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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    Tenzing Norgay conquers Everest

    In 1953, Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mount Everest

  2. Edmund Hillary conquers Everest

    In 1953 Edmund Hillary became the first human to reach the top of Mount Everest

  3. The deadliest glacial avalanche in the world

    On 31 May 1970, the Huascarán avalanche destroyed the town of Yungay, in Peru

  4. Trying to unite Africa

    On 25 May 1963, leaders of 32 newly-independent African nations came together

  5. Chasing the world’s biggest tornado

    In May 2013, the widest tornado ever recorded hit the US state of Oklahoma

  6. Fikret Alić

    In 1992, a photograph of a starving man in a Bosnian concentration camp stunned the world

  7. The sergeants' coup in Suriname

    Sixteen army sergeants seized power in the South American country in 1980

  8. Pippi Longstocking

    In Stockholm in 1941, Astrid Lindgren made up a story for her daughter about a young girl

  9. Creating New Zealand's national walking trail

    Geoff Chapple's vision was to create New Zealand's national walking trail

  10. The Dambusters

    Eighty years ago a daring raid destroyed dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley

  11. German child evacuees of World War Two

    Thousands of German children during World War Two were sent to camps in the countryside

  12. Singapore executes Filipina maid

    The execution of Flor Contemplacion caused a crisis between the Philippines and Singapore

  13. World War II victory in North Africa

    It is 80 years since the Allies in World War II declared victory in North Africa

  14. Warsaw Ghetto uprising

    In May 1943, the uprising in the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw in Poland came to an end

  15. The last commercial flight out of Kai Tak

    In 1998, the last commercial flight left Hong Kong's Kai Tak airport

  16. The sinking of the SS Tilawa: the ‘Indian Titanic’

    Hundreds died when an passenger ship was hit by Japanese torpedoes in 1942

  17. United States bomb the Chinese embassy in Belgrade

    On 7 May 1999, US bombs damaged the embassy and relations between China and the West

  18. The removal of Scotland's Stone of Destiny

    In 1950, four young Scottish students took the 'Stone of Destiny' from Westminster Abbey

  19. Last King of Bulgaria

    In June 2001, Bulgaria’s former King Simeon II won the country’s parliamentary election

  20. The 'execution' of Oliver Cromwell

    In 1661 in England, the body of Oliver Cromwell was dug up for ritual execution

  21. Jean-Bédel Bokassa's coronation

    Jean-Bédel Bokassa crowned himself Emperor of the Central African Republic in 1977

  22. The king under the car park

    In 2012, the lost grave of King Richard III was found under a car park in Leicester

  23. The fight to televise the Queen's Coronation

    How BBC bosses battled with the government for the right to film inside Westminster Abbey

  24. The Met Gala goes global

    In 1995, Anna Wintour became chair of the Met Gala and changed it forever

  25. Guatemala's outspoken bishop

    Human rights campaigner Bishop Juan Gerardi was bludgeoned to death on 26 April 1998

  26. Discovering the secrets of DNA

    James Watson and Francis Crick published their discoveries about DNA on 25 April 1953

  27. Althea McNish: 'I designed fabrics for the Queen'

    In 1966, Althea McNish designed fabrics for the Queen's visit to Trinidad

  28. The Russian man who pretended to be a dog

    In 1994, Oleg Kulik posed as a dog to protest conditions in post-Soviet Russia

  29. Smoky the World War II dog hero

    In 1944, Bill Wynne adopted a Yorkie believed to be one of the first therapy dogs

  30. The world's first labradoodle

    In 1989, Wally Conron created the world's first labradoodle

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