Witness History

In October 1987, one of Africa's most radical leaders, Captain Thomas Sankara, was gunned down in a coup in Burkina Faso. His overthrow was orchestrated by his old friend, Blaise Compaore. Thomas Sankara's brother, Paul, spoke to Alex Last in 2013. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that...

In 1993, the Irish writer Roddy Doyle won the prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction. His novel, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, was remarkable for the way it conveyed gritty drama through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy. Roddy tells Ben Henderson about his inspiration for Paddy Clarke, how he balanced writing with becoming a father and teaching, and the emotions of the night he won the award. Eye-witness acco...

My Little Pony first appeared in shops in the United States in 1983 and in that decade alone more than 100 million would be sold. But American toymaker Bonnie Zacherle tells Josephine McDermott how her idea to make a pony you could play with like a doll was turned down several times. She reveals the toys she liked to play with as a child living in Japan, how she updated Mr Potato Head and how her...

In 1984, loggerhead sea turtle Jorge became trapped in fishing nets and was moved to an aquarium in Mendoza. He was kept in captivity for more than 40 years until legal action and a campaign led to the closure of the aquarium and his release in 2025. But, where is he now? Megan Jones asks marine biologist Alejandro Saubidet, who was in charge of his rehabilitation. Eye-witness accounts brought to...

On 9 April 1990, people gathered at Khula Manch, an open stage in Kathmandu. They were celebrating the end of Nepal’s party-less Panchayat system and the beginning of multi-party democracy. Among the crowd was Durga Thapa, who had spent weeks organising and coordinating the protests. A photo of her in a sea of men, leaping up and giving the peace sign, her hands covered in red paint, came to mark...

On 8 May 1945, Yelena Rzhevskaya was handed a small box covered in red satin. The box had once held perfume but now inside – so she said – were Adolf Hitler’s teeth. Yelena later claimed this marked the beginning of the search for Hitler’s dental records and, with it, official confirmation that the Soviet Red Army had found the burnt corpse of the German leader. According to her memoir, the hunt t...

In October 1942, the great French conceptualist artist Marcel Duchamp helped put on the first major surrealist exhibition in New York. Carroll Janis's parents were friends of Duchamp. Louise Hidalgo spoke to him in October 2016 about the exhibition, the man and his art, including his famous urinal, Fountain. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated b...

On 15 December 2001, the Leaning Tower of Pisa reopened to the public after an unprecedented 11-year closure. Famous worldwide for its dramatic lean, the tower also became, during the 1990s, the most closely monitored building on Earth. Engineers and scientists watched anxiously as the tilt worsened year by year, raising the very real possibility that the tower could topple. The lengthy restoratio...

In the summer of 2003, pharmacist Hon Lik was one of millions of smokers in China. He was coughing a lot and having problems with his breathing and wondered if he could make an alternative cigarette. After various experiments, he created a vape prototype. It went on sale in May 2004 and was instantly a hit - selling 100,000 in China. Hon tells Megan Jones how he brought it to market. Eye-witness a...

In 1981 one of the world’s most iconic works of art – Guernica - was finally handed to Spain after a 44-year exile. Pablo Picasso had created the huge mural in 1937 followed the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish civil war. And, after being shown in Paris, the painting went on tour in Europe and America, where it was loaned to the Museum of Modern Art in New York. At the tim...

In 2004, Danish food entrepreneur Claus Meyer launched the ‘Nordic Kitchen Manifesto’, kick-starting a revolution in Nordic cooking focused on local seasonal ingredients. The new approach was most famously embodied by the Copenhagen restaurant Meyer founded, Noma, which was anointed the world’s best restaurant five times. New Nordic cuisine is credited with shifting global dining away from the imp...

In 2012, a team of researchers discovered one of the most famous polar shipwrecks - the Terra Nova. The ship was famous for carrying Britain’s doomed explorers in their race to reach the South Pole more than a century ago. It was later sunk - laying unseen on the seabed for decades. Oceanographer Leighton Rolley tells Megan Jones how he and the rest of his crew used sound waves to find the hidden...

