Witness History podcast

Witness History

History as told by the people who were there.

History as told by the people who were there.

 

#300

The founding of Nato

Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - was formed in 1949 by 12 countries, including the US, UK, Canada and France. Its aim was to block expansion by the then Soviet Union - a group of states which included Russia. The UK’s foreign secretary at the time, Ernest Bevin, played a key role in persuading the US to join the alliance. This programme, produced and presented by Vicky Farncombe, tells the story of Nato's founding using archive interviews. (Credit: Ernest Bevin signs the North Atlantic treaty. Credit: Getty Images) ... Read more

22 hrs Ago

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22 hrs Ago


#299

Britain's first beach for nudists

In 1980, the seaside town of Brighton opened a very unusual attraction. It was the first British beach dedicated to nudists. The opening followed a passionate battle between two local politicians and caused controversy among some locals. In 2011, Madeleine Morris spoke to nudist enthusiasts and those who preferred to keep their clothes firmly on. (Photo: Deckchairs on Brighton beach. Credit: Then and Now Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images) ... Read more

Yesterday

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Yesterday


#298

The Heimlich Manoeuvre

Since its adoption as a first aid method, the Heimlich Manoeuvre has saved untold numbers of lives around the world. Developed by American physician Dr Henry Heimlich as a way to save choking victims from dying, his manoeuvre would become famous just weeks after it was written about in a medical journal. But as well as his namesake manoeuvre, Heimlich was responsible for several other medical innovations throughout his life. Ashley Byrne hears from Janet Heimlich, one of Dr Heimlich's children. A Made In Manchester/Workerbee co-production for the BBC World Service. (Photo: Dr Henry Heimlich demonstrates the Heimlich manoeuvre on host Johnny Carson in 1979. Credit: Gene Arias/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images) ... Read more

26 Mar 2024

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26 Mar 2024


#297

Britain's Mirpuri migration

In 1967 a dam was built in Mirpur, Pakistan, that would spur a huge global migration. Water diverted by the dam forced around 100,000 people to leave their homes. Thousands migrated to the UK and today between 60% and 70% of Britain’s Pakistani community descend from Mirpur, approximately one million people. Riyaz Begum was one of those who left Mirpur for London. She speaks to Ben Henderson. (Photo: Riyaz Begum at the Mangla Dam. Credit: Sabba Khan) ... Read more

25 Mar 2024

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25 Mar 2024


#296

Wham! in China

In 1985, the British band Wham! became the first Western pop act to play in China. Around 12,000 fans packed into the Worker’s Gymnasium in Beijing to hear such hits as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Freedom. Wham!’s manager Simon Napier-Bell tells Vicky Farncombe how the strangeness of the event affected singer George Michael’s nerves. (Photo: Wham! perform in China. Credit: Getty Images) ... Read more

22 Mar 2024

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22 Mar 2024


#295

Discovering the Terracotta Army

It's 50 years since a chance find by Chinese farmers led to an astonishing archaeological discovery. Thousands of clay soldiers were uncovered in the province of Shaanxi after being buried for more than 2,000 years. They were guarding the tomb of the ancient ruler Qin Shi Huang, who ruled the Qin Dynasty. In 2013, archaeologists Yuan Zhongyi and Xiuzhen Li told Rebecca Kesby about the magnitude of the dig, and how unearthing the incredible statues shaped their careers. (Photo: Terracotta soldiers stand to attention. Credit Marica van der Meer/Arterra/Universal Images Group/Getty Images) ... Read more

21 Mar 2024

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21 Mar 2024


#294

The 'comfort women' of World War Two

Between 1932 and 1945, hundreds of thousands of women and girls across Asia were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army. Referred to as "comfort women", they were taken from countries including Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia to be raped by Japanese soldiers. Today, the issue remains a source of tension between Japan and its neighbours, with continuing campaigns to compensate the few surviving victims. Dan Hardoon speaks to Chinese survivor Peng Zhuying who, along with her elder sister, was captured and taken to a "comfort station" in central China. This programme contains disturbing content. (Photo: People visit a museum dedicated to the victims, on the site of a former comfort station in China. Credit: Yang Bo/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images) ... Read more

