In 1984 a group of lesbians and gay men organised a benefit concert to support striking coal-miners. They sent the... more

There was a frenzy of celebrations on New Year's Eve 1999. But amid the partying, there was also some anxiety... more

In 1935, Alexei Stakhanov, a coal miner, became a Soviet celebrity. He invented a more efficient coal production method and... more

In December 1916, the infamous mystic, Grigori Rasputin, was murdered by Russian aristocrats. Rasputin, a Siberian peasant and wandering holy... more

In 1846, a group of pioneers were trying to reach California by wagon train when they were trapped by snow... more

On Christmas Day 2003, an unmanned British space craft called Beagle 2 was due to touch down on Mars and... more

In December 1946, the classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life" had its premiere in Hollywood. Starring Jimmy Stewart, the... more

In 1982 the world's best selling album was released. Thriller included hits such as Beat It, Billie Jean and Wanna... more

One of the 20th century's most scandalous books was published in 1955. Lolita, by Russian émigré Vladimir Nabokov, tells the... more

In December 1945, one of America's most famous miltary commanders, General George S Patton, died from injuries sustained in a... more

In December 1995, the first disability rights legislation was passed by India's parliament. An estimated 60 million people, almost... more

In the mid-1970s, English classical actor Anthony Daniels was asked to audition for a role as a droid in a... more

In 1974, a Hungarian architect, Ernő Rubik invented his best selling puzzle. Over the next forty years, more than 350... more

When Bangladesh fought for independence from Pakistan, thousands of Pakistani troops were sent to fight in what was then called... more

In December 1960, while the Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, was out of the country, his Imperial Bodyguard took over the... more

On December 11th 1965, seminal alternative rock band the Velvet Underground played their first gig at a high school in... more

In December 1965, three members of the Ku Klux Klan were found guilty over the murder of white civil rights... more

After the Taliban fell from power in Afghanistan in the winter of 2001, the hunt for Osama bin Laden began... more

In 1915, an Anglo-Indian attempt to capture Baghdad from the Ottoman empire ended in disaster. Thousands of British and Indian... more

In the 1980s Angola was a front line in the Cold War between communism and the West. In... more

On 3 December 1967, two brothers carried out the world's first heart transplant operation. Christiaan and Marius Barnard were both... more

On 7 December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii. Thousands of... more

How a devastating air raid on the Italian port of Bari during World War Two led to the deadly release... more

In 1984 General Muhammadu Buhari's military regime launched an unusual campaign to clean up Nigeria. Under the policy, Nigerians were... more

In November 1938, the SS commander Heinrich Himmler ordered the construction in Nazi Germany of the only concentration camp built... more

In the 1940s the Royal Navy intercepted dozens of Jewish refugee ships trying to reach British-controlled Palestine. It was part... more

In the 1990s the Cuban economy came close to collapse after the fall of the Soviet Union. The end of... more

In November 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper hijacked a plane flying from the US city of Portland to... more

In late November 1979, a mob inspired by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini set fire to the US Embassy in Islamabad. ... more

In autumn 1953, a new literary magazine was launched in London that would become the magazine of choice of the... more

In 1973, Erica Jong, a young feminist author from New York, wrote a groundbreaking novel about female sexuality, called Fear... more

Indian film star Shabana Azmi remembers playing a lesbian in the controversial Bollywood film, Fire, in 1998.(Photo: Shabana Azmi. Credit:... more

In 1986, dozens of Kenyans were detained and accused of belonging to an underground opposition movement called Mwakenya. They were... more

On 13 November 2001, the Taliban administration collapsed in Afghanistan. Northern Alliance fighters, aided by American air strikes, had driven... more

On 12 November 1991, Indonesian troops opened fire on independence activists in East Timor's capital, Dili. British cameraman Max Stahl... more

Romany of the BBC was a pioneer naturalist broadcaster of Roma Gypsy origin. His programmes were popular in the UK... more

Following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984, India was gripped by anti-Sikh riots.... more

On 9 November 2005, three hotels in Jordan's capital were targeted by suicide bombers. Nearly 60 people were killed... more

In November 1975, a huge crowd of Moroccans marched into the desert colony of Spanish Sahara to claim it from... more

On 7 November 1917 Lenin and his Bolshevik party overthrew the Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky. Dina Newman presents... more

In October and November 1942, the Allies fought a famous battle against German and Italian troops close to the small... more

Using archive recordings we tell the story of Britain's most famous hangman. During the 1940s and 50s, he was responsible... more

