Witness History: Archive 2011
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Witness History: Archive 2011
The story of our times told by the people who were there.
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Mixed race marriage victory in US
In 1958, a mixed-race couple, Mildred and Richard Loving, were arrested and then banished from the US state of Virginia for breaking its laws against...
Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-ins
On 1 February 1960, four young black men began a protest in Greensboro, North Carolina against the racial segregation of shops and restaurants in the...
The Freedom Riders
The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode on buses, testing out whether bus stations were complying with the Supreme Court ruling that b...
Nelson Mandela's Autobiography
*** This programme was first broadcast on 25 October, 2011 ***
In the mid 1970s Nelson Mandela began writing his autobiography in prison, on Ro...
ANC Bomb
The armed wing of the ANC party took its first violent action in 1961, when a bomb was planted at municipal offices in Durban.
Ronnie Kasrils e...
Apartheid in the 1950s
A snapshot of the attitudes and emotions on both sides of the racial divide as the South Africa authorites cemented the foundations of Apartheid in 19...
The Voyage of the Empire Windrush
In 1948 nearly 500 pioneers travelled from the Caribbean on the Empire Windrush. The passage cost £28, 10 shillings.
Passenger Sam King describ...
US troops in Iraq
US troops left Iraq earlier this month, well before their deadline of 31 December.
We hear from one American soldier who remembers when they fi...
The Creation of Tetris
In 1984 one of the most popular computer games ever was invented in Moscow.
Hear from Alexey Pajitnov, the Russian who created it, and Henk Roge...
Enid Blyton and the BBC
The children's writer Enid Blyton, was one of the most popular authors of the 20th Century.
Books such as her Famous Five series were read by m...
The release of Sakharov
In December 1986 the Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov was allowed to return to Moscow.
He had spent seven years in internal exile.
His rel...
The sinking of the Scharnhorst
She was one of Germany's greatest battleships during World War II.
But on Boxing Day 1943 she was sunk in the freezing waters of the Arctic.
The Christmas Truce
On Christmas Eve 1914, during World War I, British and German soldiers stopped fighting.
Many of them left their trenches and started to talk a...
Billy Graham
As we approach Christmas we look back at the turning point in the career of the world's most famous evangelist - Billy Graham.
He's preached t...
Concert for Bangladesh
In 1971 the first big rock benefit gig was organised by former Beatle, George Harrison.
He did it to raise money for refugees from the Banglades...
The British Miners' strike
Christmas 1984 was a difficult time for British miners who had been on strike for nine months.
They had taken industrial action to try to save t...
Spice Girls
In 1996 the Spice Girls were at the top of the charts.
Their brand of cheeky British pop had taken the world by storm - they called it 'Girl Po...
Bangladesh wins independence
In 1971, Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan after nine months of war.
Kamal Hossain, a leading political figure, was jailed during the co...
Kazakh uprising
In December 1986 Kazakhs began protesting against Moscow's rule.
The young demonstrators were objecting to a Kremlin decision to put a Russian i...
Manuel Noriega
As the former leader of Panama, Manuel Noriega faces charges of murder in his home country we take you back over 20 years to the moment he was removed...
The Treaty of Rome
We take you back to the early days of the European project when six countries established the European Economic Community.
Photo: Keystone/Getty...
The Mozote massacre
In December 1981 hundreds of peasants were killed by the army in El Salvador.
Men, women and children from the village of El Mozote were shot....
Economic crisis in Argentina
It is 10 years since the height of the financial crisis in Argentina.
Bank accounts were frozen and tens of thousands of ordinary people took to...
Pearl Harbour
It is 70 years since Japanese planes attacked the US Navy base in Hawaii.
The action forced the USA into World War II.
Jack Hammett, was a...
The Bermuda Triangle
The story of the Bermuda Triangle began when five US Navy planes went missing in 1945.
No trace of the bombers was ever found - and since then -...
The Pill
"The idea that you could take a pill, that meant that you wouldn't get pregnant and you could enjoy sex. That had a magic feel to it."
On 4 Dece...
Ryan White
To mark World Aids Day Louise Hidalgo reports on the story of Ryan White.
He was a haemophiliac who was banned from school after testing HIV pos...
The Winter of Discontent
In 1979 British public sector workers went on strike over pay.
Among those taking industrial action were grave-diggers.
But the media, pol...
The Battle in Seattle
In November 1999 police battled with anti-globalisation protestors for control of the streets of Seattle.
The demonstrators were protesting agai...
Plane spotters
In November 2001 a group of British tourists were arrested and put on trial for spying in Greece.
They were not spies, but aircraft enthusiasts....
Thalidomide
Fifty years ago, the sedative drug thalidomide was withdrawn from sale in Germany and the UK.
It became clear that, if taken by women in early p...
Ned Kelly's Last Stand
Ned Kelly, the infamous Australian outlaw was captured in the remote settlement of Glenrowan in 1880.
In a dramatic last stand, Kelly and his ga...
Mobutu Sese Seko of Congo
Of the "Big Men" who ruled Africa after independence, few were as notorious as Mobutu Sese Seko.
During his 32 years in power, Mobutu renamed Co...
Georgia's Rose Revolution
In November 2003 a popular uprising unseated the government of Georgia.
Demonstrators waving roses burst into Parliament and Eduard Shevardnadze...
President Sadat of Egypt visits Israel
In 1977, Anwar Sadat became the first Egyptian president to visit Israel and address the Israeli parliament, or Knesset.
At the time, Egypt was...
Precious McKenzie - South African Weight-lifter
The diminutive weight-lifter, Precious McKenzie, was a prodigious talent, but apartheid prevented him from competing for South Africa.
Precious...
Nikola Tesla
He was one of the great pioneers of electrical power.
In November 1915 the New York Times announced that he and his rival, Thomas Edison, would...
Kim Philby the spy
How a Soviet agent managed to fool the British intelligence service for years.
Even after he'd been identified as a spy by the Americans, Kim Ph...
Cathy Come Home
It is 45 years since a BBC TV drama changed British ideas about homelessness.
The hardhitting film, directed by Ken Loach, told the story of a y...
Great Lisbon Earthquake
On All Saints Day 1755, the Portuguese city of Lisbon was hit by a triple disaster - an earthquake, followed by a tsunami and a fire.
One of the...