Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Witness History

History told by the people who were there. For nine minutes every weekday, Witness History takes you back to moments which have shaped our world.

World Service,3951 episodes

Episodes

ListGrid

Battle of Gallipoli
A New Zealand soldier's account of surviving one of the worst battles of World War One
09 Jan 2026,10 mins
Sazae-san: World's longest-running cartoon
In 1969, a Japanese cartoon about a traditional family premiered on Fuji TV
08 Jan 2026,10 mins
Tracey Emin’s unmade bed
In 1999, Dame Tracey Emin’s unmade bed was nominated for the prestigious Turner art prize
07 Jan 2026,10 mins
Isabel Allende: The House of the Spirits
In 1982, Isabel Allende published her bestselling novel, The House of the Spirits
06 Jan 2026,9 mins
The Hillsborough Disaster
On 15 April 1989, there was a crowd crush at a football match in Sheffield, England
05 Jan 2026,10 mins
South Africa's luxury train
In 1986, South African businessman Rohan Vos decided to launch a vintage railway business
02 Jan 2026,10 mins
The American Freedom Train
In 1975, the train began a 21 month tour of the US celebrating 200 years of independence
01 Jan 2026,9 mins
The longest musical composition
In 1999, Longplayer started playing and it will continue, without repeating, until 2999
31 Dec 2025,10 mins
Radio Free Europe
Seventy-five years ago, RFE started broadcasting to audiences behind the Iron Curtain
30 Dec 2025,9 mins
SMS: The invention of text messaging
The invention of the Short Message Service changed how we communicate around the world
29 Dec 2025,10 mins
Creating the board game Catan
In 1995, the game debuted and has since sold more than 40 million copies worldwide
26 Dec 2025,10 mins
Tamagotchi is born
In 1996, the Tamagotchi was first released in Japan
25 Dec 2025,9 mins
How the hoverboard was created
In 2011, inventor Shane Chen created the motorised skateboard
24 Dec 2025,10 mins
Inventing Play-Doh
In 1956, one of the world’s most beloved children’s toys went on sale for the first time
23 Dec 2025,10 mins
The invention of Jenga
How a 1970s family game became an international hit
22 Dec 2025,10 mins
The first television opera
In 1951, the first opera ever composed specifically for TV was broadcast
19 Dec 2025,10 mins
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 Dec 2025,10 mins
When Norway introduced salmon sushi to Japan
In the late 1980s, Norway was looking for a new market to sell its salmon
17 Dec 2025,10 mins
India's disability law
In 1995, the first disability rights legislation was passed by India's parliament
16 Dec 2025,10 mins
How NFL tickets caught fugitives
When Washington DC's most wanted were captured under the guise of winning NFL tickets
15 Dec 2025,10 mins
Dismaland: Banksy's dystopian theme park
In 2015, the street artist transformed a derelict pool into a dystopian ‘bemusement park’.
14 Dec 2025,10 mins
Introducing The Bomb: Kennedy and Khrushchev
Nuclear war is terrifyingly close. Can the superpowers stop a global catastrophe?
13 Dec 2025,4 mins
The Paris climate agreement
In 2015, nearly 200 countries adopted the Paris climate agreement
12 Dec 2025,10 mins
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa
When Apartheid was abolished, South Africans had to find a way to confront their past
11 Dec 2025,11 mins
The discovery of the coelacanth
In 1938, a fish was found that was believed to have been extinct for 65 million years
10 Dec 2025,10 mins
The Balcombe Street IRA siege
In December 1975, four IRA gunmen took a couple hostage leading to a six-day siege
08 Dec 2025,9 mins
How Lagos Fashion Week began
In 2011, the event debuted, putting Nigerian style on the map
05 Dec 2025,10 mins
Wole Soyinka: Imprisoned during Nigeria’s Biafra war
In 1967, Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka was jailed following his efforts to avert civil war
04 Dec 2025,10 mins
Escaping Nigeria's Biafra war
In 1967, the south-east region of Nigeria declared itself the independent state of Biafra
03 Dec 2025,10 mins
Building the New Afrika Shrine in Nigeria
The opening of the 'spiritual home of Afrobeat' in 2000
02 Dec 2025,11 mins