The secret street photography of a US nanny in the 1950s and 1960s
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The founding of Magnum Photos
On 22 April 1947, a group of famous war photographers founded the agency.
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Martín Chambi: Peru's pioneering documentary photographer
Chambi's dramatic black and white photographs showed indigenous people in a new light.
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Nigerian photographer’s iconic 'Hairstyles' series
J. D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, known as Nigeria’s top photographer gained international acclaim
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Lunch atop a Skyscraper
In 1932, a photo of ironworkers eating lunch at the top of a skyscraper was taken
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Sweden’s shocking sugar experiment
In the 1940s, vulnerable hospital patients were fed sugar to see if their teeth decayed.
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Mexico’s soda tax: Confronting soft drink giants
In 2013 a new tax was approved in one of the world’s biggest consumers of fizzy drinks
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The founding of the Warsaw Pact
On 14 May 1955, eight Soviet countries met to sign the Warsaw Pact.
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Tesla and Edison: Electricity rivals
In 1915, two rival electricity pioneers were told they would share a Nobel Prize