In 1972, the world’s longest-running study of wild elephants was first launched in Kenya, making a star of one of its subjects – Echo. For decades, the Amboseli Elephant Research Project followed Echo and the rest of the park’s population to learn more about their behaviour, communication and social bonds. And in 1990, when the project began to attract wider attention, a documentary TV crew asked...

In April 1999, Anthony Bourdain's essay Don't Eat Before Reading This was published. It was an unfiltered look into restaurant kitchen culture. It launched his career as a celebrity chef. He changed the way television told stories about food. Surya Elango speaks to Philippe Lajaunie, his friend and former boss at Les Halles restaurant, in New York. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive....

In May1984, three friends starting trekking along the Great Wall of China. It took 508 days for them to complete and they became the first people to do it. They finally reached their destination at the Jiayu Pass on 24 September 1985, having documented the condition of the wall every step of the way. The men became national heroes, as the press followed their progress. Dong Yaohui spoke to Rebecca...

In 2013, after losing most of their cattle, a Maasai community in Kajiado County formed an organisation to protect their land and culture. It's called ‘Ildalalekutuk Maasai Action for Development' and was formed by Dalmas Tiampati. He tells Megan Jones how the aim was to help the community become more resilient and find ways to protect the culture. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive....

In November 1986, Pope John Paul II visited New Zealand as part of his longest ever world tour. He gave an open-air mass at Auckland Domain in front of thousands of people. He remains the only Pope to have visited the country. Jen Dale speaks to Michael Jarka who was in the crowd and performed as part of a Polish cultural dance group for the pontiff. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive...

When the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, it marked a turning point in the Cold War in Europe and set in motion the process that led to the reunification of East and West Germany. But before that could happen, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, had to address fears about the return of a powerful Germany and convince the four allied powers of France, Russia, the US and the UK - which had occupied Germany...

It's 70 years since Tunisian gained independence from France. In August 1956, it brought in a new equality law that revolutionised women's lives. Under the socialist President Habib Bourguiba, the North African country became the first in the Muslim world to legalise civil divorce and abortion and to ban polygamy. Bourguiba also gave women the vote and widened access to education. Nidale Abou Mrad...

Between 1955 and 1959, a Greek-Cypriot paramilitary group called EOKA rebelled against British colonial rule in Cyprus. In response, the British authorities declared a state of emergency. A young Cypriot lawyer named Renos Lyssiotis joined EOKA. He was interrogated and imprisoned by the British authorities for nearly two years. He looks back on the period with Ben Henderson. Eye-witness accounts b...

On 1 February 2001, at least 30,000 people rallied in Oslo after the murder of 15-year-old Benjamin Hermansen by neo-Nazis. It is thought to be Norway's first racially motivated killing. News reports said the rally saw the largest crowd in Oslo since the liberation of Norway in 1945. Benjamin's childhood friend, Luciana Parvaneh Zehi, tells Jen Dale about the march and the events leading up to it....

In 1999, a fire at the L’Amicale gambling house in Port Louis, Mauritius, killed seven people. The fire began during riots that followed a disputed football final between the Catholic Fire Brigade and the Muslim supported Scouts Club. Police arrested dozens of suspects, and four men were later convicted of arson and murder. They became known as the L’Amicale Four. Years later, a group of senior la...

On 2 March 2006, the United States and India finalised a controversial nuclear deal, ending India's three decades of international isolation over its nuclear policy. Sweetening the deal, President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced cooperative agreements not just on nuclear power but also on the import of Indian mangoes. Surya Elango speaks to Ronen Sen, the former Indian am...

When Warner Bros assigned twin brothers and screenwriters Julius Epstein and Philip Epstein to adapt a stage play for the big screen in 1942, no one could have predicted the impact it would have. Casablanca has since become one of the most recognisable and quotable films of all time, firmly embedded in Hollywood history. But what appears effortless on screen was anything but behind the scenes. The...

Released on India’s Republic Day in January 2006, the Hindi film Rang De Basanti, exploded onto the cultural landscape. In its first week, it shattered box office records and inspired thousands of young Indians to pour into the streets, marching for justice. The movie's message became a rallying cry, sparking conversations about patriotism, political apathy, and the belief that ordinary people can...