Witness History

Flint was once one of the richest cities in the United States. But in the 1980s, it was badly affected by the downturn in car manufacturing and by 2014 it was nearly bankrupt. To save money, the city switched its water supply away from Lake Huron to its own Flint River, but state officials failed to treat the river water properly. As a result lead, a powerful neurotoxin, was released into the drinking water.

Despite mounting evidence, officials denied anything was wrong and it took them a year and a half to switch water supply back to Lake Huron. But many residents of Flint –a majority African-American city with high rates of poverty– have been left fearful about the long term impacts on their children.

Rob Walker speaks to lifelong Flint resident Jeneyah McDonald who had two young children at the time. He also hears from Dr Mona Hanna-Attisha – a paediatrician and professor of public health– who helped bring the scandal to national attention after showing that lead had found its way into the bloodstreams of the city’s children.

(Photo: Bottled water donations to help with the Flint Michigan water crisis in 2016. Credit: Dennis Pajot via Getty Images)

A warning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners - this programme contains the names and voices of people who have died.

In 1971, Neville Bonner became the first Aboriginal person to become a member of the Australian Parliament.

In 1979, he was named Australian of the Year in recognition of his work fighting for the rights of indigenous Australians - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

His great niece Joanna Lindgren shares her memories of 'Uncle Neville' with Vicky Farncombe.

"He was gentle, he was a terrific listener. It didn't matter that you were 13 years old, you never felt that he was not interested in what you had to say," she says.

(Photo: Old Parliament House, in Canberra. Credit: Getty Images)

Ninety years ago, the first surviving quintuplets were born in a small village in northern Canada.

The Dionnes grew up in a specially-adapted nursery where millions of people could visit them.

But, years later they struggled to adapt to life back with their parents which led to a fight for compensation.

This programme was produced and presented by Simon Watts in 2012 using BBC archive.

(Photo: The quintuplets on their fourth birthday. Credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)

In 1964, João Goulart, the president of Brazil, was overthrown in a military coup.

In the repression which followed, hundreds of people were disappeared or killed, and many more detained and tortured.

Carlos Lamarca was a captain who deserted the army and joined in the armed struggle against the military regime. He was shot dead in 1971.

His friend and fellow fighter, João Salgado Lopes, tells Vicky Farncombe about their time together hiding in the Caatinga, the Brazilian outback.

(Photo: Wanted poster of Carlos Lamarca. Credit: Memories of the Dictatorship)

In 1984, Nike signed rookie basketball player Michael Jordan and created a shoe in his name – the Air Jordan.

The unprecedented deal would change sports marketing forever.

Former executive Sonny Vaccaro was the man who persuaded his bosses to put all their marketing budget on one untried player.

He became convinced of Michael’s talent after seeing him make the winning shot in a college game.

He tells Vicky Farncombe about the challenges of persuading Michael – an Adidas fan – to sign, and how the Air Jordan's controversial black and red colour scheme upset the National Basketball Association (NBA).

(Photo: Air Jordans. Credit: Getty)

Bata was a Czech company which pioneered assembly line shoemaking and sold affordable footwear around the world.

The factory near London was opened in 1933 and it became key to its expansion.

In 2018, Dina Newman spoke to one of its senior engineers, Mick Pinion, about the company's remarkable history, including how it sold millions of shoes in Africa and Asia.

(Photo: mobile shoe shop selling Bata shoes. Credit: Getty Images)

In 2001, more than 700 pairs of Imelda Marcos’s shoes were put on display at the Marikina Shoe Museum in the Philippines.

The wife of the dictator President Ferdinand Marcos, became famous for buying shoes, while millions of Filipinos were living in poverty. It’s thought she had in around 3,000 pairs.

Ella Rule has been through the archive to tell the story of Imelda and her shoes.

(Photo: Imelda Marcos' shoe collection. Credit: Christophe LOVINY/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

How the Dassler brothers created two global sportswear firms.

In 1948, Adi and Rudi Dassler who lived in a small German town fell out. They went on to set up Adidas and Puma.

Adi Dassler played a crucial role in West Germany's victory in the 1954 World Cup with his game-changing footwear.

In 2022, Reena Stanton-Sharma spoke to Adi's daughter Sigi Dassler, who remembers her dad’s obsession with sports shoes and talks about her fondness for rappers Run-DMC, who paid tribute to her dad’s shoes in their 1986 song My Adidas.

In 1962, a new brand of footwear launched that would become one of Brazil’s most successful and best-known exports: Havaianas. As the country’s footwear industry started to expand, one company wanted to make something that was comfortable, inexpensive, and ideal for South America's long hot summers.

Havaianas soon became the favourite of the working class because of their affordability. Fast forward almost forty years and they featured on catwalks in Paris and Oscar goody bags in Hollywood, a surprisingly journey from their modest beginnings as the choice of farmers, builders, and tyre fitters.

Johnny I’Anson has been speaking to former employee and author Sergio Sanchez about the birth of a humble flip-flop, and how they became a global success story selling 250 million pairs a year.

(Photo: Rows of brightly coloured Havaianas flip-flops. Credit: Miguel Schincariol/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2001, the American Ana Montes, who was working for the United States Defense Intelligence Agency was arrested for espionage.

Although the FBI knew that there was a spy they didn't know who it was. The Cubans always referred to Ana by a man's name.

Former FBI agent, Pete Lapp, tells Gill Kearsley the fascinating story of how he and his team tracked down and arrested Ana, who is known as ‘Queen of Cuba’.

(Photo: Ana Montes in 2001. Credit: FBI )

In the late 1990s, a heavy metal band called Acrassicauda formed in Iraq, when the country was under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein.

Over the next decade, the pioneering band found themselves on a collision course with the dictatorship militants and the west.

The band was able to get inspiration from various bootleg tapes of heavy metal's greatest acts.

