The History Hour

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

We start with Aleida Guevara's memories of being sent from Cuba to provide medical aid in the Angolan Civil War during the 1980s. Then, the French scientist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi explains how HIV was discovered in 1983.

In the second half of the programme, we hear how Australian scientist David Warren invented the black box flight recorder in 1962, which made flying safer. An Ecuadorian politician explains how she tried to save the country's Yasuní National Park. And the actress Jane Seymour recounts how she played the role of Freddie Mercury's bride at the Fashion Aid event in 1985.

Contributors:

Tony Kapcia - Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham's Centre for Research on Cuba.

Dr Aleida Guevara - daughter of Che Guevara.

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi - scientist who helped identify HIV.

Jenny and Peter Warren - children of David Warren, inventor of the black box.

Bill Schofield - former colleague of David Warren, inventor of the black box.

Ivonne A-Baki - Ecuadorian politician tasked with saving the Yasuní National Park.

(Photo: Aleida Guevara with her father, Che, and Fidel Castro in 1963. Credit: Imagno via Getty Images)

Aleida Guevara on being a doctor in Angola's civil war and Jane Seymour on Fashion Aid

Aleida Guevara on Angola's civil war in the 1980s, the discovery of HIV, the invention of the black box flight recorder, and the actress Jane Seymour on Fashion Aid in 1985.

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

To mark 50 years since the discovery of the Terracotta Army, we're exploring modern Chinese history.

We hear from the man who helped to modernise the Chinese language by creating a new writing system. It's called Pinyin and it used the Roman alphabet to help simplify Chinese characters into words.

Our expert guest is the writer, Mark O'Neill, whose book 'The Man Who Made China a Literate Nation' forms the basis of a great discussion about historical language changes throughout history.

Plus, a first hand experience of life in labour camps during Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution and the women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial army during the 1930s. This programme contains disturbing content.

Contributors:
Mark O'Neill - writer
Zhou Youguang - linguist
Jingyu Li - victim of Mao Zedong's labour camps
Peng Zhuying - survivor of sexual slavery
Yuan Zhongyi - archaeologist
Dr Li Xiuzhen - archaeologist
Simon Napier-Bell - manager of Wham

(Photo: Terracotta Army. Credit: Getty Images)

50 years of the Terracotta Army and the father of Pinyin

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

To mark 50 years since the discovery of the Terracotta Army, we're exploring modern Chinese history.

We hear from the man who helped to modernise the Chinese language by creating a new writing system. It's called Pinyin and it used the Roman alphabet to help simplify Chinese characters into words.

Our expert guest is the writer, Mark O'Neill, whose book 'The Man Who Made China a Literate Nation' forms the basis of a great discussion about historical language changes throughout history.

Plus, a first hand experience of life in labour camps during Mao Zedong’s cultural revolution and the women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial army during the 1930s. This programme contains disturbing content.

Contributors:
Mark O'Neill - writer
Zhou Youguang - linguist
Jingyu Li - victim of Mao Zedong's labour camps
Peng Zhuying - survivor of sexual slavery
Yuan Zhongyi - archaeologist
Dr Li Xiuzhen - archaeologist
Simon Napier-Bell - manager of Wham

(Photo: Terracotta Army. Credit: Getty Images)

50 years of the Terracotta Army and the father of Pinyin

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

We hear about two of the most influential computer games of the 1990s with their creators. John Romero was one of the developers of Doom and talks about the concept of a martian military base populated by zombie soldiers. Coder Jan Tian describes how his devotion to working on the football game FIFA 94 landed him in hospital. Our guest, The Guardian newspaper's video games editor Keza MacDonald, looks back on games which had a global impact.

Also how in 1945, 10,000 brains were collected from dead psychiatric patients in Denmark. It is now thought to be the world's largest brain bank. We also find out how a group of right-wing army officers seized power in Greece in 1967 to stop the election of a social democratic government led by veteran politician George Papandreou.

And 30 years on since the cult French film La Haine was released, its director Mathieu Kassovitz describes how it caught the attention of high profile politicians with its criticism of policing in France.

