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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    Europe's last smallpox epidemic

    The virologist who helped tackle the last smallpox outbreak in Europe

  2. The Woman in Gold by Gustav Klimt

    The story behind one of Klimt's most famous paintings

  3. Russia’s Democracy pioneer

    Galina Starovoitova, the murdered politician who championed democracy in '90s Russia

  4. Sudan's October Revolution

    How Sudanese civilian protesters first brought down a military regime in 1964

  5. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

    How a particular form of psychotherapy became popular for treating anxiety and depression

  6. The capture of war criminal Radovan Karadzic

    How Serbia finally caught one of Europe's most wanted men in Belgrade in 2008.

  7. Shoot: A milestone in performance art

    In November 1971, Chris Burden asked a friend to shoot him in the name of art

  8. Kuwaiti oil fires of 1991

    As the first Gulf War ended, retreating Iraqi forces set light to oil wells in the desert

  9. The South African football star murdered for being a lesbian

    How the killing of a female footballer got South Africa talking about ‘corrective rape’.

  10. Spying in Berlin

    At the height of the Cold War Berlin was known as the spy capital of the world.

  11. Chanel No. 5

    One of the world's most famous perfumes was launched in 1921

  12. Britain's Black Schools

    The alternative schools for black British children set up to counter racist attitudes.

  13. When Eritrea silenced its critics

    How a journalist tried to escape Eritrea's historic crackdown on critics and the press

  14. The end of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising

    On November 4th 1956 Soviet tanks rolled into Budapest crushing the anti-Soviet uprising

  15. The enduring legend of Fu Manchu

    The evil criminal mastermind Fu Manchu was a recurring film character for decades

  16. Judgement at Nuremberg

    It is 75 years since verdicts were delivered on leading German Nazis at Nuremberg

  17. The miracle of walking

    The doctor who revolutionised the treatment of 'club foot' - rejecting invasive surgery

  18. Kilimanjaro: Africa’s disappearing glaciers

    In the past 100 years, 90% of the glacial ice at the top of Kilimanjaro has disappeared

  19. The child climate activist of the 1990s

    Severn Cullis-Suzuki was 12 when she spoke to world leaders at the UN Earth Summit in Rio

  20. How the world woke up to climate change

    A scientist delivered a direct message to US politicians about climate change in 1988

  21. The world's first environment conference

    Countries first tried to tackle the damage humans are doing to the planet in 1972

  22. Proving climate change: the 'Keeling Curve'

    The US scientist who began recording carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere in 1958

  23. Britain’s lesbian families ‘scandal’

    A media storm about lesbian mothers caused a heated national debate in 1970s Britain.

  24. The Greenham Common women's peace camp

    Throughout the 80s women protested against nuclear weapons which were held at the UK base

  25. Polish refugees in Africa

    How Polish women and children found refuge in African countries during WW2

  26. The mysterious death of Samora Machel

    Many suspected foul play when Mozambique's socialist leader was killed in a plane crash

  27. The first transgender minister in the Church of England

    Sarah Jones is the first person who had made a gender change to be ordained by the C of E

  28. The doctor killed by an anti-abortion extremist

    American anti-abortion extremists began killing doctors in the 1990s.

  29. The Pakistani law that jailed rape survivors

    In the 1980s, a horrific rape case galvanised the women's rights movement in Pakistan.

  30. The story of 'Baby Jessica'

    When a toddler fell down a well in Texas she became the centre of a media storm

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