Witness History

More than 10,000 Russian workers built the first line of the Moscow Metro which opened in 1935 to great fanfare. The spectacular stations were designed to show the world the power and possibility of Russian strength. Stalin wanted architects to design stations to be 'palaces for the people', with statues and structures built to make people look up and admire the marble walls, high ceilings and gra...

At the London 2012 Olympics, the Somali sprinter Zamzam Farah became a crowd favourite after finishing last in her 400m heat by 27 seconds. Zamzam had grown up in war-torn Mogadishu, where she had to dodge violence while training on the so-called ‘Road of Death’. She competed with her body fully covered, but, after the Olympics, her family in Somalia received death threats because of what Al-Shaba...

After being designed in one night, Shuss, the cartoon skier, debuted at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France. Instead of ‘mascot’, the Olympic Organising Committee referred to it as a ‘character’ at the time. In the colours of the French flag, Shuss was available as a variety of souvenirs. Megan Jones speaks to one manufacturer of Shuss merchandise, André Thiennot. Eye-witness accounts brough...

The last time Paris held the Olympic Games was 100 years ago in 1924. More than 3,000 athletes from 44 nations took part, of which only 135 were women, in 17 sports. Rachel Naylor goes through the BBC archive for interviews with two British medallists - the sprinter Harold Abrahams and the tennis player Kitty Godfree. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fa...

In the 1990s, Ayia Napa, in Cyprus, went from quiet fishing village to party resort. The Kool Club was one of the first nightclubs to open in 1995. Rachel Naylor speaks to founder and DJ Nick Power, the 'godfather of Ayia Napa'. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes...

Between 1963 and 1974, more than 2,000 people in Cyprus went missing during clashes, a coup and the Turkish invasion. Only about half of them have been found. Rachel Naylor speaks to Nick Neokleous, the President of the Organisation of Relatives of Missing Cypriots, whose brother, Pavlos, went missing in 1974. Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated...

In April 2003, the people of Cyprus were allowed to cross the ceasefire line for the first time in 29 years. Hundreds of people rushed to the check points and queued for hours to visit the homes they had left after the Greek coup and Turkish invasion of July 1974. Greek Cypriots made up the great majority of those displaced, often fleeing under fire with nothing but the clothes they had on. Singer...

On the 20 July 1974, a young pilot was preparing to land passenger flight CY317 into Nicosia Airport in Cyprus, amidst the threat of an imminent Turkish invasion. From the air, he could see warships approaching the island. Little did he know that his aircraft would be the final one to land there, it would be destroyed within hours, and the airport remains frozen in time to this day.   Fifty years...

On 15 July 1974, the Greek military dictatorship in Athens sponsored a coup on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, aiming to overthrow its selected president and unite the island with Greece. Days later, Turkey invaded the island, taking a third of it and displacing many thousands of its inhabitants. The writer Bekir Azgun grew up in the village of Potamia, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots...

Like many young children growing up in Brazil in the 1960s and 1970s, Dilma Mendes had one dream: to play football for her country. There was just one problem. It was illegal for women in Brazil to play football at that time, a law that came into force in 1941 - and lasted nearly 40 years. Dilma lost count of the amount of times she was arrested and taken to the police station for playing football...

In September 1988, protests broke out in Manfredonia, Italy, after the arrival of a large ship carrying toxic waste of Italian origin. The Deep Sea Carrier had arrived from Nigeria, after a protracted diplomatic dispute between Italy and Nigeria. For four days, the town was completely shut down and by the end of the protests, an environmental movement was born. The Deep Sea Carrier and another shi...

On 2 October 1968, thousands of students protested in Mexico City, 10 days before the Olympics. The students wanted the government to free political prisoners and respect their right to protest. More than 4,000 activists came to the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the capital's Tlatelolco district that evening. It resulted in Mexican soldiers opening fire on the protesters. The death toll has never...

In January 1990, Cuban singer Celia Cruz, known as ‘the Queen of Salsa’, went back to Cuba. Banned by Fidel Castro for opposing his regime, it was the only time in her 43 years of exile that she was able to visit the island. She was invited to sing in the US naval base on Guantanamo Bay. The trip only lasted a day and a half, but it was full of touching moments and symbolisms. Omer Pardillo Cid, C...