Contributors:

John Romero – Doom developer

Jan Tian – FIFA 94 coder

Keza MacDonald – video games editor, The Guardian

Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen – pathologist

George Papandreou Jnr – former Greek Prime Minister

Mathieu Kassovitz – film director

(Photo: Brains stored in plastic buckets at the University of Southern Denmark. Credit: BBC)

We hear about two of the most influential computer games of the 1990s with their creators; John Romero, developer of Doom and Jan Tian who was a coder on FIFA 94.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

They pointed to a new date for the key milestone in evolution, when the first amphibians left the water 385 million years ago.

Dr Frankie Dunn, who is a senior researcher in palaeobiology at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in the UK, then dives into landmark discoveries in geological history.

Plus, the story of Winifred Atwell, a classically-trained pianist from Trinidad who was admired by Queen Elizabeth II and Sir Elton John. She became one of the best-selling artists of the 1950s in the UK.

Then, how the Guarani, an indigenous language of South America, was designated an official language in Paraguay's new constitution, alongside Spanish.

Also, the lesser known last eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1944.

Finally, Indian badminton player Rajeev Bagga who has won 14 gold medals at the Deaflympics. In 2001, he was given the ‘Deaflympian of the Century' award.

Contributors:

Iwan Stössel - Swiss Geologist.

Dr Frankie Dunn - Senior Researcher in Palaeobiology at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in the UK.

David Olivera - Paraguayan Linguist and Anthropologist.

Angelina Formisano - Evacuated from the village of San Sebastiano during the 1944 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Rajeev Bagga - Indian Badminton Player.

(Picture: Illustration of a tetrapod from the Late Devonian period. Credit: Christian Jegou/Science Photo Library)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes.

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

Finding the longest set of footprints left by the first vertebrate, the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius and honky-tonk star Winifred Atwell who was Sir Elton John's hero.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

We hear from activist and actor Memet Ali Alabora on how his social media post contributed to the civil unrest following the Gezi Park protests in Turkey in 2013.

Our guest, Selin Girit who covers Turkey for BBC World Service, talks to us about Turkey's important position between Europe and Asia. We also learn about the fighting in 1980 between the left and right-wing groups that led to Turkey's military taking control of the country. Vice Admiral Isik Biren, who was an official in the defence ministry, and a former student activist, Murat Celikkan recount their different memories of the coup.

We hear more about Turkey's geographic connection from Harvey Binnie who was involved with the design of the first Bosphorus suspension bridge in 1973. And from Zimbabwe, economist Professor Gift Mugano, on how the country's annual inflation rate was 89.7 sextillion percent in 2008. And finally the story of how a Nigerian Airways flight from Lagos to Abuja was hijacked by four teenagers calling themselves the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD). Obed Taseobi was a passenger on that flight in 1993.

Contributors:

Memet Ali Alabora – activist and actor

Selin Girit – BBC World Service reporter

Vice Admiral Isik Biren – former official in the Turkish defence ministry

Murat Celikkan – former student activist

Harvey Binnie – member of design team for the Bosphorus bridge

Professor Gift Mugano – economist

Obed Taseobi – Nigerian Airways passenger

(Photo: Protesters clash with Turkish police near Gezi Park in Istanbul, June 2013. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes.

We begin with some remarkable archive of the Hindenburg airship disaster in 1937. Then British scientist Jonathan Shanklin describes how he discovered the hole in the ozone layer in 1985.

In the second half of the programme we hear from a NASA scientist who worked on the Voyager space probe which took the famous 'Pale Blue Dot' photo of Earth. A physicist from Quebec remembers when a solar flare plunged the Canadian province into darkness. And we hear the exciting and dangerous story of the invention of the wingsuit.

Contributors:

Barbara Waibel - Author and Director of Archives at the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

Jonathan Shanklin - Scientist who discovered the hole in the ozone layer.

Candice Hansen - NASA scientist.

Aja Hruska - Physicist from Quebec.

Jari Kuosma - Inventor of the commercial wingsuit.

(Photo: Hindenburg airship. Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)

Herb Morrison's iconic broadcast about the airship crash and the invention of wingsuits

Herb Morrison's iconic broadcast about the Hindenburg crash, the scientist who discovered the hole in the ozone layer, the 'Pale Blue Dot' photo of Earth and inventing wingsuits.

In 1973, the Battle of Versailles pit up-and-coming American designers using black models against the more traditional French. We hear from Bethann Hardison, one of those black models, about how the capital of couture, Paris, became the stage for this defining moment in the history of fashion.