In the 1930s, many parts of Britain were suffering the effects of the Great Depression. But conditions were particularly harsh... more

In 1930, the USSR created a Jewish Autonomous Region in Siberia, as a homeland for Soviet Jews. Dina Newman talks... more

In October 1929, Wall Street crashed and the greatest depression the world had ever seen began. Harry Leslie Smith tells... more

World-famous prima ballerina Alicia Alonso talks to Witness about her long and successful career on the stage, and how in... more

In 1945 the English physicist was exposed as a nuclear spy for the Soviet Union. Alan Nunn May had been... more

In October 1945, countries ratified the founding charter of a new organsation, the United Nations, that it was hoped would... more

In October 1975, 90% of all women in Iceland took part in a nationwide protest over inequality. Vigdis Finnbogadottir, later... more

In October 1995 during Sri Lanka's brutal civil war Tamil Tiger rebels attacked a remote Sinhalese village. Witness hears from... more

In October 1990, Professor Denys Brunsden of King's College, London, was one of the first Western scientists to confirm the... more

In 1923 the entire cast of a Yiddish play was arrested in New York and charged with staging an immoral... more

In 1968, US troops in South Vietnam discovered the victims of a Communist offensive in the old imperial capital, Hue.... more

When French-speaking separatists in the Canadian province of Quebec turned violent, Canada's government called the army onto the streets. Prime... more

Bengali film director Satyajit Ray has been described as one of the most influential directors in world cinema, with acclaimed... more

In October 1943, at the height of World War Two, most of the Jews in Denmark evaded Nazi plans to... more

A Russian refugee, Olga Rossi-Hawkes, speaks to Dina Newman about life in Shanghai after her family fled the Russian revolution... more

On 12 October 1915 a British nurse was executed by German troops during World War One. Her death made... more

in 1965, Britain was shocked by a series of child murders. The children had been killed by a young couple,... more

On 8 October 2005 a massive earthquake hit Pakistani-administered Kashmir. It left 87,000 people dead and more than four... more

In October 1981, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt was assassinated as he attended a military parade in Cairo. His widow... more

In 1985 government scientists discovered anti-freeze in bottles of fine Austrian wine. No one died, or fell ill from drinking... more

Between the 16th and 19th Centuries, hundreds of thousands of Europeans were captured by pirates known as the Barbary corsairs.... more

In October 1985 the Hollywood superstar became the most high profile celebrity to acknowledge he was suffering from Aids. Fellow... more

In the autumn of 2005 a Danish newspaper published 12 images of the Prophet Muhammad. The pictures shocked local muslims,... more

In 1996 a group of veteran musicians made an album that changed the image of Cuban music for ever. ... more

Daisuke Inoue was playing in a band in Kobe Japan in 1971 when he invented the Karaoke machine. He came... more

The area which had housed Afghanistan's traditional musicians for generations was destroyed during factional fighting in 1992. Ustad Ghulam Hossain,... more

In the 1970s, the psychedelic Czech rock band played an unexpected role in the resistance to communist rule. Their imprisonment... more

In 1966 the Belgian singer-songwriter suddenly announced on stage that he was going to stop performing. At the time, ... more

In 1973 a Bronx DJ, known as Kool Herc, held a block party which would help change American music for... more

Jamaica’s musicians have had a profound impact on modern music. It’s best known for Reggae, but before that came Ska.... more

In an act of defiance during World War Two, starving musicians in the besieged city of Leningrad performed Shostakovich's new... more

We hear from farmer Michael Eavis, who began the Glastonbury music festival in 1970 and whose family still runs it... more

In September 1978 in the heat of Iran's revolution, the country's top musicians decided to join the popular uprising. After... more

The story of the great South African singer who spent 30 years in exile. She was invited to the United... more

In 1985 a benefit concert was held for farmers living in one of the world's richest countries, the US. The... more

The story of how the Pakistani Qawali singer became an international music sensation. Photo: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan performing in California... more

The Monkees were the world's first 'manufactured' boy band - created especially for a TV show. Hear from the... more

When the great Egyptian singer died in 1975, millions attended her funeral in Cairo. Her stepson has been talking to... more

In the 1950s, the quintessentially English singer, actor and playwright, Noel Coward, was invited to do a show in Las... more

Ghanaian musician E.T Mensah took Africa by storm in the 1950s with a new style of dance band Highlife music.... more

The fall and rise of Maryam Mursal, who was one of the superstars of Somali music in the 1970s. Musicians... more

