The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories.In 1995, the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in the South Korean capital, Seoul, killed and injured hundreds of people. Explaining the impact it had on urban planning is Dr Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh.Also, the speech President John F Kennedy made at the height of the Cold War on 26 June 1963. It galvanised the world in support of West Berliners who had been isolated by the construction of the Berlin Wall. From the archive, Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann worked to bring the first documented outbreak of Ebola under control in 1976. Plus, Budapest's communist statue 'graveyard' which opened in 1993.Finally, when Lady Gaga accepted an MTV Video Music Award in a dress made entirely out of beef.Contributors:Sun Minh Lee on the Sampoong Department Store disaster Dr Youngmi Kim, senior lecturer in Korean Studies at the University of Edinburgh Gisela Morel-Tiemann on the Ich Bin Ein Berliner speech Dr Jean Jacques Mueyembe and Dr David Heymann on Ebola Judit Holp on Memento Park Franc Fernandez on Lady Gaga's meat dress(Photo: US military troops and South Korean army soldiers look for survivors in the rubble of the collapsed Sampoong Department Store. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories.Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, a fighter pilot in the Somali air force defied orders to bomb civilians in 1988. Explaining more about the Somali civil war and its legacy is BBC Monitoring's regional analyst Beverly Ochieng.Also, the demonstrations in East Germany that triggered martial rule in 1953. From the archive, Sam King recalls arriving in England on the Empire Windrush in 1948, one of 802 pioneering Caribbean migrants. Plus, the 1994 raid on a gay nightclub in Melbourne, Australia, where more than 400 people were strip-searched and detained. Finally, in 1971 Alan Shepard, the commander of Apollo 14 became the first and only person to play golf on the moon.Contributors: Ahmed Mohamed Hassan on being a fighter pilot in the Somali air force Beverly Ochieng, BBC Monitoring's Horn Of Africa analyst Helmut Strecker on his recollections of the protests in East Germany Sam King on the Empire Windrush Gary Singer on the raid of Tasty nightclub Laura Shepard Churchley on her father Commander Alan Shepard(Photo: Refugees in Somalia's civil war. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories. We focus on some of the world’s best known photographs - and the photographers who took them. We find out why Lee Miller was in Hitler’s bath in the dying days of World War Two; and historian Dr Pippa Oldfield discusses the women who were the pioneers of war photography.Also, Sir Don McCullin tells the story behind one of his most famous images of the Vietnam War.Plus, more on the party pictures that shone a light on an unseen Africa and how the biggest names in jazz came together for one immortal portrait.Finally, the first African American woman to have her photographs snapped up by New York’s Museum of Modern Art.Contributors: Antony Penrose, Lee Miller's son and biographer Sir Don McCullin, photographer Dr Pippa Oldfield, photo-historian Manthia Diawara, filmmaker Jonathan Kane, son of photographer Art Kane Ming Smith, photographer(Photo: Grace Jones. Studio 54, New York, 1970s. Credit: Ming Smith)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History and Sporting Witness stories.We hear about the Inuit children taken away from their homes and culture, to be educated in Canadian cities. Adamie Kalingo tells his story about being placed with a foster family in Ottawa in 1964. Dr Raven Sinclair explains how Adamie’s story was part of a wider program of resettling Indigenous children.Also, the crash at Le Mans which killed 80 people in 1955; the ceremony in 2005, organised by campaigner Ilguilas Weila, to free 7,000 slaves in Niger; plus, the forensic artist whose reconstructions have helped solve murders.Finally, we find out whether a man can ever beat a horse in a race.Contributors: Adamie Kalingo, taken from his Inuit community in 1964 Dr Raven Sinclair, retired professor of social work John Fitch, racing driver Ilguilas Weila, anti-slavery campaigner Richard Neave, forensic artist Huw Lobb, long distance runner Gordon Green, creator of the Man v Horse race(Photo: Adamie Kalingo in 2023. Credit: Adamie Kalingo)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes focusing on Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.It's 70 years since Edmund Hillary with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to reach the summit of Everest in 1953.We hear about some of the earliest, tragic attempts to scale the mountain, and from those who've blazed a trail up the slopes for others to follow.Contributors: Peter Hillary - Sir Edmund Hillary's son. Jamling Tenzing Norgay - Tenzing Norgay's son. Bachendri Pal - the first Indian woman to scale Mount Everest. Michael Groom - a survivor of the tragic expedition in 1996 when a storm struck the mountain. Jochen Hemmleb - an original member of the team that discovered George Mallory's remains.(Photo: Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary after their return from Everest. Credit: Bettmann)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear how a shocking photo from a Bosnian concentration camp stunned the world, what it's like to be in a tornado and the heroic clown who helped after an earthquake in Peru.Plus the 1980 military coup in Suriname and the moment in the 1960s when African de-colonisation might have led to a United States of Africa.This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.(Photo: Fikret Alic in a Bosnian refugee camp. Credit: ITN/Shutterstock)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the German children who were evacuated to camps in the countryside to avoid the bombs of World War Two. You may find some of the content distressing.Also we find out about the execution of Flor Contemplacion Plus the creation of the 3000 km Te Ararora trail in New Zealand, the Dambusters raid and the story behind the popular children’s book, Pippi Longstocking.Contributors: Gunter Stoppa and Klaus Reimer - German evacuee camp residents. This was taken from archive recordings from "Haus der Geschichte der Bundersrepublik Deutschland" in Bonn. Beate Muller - Professor of German Studies and Cultural History at Newcastle University, England Geoff Chapple who lobbied for the creation of the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand. Russel Contemplacion - Flor Contemplacion’s daughter Edre Olalia - Flor Contemplacion’s Lawyer George "Johnny" Johnson - the last survivor of the Dambusters squadron. Karin Nyman – Daughter of author Astrid Nyman(Photo: Flor Contemplacion. Credit: Russel Contemplacion)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear about the Allies' campaign in North Africa in the Second World War in 1943. Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2025, the BBC is trying to gather as many first-hand accounts from surviving veterans as possible, to preserve for future generations.Working with a number of partners, including the Normandy Memorial Trust and the Royal British Legion, the BBC has spoken to many men and women who served during the war. We are calling the collection World War Two: We were there.We also have the story of the last flight out of the old international Hong Kong airport in 1998. The approach to the airport was known as 'the Kai Tak heart attack' because of it's location between the mountains and the city.As well as the end of the uprising in the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw, the sinking of the 'Indian Titanic' and the United States' bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.Contributors: Peter Royle - British Army Captain in the Royal Artillery. Dr Helen Fry - author and historian, specialising in the Second World War. Simha "Kazik" Rotem - a Jewish fighter in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Arvind Jhani and Tej Mangat - survivors of the sinking of the SS Tilawa. Captain Kim Sharman - the pilot of the last passenger flight out of Kai Tak.(Photo: Tunis victory parade, 20 May 1943. Credit: Peter Royle)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the Scottish students who removed the 'Stone of Destiny' from Westminster Abbey in London. Former King Simeon II of Bulgaria explains how he went from child King to Prime Minister of his country. Also, why the body of Oliver Cromwell was dug up and executed in the UK in 1661. The son of Jean-Bédel Bokassa explains why his father proclaimed himself Emperor of the Central African Republic. Plus the story of the King found under a car park in England.Professor Cindy McCreery speaks to Max about royal thefts and repurposing of regal items.Contributors: Ian Hamilton, student who removed the 'Stone of Destiny. Cindy McCreery, Associate Professor in History at the University of Sydney. Charles Spencer, historian. Dr Gabriel Heaton, specialist at Sotheby's auction house. Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, former King and former Prime Minister of Bulgaria. Jean-Charles Bokassa, son of Jean-Béddel Bokassa. Dr Richard Buckley OBE, leader of the team which dug up Richard III's remains.(Photo: Jean-Béddel Bokassa after he crowned himself Emperor Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about Althea McNish, the Trinidadian artist who designed fabric for Queen Elizabeth II. Former Vogue editor Suzy Menkes on the success of the fashion celebration, the Met Gala. The Guatemalan Bishop, Juan Gerardi, killed in his home, after presenting the conclusions of a major investigation into abuses committed during the country's civil war. We remember Harry Belafonte, with a look back at his historic duet with Petula Clark.Plus the fight by the BBC to televise Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953.Contributors: Rose Sinclair, Lecturer in textile design at Goldsmiths, University of London. Gavin Douglas, Programme Leader and Senior Lecturer in fashion design at Manchester Metropolitan University. Suzy Menkes, former Vogue International Editor. Ronalth Ochaeta, former head of the Catholic Church’s human rights office in Guatemala. Steve Binder, TV producer. Lady Jane Rayne Lacey, a lady in waiting at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953.(Photo: Althea McNish Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear about the invention of the labradoodle, the first dog in space and how a Yorkshire terrier called Smoky became the world's first therapy dog.Author Mackenzi Lee talks about her book, The History of the World in Fifty Dogs. She discusses Napoleon Bonaparte's turbulent relationship with pugs and the first guide dogs in America. Plus, the guide dog who saved its owner's life during the 9/11 terror attacks and the man who dressed up as a dog to protest life in post-Soviet Russia.Contributors:Wally Conron - dog breeder. Mackenzi Lee - author. Michael Hingson - 9/11 terror attacks survivor. Professor Victor Yazdovsky - Russian immunologist. Oleg Kulik - Russian conceptual artist. Adrian Brigham - friend of American World War II veteran Bill Wynne.(Photo: Estie the labradoodle and Lola the cockapoo. Credit: Reena Stanton-Sharma)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear about the unearthing of a mass grave in Sernyky, Ukraine, in 1990, and when the Boston Marathon was the target of a terror attack in 2013.This programme contains distressing details.Contributors: James Bulgin - head of public history at the Imperial War Museum in Britain. Richard Wright - archaeologist. Jonathan Dimbleby - broadcaster. Edward Deveau - Watertown Chief of Police. Charles Barnett - managing director of Aintree Racecourse. Gary Anderson - designer.(Photo: David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear about the lengths one woman goes to to escape Eritrea, how Zumba was invented by accident and how a giant peace statue on a Japanese island, crumbled into a ghostly ruin.Plus the arguments then, and the arguments still over the Good Friday Peace Agreement for Northern Ireland, and a picnic for peace that breached the Iron Curtain.This programme contains descriptions of sexual violence.Contributors: Martin Plaut - Senior Research Fellow at University of London Semhar Ghebreslassie - Eritrean graduate Beto Perez - Choreographer and inventor of Zumba Jane Morrice - Yes campaigner in 1998 referendum on the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement Lee Reynolds - No campaigner in 1998 referendum on the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement Yusuke Natsukawa - Local resident of Awaji Island Goro Otsubo - IT worker who enjoys visiting weird sites around Japan Walburga Habsburg Douglas - an organiser of the Pan-European picnic(Photo: Zumba creator Beto Perez. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.We hear about Vietnam's manicure godfather, how Bengaluru became India's Silicon Valley and how the first ever photograph from a mobile phone was sent.Plus, the popularity of theoretical physicist Prof Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, and the windmill that revolutionised wind power.Contributors:Tuong Vu - Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon. Kien Nguyen - Wife of Minh Nguyen. Narayana Murthy - Founder of Infosys. Philippe Kahn - Software engineer and owner of world's first mobile phone photo. Peter Guzzardi - Publisher and editor. Britta Jensen - Teacher. (Photo: Minh and Kien Nguyen outside beauty school in California. Credit: Kien Nguyen)

Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories about the history of film and cinema from around the world, including the longest running film in Indian cinema, the man who lived in an airport for 18 years and the ambitious release of the orca from the movie, Free Willy.Plus, the real life escape from Alcatraz and the incredible story of Vietnamese movie star, Kieu Chinh.Contributors:Dr Ranita Chatterjee - Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of Exeter. Kajol - Indian actress. Kieu Chinh - Vietnamese actress. Andrew Donkin - Biographer of Mehran Karimi Nasseri. Jolene Babyak - Lived on Alcatraz Island. Dave Phillips - Founder of the Free Willy Keiko Foundation.(Photo: People queuing for DDLJ in Mumbai. Credit: Getty Images)

A compilation of stories marking the 20th anniversary of the American led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Caroline Hawley, who was the Baghdad correspondent for the BBC at the time, speaks to Max Pearson about reporting on Iraq. Contributors:Lubna Naji - schoolgirl in Baghdad when the war broke out. Yasir Dhannoon - became a refugee when he fled Iraq. General Vincent Brooks - first revealed the playing cards to help US troops identify the most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein's government. Muwafaq al Rubaie - was asked to help to identify Saddam Hussein after he was captured. Banwal Baba Dawud - brother to Ammo Baba.(Photo: US Marines help Iraqis take down a Saddam Hussein statue in Baghdad. Credit: RAMZI HAIDAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories celebrating women who made history including a ground-breaking, African American science fiction writer and the first presidential hopeful in Mexico. Plus the UN's first ever all-female peacekeeping unit, a woman who helped bring peace to Northern Ireland and a child goddess in Nepal.Contributors:Dr Brenda Stevenson - Hillary Rodham Clinton Chair in Women’s History at St John’s College, Oxford University. Nisi Shawl - friend of Octavia Butler. Rosario Piedra - daughter of Rosario Ibarra. Nick Caistor - journalist. Seema Dhundia - member of India’s Central Reserve Police Force. Lesley Pruitt - author of The Women in Blue Helmets. Monica McWilliams - one of the architects of the Good Friday Agreement. Chanira Bajrycharya - former child goddess in Nepal.(Photo: March for International Women's Day in Mexico City in 2023. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Uta Rautenberg from the University of Warwick in the UK, an expert on homophobia in Nazi camps.Rudolf Brazda recounts his experience of being a gay man in a Nazi concentration camp, symbolised by the pink triangle he was forced to wear on his uniform. Then, we hear first-hand accounts of the Indigenous American protest at Wounded Knee 50 years ago, and the assassination of Serbia's Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic, in 2003. We finish with two lighter stories: the world's most remote museum on the island of South Georgia and the first ever underwater sculpture park in the Caribbean.Contributors: Dr Uta Rautenberg - University of Warwick. Rudolf Brazda - Nazi concentration camp survivor. Russell Means - former National Director of the American Indian Movement. Gordana Matkovic - former Serbian cabinet minister. Jan Cheek - South Georgia Museum trustee. Jason deCaires Taylor - creator of Grenadian underwater sculpture park.(Photo: Marchers carry a pink triangle at a Gay Pride event in London. Credit: Steve Eason/Hulton Archive via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Philippe Sands, Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London, who tells us about the history of ethnic tensions in Mauritius. The programme begins with Kaya a Mauritian musician whose death sparked three days of rioting. Then, we hear from John Huckstep who was interned by the Japanese when living in China during World War Two. In the second half of the programme, we tell the story of how Semtex was invented, and the debate about where the German capital should be after reunification. Finally, the man who made the Queen appear to jump out of a helicopter tells us how he did it, with the help of corgis, a clothesline, the Queen's dresser and of course James Bond.Contributors: Veronique Topize - Kaya's widow. Cassam Uteem - Former President of Mauritius. Phillippe Sands - Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London. Jurgen Nimptsch - Former Mayor of Bonn. Wolfgang Schauble - Member of German Bundestag. John Huckstep - Held as a child at an interment camp in China. Stanislav Brebera - Brother of chemist who invented Semtex. Frank Cottrell-Boyce - Writer.(Photo: Mural of Kaya. Credit: BBC)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Ilaria Favretto, Affiliate Professor at Kingston University in London, who tells us about the history of workers' protests across Europe.The programme begins with a former union leader describing Italy's 'Hot Autumn' of 1969 when protests erupted. Then, we hear the archaeologist Howard Carter's remarkable account of opening the burial chamber of Tutankhamun, the Egyptian Pharaoh, 100 years ago.In the second half of the programme, we hear about the creation of Pokémon, and the coronation of Denmark's first Queen in 600 years. Finally, an American woman tells us how she became a Muay Thai boxing champion.Contributors: Ilaria Favretto - Affiliate Professor at Kingston University in London. Renzo Baricelli - Italian union leader. Howard Carter - British archaeologist. Akihito Tomisawa - Pokémon developer. Kjeld Olesen - Danish politician. Sylvie Von Duuglas-Ittu - Muay Thai boxer.

