Main content

Witness History Episodes

  1.

    Marie Kondo

    In 2011, Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo's first book was published.

  2. Creating Alexa

    In 2000, two Polish students started creating a smart speaker which sounded human

  3. Klaus Fuchs: Oppenheimer’s atomic spy

    In 1950, Klaus Fuchs admitted passing top secret nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union

  4. Robert Ripley and the ‘Believe It or Not’ empire

    During the Great Depression, cartoonist Robert Ripley made millions from freaky facts

  5. Indian Ocean tsunami - Aceh

    In 2004, a deadly tsunami swept away entire communities around the Indian Ocean

  6. Indian Ocean tsunami - Tamil Nadu

    On 26 December 2004, communities around the Indian Ocean were swept away by a tsunami

  7. Dinner for One: How an English comedy became a German tradition

    The sitcom Dinner for One, recorded in 1963, has become a German New Year's Eve tradition

  8. 'Kimchi war'

    In the 1990s, a diplomatic dispute broke out between Japan and South Korea over kimchi

  9. Chef to five presidents

    Cristeta Comerford was the first woman and person of colour to the White House's top chef

  10. When instant noodles came to India

    A turning point in Indian culinary history

  11. 'I created MasterChef'

    In 1990, the cookery programme MasterChef launched on BBC TV

  12. Australian republic referendum

    On 6 November 1999, voters in Australia were asked if they wanted to become a republic

  13. Poland's bleak Christmas

    In 1981, the communist government of Poland declared martial law to suppress civil unrest

  14. Ceefax: the start of interactive television

    In 1974, the BBC launched the world's first teletext service

  15. Surviving Andes plane crash

    In 1972, 16 people survived for two months in the Andes mountains after a plane crash

  16. Peshawar school massacre

    In 2014, one of Pakistan’s worst terror attacks took place at Peshawar Army School

  17. The birth of reggaeton

    In the 1980s, Leonardo Renato Aulder pioneered a movement in Panama with his friends

  18. The handover of the Panama Canal

    In 1999 the Panama Canal was handed over from US to Panamanian rule.

  19. The Purple Heart Warriors

    In WW2, a Japanese American troop was one of the most decorated army units in US history

  20. 'I organised the Cuban thaw'

    On 17 December 2014, Barack Obama and Raúl Castro normalised Cuba and US relations

  21. Castro's Cuban revolution attempt

    In 1953, Fidel Castro attempted to revolutionise Cuba by attacking military barracks

  22. India’s 1998 nuclear tests

    Nalini Malani made an artwork protesting against India's nuclear tests

  23. Julia Gillard speaks out on sexism

    In 2012, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard made a landmark speech on misogyny

  24. The ‘Three Marias’

    In 1974, a judge decided if three Portuguese women should be jailed for writing a book

  25. The discovery that led to Covid vaccines

    In 2005, Dr Katalin Karikó published research that eventually won her the Nobel Prize

  26. Gloria Steinem: The start of Ms. Magazine

    In 1972, Gloria Steinem co-founded Ms. Magazine in the United States

  27. The end of the US HIV travel ban

    In 2010, a travel and immigration ban stopping people with HIV entering the US was lifted

  28. The deepest man-made hole in the world

    In the 1970s and 1980s, scientists in Russia managed to dig a 12,000-metre deep hole

  29. Thich Quang Duc: Buddhist monk who set himself on fire

    In June 1963, Thich Quang Duc set himself alight in protest against the government

  30. The Iran-Contra Affair

    In 1986, Oliver North was accused of orchestrating the illegal sale of weapons to Iran

  2. 1
  3. …
  4. 15
  5. 16
  6. 17
  7. 18
  8. 19
  9. …
  10. 156