Professor Adrienne Jones, a fashion expert at the Pratt Insitute in New York, explains the cultural significance of the event, and what changed in the world of fashion afterwards.

Plus, the story of the UK's first luxury Afro-Caribbean hair salon, Splinters, which opened as recently as the 1980s. Charlotte Mensah, known as the ‘Queen of the ‘fro', recalls what it was like to work there. Part of her story includes an account racial bullying.

Also, archive interviews tell the story of how Rosa Parks defied racist segregation laws in the United States. It contains outdated and offensive language.

We hear how a Nigerian lawyer took on the country's Sharia courts to overturn a death sentence.

And the tragic story of Lucha Reyes, one of Peru's most beloved singers.

Contributors:

Bethann Hardison- a model who competed in the Battle of Versailles.

Prof Adrienne Jones- from the Pratt Institute in New York.

Hauwa Ibrahim- one of the first female lawyers from northern Nigeria.

Polo Bances- saxophonist who played alongside Lucha Reyes.

(Photo: Bethann Hardison and Armina Warsuma arriving in France. Credit: Photo by Michel Maurou/Reginald Gray/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)

Inspirational black women throughout history

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

Inspirational black women, including a model who starred in an age-defining fashion show, and a lawyer who fought against Nigeria's Sharia courts.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

We hear about Cyberia - the first commercial internet café which opened in London in 1994. Director of the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford, Professor Vicki Nash, talks us through other notable landmarks in the internet's history. Plus how the Covid N95 mask was invented by a scientist from Taiwan in 1992.

Also how Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff was punished for his writing on liberation theology. Staying with Brazil, we hear how poor rural workers occupied land owned by the rich, resulting in violent clashes in 1980.

And the world's first global seed vault, buried deep inside a mountain on an Arctic island.

Contributors:

Eva Pascoe – a founder of Cyberia internet café

Prof Vicki Nash – Director of the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford

Peter Tsai – inventor of N95 mask

Leonardo Boff – Brazilian theologian

Maria Salete Campigotto – Landless Workers Movement protestor

Dr Cary Fowler – founder of Doomsday seed vault

(Photo: People using Cyberia in 1994. Credit: Mathieu Polak/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

The opening of the first commercial internet cafe and storing seeds in an Artic vault

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

The opening of the first commercial internet cafe, how the Covid N95 mask was invented and storing seeds in an Artic vault.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

We're going wild for animals this week. We find out how the Ibadan Zoo became one of Nigeria's biggest tourist attractions during the 1970s. Our guest Harriet Ritvo, professor of history at MIT, looks back across the centuries to reveal the fascination that humans have always had for animals. And more on the environmental campaigner who became known as Lady Tarzan for her fight against illegal logging in the forests of India.

Plus, we hear from a journalist tortured in Iran's notorious Evin Prison in the wake of the 2009 protests against the Islamic regime. Also, why hundreds of thousands of Moroccans were ordered into the Spanish Sahara by their king. And finally, more on the Bolivian president who went on hunger strike to try to save his country.

Contributors:

Peaches Golding - wife of zoologist Bob Golding

Professor Harriet Ritvo – professor of history at MIT

Marcela Siles - daughter of former Bolivian president Hernán Siles Zuazo

Seddik Maaninou - TV cameraman

Francis Gillies – North Africa expert

Maziar Bahari - journalist

Jamuna Tudu – environmentalist nicknamed ‘Lady Tarzan

(Photo: Imade the gorilla at Ibadan Zoo. Credit: bobgolding.co.uk)

Why Nigeria went went wild for Ibadan Zoo and the Indian campaigner nicknamed Lady Tarzan

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

The zoo that became one of Nigeria's biggest tourist attractions, the woman dubbed Lady Tarzan for her fight against illegal logging and why a Bolivian president refused to eat.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

We hear about the Juliet Club in Verona, Italy. The club has been replying to mail addressed to Shakespeare's tragic heroine, Juliet since the early 1990s.

Professor Lisa Bitel talks about the traditions of Valentine's Day.

Plus, how the small Irish town of Gort became known as ‘Little Brazil' because it's home to so many Brazilians. The World War Two escape line that fooled the Nazis and the stadium disaster that shocked Egypt.

And the story of the food supplement used by soldiers during the Nigerian civil war that became a drink enjoyed in more than 70 countries around the world.