It has been 10 years since Pope Benedict XVI announced his shock resignation. It was the first time in almost 600 years that a pope had stepped down.In this programme, we hear stories about the history of the papacy, including how a pope is chosen, the inception of Vatican II and what happens when a pope dies.Contributors:Giovanna Chirri - former Ansa journalist Catherine Pepinster - former editor of Catholic newspaper, The Tablet Cormac Murphy-O'Connor - Cardinal John Strynkowski - Monsignor Beniamino Stella - Cardinal Don Davide Tisato - former professional footballer Felice Alborghetti - journalist from the Centro Sportivo Italiano(Photo: Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Credit: Getty Images)

The launch of the first black music station in Europe - the Dread Broadcasting Corporation in London in 1981 - and why Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.Plus the assassination of Burundian President Melchior Ndadaye, the Columbia space shuttle disaster and the bombing of the Palestine Post.Contributors:Michael Williams - former DBC station manager Carmella Jervier - DJ Dr Caroline Mitchell - Professor of Radio at the University of Sunderland Jean-Marie Ngendahayo - former minister in Burundi Václav Klaus - former prime minister of the Czech Republic Vladimír Mečiar - former prime minister of Slovakia Mordechai Chertoff - former foreign editor of the Palestine Post Admiral Hal Gehman - Chairman of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board(Photo: Radio Caroline Pirate Radio ship. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Chiara Sangiorgio, Death Penalty Adviser at Amnesty International, who tells us about the history of the death penalty and its effectiveness. The programme begins with two perspectives on capital punishment: Yoshikuni Noguchi recounts his time as a prison guard on death row in Japan in the 1970s; then we hear archive recordings of Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's most famous hangman. Poland's former-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Radosław Sikorski, describes how close he came to death in the 2010 Smolensk air disaster, in which the country's President was killed. Paul McLoone, the frontman of The Undertones, a punk-rock band, tells the bizarre story of how he became the broadcasting voice of IRA commander Martin McGuinness when the organisation was banned from British airwaves in 1988. Finally, Karlheinz Brandenburg explains how he revolutionised the way we listen to music through his invention of the MP3. Contributors:Chiara Sangiorgio - Death Penalty Adviser at Amnesty International Yoshikuni Noguchi - Japanese death row prison guard. Albert Pierrepoint - British executioner. Radosław Sikorski - former-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland. Paul McCloone - band member of The Undertones and the voice of Martin McGuinness. Karlheinz Brandenburg - inventor of the MP3.(Photo: Nooses. Credit: Rebecca Redmond/EyeEm via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.These include memories of the horsemeat scandal of 2013 from the man who uncovered what was happening. We'll hear analysis of other historical food scandals from expert Professor Saskia van Ruth.Plus the last passenger off the plane, which landed on the Hudson river in 2009, shares his story.Also on the programme: secret schools for Kosovar Albanians, nuclear testing in Algeria and teenagers with narcolepsy in Sweden. Contributors: Professor Alan Reilly - former Chief Executive of the Irish Food Safety Authority Professor Saskia van Ruth - expert on food authenticity and integrity of supply networks, based at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland Christopher Tyvi - lives with narcolepsy Abdelkrim Touhami - lives near former nuclear testing site in Algeria Linda Gusia - former student of Kosovo house schools Professor Drita Halimi - former Kosovo house school teacher Dave Sanderson - last passenger off US Airways flight 1549(Photo: Raw burgers. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.You'll hear the story of how a marine biologist made a shocking discovery finding small bits of plastics floating thousands of miles of the east coast of America. Then, marine biologist Christine Figgener talks about the history of oceans.Also, the world's first transatlantic concert, a dispute over sea cucumbers in the Galapagos Islands, the world's first tidal power station and the first woman to win a Olympic windsurfing gold medal.(Photo: Garbage on beach. Credit: Getty Images)Contributors: Edward Carpenter - Marine biologist John Liffen - Curator emeritus at the Science Museum in London Marcos Escaraby - Fisherman in the Galapagos Islands Alan Tye - Conservationist Marc Bonnel - Brittany historian Babara Kendall - Windsurfing champion