In 2006, Dutch engineer Fred van der Weij invented a kitchen device that changed the way many of us cook today: the air fryer. Fred’s first prototype was nearly as big as a dog kennel and made of wood and aluminium, with a chicken wire basket. It was only a partial success. But Fred was certain he could make the machine work thanks to an idea he patented called rapid air technology. Four years lat...

In Canada's 1993 election, the governing Progressive Conservative Party was routed, ending up with just two seats. In the 1980s, the party won the largest majority in Canadian history. But by 1993, it was in crisis and the new Prime Minister, Kim Campbell, called an election. But she didn’t bank on the emergence of a new populist party called Reform, which stormed Canada’s traditionally two-party...

It's 35 years since the release of one of the most provocative songs in music history. Fight the Power by hip-hop group, Public Enemy, was radical both politically and sonically. The song was written at the request of filmmaker, Spike Lee, who needed an anthem for his 1989 movie, Do the Right Thing. The film became a box office smash and - despite controversy surrounding Public Enemy's image - the...

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991, the newly independent state Georgia found itself on the verge of a civil war. Rebel groups in Tbilisi came together to overthrow the newly elected President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was forced into hiding. Gunmen took to the streets and hospitals were overwhelmed. In 2010, Tom Esslemont spoke to Lamara Vashakidze, a survivor of Georgia’s...

Between 1937 and 1938, Soviet leader Josef Stalin carried out his most severe purge in Georgia. Known as the Great Terror, thousands of political rivals, intellectuals and ordinary citizens were executed without trial and buried in mass graves. Dan Hardoon speaks to Levan Pesvianidze in Tbilisi, Georgia, whose grandfather Viktor and uncle Giorgi were both executed. Eye-witness accounts brought to...

In 1984, urban photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant came together to publish an era-defining book about the early graffiti movement. They had been documenting the work of graffiti arts on the subways system of New York for many years. The colourful book was called Subway Art and it quickly became known as the graffiti bible. Forty years on from its release, Martha and Henry explore its e...

In 1974 an unknown Japanese artist put pen to paper and created a character that would go on to be worth more than $80 billion. The illustration was titled ‘Unknown White Cat’ but you will probably know it better as Hello Kitty. The artist, Yuko Shimizu, designed Hello Kitty while she was working for the firm Sanrio. Fast forward 50 years and Yuko’s friendly feline has been on a fair few adventure...

In June 1954, the first CIA-backed coup took place in Guatemala, when President Jacobo Arbenz was overthrown in a operation organised by the US government. The Administration of Dwight D Eisenhower feared his policies - which included a land reform - could threaten the interests of one of the most powerful firms in the US at the time – the United Fruit Company. Arbenz was labelled a communist, and...

In 1998, the assisted dying society, Dignitas was set up in Switzerland by lawyer Ludwig Minelli. It was the first end-of-life organisation in the world to help foreigners - non-Swiss citizens - to die. Since then around 4,000 people from 65 different countries have ended their lives with help from the group, which operates under the full name 'Dignitas - To live with dignity. To die with dignity....

When visionary architect Antoni Gaudi died unexpectedly in 1926, his followers were left with incredible plaster of Paris models showing how to complete his famous church, La Sagrada Familia. The only problem was they were smashed “to smithereens” during the Spanish Civil War. New Zealand architect Mark Burry was part of a small team trying to piece together Gaudi’s vision for the Barcelona basili...

At the end of World War Two, the Czechoslovak government expelled up to three million German speakers, known as the Sudeten Germans. They were accused of being loyal to Nazi Germany and collaborating in war crimes. By 1946 the expulsions were in full swing, and Helmut Scholz, who was a six-years-old at the time, was caught up in the turmoil. Helmut tells Phil Jones about the traumatic train journe...

On 12 November 1988, the world’s first commercial bungee jumping site was opened near Queenstown, New Zealand. AJ Hackett and Henry Van Asch started out bungee jumping as a hobby with friends. They developed the bungee ropes and rigging system and found the perfect site – the historic Kawarau Suspension Bridge – which would give paying customers the chance to safely fall 43 metres. It helped make...