20 Mar 2024

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20 Mar 2024


#293

Surviving re-education in China’s Cultural Revolution

In 1968, Jingyu Li and her parents were among hundreds of thousands of Chinese people sent to labour camps during Mao Zedong’s so-called cultural revolution. The aim was to re-educate those not thought to be committed to Chairman’s Mao drive to preserve and purify communism in China. Jingyu’s parents – both college professors - were put to work among the rice and cattle fields, and made to study the works of Chairman Mao. Fearful for their daughter’s safety, they disguised six-year-old Jingyu as a boy. Over the next six years, the family were sent to four different camps. Not everyone could cope, as Jingyu tells Jane Wilkinson. (Photo: Reading Mao's little red book in 1968. Credit: Pictures from History/Getty Images) ... Read more

19 Mar 2024

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19 Mar 2024


#292

Pinyin: The man who helped China to read and write

In 1958, a brand new writing system was introduced in China called Pinyin. It used the Roman alphabet to help simplify Chinese characters into words. The mastermind behind Pinyin was a professor called Zhou Youguang who'd previously worked in the United States as a banker. Pinyin helped to rapidly increase literacy levels in China. When it was introduced, 80% of the population couldn't read or write. It's now only a couple of percent. Despite being responsible for such an important tool in China's development, Zhou was subjected to re-education as part of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s. He was forced to work on a farm in rural China. In 2017 Zhou Youguang died aged 111. Matt Pintus has been going through archive interviews to piece together Zhou's life. This programme contains archive material from NPR and the BBC. (Photo: Zhou Youguang. Credit: Bloomberg/Getty Images) ... Read more

18 Mar 2024

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18 Mar 2024


#291

The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius

The Mount Vesuvius eruption that buried Pompeii in 79AD is well known, but far fewer people know about the last time the volcano erupted in 1944. It was World War Two, and families in southern Italy had already lived through a German invasion, air bombardment, and surrender to the Allies. And then at 16:30 on 18 March, Vesuvius erupted. The sky filled with violent explosions of rock and ash, and burning lava flowed down the slopes, devastating villages. By the time it was over, 11 days later, 26 people had died and about 12,000 people were forced to leave their homes. Angelina Formisano, who was nine, was among those evacuated from the village of San Sebastiano. She’s been speaking to Jane Wilkinson about being in the path of an erupting volcano. (Photo: Vesuvius erupting in March 1944. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images) ... Read more

15 Mar 2024

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15 Mar 2024


#290

Winifred Atwell: The honky-tonk star who was Sir Elton John’s hero

Winifred Atwell was a classically-trained pianist from Trinidad who became one of the best-selling artists of the 1950s in the UK. She played pub tunes on her battered, out-of-tune piano which travelled everywhere with her. Her fans included Sir Elton John and Queen Elizabeth II. She was the first instrumentalist to go to number one in the UK. This programme, produced and presented by Vicky Farncombe, tells her story using archive interviews. (Photo: Winifred Atwell. Credit: BBC) ... Read more

14 Mar 2024

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14 Mar 2024


#289

Paraguay adopts its second language

In 1992, Guarani was designated an official language in Paraguay’s new constitution, alongside Spanish. It is the only indigenous language of South America to have achieved such recognition and ended years of rejection and discrimination against Paraguay’s majority Guarani speakers. Mike Lanchin hears from the Paraguayan linguist and anthropologist David Olivera, and even tries to speak a bit of the language. A CTVC production for the BBC World Service. (Photo: A man reads a book in Guarani. Credit: Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images) ... Read more

13 Mar 2024

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13 Mar 2024


#288

Finding the longest set of footprints left by the first vertebrate

In 1992 off the coast of Ireland, a Swiss geology student accidentally discovered the longest set of footprints made by the first four-legged animals to walk on earth. They pointed to a new date for the key milestone in evolution when the first amphibians left the water 385 million years ago. The salamander-type animal which was the size of a basset hound lived when County Kerry was semi-arid, long before dinosaurs, as Iwan Stössel explains to Josephine McDermott. (Picture: Artwork of a primitive tetrapod. Credit: Christian Jegou/Science Photo Library) ... Read more