Contributors:

Giovanna Tamassia - daughter of Giulio Tamassia, one of the founders of the Juliet Club.

Professor Lisa Bitel - Professor of History & Religion at the University of Southern California, USA.

Lucimeire Trindade – resident of Gort, Ireland.

Keith Janes – son of captured a British soldier.

Christine Lepers – daughter of a French resistance fighter.

Mahmoud Al-Khawaga – former footballer with Zamalek.

Peter Rasmussen – creator of the drink Supermalt.

(Photo: Giovanna Tamassia from the Juliet Club. Credit: Leonello Bertolucci/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes.

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

We hear about the Juliet Club in Verona, Italy, and the ‘Little Brazil' of Ireland as Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

We start with with Mandela's daughter, Makaziwe, describing her relationship with her father and planning his funeral. Then, the brother of Emanuela Orlandi describes his lifelong mission to unravel the mystery of her disappearance in Rome in 1983.

The second half of the programme has a Russian flavour. A relative of Tsar Nicholas II describes the murder of the Romanov royal family in 1918. Then a Russian journalist describes attending the Romanov's controversial reburial 80 years later. We finish with one of Russia's greatest poets, Anna Akhmatova.

Contributors:

Dr Ongama Mtimka - Lecturer in South African politics at the Nelson Mandela University.

Dr Phumla Makaziwe Mandela - Nelson Mandela's daughter.

Pietro Orlandi - Emanuela Orlandi's brother.

Olga Romanov - Great niece of Tsar Nicholas II.

Lilia Dubovaya - Journalist who was at the reburial of the Romanovs.

Era Korobova - Art historian and expert on Anna Akhmatova.

(Photo: Nelson Mandela. Credit: Tom Stoddart Archive/Getty Images)

Nelson Mandela's daughter talks about her father's funeral and Russia buries its past

Nelson Mandela's daughter discusses their relationship, Emanuela Orlandi's brother on her disappearance and a relative of Russia's Romanov dynasty describes their murders.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

We hear about Osmondmania! The moment in 1973 when teenage fans of American heartthrobs, The Osmonds, caused a balcony at Heathrow to collapse.

Also, we find out about the first peace walk in Cambodia and how it united a country torn apart by war.

Plus, the birth of Lagos Fashion Week and how it put Nigerian design on the global map.

Contributors:

Donny Osmond.

Josephine McDermott, BBC producer and presenter.

Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, organiser of Cambodia's first peace walk.

Parul Akhter, a sewing machinist who survived the Rana Plaza building collapse.

Oscar Maynez, a forensic scientist who used to work in the Mexican border town of Ciudad Juarez where hundreds of young women were kidnapped or killed.

Paula Flores, the mother of one of the murdered girls.

Omoyemi Akerele who organised the first Lagos Fashion Week.

(Photo: Donny Osmond greets fans at Heathrow airport. Credit: George Stroud/Express/Hulton Archive via Getty Images)

Donny Osmond shares his memories of teen hysteria, and the birth of Lagos Fashion Week

We find out how teenage Osmonds' fans caused a building at Heathrow to collapse, how a peace walk helped Cambodia unite after war, and how the first Lagos Fashion Week began.

We hear from Zoheb Hassen, one half of a sibling duo from Pakistan who topped the charts in countries all over the world with their dancefloor filler, Disco Deewane.

Our guest is BBC radio presenter and Pakistani music fan Raess Khan. He talks about how Pakistani pop music evolved from Zoheb's success.

Entertainment star Debbie McGee, who is best known for being the assistant and wife of British magician Paul Daniels talks about escaping from Iran at the start of the revolution in 1978.

In 2004 a supermarket fire in Paraguay killed more than 300 people. It was the country's biggest peacetime disaster. One of the survivors, Tatiana Gabaglio tells her story.

Plus, how one of Bosnia's most famous landmarks, the historic bridge in Mostar, was destroyed by Croat guns during the Bosnian war in 1993

Finally, the unlikely friendship of a hippo and a tortoise following the tsunami in 2004.