Acrassicauda performed under Saddam's regime, but because of censorship restrictions, they had to write a song that praised the dictator.

Johnny I'Anson speaks to bass player, Firas Al-Lateef.

(Photo: Acrassicauda perform in Iraq in 2004. Credit: Getty Images)

It's 20 years since elections in French Polynesia in 2004, where the independence movement stunned the France-aligned government of the day, propelling pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru to the presidency.

It was a landmark in the country's politics, where protests against French rule had increased due to the practice of using Polynesian islands for nuclear tests.

Antony Geros, who helped lead the independence movement, recounts that night to Lizzy Kinch.

This is a Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Antony Geros. Credit: Getty Images)

On 14 May 1948, the state of Israel was proclaimed.

Tears and applause met the declaration, witnessed by 200 dignitaries, but fighting intensified in the days that followed.

In 2010, Arieh Handler and Zipporah Porath spoke to Lucy Williamson about that day and its fallout.

(Photo: Young Jewish people celebrate the new state. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

In 1948, tens of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled from their homes in the Middle East.

The period after World War Two in the region was tense, at times violent and politically complex.

For Israeli Jews it was a chance to build their own nation after the genocide of the Holocaust. But for Arab Palestinian Muslims and Christians it was a time of loss.

Many were intimidated by the violence and changing demographics.

Rebecca Kesby speaks to Hasan Hammami who was 15-years-old when his family was forced out off Palestine.

The interview was recorded before the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 and subsequent Israeli military operation.

(Photo: Palestinians forced from their homes in 1948. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1992, a photograph of Princess Diana alone on a bench in front of the Taj Mahal became one of the most famous photos in the world.

Anwar Hussein was a photographer who documented the lives of the British royal family. His first visit to the Taj Mahal was to photograph Prince Charles in 1980.

He tells Gill Kearsley about his relationship with the royal family and about taking the iconic photograph.

(Photo: Princess Diana alone outside the Taj Mahal. Credit: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

In 2009, the Indian government embarked on an ambitious task to register all of the country's billion-plus citizens with a unique digital ID.

Aadhaar - which means foundation in many Indian languages - became the world's largest ever biometrics project.

It allowed millions of people to open bank accounts or access a mobile connection for the very first time.

But the project also attracted considerable opposition from privacy advocates and civil rights groups, who brought a case that went all the way to India's Supreme Court.

Dan Hardoon speaks to Nandan Nilekani, who chaired the Aadhaar project.

(Photo: Aadhaar system. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1963, Dr Jose Ignacio Barraquer Moner performed the first surgery on a human eye aimed at correcting short-sightedness.

The ophthalmologist had been developing his technique for years, believing that there was a better solution for blurry vision than wearing glasses.

But he had to move from Spain to Colombia to begin his experimental surgery which involved dry ice, a watchmaker’s lathe and rabbits. The idea was to change the shape of the cornea – the front layer of the eye - to focus vision.

First, he sliced off the patient’s cornea then dunked it in liquid nitrogen, before using a miniature lathe to carve the frozen cornea into the right shape. Next, he thawed the disc and sewed it back on.

Jose’s initial surgery was performed on rabbits, but in 1963 he carried out the first procedure on a human patient, a 9 year old girl. It was a success, and soon doctors from around the world were flocking to Colombia to find out more.

Barraquer called this procedure keratomileusis, from the Greek words for “carving” and “cornea.” The technique was the forerunner of Lasik eye surgery when the lathe was replaced with lasers.

Jose’s daughter, Carmen Barraquer Coll followed her father into ophthalmology and tells Jane Wilkinson, how he inspired her.

(Photo: Lasik eye surgery in 2009. Credit: BSIP/UIG Via Getty Images)

In the 1980s, a thirst for caffeine caused an unusual global collaboration.

Coffee-loving East Germans were left without after a crop failure in the world’s biggest exporter of the drink, Brazil.

So the East Germans hatched a scheme, linking up with fellow communist state Vietnam to create a mass of coffee plantations.

The man behind the plan, Siegfried Kaulfuß, tells Michael Rossi about the scale and success of the endeavour.

(Photo: Siegfried Kaulfuß with Vietnamese coffee farmers. Credit: Siegfried Kaulfuß)

When a new show called Friends hit American TV screens in September 1994, it made household names of its cast.

Over 10 series, it charted the lives of six young New Yorkers, through marriages, divorces, births and deaths.

The final episode was broadcast on 6 May 2004.

In 2014, executive producer Kevin Bright told Farhana Haider how the show was born - and how it became one of the biggest comedies of all time.

(Photo: The cast on the last day of filming. Credit: David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

Thirty years on from the opening of the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, we look at the moment the two halves of the tunnel were connected in 1990.

Graham Fagg was the man who made the breakthrough, and the first person to cross by land between the two countries in 8,000 years.

In 2010, he told Lucy Williamson about the festivities of that day.

(Photo: The moment of breakthrough Graham Fagg greets Frenchman Philippe Cozette. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

In February 2014, Ukraine’s ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych fled the country.

His estate was abandoned by security guards, so for the first time ordinary people got to see inside Mezhyhirya, the extraordinarily extravagant home of the former president.

Denys Tarakhkotelyk was one of those early visitors, and went on to take charge of the estate. He tells Gill Kearsley his remarkable story, and how the house became known as a ‘museum of corruption’.

(Photo: People wander around President Viktor Yanukovych's Mezhyhirya estate. Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

In 1936, Dale Carnegie wrote one of the world’s most popular self help books - How to Win Friends and Influence People.

The idea was suggested by a book editor who had attended one of Dale’s public speaking courses in New York.

The result was a mix of psychology, philosophy and good old-fashioned common sense. Dale offered advice like: Smile. Give praise. Be a good listener. And remember people’s names.

