Witness History

In 1971, the region that is now Bangladesh fought for independence from Pakistan. At the time, Peter Singer was a philosophy lecturer at the University of Oxford.
Horrified by the suffering in Bangladesh, Singer wrote an essay in which he put forward his Drowning Child thought experiment, one of the most influential ideas in modern philosophy.
The thought experiment, published in 1972, inspired the Effective Altruism movement, which has led donors to commit billions of dollars to charities. Peter Singer speaks to Ben Henderson.
This programme contains views on disability that some people may find offensive.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: Peter Singer in 2001. Credit: Najlah Feanny/Corbis via Getty Images)

In October 1973, the Netherlands was the only western European country to face a full oil embargo from the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, OAPEC.
During the global oil crisis, they became the first country in Europe to introduce car-free Sundays with most private cars banned from public roads on Sundays.
Wim Meijer was the State Secretary for Culture, Recreation and Social Work in the Den Uyl Labour Government.
He speaks to Surya Elango.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: Car-free Sundays in the Netherlands. Credit: Anefo Collection, Nationaal Archief)

On 26 April 1990, the world's first perfume archive opened in Versailles, France.
The idea behind L'Osmothèque was to create a collection of scents and preserve their memory.
Perfumer Jean Claude Ellena was one of the team who created it.
He speaks to Jen Dale about how L'Osmothèque was founded and how perfumes from previous centuries, that no longer existed, were re-created.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Image: Perfume bottles at L'Osmothèque, Versailles. Credit: L'Osmothèque)

In 2007, the Mexican state of Tabasco experienced its worst flooding in 50 years, with more than a million people affected.
Eighty per cent of the region was under water, with people having to be rescued from the roofs of their homes by boat.
The flooding occurred after heavy rain caused rivers in the state to break their banks.
Marco Franco worked as an emergency coordinator for the Red Cross during the floods. He speaks to Tim O’Callaghan about his memories of that time.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: Residents are rescued from a flooded neighborhood in the state of Tabasco in 2007. Credit: Tomas Bravo/Reuters)

The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in Ukraine, on 26 April 1986, was the world’s worst nuclear accident.
The explosion in reactor four caused radioactive parts to be spread over the nearby area.
Hundreds of thousands of people were involved in the decontamination efforts, including soldiers and workers at the power station. They were known as the liquidators.
Some even had to run out onto the roof of the reactors to clear debris which had been scattered from the radioactive core.
Yurіy Skaletskyy was a radiological officer in the Soviet Navy. He monitored the radiation exposure faced by the liquidators and tells Tim O'Callaghan how workers improvised their own protective gear using sheets of lead foil.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: The liquidators on the roof of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Credit: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)