Russia's first radio DJ, Seva Novgorodsev, went on air on the BBC Russian Service in 1977, at the height of... more

In 1943, the cellist, Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. She expected to be killed in the... more

In August 2005 a massive hurricane hit the city of New Orleans in the USA. It flooded the area... more

It's sixty years since the first edition of one of the world's best-selling books was published. Compiled by the McWhirter... more

In August 1970, tens of thousands of Mexican-Americans took part in a march against the Vietnam War known as the... more

On August 21 1983, the opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, was shot dead in the Philippines.He was killed at Manila airport,... more

In the summer of 1988 thousands of political prisoners were suddenly executed in Iran. The killings, ordered by the Supreme... more

In 1984, a clash between a religious commune in the US state of Oregon and locals residents resulted in the... more

In August 1915 the celebrated Scottish architect was arrested on suspicion of being a German spy. We hear how the... more

In August 1940 the exiled Russian revolutionary, Leon Trotsky, was killed in Mexico City, stabbed in the head with an... more

In the early hours of 19th August 1942, a convoy of Allied ships approached the port of Dieppe carrying more... more

In the 1830s, many farmworkers in rural England were living in desperate poverty. Conditions were particularly harsh in the village... more

After the surrender of Japan in August 1945, Korea is split along the 38th parallel, with Soviet forces in the... more

In August 1945 Japan surrendered to the Americans and World War Two finally came to an end. Within days,... more

In 1996, after many rejections, author JK Rowling at last finds a publisher for her first Harry Potter novel. Witness... more

A convict's experience of Devil's Island, the notorious French penal colony in South America, which closed in 1953. Thousands of... more

Peter Larson, president of the Black Hills Institute in South Dakota, tells Witness how his team discovered Sue the T-Rex,... more

In 1995 two of the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's son-in-laws defected to Jordan. What secrets did they bring with them?... more

On 9 August 1965 Singapore announced it had left the Federation of Malaysia and become an independent sovereign state. Explaining... more

On 6 August 1945 an American bomber dropped a nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Tens of thousands... more

In August 1996, a group of Iranian writers were invited to a literary event in neighbouring Armenia. They boarded a... more

In July 1973 the King's cousin, in Afghanistan, staged a coup against him. It brought to an end centuries of... more

In August 1978 an Australian doctor successfully fitted a multi-channel cochlear implant to a patient. It was a breakthrough... more

In August 1960 the controversial Oscar-nominated psychological thriller was released. Witness presents archive recordings of its director, Alfred Hitchcock and... more

In July 1964, a white actor and a black actress, kissed, live, on a British TV show. The show was... more

On 1 August 1944, the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi occupation of Poland began. Hundreds of thousands of people died... more

Seven former soldiers have been arrested in Chile for the burning to death of a student, Rodrigo Rojas, during protests... more

In July 1945 Labour won a surprise victory, defeating Britain's war-time leader Winston Churchill. The victorious government introduced radical changes,... more

In July 1999, around a 10th of the black population in the Texas town of Tulia was arrested on drug... more

In July 1979 Iran's new Islamic government closed down Tehran's red-light district, and demolished all the buildings. Around 1500 prostitutes... more

In the 1950s the CIA started attempting to brainwash psychiatric patients. They wanted to develop methods which could be... more

In 1950, Brazil hosted the World Cup and were the overwhelming favourites to win the tournament at the last match... more

The first ever nuclear weapon was detonated by scientists in the USA on 16 July 1945. The secret initiative... more

Soldiers recount their experiences of poison gas attacks on the Western Front during World War One in BBC archive recodings.... more

The first person to win two Nobel prizes for her pioneering research into radioactivity. Working with her husband, Pierre, Marie... more

In the last days of World War II, an American warship, the USS Indianapolis, was torpedoed in the Pacific. For... more

The Nigerian opposition leader died suddenly just days before his expected release from prison in July 1998. MKO Abiola appeared... more

In 1967 the best-selling Latin American novel by the Colombian, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, was first published. It was immediately acclaimed... more

In July 2009, a group of doctors in Sri Lanka said they had overestimated the number of dead and injured... more

In July 1985, Oleg Gordievsky, a high-ranking Soviet spy defected to the UK. He had been acting as a double... more

Nigeria's military ruler, General Sani Abacha, died suddenly of an apparent heart attack in 1998. We hear from his personal... more

In the 1930s Hitler began to rebuild Germany's armed forces. When WW1 ended Germany had been banned from having an... more

