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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.
This programme contains distressing details.

Our guest is Bárbara Fernández Melleda, Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies at the University of Hong Kong.

We start with Chilean author Isabel Allende on her debut novel, The House of the Spirits, in 1982 which reflects Chile’s 20th century history.

Then, we hear the memories of a soldier injured in the Battle of Gallipoli.

The recollections of a mother who lost both her daughters in a crowd crush at Hillsborough stadium in 1989 - the UK's worst sporting disaster.

How a British artist's unmade bed was nominated for a prestigious art prize in 1999.

Next the swimsuit made ahead of the Beijing Olympic games in 2008 that was so good it had to be banned.

Finally, we learn about the world's longest running animated TV series that began in 1969.

Contributors:

Isabel Allende - a Chilean author.

Rupert Westmacott - a soldier (from archive).

Jenni Hicks - a mother who lost her two daughters in the Hillsborough tragedy.

Dame Tracey Emin - an artist.

Jason Rance - former head of Speedo's global research and development team.

Sunishi Yukimuro - an animated cartoon writer.

(Image: Chilean author Isabel Allende. Credit: Felipe Amilibia/AFP via Getty Images)

The House of the Spirits and Tracey Emin's unmade bed

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

Our guest is Professor Barbara Keys, a specialist in US history at Durham University.

We start with a celebration of the American Freedom Train, as the US prepares to mark 250 years of independence. 

Then, the South African railway enthusiast who created one of the most luxurious train services in the world.

We hear about the invention of text messaging and how it changed the way we communicate. 

Plus, 75 years of Radio Free Europe broadcasting news to audiences behind the Iron Curtain.

The thousand-year-long musical composition that's due to end in 2999. 

And our Sporting Witness looks at how a British teenager won a six-month contract to play for Italian champions Inter Milan. 

Contributors: 

Lou Nelson - former security guard on the American Freedom Train 1975-76.

Rohan Vos - founder and CEO of Rovos Rail.

Friedhelm "Fred" Hillebrand - inventor of SMS and text messaging.

Arch Puddington - former deputy director Radio Free Europe.

Jem Finer - musician and composer of Longplayer.

Ben Greenhalgh - Margate player-manager and winner of reality show "Football's Next Star".

(Photo: American Freedom Train, 1976. Credit: NARA/DVIDS)

The American Freedom Train and the invention of text messaging

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

We learn about how Play-Doh evolved from a cleaning product to a childhood favourite and the creation of one of the best-selling board games of all time, Catan. 

Our guest is the editor of Toy World Magazine, Caroline Tonks, who takes us through the history of toy crazes. 

We also hear about the invention of the hoverboard, and how the Tamagotchi allowed people to have their own virtual pet. 

Plus, how the family favourite game, Jenga, was born in 1970s Ghana. 

And our Sporting Witness looks at how a piece of software revolutionised the game of football through data analysis. 

Contributors: 

Peg Roberts – daughter of Kay Zufall 

Benjamin Teuber – son of Catan inventor Klaus Teuber 

Caroline Tonks – editor of Toy World Magazine 

Shane Chen – the inventor of the hoverboard 

Akihiro Yokoi – the inventor of the Tamgotchi 

Leslie Scott – the creator of the game Jenga 

Ramm Mylavaganam – inventor of ProZone

(Photo: The Tamagotchi was introduced in 1996 and is one of the best-selling toys in history. Credit: Reuters)

The history of toys

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

We learn about how a Norwegian businessman brought salmon sushi to Japan in the 1980s. 

Our guest is cookbook author Nancy Singleton Hachisu, who tells us more about the history of sushi in Japan and around the world. 

We hear about the first opera written for TV in 1950s America and how U.S Marshalls used fake NFL tickets to capture some of Washington DC’s most wanted. 

Plus, how disability rights campaigners in India led to a change in the law in 1995 and when Scotland played hockey in Germany during the cold war. 

Finally, the story of when Laurel and Hardy spent Christmas at an English country pub. 