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.You'll hear the story of how a protest led by the punk band Pussy Riot in one of Moscow's main cathedrals led to a trial which made the news inside Russia and around the world.Then, historian Robert Service talks about other examples of rebellion, from the time of the Russian empire through to modern day. Also, the man Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet wanted dead, the most bizarre football match of all time and the African man who travelled across the world to live in the Arctic.(Photo: Pussy Riot. Credit: Getty Images)Contributors: Diana Burkot - member of Pussy Riot Robert Service - Professor of Russian History at the University of Oxford Carmen Castillo - wife of Miguel Enriquez who led resistance against Augusto Pichochet Paul Lambert - former Scotland footballer Alan Matarasso - American plastic surgeon Tété-Michel Kpomassie - Arctic explorer

Stories about the history of food, including the creation of ciabatta bread by a rally driver in Italy in 1982 and the Maltese bakers' strike in 1977.Also, the invention of instant noodles in Japan, the start of the Slow Food Movement in Rome and the creation of Chicken Manchurian in India.(Photo: Different shaped artisan bread loaves. Credit: Getty Images)Contributors: Marco Vianello - baker and friend of the creator of ciabatta, Arnaldo Cavallari Noel Buttigieg - food historian Dr Sue Bailey - food historian, writer and lecturer Carlo Petrini - founder of the Slow Food Movement Momofuku Ando - colleague of the inventor of instant noodles, Yukitaka Tsutsui Edward Wang - son of Nelson Wang, the chef behind Chicken Manchurian

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.Sir Trevor McDonald reflects on the BBC's first black producer, Una Marson, and her legacy in the development of the BBC Caribbean Service.Also, how the BBC managed to broadcast through the Iron Curtain, Colombia's false positives scandal and the incredible rescue of 33 miners trapped in Chile.(Photo: Sir Trevor McDonald. Credit: BBC)Contributors: Sir Trevor McDonald, Una Marson, Debbie Ransome and Neil Nunes - BBC presenters Bridget Kendall - the BBC’s former Moscow correspondent Peter Udell - the BBC's former controller of European Services Jacqueline Castillo - whose brother was a victim of the 'false positives' scandal Dr Aslan Doukaev - university teacher when the first Chechen war started Mario Sepulveda - Chilean mine disaster survivor

The forced removal of families who weren't white from District Six, in Cape Town, by the South African apartheid regime and the man who jumped from space back to earth.Also, stories about a Soviet fashionista, the Nazi occupation of Jersey and the Mongolia Revolution. (Photo: District Six, circa 1969, in Cape Town. Credit: Getty Images)Contributors: Zahra Nordien - who was forced out of District Six in Cape Town in 1977 Chrischené Julius - the manager of Collections, Research and Documentation at the District Six Museum Jenny Lecoat - the great-niece of Louisa Gould, who hid a Russian man from Nazis in Jersey Ganbold Davaadorj - a pro-democracy protestor in Mongolia Slava Zaitsev - Russian fashion designer Felix Baumgartner - daredevil

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.We go to Quebec in 1995 when voters went to the polls to decide whether the province should declare independence from Canada.Tim Marshall, the author of The Power of Geography and presenter of the World Service podcast, The Compass, explores other referendums which have taken place in recent history.Plus the creation of children's TV series Teletubbies in 1994. It became a global hit.(Photo: Voters gather in the streets of Barcelona. Credit: Marco Panzetti/NurPhoto Getty Images)Contributors: Jean-François Lisée and Stephane Dion - on the Quebec referendum Paul Kelly - Australian political correspondent Praveen Jain - Indian photojournalist Patricia da Silva - Jean Charles de Menezes' cousin Anne Wood- creator of Teletubbies