In June 1975 the legendary movie about a man-eating shark was released. It would go on to become a summer... more

In June 1944 the International Red Cross was allowed by the Nazis into the Theresienstadt concentration camp. The Nazis tried... more

On 1 July 1989, a group of dancers set off down a Berlin shopping street on a demonstration for... more

On 27 June 1880, Helen Keller was born in Alabama, US. A childhood illness left her deaf and blind, but... more

On 27 June 1975 Greenpeace activists launched their first direct action against whalers. Hear from Rex Wayler, one of the... more

The acclaimed American author died on 19 June 2015 - aged 90. As a young man, before he became a... more

In June 1948 Marshal Tito turned his back on his former ally, the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. It was a... more

On 23 June1985 a passenger plane on its way from Canada to Delhi was blown out of the sky by... more

In 1987 Diane Abbott became the first black woman elected to the British Parliament. The daughter of first generation immigrants... more

In June 1967, the Six Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbours led to mobs attacking Jewish property and... more

In the spring and summer of 1980 the Islamic hardliners in Iran shut down all the universities to drive out... more

In South Africa in June 1985, the ban on marriage between people of different ethnic backgrounds was finally lifted. Suzanne... more

In June 1970 a group of mainly Jewish dissidents, and two teenage children, hatched an audacious plan to take over... more

In June 1967 Israel and its Arab neighbours embarked on a war that within six days had changed the shape... more

In June 1980, the Guyanese opposition leader and academic, Dr Walter Rodney, was killed in a bomb explosion. He was... more

In June 1951 a group of 22 Inuit children were sent from Greenland to Denmark to be re-educated as 'little... more

Professor Denny Mitchison was a pioneer in the search for a cure for tuberculosis. It was once one of the... more

In June 1988 a US Navy ship came across a boat full of Vietnamese refugees drifting in the South China... more

We look back at 100 years of the WI, a British organisation set up to revitalise rural communities and encourage... more

On 5th June 1975, Britain held its first referendum on whether it should remain a member of the European Economic... more

The Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann recorded hours of interview about his involvement in the Holocaust, before his capture in... more

On 3 June 1989 the man who had lead Iran's revolution and established the Islamic Republic, died. Hear from... more

In early June 1937 San Francisco was celebrating a feat of engineering - the opening of the world's longest suspension... more

On June 1st 1981, the public library in the Sri Lankan city of Jaffna was set on fire. The library... more

The European Cup Final on 29 May 1985 was supposed to be a celebration of football – a contest between... more

On 28 May 1865 around 150 Welsh emigrants set sail for Patagonia to establish a Welsh colony.(Photo: Farm in Patagonia... more

In May 1980 the British government published a booklet about how to survive nuclear war. The booklet, Protect and Survive,... more

In 1967, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling which effectively outlawed discrimination in the American housing market. The case... more

In May 1915, Italy entered WW1 on the side of the Allies, fighting against the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. Their... more

Journalist Milagro Granados recalls the murder of the outspoken Salvadoran cleric, who was shot dead while saying mass at the... more

On 21 May 1981 the legendary reggae singer was buried in Jamaica. Hundreds of thousands of people had turned out... more

In May 2000, a group of ethnic Fijian gunmen broke into parliament and declared a coup. Led by charismatic failed... more

On 19 May 1935, the death was announced of the English soldier, adventurer and writer, TE Lawrence, who was known... more

The story of Joseph Merrick, a hugely deformed man who became a celebrity in Victorian Britain.Photo: Historical artwork of Joseph... more

In May 1960 the massive Kariba hydro-electric dam on Africa's Zambezi river was opened. About 60,000 people lost their homes... more

It is 60 years since the frog puppet first appeared on an American children's TV show. His creator Jim... more

On 13 May 2005 hundreds of demonstrators were killed by soldiers in the Uzbek town of Andijan. Hear from Monica... more

On May 10th 2002, one of the most dramatic sieges of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at the Church of the Nativity... more

On May 11th 2000 a baby girl born in Delhi was designated as India's billionth citizen. There was huge media... more

On 8 May 1945, hundreds of thousands of Londoners took to the streets to celebrate the end of World War... more

In 1915, the passenger liner RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German submarine off the coast of Ireland with the... more

In the early 1960s, the British colony of Aden – today part of Yemen – was on the brink of... more

In May 1953, British airman Ronald Maddison died after taking part in a nerve gas test at government research base... more