Contributors: 

Bjørn-Eirik – Norwegian businessman who brought salmon sushi to Japan 

Nancy Singleton Hachisu – cookbook author

Archive of Gian Carlo Menotti – Italian composer 

Stacia Hylton – former U.S Marshall 

Javed Abidi – Indian disability rights campaigner 

Archive of customers at The Bull Inn – the pub that Laurel and Hardy visited in 1953

Valerie Sinclair – member of Scotland's hockey team who played West Germany in 1961 

(Photo: Japanese demonstration to Norwegian royal family. Credit: Bjørn-Eirik Olson)

Norway’s sushi contribution and Laurel and Hardy’s Christmas

We start with the street artist Banksy, and his 2015 dystopian 'bemusement park'.

Then, we talk to roller coaster enthusiast Megan MacCausland, from the European Coaster Club. 

Plus, we go back through the BBC archives to tell the story of the coelacanth, a fish believed to have been extinct for 65 million years. 

Next, South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up after the abolishment of apartheid in the 1990s. This programme contains contains harrowing testimony and graphic descriptions of human rights violations throughout.

Also, the six-day IRA siege on London's Balcombe Street in 1975, where a couple were taken hostage.

Finally, it's been 10 years since 193 countries and the European Union adopted the Paris climate agreement, in December 2015. 

Our Sporting Witness programme this week looks at how an international skiing scene developed in the mountains of Bamiyan province, Afghanistan, in 2011. 

Contributors: 

Kurtis Young - steward at Dismaland.
Megan MacCausland - European Coaster Club.
Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer - South African museum curator (from archive).
Sisi Khampepe - served on the Amnesty Committee.
Steven Moysey - saw the Balcombe Street siege unfold.
Christiana Figueres - head of climate negotiations at 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
Alishah Farhang - Afghanistan skier. 

(Photo: Dismaland in Weston Super-Mare. Credit: Kristian Buus/Getty Images)

Banky's 'Dismaland' and the Paris climate agreement

Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History and Sporting Witness episodes, all with a Nigerian theme.

We hear two personal stories of the Biafra war, which began in 1967, including the writer Wole Soyinka who was jailed for trying to stop it. Plus, we hear from Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe about escaping the conflict. She's now better known as TV and music star Patti Boulaye.

We speak to Dr Louisa Egbunike, who is an Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University in England.

Also, a retired Brigadier General speaks about West African countries fighting back against the jihadist militant group Boko Haram in 2015. 

Then, the opening of the New Afrika Shrine in 2000, by Fela Kuti's children to honour his legacy. 

Finally, we hear from Omoyemi Akerele who founded Lagos Fashion Week in 2011.

Our Sporting Witness programme this week looks at Nigeria becoming the first team to represent Africa at the first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. This is a Made in Manchester Production.

Contributors:

Wole Soyinka - Nobel Prize-winning poet and playwright.
Patricia Ngozi Ebigwe - TV and music star.
Dr Louisa Egbunike - Associate Professor in African Literature at Durham University.
Sani Kukasheka Usman - retired Brigadier General.
Omoyeni Anikulapo-Kuti, also known as Yeni Kuti - the eldest daughter of Fela Kuti.
Omoyemi Akerele - founder of Lagos Fashion Week.
Nkiri Okosieme – captained Nigeria women's national football team.

(Photo: Biafran national army soldiers. Credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Nigerian history

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

Our guest is literature lecturer Dr Hetta Howes on major literary hoaxes around the world.

We hear about Howard Hughes' fake autobiography, the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá in Colombia and how the Indian musician Ravi Shankar taught George Harrison the sitar.

Plus, the Indian woman who led her country's first delegation to the United Nations, the Premier League's first female photographer and how Toy Story revolutionised animation.

Contributors:
Clifford Irving - American author who faked an autobiography of Howard Hughes. 
Dr Hetta Howes - a senior lecturer in English Literature at City St George’s, at the University of London.
Jorge Enrique Castelblanco - Colombian engineer behind the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá.
Ravi Shankar - Indian sitar maestro.
Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit - led India's first delegation to the United Nations in 1946.
Magi Haroun - the Premier League's first female photographer.
Doug Sweetland - animator on Toy Story.

(Photo: Clifford Irving leaving the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, followed by news crews in 1972. Credit: Bettmann Archive / Getty Images)

This programme has been updated since the original broadcast, with concert dates and song writing credits corrected.

Literary hoaxes and an underground cathedral

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Mercedes Peñalba- Sotorrío, a senior lecturer in modern European history at Manchester Metropolitan University, England.