The book went on to become a best seller. Today, more than 30 million copies have been sold worldwide, and it has been translated into 36 languages. Even the title is part of popular culture.

Dale’s daughter Donna Dale Carnegie tells Jane Wilkinson about the secret of its success.

(Photo: How to Win Friends and Influence People in 1955. Credit: Frederic Hamilton/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In 1961, the American psychologist Stanley Milgram began a series of controversial experiments on ‘obedience to authority’.

His study aimed to show how ordinary people could be capable of committing evil acts, if ordered to do so.

He wanted to understand the psychology behind genocide, telling the BBC: “How is it possible that ordinary people who were courteous and decent in everyday life, can act callously, inhumanely, without any limitations of conscience?”

During the tests, participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to another person.

These fake shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been harmful had they been real volunteers.

Vicky Farncombe looks back at the experiment, using BBC archive.

This programme includes original recordings of the experiments which listeners may find disturbing.

(Photo: Stanley Milgram beside the shock generator. Credit: BBC)

It’s 70 years since General Alfredo Stroessner seized power in Paraguay in a military coup.

Stroessner remained in power for almost 35 years, before being toppled in 1989.

More than 450 people were murdered under Stroessner's rule, with the fate of thousands more unknown. They are remembered as 'the disappeared' of Paraguay.

One man has dedicated his life to finding the victims of Stroessner's dictatorship, including the remains of his own father.

Rogelio Goiburu shares his story with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Rogelio Goiburu digging for the remains of Paraguay's 'disappeared'. Credit: Getty Images)

On 13 December 1990, the anti-apartheid politician Oliver Tambo returned to South Africa after 30 years in exile.

As the president of the banned African National Congress (ANC), he had lived in Zambia building the liberation movement while other key ANC members including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were political prisoners.

By lobbying around the world and attracting talented South African exiles such as Thabo Mbeki, he built the organisation into a legitimate contender for government.

When President FW de Klerk unbanned the ANC, Oliver or OR Tambo was finally able to return home where he was greeted by a crowd of thousands at the airport.

Oliver Tambo’s son, Dali Tambo, recalls to Josephine McDermott how his father and other ANC exiles danced in the aisle of the plane as they crossed into South African airspace.

(Photo: Oliver Tambo at Jan Smuts Airport. Credit: AP/John Parkin)

In August 2002, the remains of an indigenous South African woman called Sarah Baartman were returned to South Africa after almost 200 years away. Sarah died in Paris in 1815 after being forced to perform in European 'freak shows' where people considered to be biological rarities were paraded for entertainment. She had been subjected to racist and degrading treatment and her remains were exhibited at a French museum until 1976.

When Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa in 1994, he requested that Sarah's remains be returned to her homeland. However, by 1998 that had not happened. Poet Diana Ferrus decided to write about Sarah’s limbo. Her poem became so popular that it was noticed by politicians in France. Diana shares her memories of that time with Matt Pintus.

This programme contains discriminatory language.

(Photo: Sarah Baartman likeness at French museum. Credit: Getty Images)

Brenda Fassie was one of South Africa's biggest pop stars in the late 1980s. The singer’s career nosedived in 1990, but her comeback saw her dubbed the 'Madonna of the townships' by Time magazine.

Yvonne Chaka Chaka, born a year after Brenda, was perhaps the only South African pop star who could rival her popularity.

Twenty years ago, in 2004, Brenda died

Yvonne celebrates Brenda's life with Ben Henderson.

(Photo Brenda Fassie, a South African pop star, performing on stage. Credit :ALEXANDER JOE/AFP via Getty Images.)

When South African schoolchildren marched in protest against having to study Afrikaans in 1976, they were gunned down by the police.

The killings sparked a cycle of protests across the country against the racist apartheid regime.

In 2010, march organiser Bongi Mkhabela told Alan Johnston about her memories of the Soweto uprising.

(Photo: Protestors on the march. Credit: Bongani Mnguni/CityPress/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

On 18 March 1992, white South Africans overwhelmingly backed a mandate for political reforms to end apartheid and create a power-sharing multi-racial government.

It was a high-stakes referendum coming on the back of three by-elections where the ruling National Party had lost to the right wing Conservative party.

In a speech after the polling victory, President FW de Klerk said: “Today we have closed the book on apartheid”. His communications adviser, David Steward speaks to Josephine McDermott.

(Photo: President FW de Klerk with news of the referendum win. Credit: AP)

Major Charity Adams was the first African-American woman to lead a World War Two battalion. It was known as the Six-Triple-Eight (6888).

The 6888 was a majority African-American women’s unit, the women sorted through mountains of post across Europe, using the motto: 'No Mail, Low Morale'.

Charity went on to become lieutenant colonel, the highest possible rank for women in her unit. She died in 2002.

Her son, Stanley Earley, speaks to Marverine Cole.

This was a Soundtruism production for the BBC World Service.

(Photo: American Women's Army Corps Captain Mary Kearney and American Commanding Officer Major Charity Adams inspect the first arrivals to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion Credit. Archive Photos/Getty Images)

On 18 April 2014, an avalanche on Mount Everest killed 16 men, who were carrying supplies for commercial expeditions to higher camps.

The sherpas were on the Khumbu Icefall, just above Base Camp in Nepal, when the avalanche happened.

It resulted in the climbing season being cancelled and sherpas demanding better working conditions on the mountain.

Lakpa Rita Sherpa helped dig bodies of his dead colleagues out of the ice, before transporting them home to their families.

He speaks to Laura Jones.

(Photo: The south-west face of Mount Everest and the Khumbu icefall. Credit: Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The 2014 Ebola outbreak devastated West Africa, killing more than 11,000 people over a two year period. One country that suffered was Sierra Leone.

The disease started in Guinea, but quickly spread to neighbouring countries.

