Edith Piaf
In 1963, the funeral of the legendary French singer brought Paris to a standstill. In this programme, Piaf's friends and lovers recall the career of the "Little Sparrow".
Dec 31, 2013•9 min
Witness History: Archive 2013
The story of our times told by the people who were there.
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Episodes
Anti-Shah Demonstrations in Iran
Millions of people took to the streets of Iran's main cities in December 1978. They were demonstrating against the Shah and his authoritarian government. Hear from two men who took part in the protests: Sadeq Zibakalam and Abbas Milani. Photo: Demonstrators in 1978. Associated Press.
Dec 30, 2013•9 min
Prison Camp in WW2 Manila, Philippines
Thousands of foreign civilians were interned in camps when Japanese troops occupied the Philippines in World War II. Many of the inmates suffered from acute malnutrition. We hear the story of one boy, Desmond Malone, who was interned at the Santo Tomas camp in Manila. Photo: American inmates of the Santo Tomas internment camp after liberation by US forces in February 1945 (AP Photo/Pool)
Dec 27, 2013•9 min
The Murder of Dian Fossey
Gorilla expert Dian Fossey was murdered in her cabin at her research centre in Rwanda on 26 December 1985. Lucy Burns speaks to Kelly Stewart, who worked with Fossey and the gorillas.
Dec 26, 2013•9 min
Grand Theft Auto
A new computer game - designed in Scotland - became a surprise global hit in 1997. But Grand Theft Auto also courted controversy and sparked debate over violence and drugs in video games. Listen to Brian Baglow - one of the original team behind the launch.
Dec 25, 2013•9 min
The MP Who Faked His Own Death
British MP John Stonehouse faked his own death in Miami in November 1974 - and was discovered just weeks later in Australia on 24 December. Lucy Burns speaks to his barrister, Geoffrey Robertson QC.
Dec 24, 2013•9 min
Murder in the Amazon
In December 1988 the Brazilian environmental campaigner, Chico Mendes, was shot dead by cattle ranchers. The 44-year-old leader of the rubber tappers union had become a powerful symbol of the struggle to save the Amazon. We hear from those closest to Mendes at the time of his death. (Photo: Chico Mendes and his family. Credit: Str/AFP/Getty Images)
Dec 23, 2013•9 min
Lockerbie Bombing
On 21 December 1988 an American airliner was blown out of the sky above Scotland. A bomb had been planted in its luggage hold. All of the 259 people on board, as well as 11 people on the ground in the small town of Lockerbie, were killed. Hear from from Father Patrick Keegans who lived on the street where much of the wreckage landed. Photo credit: AFP/Getty Images
Dec 20, 2013•9 min
The Assassination of Spain's Prime Minister
On December 20, 1973 Luis Carrero Blanco, the Spanish PM was killed by a massive bomb which was detonated under his car in Madrid. It had been planted by the Basque separatist group ETA. He had been right-hand man to Spain's dictator Francisco Franco. Photo: Spanish police examine the aftermath of the bomb attack. Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
Dec 19, 2013•9 min
Indonesia Invades East Timor
In December 1975, East Timor was invaded by its neighbour Indonesia, just a few days after the Timorese had declared independence from Portuguese colonial rule. Estevao Cabral was a teenager at the time, but he was caught up in the battle to defend Baucau airport against the occupying Indonesian paratroopers. He spoke to Lucy Burns about his experiences. (Photo: People wave the East Timorese flag during independence day celebrations May 19, 2002 in Dili, East Timor. Photo by Edy Purnomo/Getty Im...
Dec 18, 2013•9 min
The Kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr
In December 1963 the 19-year-old son of Frank Sinatra - Frank Jr - was kidnapped for a ransom. He was released unharmed after two days. Barry Keenan, the man behind the crime, speaks to Mike Lanchin and describes the events of his doomed 'get rich quick' plot. (Photo: Frank Sinatra and son, Dec 1963. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
Dec 17, 2013•9 min
International Space Station
In December 1998, NASA astronaut Bob Cabana and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev were the first on board the International Space Station, after the first two modules - Zarya and Unity - were joined together in orbit. PHOTO: AP / NASA TV
Dec 16, 2013•9 min
South Africa Wins the Rugby World Cup
In 1995, post-apartheid South Africa hosted, and won, the Rugby World Cup. It was a hugely unifying moment for the country. Hear from Francois Pienaar, captain of the victorious Springboks team about what it meant to him, and to the nation. Photo: AFP.
Dec 13, 2013•9 min
The Soweto Uprising
In June 1976 South African police opened fire on schoolchildren protesting against having to learn Afrikaans at school. Hear from Bongi Mkhabela who was a schoolgirl organiser on that march - about the violence and the resistance that followed. Photo: BBC/Clarity Films/Peter Magubane
Dec 12, 2013•9 min
The ANC's Armed Struggle
In 1961 the African National Congress decided to take up arms against Apartheid. The organisation's military wing was called Umkhonto we Sizwe, or Spear of the Nation. Ronnie Kasrils was a young anti-Apartheid activist who planted one of the first bombs aimed at sabotaging the South African government's infrastructure. (Image: Ronnie Kasrils in 1961. Credit: Ronnie Kasrils)
Dec 11, 2013•9 min
Apartheid in the 1950s
Following the death of Nelson Mandela we remember the system he was fighting against. Using BBC archive we present a snapshot of the attitudes and emotions on both sides of the racial divide as the South African authorites cemented the foundations of Apartheid in 1957.