Contributors:

Zoheb Hassen – former popstar

Raess Khan – BBC presenter and Pakistani pop fan

Debbie McGee – British celebrity

Tatiana Gabaglio – supermarket fire survivor in Paraguay

Mirsad Behram – journalist

Eldin Palata – cameraman

Dr Paula Kahumbu – wildlife conservationist

(Photo: Nazia and Zoheb Hassen in 1982. Credit: BBC)

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

This week, the bird that defied extinction. In 1969, a Peruvian farmer Gustavo Del Solar received an unusual assignment - finding a bird called the white-winged guan that had been regarded as extinct for a century.

The American author and conservationist Michelle Nijhuis is this week's guest. She talks about some of the most interesting attempts in modern history to save animals on the brink of extinction.

Also this week, the world's first solar powered home, when Tanzania adopted Swahili and when the world went crazy for Cabbage Patch Kids.

This programme has been updated since its original broadcast. It was edited on 6 December 2023.

Contributors:

Rafael Del Solar - son of conservationist Gustavo Del Solar

Michelle Nijhuis - author and conservationist

Meredith Ludwig - friend of Cabbage Patch Kids creator Martha Nelson Thomas

Peter Baxter and George Kling - scientists

Walter Bgoya - author in Tanzania

Andrew Nemethy - lived in the world's first solar powered house

(Photo: A whooping crane. Credit: Getty Images)

The Peruvian bird saved from the brink of extinction and the Cabbage Patch Kids craze

Saving the Peruvian white-winged guan from extinction, the world's first solar powered home and when the world went crazy for Cabbage Patch Kids.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

Professor Sten Rynning, the author of Nato: From Cold War to Ukraine, talks about some of the most significant moments in Nato's history.

It's 30 years since the beginning of the Rwandan genocide. We hear from one of the survivors, Antoinette Mutabazi. This programme contains disturbing content.

Plus, Riyaz Begum reflects on Britain's Mirpuri migration, Janet Heimlich, daughter of Dr Henry Heimlich talks about the origins of the Heimlich Manoeuvre and Adam Trimingham, Brighton based journalist and nudist David Johnson recall the arrival of Britain's first nudist beach.

(Photo: British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin signs the North Atlantic Treaty. Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The 75th anniversary of Nato, Britain's Mirpuri migration, and the Heimlich Manoeuvre

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

The 75th anniversary of Nato, Britain's Mirpuri migration, the origins of the Heimlich Manoeuvre and 30 years since the beginning of the Rwandan genocide.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

In 2003, the venue won its bid to host the Winter Olympic Games for the first time. Hugh Smythe, known as one of the ‘founding fathers' of Whistler, has been sharing his memories of the mountain. We also have former Winter Olympian and BBC presenter, Chemmy Alcott, to walk us through the long history of skiing.

Plus, how the tiny island nation of American Samoa suffered the worst defeat ever in international football.

Also, the shocking creation of a two-headed dog by a Soviet scientist.

The murder of transgender woman in Honduras during a military coup in 2009.

And, a long-running dispute over the final resting place of Christopher Columbus' ashes.

Contributors:

Hugh Smythe — One of the ‘founding fathers' of Whistler.

Chemmy Alcott — Former Winter Olympian and TV presenter.

Nicky Salapu—American Samoa goalkeeper.

Igor Konstantinov — Consultant cardiothoracic surgeon.

Claudia Spelman — LGBT activist.

Angelita Baeyens — Human rights lawyer.

Samuel Bisono — Tour guide and historian.

(Photo: Whistler Blackcomb ski resort. Credit: James MacDonald/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

The opening of a famous ski resort, the worst ever international football defeat and the murder of a transgender woman in Honduras.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

It has been 50 years since Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, so we're exploring Swedish history.

Also in 1974, Sweden became the first country in the world to offer paid parental leave that was gender neutral. One father who took the leave tells us about this pioneering policy.

We hear from one of the inventors of Bluetooth. The technology was named after Harald Bluetooth, a Viking king.

Our expert guest is Eva Krutmeijer, Swedish science writer and co-author of the book ' Innovation, the Swedish Way'.

Plus, the invention of the three-point safety belt for cars, that is estimated to have saved more than one million lives around the world, and the story behind Sweden's Cinnamon Bun Day.

Finally, 1974 was just the beginning for the Swedish quartet, Abba, who shared their name with a herring company. By the end of the decade, they were one of most recognisable music acts of the 20th century.