Before May 2014, there had never been an outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone. By autumn that year, burial teams were struggling to keep up with the number of corpses that needed burying.

Dan Hardoon speaks to Yusuf Kabba, an Ebola survivor from Sierra Leone.

(Photo: Headstones in the Waterloo Ebola Graveyard, Sierra Leone. Credit: HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/AFP via Getty Images)

When the train service between India and Bangladesh was suspended in 1965, following war between Pakistan and India, it lay dormant for 43 years.

But in a day of celebration in 2008, the Maitree (or Friendship) Express rumbled into life and connected the two countries once more.

In 2020, Farhana Haider spoke to Dr Azad Chowdhury who was on the inaugural train journey.

(Photo: Crowds line the tracks for the train’s first journey. Credit: STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)

A group of men known as the ‘Cairo 52’ were arrested in Egypt in May 2001. They were on board the Queen Boat, a floating gay nightclub on the River Nile.

Omer, not his real name, was arrested and imprisoned for habitual debauchery.

There is no explicit law against homosexuality in Egypt and Omer was released early following the orders of US president at the time, George W Bush.

Omer speaks to Dan Hardoon about the arrest and its aftermath – in graphic detail.

This programme has been updated with the correct trial date.

(Photo: Some of the 'Cairo 52', dressed in white with their faces covered, being escorted by security into a court in Cairo. Credit: Marwan Naamani/Getty Images)

Hiroo Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who spent nearly 30 years in the Philippine jungle, believing World War Two was still going on.

Using his training in guerilla warfare, he attacked and killed people living on Lubang Island, mistakenly believing them to be enemy soldiers.

He was finally persuaded to surrender in 1974 when his former commander, Yoshimi Taniguchi, found him and gave him an order.

In a televised ceremony, Hiroo presented his sword to the then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos.

President Marcos returned the sword and gave him a full presidential pardon and told him he admired his courage.

Hiroo died in January 2014 at the age of 91.

This programme was produced and presented by Vicky Farncombe, using BBC archive.

(Photo: Hiroo Onoda steps out of the jungle. Credit: Getty Images)

After winning the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Franco's dictatorship began. During the war, he acquired St Teresa of Avila's severed hand and kept it for spiritual guidance, it was returned when he died in 1975.

The hand was initially stolen by General Franco's opposition from a convent in Ronda, but Franco’s nationalist soldiers took it for themselves when they won the Battle of Malaga.

Sister Jenifer is the Mother Superior of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, Ronda, where the hand is kept on display for people to see.

She tells Johnny I’Anson who St Teresa was, why her hand was cut off, and what made it special.

(Photo: Monument of Saint Teresa of Avila, Spain. Credit: digicomphoto/Getty Images)

When Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream was stolen in 1994, an undercover operation was launched to get it back.

Thirty years on from its recovery, hear from the art detective at the centre of the story.

In 2013, Charley Hill told Lucy Burns how his task saw him take on a fake identity, rub shoulders with criminals and encounter the Thai kickboxing champion of Scandinavia.

(Photo: The Scream on display in Oslo in 2008, after being stolen for a second time. Credit: Scanpix Norway/AFP/Getty Images)

In April 1986, Pope John Paul II made a historic visit to a Rome synagogue.

It was aimed at healing centuries of deep wounds between Jews and Catholics.

Giacomo Saban, who welcomed the pontiff to the synagogue, tells his story to Alan Johnston.

This programme was first broadcast in 2014.

(Photo: Pope John Paul II at the synagogue. Credit: Getty Images)

Cardinal Albino Luciani became Pope John Paul I on 26 August 1978. He died unexpectedly 33 days later.

He was discovered in the early morning lying on his bed, a collection of sermons in his hand.

He was considered an excellent communicator, and his warm personality earned him the nickname of "the smiling Pope". But his death shook the Catholic Church.

Rebecca Kesby spoke to Cardinal Beniamino Stella who knew him well.

This programme was first broadcast in 2017.

(Photo: Pope John Paul I. Credit: Getty Images)

In January 1959, Pope John XXIII announced a council of all the world's Catholic bishops and cardinals in Rome.

It led to sweeping reforms, including allowing Mass to be said in languages other than Latin and an attempt to build relationships with other denominations and faiths.

But not everyone was happy with the changes.

Monsignor John Strynkowski was a student priest in Rome at the time and told Rebecca Kesby about the excitement and controversy surrounding the council that became known as Vatican II.

This programme was first broadcast in 2019.

(Photo: Pope John XXIII. Credit: Getty Images)

Following the death of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005. He was elected after four ballots of the papal conclave.

The late Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor took part and told Rebecca Kesby the story of how the new leader of the Catholic Church was chosen by 115 cardinals.

This programme was first broadcast in 2013.

(Photo: Pope Benedict XVI. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1981, Rita Marley’s brother Leroy Anderson aka Lepke launched the Dread Broadcasting Corporation (DBC), Europe’s first dedicated black music station.

Frustrated by the lack of airtime for reggae music in the UK, Lepke setup a mast in his back garden and began to broadcast to a small area of West London every Sunday afternoon.

DBC soon expanded to cover all styles of black music and with its unmistakable logo featuring a dread with headphones and a spliff became a trailblazer for the future of black British radio in the UK.

Neil Meads speaks to former DBC station manager Michael Williams about the early days of the station, and DJ Carmella Jervier explains how inspiring it was to finally hear black female DJs on the radio.

(Photo: Dread Broadcasting Corporation. Credit: BBC)

In July 1993, Melchior Ndadaye became Burundi’s first democratically elected president.

He was also the first president to come from the country’s Hutu majority.

For decades up to that point, Burundi had been ruled by a small group of individuals drawn from the among the Tutsi minority. President Ndadaye had come to power promising a new vision for Burundi.

But within months he was murdered by soldiers.

