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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    Vietnamese Boat People Arrive in Britain

    Some of the first Vietnamese refugees arrive in Britain after a dramatic rescue at sea.

  2. The Millennium Bug

    How the world waited for a potential global computer meltdown on New Year's Eve 1999

  3. The Poster Boy for the Communist System

    In 1935, Alexei Stakhanov, a coal miner, became a Soviet celebrity.

  4. Rasputin

    In 1916, the infamous holy man Grigori Rasputin, was murdered by Russian aristocrats

  5. The Donner Party

    In 1846, a group of US pioneers were trapped in the mountains over the winter.

  6. The Beagle 2 Mission to Mars

    On Christmas Day 2003, a British space craft was due to land on Mars to look for life

  7. It's a Wonderful Life

    A former Hollywood child star remembers filming the classic Christmas movie in 1946.

  8. Michael Jackson's Thriller

    In 1982 the world's best selling album was released

  9. Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita

    One of the 20th Century's most scandalous books was published in 1955

  10. The Death of General Patton

    America's legendary military commander, General George Patton, died in December 1945

  11. India Disability Rights

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

  12. Star Wars: C3PO's Story

    The actor behind the galaxy's most famous protocol droid remembers the first Star Wars

  13. The Rubik's Cube

    In 1974, Ernő Rubik invented the world's best selling puzzle: the Rubik's Cube

  14. A Pakistani View of the Bangladesh War of Independence

    The story of a Pakistani soldier caught up in the Bangladesh liberation war.

  15. The 1960 Coup Against Haile Selassie

    How Ethiopia's Emperor was almost overthrown in a bloody coup

  16. The Velvet Underground

    The seminal alternative rock band play their first gig at a high school in New Jersey.

  17. The KKK and the Killing of Viola Liuzzo

    In 1965, three KKK members were convicted of conspiring to kill a civil rights activist

  18. The Battle of Tora Bora

    After the Taliban lost control of Afghanistan in 2001 the hunt for Osama bin Laden began.

  19. WW1: The Siege of Kut, Iraq

    Thousands of British and Indian troops spent five months trapped in Kut, Iraq in WW1

  20. Gay and lesbian support for the British miners' strike

    In 1984 a group of lesbians and gay men organised to support striking coal-miners.

  21. Cuban Fighters in Angola

    Thousands of Cuban troops fought with Angola's Marxist government forces in the civil war

  22. The First Heart Transplant

    On 3 December 1967, two brothers carried out the first heart transplant operation

  23. Surviving Pearl Harbor

    How one US Navy mechanic made it through the surprise Japanese attack on his Pacific base

  24. The Bari Raid 1943

    How a devastating air raid on Bari during WW2 led to the deadly release of mustard gas

  25. Nigeria's "War Against Indiscipline"

    In 1984 General Buhari's military regime launched an unusual campaign to clean up Nigeria

  26. Surviving Ravensbruck

    The story of a survivor of Ravensbruck, the Nazis' concentration camp for women

  27. Britain's Palestine Patrols

    How the Royal Navy stopped Jewish refugee ships trying to reach Palestine in the 1940s.

  28. Cuba's 'Special Period'

    In the 1990s the Cuban economy came close to collapse after Soviet aid dried up

  29. Racial Equality on the Dance Floor

    A nightclub in the British city of Birmingham was forced to lift its racial restrictions

  30. The DB Cooper Mystery

    In November 1971 a hijacker parachuted from a US plane with a $200,000 ransom

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