Contributors:

Per Edlund - one of the first fathers in his town to take split paid parental leave

Sven Mattison - one of the inventors of Bluetooth

Eva Krutmeijer - Swedish science writer and co-author of the book 'Innovation, the Swedish Way

Gunnar Ornmark - stepson of Nils Bohlin who invented the three-point safety belt for cars

Kaeth Gardestedt - who came up with the idea of Sweden's Cinnamon Bun Day

Görel Hanser - manager of Abba

(Photo: Abba in 1974. Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

It has been 50 years since Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, so we're exploring Swedish history. Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History episodes.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

We hear from Kwasi Okoh about how his mother Theodosia Okoh designed Ghana's flag after it became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to gain independence.

Our guest, former diplomatic and foreign affairs editor, Tim Marshall, explains the importance of flags for national identity and their changing purpose through history. We also learn about the moment in 1966 when Kwame Nkrumah, one of Africa's most famous leaders, was ousted from power in Ghana.

Plus, how in 2013, India's Supreme Court made a landmark ruling aimed at transforming the lives of acid attack survivors. It followed a campaign led by Laxmi Agarwal who at the age of 15 was burned when acid was thrown at her.

And the artist Yinka Shonibare discusses how ‘Nelson's Ship in a Bottle' exhibited in London's Trafalgar Square was the world's largest ship in a bottle.

And finally, how Kimani Maruge became the oldest man to enroll at a primary school in Kenya.

Contributors:

Kwasi Okoh - son of Theodosia Okoh

Tim Marshall - former diplomatic and foreign affairs editor for Sky News

Chris Hesse - Ghanaian filmmaker

Laxmi Agarwal - acid attack survivor

Yinka Shonibare - creator of Nelson's Ship in a Bottle

Jane Obinchu - Kimani Maruge's former teacher

(Photo: Ghanaian football fans wave their national flag. Credit: Getty Images)

How Ghana's flag was designed, and the 84-year-old Kenyan man who fought to be educated

We find out how Ghana's flag was designed after independence, how an acid attack survivor fought to change the law in India, and why an 84-year-old enrolled at school in Kenya.

We start with the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in 2010, which caused air travel to stop across Europe. Then, memories of the Bolivian Water War in 2000.

In the second half of the programme, we hear how the EpiPen was invented by Sheldon Kaplan. Plus, how Rosalind Franklin's research helped determine the structure of DNA. Finally, the discovery of the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion, underwater off the coast of Egypt.

Contributors:

Sigrun Hreinsdottir - scientist who saw the eruption of Eyjafjallajokull.

Jenni Barclay - professor of volcanology at the University of East Anglia, UK.

Oscar Olivera - union official who led Bolivian Water War protests and negotiations.

Michael Kaplan - son of Sheldon Kaplan, inventor of the EpiPen.

Michael Mesa - colleague of Sheldon Kaplan.

Jenifer Glyn - sister of scientist Rosalind Franklin, who helped discover the structure of DNA.

Franck Goddio - underwater archaeologist who discovered Thonis-Heracleion.

(Photo: Eyjafjallajokull erupting in 2010. Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson)

Icelandic volcano eruption stops European air travel in 2010 and inventing the EpiPen

Memories of the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption, the invention of the EpiPen and the underwater discovery of the city of Thonis-Heracleion.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriage. Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at midnight which was broadcast on TV. Hélène Faasen and Anne-Marie Thus talk about the wedding they thought they'd never have.

Our guest Lauren Moss, the LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News tells us about the history of gay marriage.

Also, the man who risked his life to make the audio recordings which blew open one of the biggest corruption scandals in Spain's recent history.

Then we hear the story of the 1970s defection from the Soviet Union of a world-famous ballerina. Plus, the mystery surrounding the fate of the last king of France's son and the man who really does believe that laughter is the best medicine.

Contributors:

Hélène Faasen & Anne-Marie Thus - the first lesbian couple to get married legally.

Lauren Moss - LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News.

José Luis Peñas - the man that made secret recordings that revealed the Gurtel scandal.

Prof Jean Jacques Cassiman - Belgian geneticist.

Deborah Cadbury - historian.

Dr Madan Kataria – founder of World Laughter Day.

(Photo: The couple arrive to be married at the Amsterdam City Hall. Credit: Marcel Antonisse/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes. Including the first lesbian couple to get married, and the start of World Laughter Day.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriage. Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at midnight which was broadcast on TV. Hélène Faasen and Anne-Marie Thus talk about the wedding they thought they'd never have.