Rob Walker hears from Jean-Marie Ngendahayo who was Minister of Communications in President Ndadaye’s government.

(Photo: A relative of Melchior Ndadaye holding a photo of him at his funeral. Credit: Getty Images)

The US space shuttle Columbia broke up on its way back to Earth on 1 February 2003.

It had been in use since 1981.

Iain Mackness spoke to Admiral Hal Gehman who was given the job of finding out what went wrong. The admiral’s report led to the ending of the American space shuttle programme in 2011.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service first broadcast in 2019.

(Photo: Space shuttle Columbia. Credit: Getty Images)

30 years ago this month, Czechoslovakia split into the separate states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

It was a rare instance of a state separating without a single life being lost. Thanks to this it became known as the ‘Velvet Divorce’.

Rather than putting it to a vote, the country and its assets were divided behind closed doors by the Czech and Slovak leaders, Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar, who became the Prime Ministers of their newly independent states. Ben Henderson speaks to both of them about their memories from the time.

(Photo: Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar negotiate the split. Credit: Zehl Igor/ČTK)

Mordechai Chertoff was the foreign editor on the Palestine Post (precursor to the Jerusalem Post) when it was bombed on 1 February 1948.

He tells Lucy Williamson how, despite the attack, the newspaper still came out the next morning.

This programme was first broadcast in 2010.

(Photo: Palestine Post bombing. Credit: Getty Images)

Professor Karlheinz Brandenburg from Germany spent more than a decade developing MP3 technology, which was developed to convert audio into digital form.

He had been working on it since 1982.

It compressed music into a file size that made it easier to transmit, leading to the first MP3 players and fast music sharing.

Laura Jones has been speaking to Professor Brandenburg.

(Photo: Karlheinz Brandenburg wearing headphones, with his team. Credit: Fraunhofer IIC)

Using archive recordings, Alex Last tells the story of Britain's most famous hangman.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Albert Pierrepoint was responsible for the execution of some of Britain's most notorious murderers and was sent to Germany to hang more than 200 Nazi war criminals after World War Two.

He said he was always determined to treat prisoners with dignity and respect whatever their crime.

This programme was first broadcast in 2015.

(Photo: Albert Pierrepoint. Credit: Getty Images)

In 2010, a plane carrying the Polish president, Lech Kaczyński, crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing everyone on board.

It was one of the most tragic moments in modern Polish history.

The country’s minister of foreign affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski was one of the first people to hear about it. He’s been sharing his memories of the disaster with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Smolensk air crash wreckage. Credit: Getty Images)

Yoshikuni Noguchi spent time as a guard in one of the prisons in Japan that would carry out the death penalty, and witnessed the hanging of a condemned prisoner in 1971, before going on to become a lawyer. He describes in detail what he saw.

Yoshikuni began speaking out to cast light on the reality of what death row inmates go through, as Japan continues to resist the calls to ban the practice, which is no longer in use in most countries. He tells his story to Dan Hardoon.

A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Yoshikunu Noguchi. Credit: Alamy)

Frontman of punk-rock band The Undertones, Paul McLoone, recalls the “weird, slightly funny, slightly sad, slightly surreal” time he was the voice of IRA commander-turned-politician, Martin McGuinness.

It was during the so called ‘broadcasting ban’ in the UK which came into force in 1988. It saw organisations believed to support terrorism forbidden from directly broadcasting on radio or television.

Paul tells Alys Harte how the legislation led to extra work for him.

(Photo: Paul McLoone during a performance. Credit: Getty Images)

In 2009, hundreds of teenagers’ lives were changed forever, when a vaccine designed to protect them against swine flu appeared to trigger a sleep disorder.

It affected people in various countries including Sweden.

Maddy Savage speaks to Christopher Tyvi from Stockholm, who is one of those who experienced problems.

A Bespoken Media production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Swine flu vaccine. Credit: Getty Images)

Between 1960 and 1966, France carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara.

High levels of radioactivity, and a failure to safely dispose of nuclear waste, have left a dangerous legacy.

Dan Hardoon speaks to Abdelkrim Touhami, who was just a teenager when the French authorities announced a nuclear test near his home.

A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Dummies at the nuclear testing site in the Algerian Sahara. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1990s Kosovo, a generation of Albanians received their education crammed into thousands of private homes.

When Slobodan Milosevic’s Serb nationalist regime forcibly evicted them from schools and universities, Kosovan Albanians responded with improvised house schools in their apartments, attics and cellars.

The spontaneous reaction to their ethnic exclusion quickly evolved into a nationwide education system that would endure for the best part of a decade.

Linda Gusia, a pupil in the house schools, and university professor Drita Halimi speak to Jack Butcher. A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: A Kosovan house school. Credit: Shyqeri Obërtinca)

In 2013, horse meat was discovered in Irish beef burgers. The scandal snowballed and within six weeks horse meat was found in beef products in more than a dozen European countries.

The story revealed how complex and unregulated Europe’s meat industry was, making it a target for fraudsters.

Ben Henderson speaks to Alan Reilly, former Chief Executive of the Irish Food Safety Authority, who uncovered the scandal.

(Photo: Meat inspection in a French supermarket. Credit: Sebastien Bozon via Getty Images)

On 15 January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River in New York, after geese struck both its engines shortly after take off.

All 155 people on board survived.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Dave Sanderson, the last passenger to be rescued.

(Photo: Passengers and crew aboard US Airways Flight 1549 await rescue. Credit: AP)

The world’s first tidal power station is on the estuary of the River Rance in France.

It was opened in 1966 by President Charles de Gaulle and has been capturing the natural power of the oceans’ tides and turning it into electricity ever since.

Alex Collins hears how the project to build it was a cause for national pride and how the facility is now a tourist attraction, as he speaks to Brittany historian Marc Bonnel.

