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BBC World Service


A compilation of the latest Witness History programmes.


The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. 

We start with a BBC archive interview where one woman recounts what it was like to survive the earthquake and landside in 1961 following the volcanic eruption in Tristan da Cunha. Our guest is Anne Green, a retired schoolteacher from the island of Tristan da Cunha. She describes what it was like to return to the island in 1963. 

Then, the rare eyewitness account from a 105-year-old who is the only Briton alive today, that was at the ceremony when Japan surrendered to China in Beijing at the end of eight years of brutal occupation. 

Next, the economist who in 2001 wrote a report about countries set to shape the world economy, accidentally coining the acronym BRICS. 

Plus, the man who won the national competition to design the Indian rupee symbol when he was just a student. 

Finally, the story of how VHS and Betamax battled over which video recorder would win the home entertainment market. 

Contributors:
Anne Green - former teacher from Tristan da Cunha
Archive interview with Mary Swain - resident of Tristan da Cunha
John Stanfield - British Army veteren 
Jim O'Neill - economist 
Udaya Kumar Dharmalingam - Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Marc Wielage - digital colourist

(Photo: Tristan Da Cunha islanders arriving in England in 1961. Credit: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The evacuation of Tristan da Cunha and Japan surrenders to China at the end of World War Two

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes.

Tea expert Sabita Banerji talks about the history of tea in India. We look back at how women teapickers in 2015 fought for justice - and improved the lives of thousands of tea plantation workers.

We hear the story of a famous photo of American president John F Kennedy working at his desk in the White House - with his cheeky young son underneath.

Also, from 1985 one of the most notorious killings from the apartheid era in South Africa of the men who became known as the Cradock four - this includes graphic descriptions of violence.

It’s 30 years since American football star OJ Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife and her friend. We hear from one of his former friends who testified against him in the criminal trial including his desciptions of the injuries suffered by the victims.

And finally, it’s 40 years this week since the release of Microsoft Excel, the spreadsheet software that's now used all over the world. We hear from one of the creators.

Contributors:
Rajeshwary - tea plantation worker.
Sabita Banerji - founder of Thirst tea charity.
Lukhanyo Calata - son of Fort Calata, one of the Cradock Four.
Ron Shipp - who testified against OJ Simpson.
Mike Koss – one of the creators of Microsoft Excel.
Plus, archive recordings of American photographer Stanley Tretick from the John F Kennedy Library and Museum.

(Photo: Female tea pickers on strike in Munnar. Credit: Countercurrents.org)

India's nine day tea strike and the birth of the Excel spreadsheet

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes taking us from India to Texas. 

Professor Sunny Singh, author of A Bollywood State of Mind, discusses the origins of Indian cinema in 1912. And we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of Bollywood romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. 

We also head to Paris in 1971, to the launch of what would become one of the world’s best known humanitarian organisations: Médecins Sans Frontières.

And we learn how Lord Robert Baden-Powell laid the foundations for one of the largest international youth organisations.

Finally, we discover how Bette Graham, a single mum from Texas cooked up the first correction fluid in her kitchen. 

Contributors: 
Kajol, Bollywood actress
Professor Sunny Singh, author of A Bollywood State of Mind
Asmaou Diallo, mother of a protestor who was killed in the 2009 Guinea rally
Dr Xavier Emmanuelli, one of the founders of Medecins San Frontieres

(Photo: Maratha Mandir cinema in Mumbai. Credit: Indranil Mukherjee AFP via Getty Images)

The origins of Indian cinema and the start of Scouting

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes, all with an Egyptian theme.

We find out more about the 2014 fight against sexual harassment. And we hear from Professor Nicola Pratt, an expert on Middle East feminism about the significance of that moment in the fight for women's rights.

Also, we go to the 1960s when antiquities were saved to make way for the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile. And recollections from Egypt's first free democratic presidential election in 2012. Plus, the woman who broke the convention of the role of a first lady to help change divorce laws. And finally, we remember the moment the egyptian actor Omar Sharif swept onto the world stage in Lawrence of Arabia.

Contributors:
Engy Ghozlan - co-founder of HarassMap 
Professor Herman Bell - scientist
Rabab El-Mahdi - chief strategist to one of Mohamed Morsi's rival candidates
Jehan Sadat - wife of President Anwar Sadat who helped change divorce laws
Archive recordings of Egyptian actor Omar Sharif

(Photo: Women at a protest in Cairo, Egypt, in 2014. Credit: Getty Images)

The fight against sexual harassment in Egypt and Omar Sharif enters the world stage

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Lucy Durán, a Spanish ethnomusicologist, record producer and Professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. 

We start with an African American artist who recounts exhibiting her work at Nigeria's largest ever festival of African arts and culture in 1977. 

Then, the testimony of a pilot stranded in airspace following the 9/11 terror attack.

A 94-year-old Jewish refugee remembers how she was saved by the Philippines during World War Two.

The first woman to complete the challenge of crossing straits of the world’s Seven Seas, reveals how she was inspired by a traditional Bengali folk tale.

Finally, from a BBC archive interview in 1974, the story of how a satirical book, that was a parody of management theory, became an instant classic in 1969.

Contributors:
Lucy Durán - Spanish ethnomusicologist
Viola Burley Leak - artist
Beverley Bass - American Airlines pilot
Lotte Hershfield - former Jewish refugee in the Philippines
Bula Choudhury - Indian long-distance swimmer
Archive interview with Dr Laurence J Peter - Canadian academic

(Photo: The official emblem of festac'77. Credit: Alamy)

Nigeria’s Festac’77 and Gander’s generosity during 9/11

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

The formation of an unconventional special force during the Second World War sparks a discussion about three others around the world with military historian Lucy Betteridge-Dyson.