Our guest Lauren Moss, the LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News tells us about the history of gay marriage.

Also, the man who risked his life to make the audio recordings which blew open one of the biggest corruption scandals in Spain's recent history.

Then we hear the story of the 1970s defection from the Soviet Union of a world-famous ballerina. Plus, the mystery surrounding the fate of the last king of France's son and the man who really does believe that laughter is the best medicine.

Contributors:

Hélène Faasen & Anne-Marie Thus - the first lesbian couple to get married legally.

Lauren Moss - LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News.

José Luis Peñas - the man that made secret recordings that revealed the Gurtel scandal.

Prof Jean Jacques Cassiman - Belgian geneticist.

Deborah Cadbury - historian.

Dr Madan Kataria – founder of World laughter day.

(Photo: The couple arrive to be married at the Amsterdam City Hall. Credit: Marcel Antonisse/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes. Including the first lesbian couple to get married, and the start of World laughter day.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

In 1939 Wang Jingwei, once a national hero in China, signed an agreement with Japanese invaders which made his name synonymous with the word ‘Hanjian', a traitor to China. But Pan Chia-sheng's memories of living under Wang Jingwei's government in Nanjing tell a very different story.

Our guest Ian Crofton, author of Traitors and Turncoats, explains the nuances involved in our historic understanding of traitors.

Also, the fascist Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling blamed for convincing the German dictator Adolf Hitler to invade Norway in 1940. Norwegian journalist Trude Lorentzen explains the story with an account she recorded from Quisling's Jewish neighbour, Leif Grusd.

And, the story of the former Broadway showgirl, known as Axis Sally, who broadcast antisemitic Nazi propaganda on German State Radio during World War Two, told through the archives.

Plus, the Polish colonel, Ryszard Kuklinski, code-named 'Jack Strong', who passed Soviet military secrets to the CIA that changed the tide of the Cold War.

And, the Hungarian Sándor Szűcs, famous for playing in the country's star football team, who was executed in 1951 for trying to defect from the communist regime.

Contributors:

Pan Chia-sheng - on Wang Jingwei

Ian Crofton - author of Traitors and Turncoats

Trude Lorentzen - Norwegian journalist on Vidkun Quisling

Aris Papas - one of the agents who received intelligence from Ryszard Kuklinski

Erzsi Kovács' story is told using an archive interview he gave in 2011 to Hungarian journalist Endre Kadarkai on the Arckép programme, on Zuglo TV.

(Photo: Mildred Gillars, known as 'Axis Sally', on trial for treason in 1949. Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)

Historical figures branded traitors

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

People who became known as traitors, including the Chinese hero who signed an agreement with Japanese invaders, and the Norwegian fascist who made Adolf Hitler occupy his country.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

This week, we hear from Lumepa Hald who survived the devastating tsunami that hit Samoa in 2009 but suffered a tragic loss.

Our expert guest, Prof Tiziana Rossetto, looks back at some of the worst tsunamis in history and how they have shaped our landscapes.

Plus we talk to Caster Semenya, the gold medallist who faced questions over her gender at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.

There's also an interview with Peter Greste, one of three Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to seven years in jail in Egypt.

We also look at the mystery surrounding the death of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda with his driver, Manuel Araya.

And finally we talk to singer Dafydd Iwan, the “bad boy of Welsh politics ?, who was arrested for defacing an English sign. He wanted official recognition for the Welsh language.

Contributors:

Lumepa Hald – survivor of the tsunami that hit Samoa in 2009.

Tiziana Rossetto - Professor of Earthquake Engineering at University College London, UK.

Caster Semenya – world champion runner who faced questions over her gender.

Peter Greste – journalist sentenced to seven years in prison in Egypt.

Manuel Araya – driver of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

Dafydd Iwan – singer who campaigned for official recognition the Welsh language.

(Photo: Devastation at a beach in Samoa after the 2009 tsunami. Credit: Getty Images)

The tsunami that devastated Samoa and when Caster Semenya faced questions over her gender

The 2009 tsunami that devastated Samoa, when runner Caster Semenya faced questions over her gender and the Welsh singer imprisoned for defacing English signs.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

We first hear about Uruguay's tale of David v Goliath - when a tobacco giant took South America's second-smallest country to court over its anti-smoking laws.