(Photo: La Rance tidal power station. Credit: Getty Images)

A boom in demand for sea cucumbers in Asia in the 1990s set off a confrontation between fishermen and conservationists in the waters off the Galápagos Islands, where the protein-rich ocean creature was found in abundance.

The high price being paid for the sea cucumbers led to a gold rush on the South American archipelago, a chain of 21 islands home to many unique species.

In 2020, Mike Lanchin spoke to a Galapagos fisherman Marcos Escaraby and conservationist Alan Tye, who found themselves on opposite sides of the dispute.

(Picture: Sea cucumber. Credit: Getty Images)

In September 1956, a telephone cable called TAT-1 was laid under the Atlantic Ocean, making high-quality transatlantic phone calls possible for the first time.

Eight months later in May 1957, 1,000 people squeezed into St Pancras Town Hall in London for the world’s first transatlantic concert.

The person performing, Paul Robeson, was a globally renowned singer, but he’d been banned from travelling outside the USA. So, he made use of the new transatlantic telephone line to perform to his fans in the UK.

Ben Henderson speaks to John Liffen, who curated an exhibition on TAT-1 and the concert at the Science Museum in London.

(Photo: Engineers build repeaters used in TAT-1. Credit: Russell Knight/BIPs via Getty Images)

In 1953, a winter storm combined with high tides breached sea defences in the Netherlands, more than 1,800 people drowned.

Ria Geluk, remembers the once-in-a-lifetime flood.

In this programme first broadcast in 2011, Ria tells Trish Flanaghan what happened when water overwhelmed the farm she lived on.

(Photo: A man walking a flooded street. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. )

In 1971, marine biologist Edward Carpenter made a shocking discovery finding small bits of plastics floating thousands of miles of the east coast of America in the Atlantic Ocean.

More than 50 years later he tells the story of how he had to fight hard to get the scientific world to take notice of his discovery.

He also tells Alex Collins about when plastics in oceans went viral.

(Photo: Plastic floating in water. Credit: Getty Images)

In February 2012, Diana Burkot and other members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot protested inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour against the church and its support for Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Some members were arrested and put on a trial which made the news inside Russia and around the world.

Diana kept her participation in the protest secret and avoided going to prison. She shares her memories with Alex Collins.

(Photo: Diana Burkot on stage. Credit: Getty Images)

After the 1973 military coup in Chile, Miguel Enriquez led resistance against the dictatorship. The secret police were ordered to track him down and assassinate him.

His wife Carmen Castillo remembers the day in October 1974 when she was six months pregnant and the military finally caught up with one of Chile’s most wanted men. Carmen tells her story to Jane Chambers.

(Picture: Admiral Toribio Merino, General Augusto Pinochet and Air Force General Leigh in 1973. Credit: Getty Images)

On 6 January 1992, the US Government ordered a suspension of all procedures involving silicone breast implants. More than 2,000 women had complained of poor health and pain after receiving implants.

Among the issues were ruptures of the implants, connective tissue diseases, and even fears of a possible link with cancer. The story raised concerns around the world.

Iain Mackness talks to plastic surgeon Alan Matarasso about the time the US banned silicone filled breast implants.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Silicone breast implant. Credit: Getty Images)

Tété-Michel Kpomassie grew up in West Africa but he was obsessed with the Arctic. When he was 16 years old he ran away from his village in Togo determined to reach Greenland.

It took him eight years but in 1965, he finally arrived. He then went north to fulfil his dream of living among the indigenous people.

Years later, he wrote an award-winning account of his odyssey, An African in Greenland, which has been translated into eight languages. In this programme, first broadcast in 2019, he tells Alex Last about his journey.

(Photo: Tété-Michel Kpomassie in Greenland in 1988. Credit: BBC)

In 1996, Scotland took to the field for a football World Cup qualifying tie in the Estonian capital city of Tallinn. The only problem was that there was no opposition on the other side.

Paul Lambert was one of the Scottish players who had to take part in the so-called match.

He has been sharing his memories of that time with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Scotland kick off the match. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1986, thousands of people gathered in the middle of Rome to protest against the opening of Italy’s first McDonalds fast food restaurant. One of the opponents to the opening of McDonalds was journalist Carlo Petrini.

Soon after, he founded a new organisation called the Slow Food Movement. Its main aim was to protect traditional foods and cooking.

He has been sharing his story with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Carlo Petrini. Credit: Slow Food International)

In August 1958, the Japanese entrepreneur, Momofuku Ando, came up with the idea of a brand new food product that would change the eating habits of people across the world.

In 2018, Ashley Byrne spoke to Yukitaka Tsutsui, an executive for the company founded by Ando, about the birth of the Instant Noodle.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Momofuko Ando holding noodles. Credit: Getty Images)

In February 1977 the bakers of Malta went on an unprecedented strike.

It sent shock waves through the Maltese people who couldn’t imagine life without their favourite food… bread.

Before long the military was guarding bakeries, the panicked population had created a bread black market and local prisoners were enlisted to bake for the public.

Forty-five years later Maltese cultural historian Noel Buttigieg shares his memories of the time, with Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.

(Photo: A queue outside of a bakery during the 1977 strike. Credit: Noel Buttigieg)

Chef Nelson Wang created his signature dish Chicken Manchurian in 1975. It was the birth of modern Indo-Chinese cuisine which went on to become hugely popular around the world.

He went on to open China Garden, a Chinese restaurant in Mumbai that would draw in Bollywood's glitterati.

Nelson's son Edward Wang, who is also a chef, speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.

(Photo: Chicken Manchurian. Credit: Paul Yeung/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

In 1982, rally driver Arnaldo Cavallari created ciabatta bread in Adria, in northern Italy.

His family owned a flour mill and he wanted to invent a loaf to rival the French baguette.

