The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest, gemmologist James Evans discusses the creation of synthetic diamonds.
We begin with the trial of the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor. It was claimed that he traded in arms and ammunition in return for so-called blood diamonds.
Next we head to Syria where a group of young men in the besieged town of Darayya came together to build a secret library during the civil war.
Plus the start of the Second World War in the Pacific when Japanese troops landed in what was then northern Malaya.
We hear about a meeting between two of the most prominent figures in history from around the turn of the last century. Florence Nightingale and the Aga Khan, Sir Sultan Muhammed Shah.
Our sporting story takes us back to the summer of 1952 when the first Olympics of the Cold War era took place. Czechoslovakian army officer Emil Zatopek achieved a unique feat.
And finally, the moment when Spain's fledgling democratic government appeared to be under threat.
Contributors:
Brenda Hollis - Chief prosecutor at the Charles Taylor trial.
Malik Alrifaii - Volunteer who helped run the Syrian library.
Dorothy Variyan -Lived under Japanese rule during the occupation of the Malay peninsula.
Aga Khan III, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah - BBC archive interview from 1950.
Richard Asquith - Emil Zatopek's biographer.
Joaquin Almunia - Former Vice President of the European Commission.
(Photo: Charles Taylor (rear C) appears in court in 2006. Credit: Rob Keeris/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Guri Hjeltnes, an author and World War Two historian.
We start with Nazi Germany’s occupation of Norway during World War Two by hearing about a secret resistance operation known as “The Shetland Bus”.
Then, we learn about a playboy spy who, during the 1940s, became one of wartime’s most successful double agents and the reported inspiration behind James Bond.
We hear how a black and white photograph taken in 1982, of a mother and her young daughter raising their arms in protest, became a symbol of Argentina’s resistance.
Plus, the public health crisis in America in 1980 that led to the setting up of the Tampon Task Force.
In sport, we speak to the BMX rider known as "The Canadian Beast" who took part in the first Extreme Games in 1995.
Finally, we hear from an Austrian mountaineer who spent seven years in Tibet and, in 1948, became friends with the country’s spriritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Contributors:
Leif Larsen – Norwegian sailor and a skipper on “The Shetland Bus”.
Dusko Popov – British double agent during World War Two.
Adriana Lestido - Argentinian newspaper photographer.
Nancy King Reame – Professor Emerita Columbia University and researcher with the Tampon Task Force.
Jay Miron - Canadian BMX rider.
Heinrich Harrer – Austrian mountaineer who became a tutor to the Dalai Lama.
(Photo: Leif Larsen (middle) and other member of The Shetland Bus. Credit: Scalloway Museum)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Scottish writer, editor and music programmer Arusa Qureshi.
We start in 1989 when the British rock band Pink Floyd played a highly controversial concert in Venice.
Then, we cover Dr Rita Levi-Montalcini whose bedroom experiments won her the Nobel Prize.
We hear from a man who worked on the Mont Blanc Tunnel, which opened in 1965.
A survivor describes Florence's devastating flood in 1966.
Finally, the story of how the actress Gina Lollobrigida interviewed Cuba's leader Fidel Castro.
Contributors:
Fran Tomasi and Andrea Pattaro - witnesses to Pink Floyd's Venice concert.
Arusa Qureshi - Scottish writer, editor and music programmer.
Franco Cuaz - Mont Blanc Tunnel's first operations manager.
Antonina Bargellini - survivor of the Florence flood.
(Photo: Pink Floyd performing in Venice. Credit: Andrea Pattaro)

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

What does a tickle look like? That was the question eight-year-old Adam Hargreaves asked in 1971. He explains how it led his father Roger Hargreaves, to create the children's book series Mr Men.

Our guest Professor Nina Christensen, head of the Centre for Children's Literature and Media at Aarhus University, on the wider history of children's literature.

We hear a remarkable account from Captain Chris Fraser-Perry, who took part in the Jugroom Fort rescue mission, during the war in Afghanistan.

Plus from Cuba, we learn about the Mariel boatlift of 1980 in which thousands of people left for the United States and in 2022, the controversial visit to Cuba by former US President Jimmy Carter.

And the story behind the contamination of Austria's fine wine in 1985.

Our Sporting Witness episode this week looks at the first sister-brother duo to win Alpine Ski World Cup races on the same day.

Contributors:

Adam Hargreaves - Roger Hargreaves son
Nina Christensen - head of the Centre for Children's Literature and Media at Aarhus University
Captain Chris Fraser-Perry - British Royal Marine
Mirta Ojito - Cuban-born journalist
Jennifer McCoy - former director of the Carter Center
Ivica Kostelic - Croatian alpine skier
Janica Kostelic - Croatian alpine skier
Heidi Schroek - Austrian wine-maker

(Photo: English author Roger Hargreaves. Credit: Monti Spry/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History interviews from the BBC World Service.
We travel back to Chile in 2006 where more than 600,000 schoolchildren are marching through the streets to protest about their schools. The nationwide demonstrations will become known as the "Penguin Revolution".
Our guest Dr Laura Tisdall, a historian from Newcastle University, explains why this isn’t the first time children have challenged authority.
And we examine another protest in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1979 which became a seminal moment in the country’s transition to democracy.
Plus, one of the most defining moments of World War Two – the liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazis’ largest death camp in 1945.
And the remarkable story of the 5,000-year-old mummy found frozen and perfectly preserved in Europe’s Ötzal Alps in 1991.
In sport, we explore the inspiring story of how rugby union came to thrive in Syria - despite mass protests and violent government crackdowns during 2011...
Finally, we celebrate 100 years since a technological breakthrough that would change the world. The start of television.
Contributors:
Karina Delfino – one of the leaders of the Penguin Revolution.
Dr Laura Tisdall - lecturer in Modern British History, Newcastle University.
Yao Chia-wen – protester in the Kaohsiung Incident.
General Vasily Petrenko – Soviet army commander who helped liberate Auschwitz.
Konrad Spindler – archaeologist.
Rainer Henn - forensic pathologist.
Mohamad Jarkou – Syrian rugby union player.
Iain Logie Baird – grandson of John Logie Baird, the inventor of television.
(Photo: High school students in Santiago, 2006. Credit: Claudio Pozo/AFP via Getty Images)