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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    Intervision Song Contest

    In 1980, Finnish singer Marion Rung won Intervision, the USSR's answer to Eurovision

  2. Rescuing Palmyra’s treasures from the Islamic State group

    In 2015, Khalil Hariri risked his life to save centuries-old archaeology in Syria.

  3. VE Day celebrations

    The scenes of celebration in London on VE Day 1945

  4. Sinking of the Lusitania

    During World War One, the British ocean liner was sunk by a German submarine

  5. The invention of the automatic electric rice cooker

    In 1955, entrepreneur and engineer Yoshitada Minami, revolutionised rice cooking

  6. Conclave: How a new pope is chosen

    In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI was elected to be the next head of the Catholic Church

  7. Snake: Popularising mobile gaming

    In 1998, the Snake game made its debut on mobile phones

  8. Ten countries join the EU in one night

    On 1 May 2004, the European Union went through its biggest ever enlargement.

  9. The Cu Chi tunnels of the Vietnam War

    The story of North Vietnam’s underground tunnel network in South Vietnam

  10. Surviving the fall of Saigon in 1975

    When South Vietnam fell, most people couldn’t escape

  11. Doi Moi: Vietnam's economic miracle

    Radical reforms introduced in 1986 lifted millions out of poverty

  12. The death of Adolf Hitler

    Adolf Hitler's secretary recalls his last days in 1945

  13. Staging Othello in apartheid South Africa

    Dame Janet Suzman recalls directing Shakespeare's classic in 1987

  14. Coca-Cola’s ‘New Coke'

    On 23 April 1985, Coca-Cola changed the secret formula of its fizzy drink

  15. The creation of YouTube

    In April 2005, the first video was posted onto YouTube

  16. Exercise Tiger: Disastrous D-Day rehearsal

    In April 1944, a German fleet sank two allied ships. Around 749 US servicemen died.

  17. The origin of World Book Day

    23 April 1996, saw the first World Book Day. It originated from a Spanish tradition

  18. Clearing landmines in Cambodia

    Aki Ra laid hundreds of landmines for the Khmer Rouge, but began clearing them in 1992

  19. The Khmer Rouge take power in Cambodia

    In April 1975 the four-year rule of the brutal Khmer Rouge began in Cambodia

  20. The invention of the white LED lightbulb

    In 1993, a lightbulb moment led to the invention of the first white light emitting diode

  21. The Bali Nine drug smuggling case

    In 2005, nine Australians were caught trying to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia

  22. Germany’s ‘Green Belt’

    In December 1989, environmentalists met to secure the future of Germany’s ‘Green Belt’

  23. Oklahoma City bombing

    On 19 April 1995, a huge truck bomb killed 168 people in a US government building

  24. Liberia’s women in white who helped end civil war

    In 2003 the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace began protests calling for peace

  25. The Reichstag fire

    In February 1933, the home to the German Parliament in Berlin was burned down.

  26. The UN retreat from Somalia

    In 1995, a United Nations mission to restore peace in Somalia ended in disaster

  27. Resusci Anne: the world’s first life-saving resuscitation dummy

    In May 1960 a Norwegian toy-maker unveiled a life-sized, life-like training manikin

  28. JFK’s 1963 Ich Bin Ein Berliner speech

    The US President spoke at the newly constructed Berlin Wall at the height of the Cold War

  29. The Wonder Woman of DC Comics

    In 1976 Jenette Kahn became the first female head of DC Comics, home of the superheroes

  30. The invention of superglue

    In 1951, Harry Coover noticed a chemical he was working with was sticking to everything

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