Rachel Naylor speaks to his close friend and fellow baker, Marco Vianello.

(Photo: Ciabatta. Credit: Getty Images)

On 5 August 2010, 33 miners were trapped underground after a rockfall in the San José copper and gold mine in Chile.

They were rescued 69 days later.

Rachel Naylor speaks to one of the miners, Mario Sepúlveda, who was nicknamed Super Mario by the media.

(Photo: Mario Sepúlveda, in the centre, celebrates being rescued from the mine on 13 October 2010. Credit: Rodrigo Arangua / AFP via Getty Images)

In December 1994, Russian forces began the siege of Chechnya’s capital Grozny.

Dr Aslan Doukaev was a university teacher when the first Chechen war started.

In this programme first broadcast in 2010 he tells Ed Butler about surviving months of conflict.

(Photo: Russian soldier during the siege of Grozny. Credit: Getty Images)

In 2008, it was revealed that Colombia’s army had been executing civilians and pretending they were rebels killed in the country’s ongoing civil war. At least 4,600 innocent people were murdered in this way. They became known as the ‘false positives’.

Ben Henderson speaks to Jacqueline Castillo, whose brother was one of the victims, and Carlos Mora, who was ordered to execute civilians when he was a soldier.

(Photo: Families of 'false positives' victims. Credit: Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

It is the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service. Broadcasting to countries behind the Iron Curtain without a free or independent media between 1947 and 1991 was arguably the service’s finest hour.

The corporation was on the front line of the information war as the BBC’s former Moscow correspondent Bridget Kendall recalls.

Programmes such as the German Service’s Letters Without Signatures created a sense of community among isolated East Germans who could not air their views publicly at home.

Meanwhile, Peter Udell, the former controller of European Services, had the challenge of trying to overcome the Soviet censors. Produced and presented by Josephine McDermott.

Archive recordings of former employees in the BBC Oral History Collection were used courtesy of Sussex University.

(Photo: A West Berlin policeman looks at an East German watchtower at night, 1961. Credit: Getty Images)

To mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service, we trace the development of the Caribbean Service.

Its beginnings go back to the early 1940s when the BBC’s first black producer, Una Marson was employed.

She created Caribbean Voices, which gave future Nobel laureates such as Derek Walcott their first international platform.

In 1969, one of the UK’s best known newsreaders, Sir Trevor McDonald, left Trinidad to join the BBC Caribbean Service as a producer.

He reflects on its legacy. Produced and presented by Josephine McDermott.

Archive recording of West Indies Calling from 1943, is used courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. Una Marson's poem Black Burden is used courtesy of Peepal Tree Press and the BBC Caribbean Service archive material was provided by the Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies.

(Photo: Sir Trevor McDonald and Una Marson. Credit: BBC)

In October 2012, skydiver and former Austrian paratrooper Felix Baumgartner was watched live by millions as he ascended into the stratosphere in a helium balloon. He then jumped an estimated 38km from space back to earth.

In doing so, he broke the speed of sound and the highest skydive record that had lasted more than 50 years. Felix tells Dan Hardoon about his big leap.

A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Felix Baumgartner jumping from space. Credit: Getty Images)

Slava Zaitsev was the first designer to create high fashion collections in the Soviet Union.

He tells Dina Newman about the challenges he faced working under communism.

This programme was first broadcast in 2018.

(Photo: A sketch of a dress designed by Slava Zaitsev. Credit: Slava Zaitsev)

When Zahra Nordien was forced out of District Six in Cape Town in 1977, she vowed to one day return.

She was one of the 60,000 people who were forcibly removed from the neighbourhood because of the racist South African apartheid government.

What seemed like a pipe dream became a reality when Zahra set up the District Six Working Committee campaigning to get former residents into newly rebuilt homes.

In 2013 her elderly mother moved back into District Six with Zahra, more than three decades after they were expelled.

Zahra tells Reena Stanton-Sharma about her ongoing fight for restitution.

(Photo: Cape Town, South Africa in the 1970s. Credit: Gallo Images / Juhan Kuus)

Shopkeeper Louisa Gould risked her life to hide a Russian prisoner who had escaped from the Nazis during the German occupation of Jersey in World War Two. She was later betrayed and died in Ravensbrück, a concentration camp, in 1945. Vicky Carter speaks to her great-niece Jenny Lecoat.

(Photo: Louisa Gould. Credit: Courtesy of the Channel Islands Occupation Society (Jersey) Collection held at Jersey Archive)

In 1990, a peaceful revolution brought democracy to Mongolia after almost 70 years of Soviet backed rule.

University lecturer Ganbold Davaadorj was one of the lead figures in bringing together the Mongolian people. He went on to be the first deputy prime minister of Mongolia.

He shares his story with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Protestors occupy Sükhbaatar Square in 1990. Credit: Getty Images)

It’s 1994 and the BBC is looking for a brand-new children’s TV series.

TV producer Anne Wood decides she’s going to make a show aimed at an audience that’s never had programmes made for it before – two and three-year-olds.

She tells Melanie Stewart-Smith the fascinating story of how spacemen and technology inspired the creation of one of the most popular kids TV shows of all time, Teletubbies.

(Photo: Teletubbies. Credit: Ragdoll Productions for the BBC/Wildbrain)

In November 1975, the Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, was controversially sacked by an unelected official in the country's biggest constitutional crisis.

Many Australians were outraged and rumours spread that Buckingham Palace was involved. It became known simply as 'The Dismissal'.

Paul Kelly was a political correspondent in the Australian parliament that day. He shares his memories with Ben Henderson.

(Photo: Gough Whitlam in 1975. Credit: George Lipman/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)

On the 22 July 2005, unarmed Brazilian man Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by anti-terrorism police in London.