Max Pearson presents a compilation of this week's Witness History programmes from the BBC World Service.We hear from a man who was aged six when he was among the Japanese families expelled from his island home, as it was taken over by the Soviet Union after the Second World War. Our guest is Professor Haruko Satoh from Osaka University who analyses recent Japan-Russian relations and the impact of the invasion of Ukraine.Twenty years after the Mombasa hotel bombing, a survivor recounts her experience. Also, the virologist who smuggled live HIV into Bulgaria in her handbag so she could start testing people.Plus the flour protests at the 1970 Miss World contest and the history of a keep fit phenomenon.Contributors: Yuzo Matsumoto - taken from his home on Etorofu in 1947 Professor Haruko Satoh - Osaka University Sally Alexander - protester at Miss World 1970 Kelly Hartog - survivor of the Mombasa hotel bombing Professor Radka Argirova - virologist from Bulgaria Annie Thorisdottir - CrossFit world champion

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Malaysia's Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, recounts being put on trial for sodomy and corruption. Our guest is the BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Jonathan Head, who tells us about Malaysian political history. Iran's first women's minister describes the challenges she had to overcome. We hear how the seat belt and cat's eyes were invented. And a Swedish man remembers the chaos when his country switched to driving on the right-hand-side of the road.Contributors: Anwar Ibrahim - Malaysian Prime Minister. Mahnaz Afkhami - Iran's first Minister of Women's Affairs. Gunnar Ornmark - step-son of the inventor of the modern seat belt. Glenda Shaw - great-niece of the inventor of cat's eyes. Bjorn Sylvern - on Sweden switching to driving on the right-hand-side.

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes, which focus on the Arabian Peninsula to mark the start of the football World Cup in Qatar. Our guest is Dr Wafa Alsayed, Lecturer in Political Science and History at the Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait.We hear about how the states across the peninsula won independence, and speak to the architect of the region's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.There's also the invention of the robot camel jockey, and a pioneering female Qatari author.On the World Cup theme, we end with the story of American popstar Diana Ross missing a penalty during the opening ceremony of the 1994 tournament.Contributors: Mohammed Al-Fahim on the formation of the UAE Adrian Smith, architect of the Burj Khalifa Kaltham Jaber, Qatari author Esan Maruff who developed robot camel jockeys Alan Rothenberg who organised the 1994 World Cup(Photo: Dubai skyline. Credit: Getty Images)

A collection of Witness History episodes, presented by Max Pearson. We look at how racism led to raids in the 1970s and protests in the 1980s in New Zealand, and the assassination of Pim Fortyn. In New Zealand in the 1970s, dawn raids targeted Polynesian migrants who had overstayed their work permits. In response, the community formed a resistance group, the Polynesian Panthers, in June 1971. Professor Niki Alsford of Asia Pacific Studies at the University of Central Lancashire in England, describes the importance of the apology by the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden was to Pacific Islanders in 2021. It’s been 20 years since one of the most controversial politicians in Europe was assassinated just days before a general election. We hear from a TV reporter who was one of the first people on the scene after Pim Fortuyn was shot. (Photo: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden at a service to apologise to Pacific Islanders. Credit: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

A collection of Witness History episodes, looking at how young men in Africa have been exploited through football and and sex-selective abortion in India. Presented by Max Pearson. For millions of gamers all over the world Tonton Zola Moukoko is a cult hero. The Swedish-Congolese footballer found fame as a brilliant player in the computer game series Championship Manager. But in the real world, things were very different. African football expert and journalist Oluwashina Okeleji reports on the historic treatment of young African footballers as they try to break into European professional leagues. And we hear from feminist activist Manisha Gupte in India, who has campaigned against sex-selective abortion, eventually raising enough awareness to bring about a national law in 1994 - the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act.(Photo: Tonton in front of screenshot of Championship Manager. Credit: Tonton Zola Moukoko)

A collection of Witness History episodes, this week focusing on global events where women have taken a stand for equality from Sudan to Iran and Australia. In Iran in 1979, Islamic rules about how women dressed were just one of the issues women objected to during the Iranian revolution. The BBC's Rana Rahimpour discusses the protests currently taking place in Iran triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini with echoes of what happened in 1979. We also head to Sudan in 1991 when a law was introduced to control how women acted and dressed in public resulting in arrests, beatings and deaths. And we hear from a survivor of the 2002 Moscow siege when heavily armed Chechen rebels took an entire theatre full of people hostage, with some disturbing scenes.(Photo: Women during the Iranian revolution in 1979. Credit: Alain Dejean/Sygma via Getty Images)

A collection of the latest Witness History programmes which are all about Cuba. Presented by Max Pearson, who speaks to boxing journalist Steve Bunce about the nation's great boxers. Earlier this year, Cuba lifted the ban on professional boxing, which Fidel Castro imposed in 1962. Rachel Naylor speaks to Mike ‘The Rebel’ Perez, who escaped in 2007 after being rewarded with a fizzy drink and two snapper fish after winning a world amateur title for his country. His defection needed the assistance of Mexican gangsters, an Irish promoter with an eye for a winning fighter and a fishing boat. We also hear about a campaign aimed at eradicating illiteracy, a baseball match between Cuba and the US that was an act of diplomacy and the Cuban Missile Crisis which saw the world brought to the brink of nuclear war. (Photo: Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson at the 1980 Olympics. Credit: Jerry Cooke via Getty Images)