Uruguay's former public health minister María Julia Muñoz describes the significance of the ban and its fallout.

And we shed some light on the wider history of the use of tobacco, its long and controversial history, with Dr Sarah Inskip, a bio-archaeologist at the University of Leicester in the UK.

Plus, the largest search operation in aviation history - ten years on, little is known of the fate of MH370 and the 239 people on board.

Also, Sister Rosemary Nyirumbe on how her sewing school in northern Uganda served as a place of rehabilitation for child soldiers escaping Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army.

Then, the Carnation Revolution - how Europe's longest-surviving authoritarian regime was toppled in a day, with barely a drop of blood spilled.

Finally, in August and September 1939, tens of thousands of children began to be evacuated from Paris. Colette Martel, who was nine at the time, describes how a pair of clogs made her feel welcome.

Contributors:

María Julia Muñoz - Uruguay's former public health minister.

Dr Sarah Inskip - A bio-archaeologist at the University of Leicester in the UK.

Ghyslain Wattrelos - Whose wife and two children were on flight MH370.

Adelino Gomes - Witness of the 1974 Carnation Revolution.

Colette Martel - Child evacuee in World War Two.

(Photo: An anti-tobacco installation in Montevideo. Credit: Reuters/ Pablo La Rosa)

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

When Uruguay introduced a pioneering smoking ban, the toppling of Europe's longest-surviving authoritarian regime and the disappearance of flight MH370.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

In 1984, the two nations were disputing the ownership of the tiny Hans Island, just off the coast of Greenland. It might be the friendliest territorial dispute ever.

We hear from Tom Hoyem and Alan Kessel, politicians on either side.

And we have historian Ditte Melitha Kristensen, from the National Museum and Archives of Greenland, to shed some light on the history of the country.

Plus, how Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva discovered the richest tomb ever found in the America's: the final resting place of the ancient ruler, the Lord of Sipan.

Also, we go back to the 1960s when 1,500 Torah scrolls appeared at a synagogue in London.

And a Crimea double-bill. We go back to 2014 when Russia annexed the Ukranian peninsula, and then back to the 1980s, when it was used as a holiday camp for children across the Soviet Union.

Contributors:

Tom Hoyem— Minister for Greenland in Denmark.

Alan Kessel— Assistant Deputy Minister for Legal Affairs in Canada.

Ditte Melitha Kristensen — Greenland historian.

Walter Alva— Archaeologist.

Phillippa Bernard — Founder member of Westminster Synagogue.

Maria Kim Espeland — One of the thousands of children who visited the Artek holiday camp.

(Photo: Greenland. Credit: Thomas Traasdashi/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images)

A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes

A bloodless war, an ancient Peruvian ruler and Crimea.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.

This week, we're looking at the birth of a new African nation – Zambia - in 1964, and find out how the country got its name. We also learn more about life after independence with our guest Dr Alfred Tembo, head of history of the University of Zambia.

Elsewhere, two survivors of a series of terrifying gun attacks in Mumbai talk about their experiences. And there's a look back to 2003, when the worst heatwave in centuries caused thousands of deaths across Europe, and led to a health crisis in Paris.

Plus, we hear extracts from the lost memoirs of Manchester United goalkeeper Les Sealey. He recorded them before his death and the tapes were discovered years later.

And finally, the invention of bubble tea, a creation that would change the tea drinking world. The first cup was sold in a tea shop in Taiwan in 1987.

Contributors:

Mulenga Kapwepwe – daughter of Simon Kapwepwe, fighter for Zambia's independence

Dr Alfred Tembo – head of history, University of Zambia

Devika Rotawan – survivor of gun attack in Mumbai

Arun Jadhav – policeman and survivor of gun attack in Mumbai

Dr Patrick Pelloux - emergency doctor at St Antoine Hospital in Paris

Les Sealey – former Manchester United goalkeeper

Liu Han-Chieh – tea leaf seller and shop owner

Lin Xiuhu – developer of bubble tea

(Photo: Celebrations after Zambian election, 1991. Credit: Walter Dhladhla/AFP via Getty Images)

An African nation is born in 1964 and a new invention changes the tea drinking world

The birth of a new African nation in 1964 and the invention of bubble tea - a creation that would change the tea drinking world. Plus Europe's worst heatwave in centuries.

An hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there.