12 Mar 2024

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12 Mar 2024


#287

11M: The day Madrid was bombed

A regular morning turned into a day of nightmares for Spanish commuters on 11 March 2004. In the space of minutes, 10 bombs detonated on trains around Madrid, killing nearly 200 people and injuring more than 1,800. With a general election three days away, the political fall-out was dramatic. In 2014, two politicians from opposite sides told Mike Lanchin about that terrible day – and what happened next. (Photo: The wreckage of a commuter train. Credit: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images) ... Read more

11 Mar 2024

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11 Mar 2024


#286

MH370: The plane that vanished

On 8 March 2014, a plane carrying 239 passengers and crew disappeared. What happened to missing flight MH370 remains one of the world's biggest aviation mysteries. Ghyslain Wattrelos’ wife Laurence and teenage children Ambre and Hadrien were on the plane, which was on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. He was on a different flight at the time and only found out the plane was missing when he landed. A decade on, Ghyslain tells Vicky Farncombe how he’s no closer to knowing what happened to his family. “I am exactly at the same point that I was 10 years ago. We don't know anything at all.” (Photo: Ghyslain Wattrelos. Credit: Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) ... Read more

08 Mar 2024

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08 Mar 2024


#285

Rehabilitating Kony's child soldiers in Uganda

In 2002, a Catholic nun arrived in Gulu, a town in northern Uganda, to help set up a sewing school for locals. For years, the town had been the target of brutal attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army, led by the warlord Joseph Kony. The rebel group was known for kidnapping children and forcing them into becoming soldiers. As the LRA was being chased out of Uganda, those who were captured arrived at the school seeking refuge. Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe shares the shocking stories of those who escaped captivity with George Crafer. (Photo: Sister Rosemary at St Monica's. Credit: Sewing Hope Foundation) ... Read more

07 Mar 2024

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07 Mar 2024


#284

The Carnation Revolution in Portugal

25 April is Freedom Day in Portugal. Five decades ago on that date, flowers filled the streets of the capital Lisbon as a dictatorship was overthrown. Europe’s longest-surviving authoritarian regime was toppled in a day, with barely a drop of blood spilled. In 2010, Adelino Gomes told Louise Hidalgo what he witnessed of the Carnation Revolution. (Photo: A young boy hugs a soldier in the street. Credit: Jean-Claude Francolon/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images) ... Read more

06 Mar 2024

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06 Mar 2024


#283

French child evacuees of World War Two

In August and September 1939, tens of thousands of children began to be evacuated from Paris. The move, part of France's 'passive defence' tactic, aimed to protect children from the threat of German bombardment. Colette Martel was just nine when she was taken from Paris to Savigny-Poil-Fol, a small town more than 300km from her home. She’s been speaking to her granddaughter, Carolyn Lamboley, about how her life changed. She particularly remembers how she struggled to fit in with her host family, and how it all changed because of a pair of clogs. (Photo: Colette (left) with her sister Solange in 1939. Credit: family photo) ... Read more

05 Mar 2024

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05 Mar 2024


#282

Uruguay v the tobacco giant

Uruguay was one of the first countries in the world to introduce anti-smoking laws. But in 2010, the tobacco giant Philip Morris took the country to court claiming the measures devalued its investments. The case pitted the right of a country to introduce health policies against the commercial freedoms of a cigarette company. Uruguay’s former Public Health Minister María Julia Muñoz tells Grace Livingstone about the significance of the ban and its fallout. (Photo: An anti-tobacco installation in Montevideo, Uruguay. Credit: Pablo La Rosa/Reuters) ... Read more

04 Mar 2024

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04 Mar 2024


#281

The Whisky War: Denmark v Canada

In 1984, a diplomatic dispute broke out between Canada and Denmark over the ownership of a tiny island in the Arctic. The fight for Hans Island off the coast of Greenland became known as the Whisky War. Both sides would leave a bottle of alcohol for the enemies after raising their national flag. What could be the friendliest territorial dispute in history came to an end in 2022, with the agreement held up as an example of how diplomacy should work. Janice Fryett hears from Tom Hoyem and Alan Kessel, politicians on either side of the bloodless war. A Made in Manchester Production for the BBC World Service. (Photo: Tom Hoyem with a Danish flag on Hans Island. Credit: Niels Henriksen) ... Read more

01 Mar 2024

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01 Mar 2024