Witness History

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...

In 2006, Ivana Baquero starred in Guillermo del Toro’s Spanish-language film Pan’s Labyrinth. The film tells the story of an 11-year-old girl who meets mythical creatures on a quest to achieve immortality and return to the underworld as a princess. However, it isn’t your typical fairy tale. Set in 1944, against the backdrop of Franco’s fascist Spain, the film is hard-hitting and at times violent....

Akira Kurosawa's film, Seven Samurai, is an epic three-and-a-half hour long black and white film set in 16th century Japan. It was released in 1954 and was the most expensive Japanese film ever made at the time. It is widely considered as one of the most influential films in world cinema. The production had its ups and downs, going over schedule and budget. Akira Kurosawa's son Hisao was a nine-ye...

In 1934, one of the most controversial propaganda movies ever made - Triumph of the Will – was filmed at the Nazis’ Nuremberg rally. The two-hour picture was directed by Leni Riefenstahl, once described as Adolf Hitler’s favourite filmmaker. Over four days, scenes of military marches, speeches, and parades were shot from dramatic angles. Long-focus lenses recorded close-ups of the crowds, and came...

In 1967, American plumber Al Thieme promised his wife with multiple sclerosis that he would find her an alternative to a wheelchair. He came up with a battery-powered seat on wheels. He called it an ‘amigo’ and soon other people wanted one too. In 1968, he started selling his vehicles around the world. He speaks to Rachel Naylor. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is...

In May 1974 India successfully detonated its first atomic device. It had been developed in secret with the codename Smiling Buddha. India called it a peaceful nuclear explosion, though the experimental device was in effect a plutonium bomb. The test was seen as a triumph of Indian science and technology, but it led to the suspension of international nuclear cooperation with India, and spurred Paki...

On 11 September 1985 in Mangualde, central Portugal, an express train collided head-on with a regional train killing an estimated 150 people. The impact destroyed both engines and the leaking diesel caught fire. Many of the bodies were unidentifiable after passengers who survived the collision were trapped in the wreckage and unable to escape the blaze and toxic fumes. An inquiry found both trains...

In 1960, as he headed home from military service, the King of Rock ’n’ Roll made an unexpected stop at Prestwick Airport. It's believed to be the only time Elvis Presley is known to have set foot on British soil. It was only a brief visit, but for 16-year-old Anne Murphy, watching him walk down the airplane steps is a memory that has never faded. More than six decades later, she tells Megan Jones...

Outraged by the Christmas bombings of Hanoi in 1972 by the USA during the Vietnam War, the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme made a critical speech. He compared the US’s actions to several massacres from history, including the killing of hundreds of thousands of Jews at the Treblinka Concentration Camp by the Nazis. President Richard Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger reacted by r...

A group of young men in the besieged town of Darayya came together to build a secret library during the Syrian civil war, which started in 2011 and ended in 2024. Braving snipers and bombardment, they rescued thousands of books from bombed-out buildings to rehouse. The library was a symbol of hope for a community fractured by war. Surya Elango speaks to Malik Alrifaii, a young volunteer who helped...

In 2008, the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor, faced a courtroom in the Hague accused of war crimes. His trial would last more than three years at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, and involve witness appearances by the supermodel Naomi Campbell and the Hollywood actress Mia Farrow. The 11 charges included rape, murder, violence and the use of child soldiers during the Sierr...

On 8 December 1941, Japanese troops landed in northern Malaya marking the start of the second world war in the Pacific. Invasion forces moved quickly down the British colony – which is now called Malaysia - capturing Singapore in just 55 days. Their occupation ended on 15 August 1945, when Japan surrendered to the allies after the US had dropped two atomic bombs. Dorothy Variyan, who lived under J...

In 1898, the British founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, invited the Muslim leader Aga Khan III around to her London home for tea. They were two of the most famous figures of the 20th century and their discussion was wide-ranging, touching on faith, healthcare and even Queen Victoria. The Aga Khan, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, spoke to the BBC about the meeting in 1950. This programme wa...

In February 1981, armed Civil Guards tried to take control of the Spanish parliament. A total of 350 politicians were held hostage for 18 hours in the debating chamber including Joaquin Almunia, a young Socialist MP.In 2021, he spoke to Claire Bowes. 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 tha...

During the 1940s, a playboy spy became one of wartime’s most successful double agents, as well as the reported inspiration behind James Bond. A gambler and womanizer who spoke several languages, Dusko Popov was approached by a friend working for the Abwehr, Germany’s military intelligence. But Dusko was vehemently anti-Nazi. He went straight to the British and volunteered his services, adopting th...

In 1944, two Austrian mountaineers fled into the forbidden land of Tibet to escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in India. Heinrich Harrer and his friend Peter Aufschnaiter spent seven years there. Harrer became a tutor to the young Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader. He later wrote a famous account of his visit called Seven Years in Tibet. Simon Watts presented and produced this episode in 2016,...

Adriana Lestido, an Argentinian newspaper photographer, captured a mother and her young daughter raising their arms in protest in 1982. With clenched fists and anguished faces, they were wearing white handkerchiefs tied around their heads representing the struggle for justice for the disappeared during Argentina's military dictatorship. The photo became a symbol of the resistance and is still used...

In 1980, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) emerged as a public health crisis among women who used tampons. There were hundreds of cases, and The Centers for Disease Control linked deaths from TSS to super-absorbent tampons. The Food and Drug Administration responded by assembling a ‘Tampon Task Force’ in 1982 to develop safety standards. A researcher called Nancy King Reame was recruited to run the indep...

During World War Two, whilst Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany, a group of Norwegian sailors set up a base on the Shetland Islands and began aiding their country’s resistance. Named “The Shetland Bus” they made perilous journeys across the North Sea in fishing boats - smuggling agents, equipment and ammunition into Norway. Their most famous skipper was Leif Larsen. He made more than 50 journeys...

In November, 1966, Florence suffered one of the worst floods in its history after heavy rainfall caused the River Arno to burst. The Italian city was submerged under tons of mud, rubble and sewage, leaving thousands homeless and destroying around 14,000 art treasures, and millions of books and manuscripts. Among those who came to the rescue were the so-called ‘mud angels’ – young people from aroun...

In July 1965, a 12km tunnel dug deep beneath the Alps was opened to traffic, making it the longest vehicular tunnel in the world. Linking France and Italy, the Mont Blanc Tunnel was a remarkable feat of engineering. Franco Cuaz, a consultant on the project and the tunnel's first operations manager, spoke to Mike Lanchin in 2017 about the risks and challenges of the ambitious project. Eye-witness a...

Gina Lollobrigida was one of the biggest stars of European cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. Often described as "the most beautiful woman in the world", her films included Beat the Devil, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Crossed Swords. She was fawned over by Howard Hughes, one of the world's richest men, and co-starred alongside the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra, Rock Hudson and Errol Flynn...

In July 1989, Pink Floyd played a free concert to 200,000 people in Venice, Italy. The British rock band took to a stage made of floating barges as crowds of fans watched from boats, gondolas and rooftops. The show was also broadcast worldwide to an estimated 100 million viewers in over 20 countries. But, behind the scenes, the gig was marred by controversy. Concerns about crowd numbers and the po...