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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    Battle of Gallipoli

    A New Zealand soldier's account of surviving one of the worst battles of World War One

  2. Sazae-san: World's longest-running cartoon

    In 1969, a Japanese cartoon about a traditional family premiered on Fuji TV

  3. Tracey Emin’s unmade bed

    In 1999, Dame Tracey Emin’s unmade bed was nominated for the prestigious Turner art prize

  4. Isabel Allende: The House of the Spirits

    In 1982, Isabel Allende published her bestselling novel, The House of the Spirits

  5. The Hillsborough disaster

    On 15 April 1989, there was a crowd crush at a football match in Sheffield, England

  6. South Africa's luxury train

    In 1986, South African businessman Rohan Vos decided to launch a vintage railway business

  7. The American Freedom Train

    In 1975, the train began a 21-month tour of the US celebrating 200 years of independence

  8. The longest musical composition

    In 1999, Longplayer started playing and it will continue, without repeating, until 2999

  9. Radio Free Europe

    Seventy-five years ago, RFE started broadcasting to audiences behind the Iron Curtain

  10. SMS: The invention of text messaging

    The invention of the Short Message Service changed how we communicate around the world

  11. Creating the board game Catan

    In 1995, the game debuted and has since sold more than 40 million copies worldwide

  12. Tamagotchi is born

    In 1996, the Tamagotchi was first released in Japan

  13. How the hoverboard was created

    In 2011, inventor Shane Chen created the motorised skateboard

  14. Inventing Play-Doh

    In 1956, one of the world’s most beloved children’s toys went on sale for the first time

  15. The invention of Jenga

    How a 1970s family game became an international hit

  16. The first television opera

    In 1951, the first opera ever composed specifically for TV was broadcast

  17. When Laurel and Hardy spent Christmas at an English pub

    In 1953, the comedy duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy spent a few weeks at the Bull Inn

  18. When Norway introduced salmon sushi to Japan

    In the late 1980s, Norway was looking for a new market to sell its salmon

  19. India's disability law

    In 1995, the first disability rights legislation was passed by India's parliament

  20. How NFL tickets caught fugitives

    When Washington DC's most wanted were captured under the guise of winning NFL tickets

  21. The Paris climate agreement

    In 2015, nearly 200 countries adopted the Paris climate agreement

  22. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa

    When Apartheid was abolished, South Africans had to find a way to confront their past

  23. The discovery of the coelacanth

    In 1938, a fish was found that was believed to have been extinct for 65 million years

  24. Dismaland: Banksy's dystopian theme park

    In 2015, the street artist transformed a derelict pool into a dystopian ‘bemusement park’

  25. The Balcombe Street IRA siege

    In December 1975, four IRA gunmen took a couple hostage leading to a six-day siege

  26. How Lagos Fashion Week began

    In 2011, the event debuted, putting Nigerian style on the map

  27. Wole Soyinka: Imprisoned during Nigeria’s Biafra war

    In 1967, Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka was jailed following his efforts to avert civil war

  28. Escaping Nigeria's Biafra war

    In 1967, the south-east region of Nigeria declared itself the independent state of Biafra

  29. Building the New Afrika Shrine in Nigeria

    The opening of the 'spiritual home of Afrobeat' in 2000

  30. West Africa fights back against Boko Haram

    In 2015, a coalition of West African countries fought back against a caliphate in Nigeria

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