Witness History Episodes Episode guide
-
Defusing Nuclear Bombs: The Goldsboro 'Broken Arrow'
How Lt. Jack ReVelle disarmed two thermonuclear bombs which crashed in North Carolina.
-
Look Back in Anger
The play Look Back in Anger changed British theatre when it was staged in 1956
-
May 1968 Paris Riots
A riot policeman's view of the violence which swept through France in 1968.
-
The First Montessori Nursery
In 1907 Italian doctor, Maria Montessori, radically changed the way young children learn.
-
The Dambusters Raid
The famous British raid on German dams during World War Two.
-
The Walker Spy Ring
In 1985 members of the US spy ring were arrested for selling Navy secrets to the USSR.
-
The First Foetal Surgery
On the 10th May 1981 a baby was born after a successful operation while in the womb.
-
The Last King of Bulgaria
Bulgaria's former King Simeon II wins the country’s parliamentary election in 2001.
-
Africa United
How 32 newly-independent nations came together to plan the future of their continent.
-
The First Diagnosis of Autism
The condition was first described in 1943 by child psychiatrist Leo Kanner in the USA
-
When Margaret Thatcher Came to Power
The British politician was the first woman elected to lead a Western European country.
-
WW2: Prisoner on the High Seas
A surprise attack, a ship lost, a crew captured - memories of a merchant navy veteran
-
Takeshi's Castle
A new sort of game show started on Japanese TV in May 1986
-
The Children's Crusade
Thousands of black children protested on the streets of Birmingham Alabama in May 1963.
-
A New Approach to Shakespeare
The Royal Shakespeare Company opened in Britain in 1961 and changed theatre forever.
-
Pablo Picasso
The great Spanish artist Pablo Picasso died in April 1973; hear from someone who knew him
-
Scottish Prison Experiment
A special unit in a Glasgow jail began offering art therapy to violent prisoners in 1973.
-
The Oslo Peace Talks
How secret negotiations in Norway led to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
-
Swimming The Bering Strait
How an American swimmer crossed the "Ice Curtain" between the USA and the Soviet Union.
-
World War One: The Red Baron
Veterans remember the famous German air ace who was killed in April 1918
-
Earth Day
In 1970, 20 million Americans came out to demonstrate for a sustainable environment.
-
The Last Keeper of the Light
The island of Skellig Michael has lighthouses, and a striking role in Star Wars films.
-
The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen
In April 1945 British troops discovered the horrors of the Holocaust in a camp in Germany
-
Rebuilding the Site of the Twin Towers
How a team of architects were given the responsibility to repair New York's skyline.
-
World War One: Germany's Spring Offensive 1918
Germany launched a huge offensive on the Western Front in a last gamble to win the war.
-
The Shooting of Rudi Dutschke
The German student leader was shot in April 1968, leading to protests in West Berlin.
-
The Soviet Spy Scandal
In 1971 during the Cold War, the UK expelled 90 Soviet diplomats suspected of spying.
-
The Zimbabwe Massacres
Robert Mugabe sent troops to put down opposition supporters in western Zimbabwe in 1983.
-
The First Frozen Embryo Baby
Zoe Leyland was born in Australia on April 11th 1984 after her mother's IVF treatment.
-
Woodfall Films
The film company which changed British cinema.