We start with the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975 ending 36 years of dictatorship over Spain.

Then, we use archive to hear how King Juan Carlos reclaimed the Spanish throne in 1975 and led the country to a democracy. This episode was made in collaboration with BBC Archives.

We hear from a Social Democrat politician about Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision to suspend asylum rules for Syrians fleeing war in 2015.

How the Bosnian war ended with the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995.

Next, how a substitute fielder ran out the Australian captain in the fourth test of the 2005 Ashes, turning the game in England's favour.

Finally, we use archive to hear about cold war diplomacy in the Geneva summit in 1985.

Contributors:

José Antonio Martínez Soler - a journalist.

King Juan Carlos - the former King of Spain (from archive).

Aydan Özoğuz - a Social Democrat politician and former minister of state for immigration.

Milan Milutinović - a negotiator in the Dayton Peace Accords.

Gary Pratt - a fielder in the England cricket team in the 2005 Ashes series.

Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev - The former US President and former Soviet leader (from archive).

(Image: King Juan Carlos, 1975. Credit: Jacques Pavlovsky/Sygma via Getty images)

Juan Carlos becomes King of Spain and ending the Bosnian war

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is aviation historian Dr Victoria Taylor.

We start with an archive interview of American Chuck Yeager who became the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound in 1947.
 
Then, a couple who were caught up in the attack on the Bataclan theatre in Paris in November 2015.

We hear from a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials in 1945 after World War Two.

France’s former finance minister recalls how an economic crisis in the 1970s led to the birth of the G7.

Next, how a heated NBA game in 2004 spiralled into one of the most infamous brawls in sports history. 

Finally, we hear the story of the first ever underwater cabinet meeting in 2009.

Contributors:

Chuck Yeager (from archive) - the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound.

Justine Merton-Scott and Tony Scott - a couple who survived the Bataclan attack in Paris.

Benjamin Ferencz - a prosecutor in the Nuremburg trials.

Jean-Pierre Fourcade - France's former finance minister.

Mark Boyle - radio broadcaster for the NBA's Indiana Pacers.

Mohamed Nasheed - former President of the Maldives.

(Photo: The first powered take off of Chuck Yeager's supersonic plane in 1947. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Speed of Sound and prosecuting Nazis

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

Our guest is Darja Dankina, who's a palaeontologist from the Natures Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. 

We start with the discovery of the largest dinosaur ever, uncovered by a shepherd on a ranch in Argentina in 2012. 

Then, we hear from the daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, who created children's show Thunderbirds in 1965.

Plus, the impeachment of US President Clinton in 1999.

How an American historical document typed out on a university computer in 1971 played a vital role in the digital revolution of electronic books.

Also, Colonel Gaddafi’s son being signed to Italy’s top football league in 2003.

Finally, we use BBC archive to hear how children's book character Miffy was created in 1955. In the programme Dick Bruna reads from Miffy Goes Flying with permission from Mercis Publishing bv.

Contributors: 

Dr Diego Pol - palaeontologist who lead the dig for the Patagotitan. 
Darja Dankina - palaeontologist from the Natures Research Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. 
Dee Anderson - daughter of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
Joe Lockhart - Bill Clinton’s former press secretary.
Greg Newby - Project Gutenberg’s CEO and director.
Jay Bothroyd and Zeljko Kalac - former Perugia players.
Dick Bruna - Dutch author and illustrator.

(Photo: The Patagotitan. Credit: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

The largest dinosaur and creating Miffy

To mark the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a special edition on episodes from Ukrainian history. 

In April 1986 a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine. Sergii Mirnyi monitored radiation levels in the exclusion zone around the plant. How the international community - including both Russia and the USA - offered security "assurances" to Ukraine in return for giving up its share of the Soviet nuclear arsenal. A survivor's account of Ukraine's great famine in the 1930s, the Holodomor, when several million people died. The mass killing of Ukrainian Jews by Nazi Germany during World War Two, and how Artek, on the shores of the Black Sea in Crimea, became the Soviet Union's most popular holiday camp. 

Photo: The Chernobyl plant shortly after the explosion in 1986 Credit: Getty Images

Ukrainian history special

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