Dec 09, 2013•9 min
The Destruction of the Mosque at Ayodhya
In December 1993, Hindu activists demolished a Muslim holy site.
Dec 06, 2013•9 min
Prohibition in the USA
On 5 December 1933 prohibition came to an end. For almost 14 years it had been illegal to sell alcohol in the USA. The law was widely flouted and organised crime had flourished under the policy. Listen to archive accounts from the time. (Photo: Men pouring alcohol down the drain circa 1920. Copyright: Hulton Archives/Getty Images)
Dec 05, 2013•9 min
Psychiatry and Homosexuality in the USA
From the 1950s until the 1970s, homosexuality was classed as a mental illness in the USA. Hear from Charles Silverstein, a campaigner who persuaded the American Psychiatric Association that just because he was gay, it didn't mean he was ill.
Dec 04, 2013•9 min
Vietnamese Boat People
In the late 1970s, after the end of the Vietnam War, over a million people fled the country on small overcrowded boats. Hear the story of just one Vietnamese boat person: Nguyen Ngoc Ngan. Photo: Cor/AFP/Getty Images.
Dec 03, 2013•9 min
Murder of Churchwomen in El Salvador
In December 1980 three US Roman Catholic nuns and a layworker were abducted and murdered in El Salvador. Their work speaking out on behalf of the poor had made them targets for the country's fiercely anti-communist military. A close friend and colleague, Sister Patricia Murray, was one of the last people to see them alive.
Dec 02, 2013•9 min
Portugal Attacks Guinea
In November 1970, Portugal launched a surprise raid on the independent West African nation of Guinea, which had been supporting liberation fighters opposed to Portuguese rule in neighbouring Guinea Bissau. Hundreds of Portuguese colonial troops and Guinean exiles took part in the attack. They hoped to overthrow Guinea's leader, Sekou Toure. Photo: Rebels fighting Portuguese rule in Guinea Bissau, Credit: AFP/GettyImages
Nov 29, 2013•9 min
The Tehran Conference of World War Two
In November 1943, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill all met together for the first time to discuss the progress of World War Two. The meeting was held in Tehran over four days. (Photo: Joseph Stalin (left), Franklin Roosevelt (centre), Winston Churchill (right). Credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Nov 28, 2013•9 min
How Child Road Deaths Changed the Netherlands
In 1973, the campaign group Stop de Kindermoord or Stop the Child Murder launched in the Netherlands. It would change the face of the nation's infrastructure. Witness speaks to the group's chair, Maartje van Putten. Image: Dutch National Archive.
Nov 27, 2013•9 min
The First Panda in America
In November 1936, a US socialite and her Chinese-American guide captured a giant panda cub in the forests of China. Ruth Harkness took the cub to the USA and kept it in her New York flat, before selling it to a Chicago zoo. Photo: Quentin Young, the panda cub and Ruth Harkness. Courtesy of Jolly Young.
Nov 26, 2013•9 min
The Trojan Room Coffee Pot
In 1993 the first webcam went online. Its camera was focused on a coffee pot so that computer scientists in Cambridge, in the UK could see if there was any coffee available. Dr Quentin Stafford-Fraser, Martyn Johnson and Paul Jardetzky explain how they developed the precursor to Skype.
Nov 25, 2013•9 min
Making Doctor Who
On 23rd November 1963, the first episode of one of the world's best loved TV sci-fi programmes was shown. But the BBC's debut of Doctor Who was tragically overshadowed by the assassination of US President John F Kennedy. Lucy Burns speaks to Carole Ann Ford, who played the Timelord's grand-daughter, Susan. Presented and produced by Lucy Burns. First broadcast on BBC World Service November 2013.
Nov 22, 2013•9 min
Birmingham Pub Bombings
In 1974, bombs exploded at two busy pubs in the English city of Birmingham, killing 21 people. The IRA were blamed. Witness speaks to Les Robinson, who survived the attack. (Photo: Debris and damage from the bomb in the basement pub. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Nov 21, 2013•9 min
The Execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa
In November 1995, Nigeria's military government provoked international outrage when it executed the writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other activists from Ogoniland in the oil rich Niger Delta. (Photo: Ken Saro Wiwa at a rally in Ogoniland. Credit: Greenpeace)
Nov 20, 2013•9 min
Lee Harvey Oswald in the USSR
Before he shot President John F Kennedy, Oswald spent two and a half mysterious years living in Minsk. We hear from two people who got to know him during his time there. (Photo: Lee Harvey Oswald after his arrest in Dallas, Nov 22 1963. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
Nov 19, 2013•9 min
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