Plus, the founding of the United States Agency for International Development, the discovery of the wreck of the Titanic 40 years ago and the first baby born after a womb transplant. 

Finally, Mexican-American boxer Oscar De La Hoya's toughest test - a clash with Ghana's Ike 'Bazooka' Quartey and how the online marketplace started at a house party in Lithuania in the noughties.

The first item contains outdated and offensive language.

Contributors:
Major General Orde Wingate - leader of the Chindits.
Baroness Jackson - economist who influenced the founding of USAID.
Cathy Offinger and Jean Louis Michel - explorers who helped find the wreck of the Titanic.
Prof Pernilla Dahm-Kähler - gynaecologist who helped deliver the first baby after a womb transplant.
Oscar De La Hoya - boxer nicknamed 'the Golden Boy of Boxing'.
Milda Mitkutė - co-founder of Vinted.

This programme has been updated since the original broadcast to add additional context.

(Photo: Members of the Chindits in the jungle in Burma, now Myanmar. Credit: Hulton Archive / Getty Images)

The Chindits and USAID

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.

We learn why the Mount Pleasant riots erupted in Washington DC in 1991, and hear from our guest, Sarah Jane Shoenfeld, a public historian of the US capital. 

Plus, more on John Lennon’s benefit concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York, his final and only full-length solo shows after leaving The Beatles.

And the story behind how the world's first permanent international criminal court was created in 1998. 

Also, when the internet security tool, Captcha, moved from an idea to a reality, and why a photo of Chile’s goalkeeper in 1989 exposed a cheating scandal. 

Finally, a peak behind the scenes of the making of a noir film classic, The Third Man. 

Contributors:

Victor ‘Lilo’ Gonzalez – Mount Pleasant resident.
Sarah Jane Shoenfeld - public historian.
Andrei Broder – computer scientist.
Judge Phillipe Kirsch – chair of the Rome conference.
Geraldo Rivera – TV journalist.
Ricardo Alfieri – sports photographer.
Angela Allen - production assistant.

(Photo: Capitol Building, Washington DC. Credit: Getty Images)

Washington DC and a film noir classic

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Jacquie McNish, author and former Senior Correspondent at the Wall Street Journal.

We start with the former co-CEO of BlackBerry, who recounts the company's remarkable boom and bust.

Then, the creation of the Spot the dog children's books in the 1970s. 

We hear the testimony of a US soldier who defected to the Soviet Bloc in the 1950s.

An author recalls how her 2010 book challenged Norway's immigration policy.

The inside story of the creation of the Women's Rugby World Cup in 1991.

Finally, the 19th century battle that inspired the Geneva Conventions.

Contributors:

Jim Balsillie - former BlackBerry co-CEO.
Jacquie McNish - Author and former Senior Correspondent at the Wall Street Journal.
Chris Hill - son of Eric Hill, creator of Spot the dog.
Victor Grossman - US soldier who defected to the Soviet Bloc.
Maria Amelie - author of book on Norway's immigration system.
Alice D Cooper - organiser of the first Women's Rugby World Cup.
Henry Dunant - instigator of the Geneva Conventions, diary read by his descendant Gabriel Martinez.

(Photo: Jim Balsillie, former co-CEO of BlackBerry. Credit: Visual China Group via Getty Images)

BlackBerry phones and Spot the dog

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

Our guest is Dr Anne-Lot Hoek, a research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.

This week, we’re looking at key moments in Indonesian history, as the country marks 80 years since independence. 

We start by hearing about the writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who wrote Buru Quartet while imprisoned in the notorious labour camp on Buru island.

Then, the reopening of the worlds’ largest Buddhist monument after major restoration work.

Plus, 50 years since the Santa Cruz massacre, when Indonesian troops opened fire on independence activists.

Also, Jakarta’s ban on the use of dancing monkeys on the city’s streets.
 
And, the discovery of a new species of human.

Contributors: 

Pramoedya Ananta Toer - archive recordings of the writer.

Werdi – one of the workers on the project.

Dr Anne-Lot Hoek - research fellow at the International Institution of Social History in Amsterdam.

Max Stahl - archive recordings of the British cameraman.

Femke den Haas – animal rights activist.

Peter Brown - Australian paleoanthropologist.

(Photo: Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Credit: Reuters)

Indonesian history

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Simone Turchetti, Professor of the History of Science and Technology, at The University of Manchester in the UK. 

It's 80 years since the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, forcing Japan to surrender at the end of the Second World War. We hear from a British prisoner of war who was in Nagasaki at the time.

Then, the son of musician Dmitri Shostakovich tells of his famous father’s confrontation with Stalin in the 1930s. 

Also, the story of a man who survived an 8.6 magnitude earthquake that shook the Himalayan mountains in 1950.

Plus, Singapore's tense and tearful 1965 separation from the Federation of Malaysia and the detective who tracked down the gang responsible for Brazil's biggest bank heist.

Contributors:
Simone Turchetti - Professor of the History of Science and Technology, at The University of Manchester.
Maxim Shostakovich – son of musician Dmitri Shostakovich
Manjeet Kaur- remembering Singapore independence in 1965.
Antonio Celso Dos Santos – detective in Brazil 
Plus, archive recording of Geoff Sherring, a British prisoner of war in Nagasaki and Frank Kingdon-Ward who survived an earthquake that shook the Himalayan mountains in 1950.

(Photo: Nuclear explosion over Nagasaki. Credit: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The Chindits and USAID

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