He was shot because he was mistaken for terrorist Hussain Osman who had been involved in a failed suicide attack just 24 hours previously. The killing made headlines all over the world, and Jean Charles’ family demanded justice.

Matt Pintus has been speaking to Jean Charles’ cousin and best friend, Patricia da Silva.

(Photo: Patricia da Silva in front of mural of Jean Charles de Menezes. Credit: Getty Images)

Hindu extremists demolished a 16th century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya in December 1992 prompting months of communal violence across India.

Photojournalist Praveen Jain witnessed rehearsals for the demolition the day before the activists stormed the mosque.

He spoke to Iknoor Kaur in 2019.

(Photo: Hindu extremists rehearsing the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Credit: Praveen Jain)

In October 1995, the people of Quebec went to the polls to decide whether the province should declare independence from Canada.

Kevin Caners hears the first-hand testimony of Jean-François Lisée and Stephane Dion, who represented opposite sides of a debate which nearly split the country in two.

A Whistledown Production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Voters at the 1995 Quebec referendum. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1970, feminists stormed the stage at the Miss World pageant in London.

They were protesting against the objectification of women.

Sally Alexander was one of the young protesters who was arrested for her part in the demonstration. She spoke to Andrew Whitehead in 2014.

(Photo: Protestors outside the 1970 Miss World pageant. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, Bulgaria was a strictly controlled communist dictatorship.

It was also facing a wave of infection and death caused by a mysterious new virus. The authorities refused to recognise the threat of HIV and AIDS, so one of Bulgaria’s virologists took the initiative.

In this programme for World Aids Day, Professor Radka Argirova tells Janet Barrie how she smuggled the live HIV virus back from Germany to start testing in Bulgaria for the first time.

(Photo: Professor Radka Argirova in her laboratory. Credit: BBC)

In 1947, thousands of Japanese families were expelled from their island homes by Soviet troops. They were taken from the Northern Territories, also known as the Southern Kurils, after the Soviet Union took control of the islands.

Japan and Russia have failed to sign a peace agreement after World War Two because of the dispute.

Yuzo Matsumoto, who's now 81, has been speaking to Laura Jones.

(Photo: Yuzo Matsumoto with photos of his parents, standing in front of a map of Etorofu. Credit: BBC)

In 2000, an American personal trainer invented CrossFit.

They now have gyms around the world and hold an annual international competition.

Rachel Naylor speaks to two-time world champion Annie Thorisdottir, from Iceland.

(Photo: Annie Thorisdottir. Credit: CrossFit LLC)

In 2002, journalist Kelly Hartog was on a press trip in Mombasa, in Kenya, when suicide bombers drove a car packed with explosives into the hotel where she was staying.

The attack killed 18 people and injured 80.

Almost at the same time, terrorists tried to bring down an Israeli charter jet using surface-to-air missiles – but narrowly missed.

Kelly tells Vicky Farncombe about her ordeal.

(Photo: People stand outside the Paradise Hotel after it was attacked by suicide bombers. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1934, the late Percy Shaw almost crashed while driving home from the pub on a foggy night in West Yorkshire, in England.

He was saved when his headlights were reflected in the eyes of a cat and it gave him a brilliant idea.

He invented reflective studs for the road and called them cat’s eyes.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Percy's great-niece, Glenda Shaw.

(Photo: Percy Shaw holding one of his cat's eyes, outside his factory in Halifax, England, in 1958. Credit: Getty Images)

On 20 September 1998, the former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, was arrested and charged on suspicion of committing fraud and sodomy.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia but charges are rare and the case was internationally condemned as being political motivated. Anwar believed that he was being framed by his former boss, the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Almost 25 years on, Anwar shares his memories of the time with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. Credit: Getty Images)

In September 1967, all Swedish traffic had to change the habit of decades and swap to driving on the right-hand side of the road.

It brought them into line with most of the rest of Europe except for Britain and Ireland but caused a day of chaos. In 2016, Ashley Byrne spoke to Bjorn Sylven who remembered that day.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: First day of driving on the right-hand side in Stockholm. Credit: Keystone-France/Gemma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Iran’s first ever minister for women’s affairs was appointed in 1975.

Mahnaz Afkhami was the first person in the Muslim world to hold that position. While she was in that role, the government granted women equal divorce rights, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 and supported women’s employment with maternity leave and childcare.

In 2018, Farhana Haider spoke to her about being the only woman in the pre-revolutionary Iranian cabinet.

(Photo: Mahnaz Afkhami at the UN in 1975. Credit: Mahnaz Afkhami)

In 1958, the late Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt for cars.

It's estimated to have saved more than one million lives around the world.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Nils' stepson, Gunnar Ornmark.

(Photo: Nils Bohlin, in 1959, modelling his invention. Credit: Volvo Cars Group)

In 1978, Kaltham Jaber published her first book – a collection of short stories. She is an assistant professor and acclaimed writer from Qatar. Her success as an author came just two decades after girls were first allowed to go to school in the oil-rich state.

Kaltham became a really important figurehead for women in the country as she campaigned for gender equality.

She shares her story with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Kaltham Jaber. Credit: Kaltham Jaber)

It was rare for women in what is now the United Arab Emirates to go to school in the 1960s.

At the time, the future country was a collection of emirates under British protection. The Sheikdoms were traditional societies.

This is the story of a young woman who was among the first to graduate from high school. She went on to become the first teacher there. Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi tells Farhana Haider about her trailblazing experience.

(Photo: Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi with her students at Fatima Al Zahra School, Sharjah, 1970. Credit: Shaikha Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi)

In 2003, a Qatari engineer came up with the idea for a robot jockey, to replace child jockeys in camel racing.

Two years later, the robot was approved for use. The tiny gadgets, which wear caps and hold whips, are now used all over the Middle East.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Esan Maruff, who helped develop them.

(Photo: Robot jockeys riding camels. Credit: Getty Images)