A collection of the latest Witness History programmes, presented by Max Pearson. We look at moments from around the world when workers took industrial action in pursuit of better conditions from geisha in Japan to tortured wig factory workers in South Korea. This programme contains descriptions of torture.Disney cartoonists went on strike for nine weeks in 1941. They were led by Art Babbitt, Disney’s top animator who created Goofy. The picket line was remarkable for its colourful artwork and support from Hollywood actors.Anousha Sakoui, an entertainment industry writer for the Los Angeles Times discusses the impact of the Disney strikes and significant moments when Hollywood workers fought for their rights. (Photo: Art Babbitt leads Disney animators holding placards with cartoon characters at a film premiere. Credit: Kosti Ruohomaa, a former Disney worker, courtesy of Cowan-Fouts Collection)

A collection of this week's Witness History programmes, presented by Max Pearson. The guest is Dr Emily Zobel Marshall. She explains the rise of festivals around the world celebrating Caribbean culture.In 1962, Nigerian man Phil Magbotiwan opened a brand new nightclub in Manchester, UK. In part because of his own personal experiences of racism, Phil wanted to create somewhere where everyone would be welcome – Manchester’s first racially inclusive nightclub. The Reno was born. Phil’s youngest daughter, Lisa Ayegun has been speaking to Matt Pintus about the venue. This programme contains descriptions of racial discrimination.We also hear about how an Israeli solider was brought back home after spending five years in captivity in Gaza, the fall of Slobodan Milosevic and how a low budget film staring musician Jimmy Cliff brought reggae to the world.(Photo: A woman having a good time at Claudia Jones' Caribbean carnival, at St Pancras Town Hall in London, 1959. Credit: Daily Mirror via Getty Images)

A collection of this week's Witness History programmes, presented by Max Pearson. The guest is Nicholas Smith, author of "Kicks: The Great American Story of Sneakers" and Presenter of the BBC's "Sneakernomics" podcast. He explains how footwear revolutionised sport and became high-fashion.In 1948, two brothers from a small German town called Rudi and Adi Dassler created the sportswear firms Puma and Adidas. Reena Stanton-Sharma hears from Adi Dassler’s daughter, Sigi Dassler, who remembers her father's obsession with footwear and talks about her fondness for the rappers, Run-DMC, who paid tribute to her dad’s shoes in a song.We also hear about one man's mission to castrate Pablo Escobar's hippos, the unpredictable rule of Kenya's former President, Jomo Kenyatta, the 'Japanese Schindler', and the raising of the 400-year-old Mary Rose.(Photo: Adi Dassler. Credit: Brauner/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

We look at some of the broadcasts delivered by Queen Elizabeth II including her first radio address to the children of the Commonwealth on 13 October 1940. Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond looks back on the Queen's significant moments in front of a microphone. Pope Paul VI's first visit to Africa when he travelled to Uganda in 1969, and was hosted by an Ismaili Muslim family and the start of the Iran-Iraq war in September 1980.(Photo: Princess Elizabeth makes a broadcast from the gardens of Government House in Cape Town, South Africa, on her 21st birthday. Credit: BBC)

We hear personal accounts of historical moments during the seventy year reign of Queen Elizabeth II. Memories from the Queen's maids of honour from her coronation in 1953; the huge race her horse very nearly won as well as the Windsor Castle fire and the opening to the public of Buckingham Palace.Presented by Max Pearson.(Photo: Queen Elizabeth II. Credit: Getty Images)

Stories from Brazil, ahead of the presidential election in October, including the murder of Tim Lopes, the hero of Brazilian democracy and the Candelaria Massacre.Plus the creation of the capital, Brasilia, and the history of the Fusca - the car that charmed Brazil.This programme contains descriptions of violence and some listeners may find parts of it distressing.(Photo: Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. Credit: Buena Vista Images)

The former President of the Soviet Union's reforms in 1987, known as Perestroika, and the release of the dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya in 1986.Plus a survivor of the Marikana Massacre in South Africa, the Native American nicknamed 'the Last Indian' and Princess Diana's dance with John Travolta at the White House.(Photo: Mikhail Gorbachev (centre right) meets with the Warsaw Pact Foreign Ministers' Committee in Moscow in 1987. Credit: AFP / Getty Images)