In May 1980 British special forces stormed Iran's embassy in London to end a siege. The hostage-takers were an Iranian... more

The last remaining US forces pulled out of Vietnam on April 30th 1975 as communist North Vietnamese troops took control... more

In April 1961, Russian doctor Leonid Rogozov developed appendicitis while working in Antarctica. The only solution was to operate on... more

On 28th April 1969, the general who had dominated French politics for almost 30 years, Charles de Gaulle, resigned as... more

In April 1982, film star Jane Fonda launched her first workout video - encouraging millions of women to "go for... more

In April 1932, hundreds of walkers organised a mass trespass on a mountain in the English Peak District called Kinder... more

On 24 April 1980, the US launched Operation Eagle Claw - a daring but ultimately disastrous attempt to free dozens... more

In April 1991 United Nations weapons inspectors were allowed into Iraq to search for Saddam Hussein's WMDs. Swedish diplomat... more

In April 1999 Nato bombed the Serbian state TV station in Belgrade, killing 16 people. It was part of a... more

The Nobel prize winning physicist and father of the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein, died on 18th April 1955. Witness... more

In April 1945 one of the most successful musicals of all time premiered on Broadway. Carousel, by Rodgers and... more

On April 19 1995 a huge truck bomb killed 168 people in a government building in the USA. There... more

In 1965 the young working class playwright burst onto the British theatre scene. But within 2 years he was... more

In April 1992, the main black street gangs in Los Angeles started a historic truce. Aqeela Sherrills took part in... more

On April 15th 1905 a passenger train from London pulled into the world's first Garden City, Letchworth, putting it firmly... more

In April 1975 the four-year rule of the brutal Khmer Rouge began in Cambodia. Up to two million people are... more

On 10 April 1964, the famously eccentric concert pianist Glenn Gould retired from live performance at the age of 31.... more

The story of one of the most controversial British television films ever made. In April 1980, British television channel ITV... more

In 1975, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency to avoid a challenge to her political authority.... more

In 1979 Tanzanian troops invaded Uganda and ousted its brutal dictator. His downfall marked the end of a six... more

On April 3 1948 US President Truman signed into law a plan to spend millions of dollars on rebuilding post-war... more

In 1977 the worst air accident in history took place in Tenerife when two jumbo jets collided on a runway.... more

In 1943, during the Second World War, famine struck Bengal in British-run India following the Japanese occupation of neighbouring Burma.... more

Discovered by chance by farmers digging a well, the secrets of the Qin Dynasty revealed after 2,000 years. We hear... more

In March 2004 Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace. Many publicans feared... more

In March 1963, the British government published the Beeching Report – a plan to radically cut the country’s railway network.... more

In March 1969 John Lennon of the Beatles and his new wife, Yoko Ono, staged a bed-in for peace in... more

The story of the Black Box flight recorder and the man behind it, an inventive Australian fuels scientist, David Warren.(Photo:... more

In March 1962, France signed a ceasefire with Algerian nationalists ending one of the most bitter struggles against colonial rule... more

How a young West German student helped East Berliners escape Communism at the height of the Cold War. Volker Heinz... more

In March 1969, Golda Meir became Israel's first female prime minister. Witness speaks to her great-niece Alice Golembo. (Photo: Golda... more

In 1990, thieves in police uniform bluffed their way into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston stealing 13 works... more

In 1982 a British director found himself in a court battle over sex and nudity on stage. Michael Bogdanov had... more

In the late 1960s, JFK's widow had a secret romance with the Greek shipping magnate who was then the world's... more

As the film of the best-selling book by Irene Nemirovksy, Suite Francaise, is released in cinemas this week, Witness hears... more

When Serb forces attacked the family home of Kosovo liberation fighter Adem Jashari, in March 1998, more than 50 people... more

Kenyan MP Josiah Mwangi Kariuki, considered a possible future president, disappeared in mysterious circumstances in March 1975. His widow, Terry,... more

In 1995, the London designer, Alexander McQueen, shocked the fashion world with a collection that featured kilts, low-slung trousers and... more

On the morning of 15 March 1939, Hitler sent his troops into Czechoslovakia. From the BBC archives, we hear the... more

Josef Stalin died on 5 March 1953. Valentin Berezhkov was his translator - at the Russian leader's side for negotiations... more

Baby and Child Care by Dr Benjamin Spock sold half a million copies just six months after its publication in... more

In March 1985 a national debate over surrogacy was triggered in Britain, leading to a change in the law. Witness... more