A compilation of witness accounts from when inflation and the cost of living were seriously affecting people's lives, among other topics.In 1971, inflation was a huge problem in the USA so the President, Richard Nixon, made one of the most drastic moves in economic history; abandoning the Gold Standard. It became known as the 'Nixon Shock' and nearly caused a trade war between America and its allies. But, it also saved the US economy from a crisis. Ben Henderson spoke to Bob Hormats, an economic adviser in the Nixon administration, who was at the heart of decision-making.In 1997, Bulgaria was in financial meltdown with hyperinflation making money worth a lot less. The country had emerged out of communism following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989. Like other post-Soviet regimes, the country found the transition from communism to capitalism harder than expected. The President of Bulgaria, Petar Stoyanov, knew he had to do something and a recovery plan from one of Ronald Reagan’s key economic advisers was on the table. But would it work? Matt Pintus has been speaking to Steve Hanke, an economics professor.In January 1980, Indira Gandhi's Congress (I) party was voted into power in India. Before the election, inflation meant that the cost of onions was unaffordable for many Indians. The price of the vegetable became a political hot potato in the election campaign. Reena Stanton-Sharma spoke to Suda Pai, a former Professor of Political Science at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.In 2012, Syrian government soldiers surrounded Darayya, a suburb of Damascus, bombing buildings and searching for people who had spoken out against President Assad. Hundreds of people died over four days in what was described by activists as a “massacre”. Mohamad Zarda has been speaking to Laura Jones.It has been 40 years since the first Gay Games were held in San Francisco in 1982. Attracting a large crowd and featuring more than 1,000 athletes from more than 100 countries, the event was organised by a group of LGBT activists, including former Olympians, to raise awareness of homophobia in sport. The Gay Games are now held every four years at venues around the world. In 2019, Ashley Byrne spoke to organiser Sara Waddell Lewinstein and athlete Rick Tomin. A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service. (Photo: President Richard Nixon with his economic advisers in 1971. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories marking 75 years since India's Partition. We'll hear the stories of people from both sides of the divide and find out about partition’s effect on the subcontinent’s diaspora.Also, the daughter of the last British Viceroy in India, Lord Mountbatten, remembers the transfer of power in 1947. Plus, we'll hear about the death of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and how one of India’s greatest poets known as the ‘Bard of Bengal’, Rabindranath Tagore, became the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize for Literature.(Photo: Wrecked buildings after communal riots in Amritsar, Punjab, during the Partition of British India, March 1947. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson introduces first-hand accounts of the nightclub that changed Ibiza, some of the worst forest fires in history, the resignation of Richard Nixon, discovering the Hale Bopp comet and Sweden’s pronoun battle.(Photo: Sunset over the sea in Ibiza with boats in the distance. Credit: BBC and Minnow Films)

Compilation of stories marking 50 years since Idi Amin expelled thousands of Asians from Uganda in 1972. We hear about why they migrated there, their expulsion, and what they did next.Jamie Govani’s grandparents always dreamed about finding a better life away from India. After getting married in the Indian state of Gujarat in the 1920s, they decided to pack their bags and move to Uganda with their young family. It was a wonderful place to grow up for Jamie, but racial segregation lingered in the background, and things began to change after Ugandan independence in 1962. She’s been speaking to Ben Henderson. As well as in Uganda, there was also an Asian population in Kenya, who experienced discrimination. This was initially from white settlers but, after independence, it came from black Kenyans too. Following the partition of India in 1947, Saleem Sheikh’s parents fled to Kenya. His family joined a thriving Asian community there. But, they were forced to leave in the late 1960s after a rise in violence against the Asian population. Saleem tells Ben Henderson about his life.In August 1972, the dictator Idi Amin announced that all Asians had just 90 days to leave Uganda. Nurdin Dawood, who was a teacher with a young family, initially didn't believe that Amin was being serious. But soon he was desperately searching for a country to call home. He spoke to his daughter Farhana Dawood in 2011. Thousands of Asians who were expelled from Uganda in 1972 settled in the UK and many made the city of Leicester their home. They helped to shape the east Midlands city’s identity with lots of new businesses. Now Leicester has the largest Diwali celebrations outside of India. Nisha Popat was nine-years-old when she arrived there with her family who later opened a restaurant in the area that became known as the Golden Mile. Nisha tells her story to Reena Stanton-Sharma. President Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986. He encouraged exiled Asians to return to Uganda and reclaim their homes and businesses in order to rebuild the country. The economy had collapsed under the dictator Idi Amin. Dr. Mumtaz Kassam was one of the people who went back to Uganda years after arriving in the UK as a refugee. She talks to Reena Stanton-Sharma about returning to the country that had expelled her.(Picture of Jamie Govani's grandparents, aunts and uncles in Uganda in the 1950s)The following programme has been updated since its original broadcast.

A student protest in Ukraine, the Surkov leaks, the world’s deadliest ever earthquake, a leaflet bomber in South Africa and the invention of the nicotine patch.(Photo: Oksana Zabuzhko wearing a red jumper at the Revolution on Granite in 1990)

The history of television from around the world and its enduring impact, including a look at Nigeria's sitcom Papa Ajasco and an interview with actor turned food writer and Indian TV cook Madhur Jaffrey. Also we take you behind the scenes of telenovelas- Mexican soap operas and one of the most successful drama schools in Latin America The Centro de Educación Artística.