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Witness History Episodes

  1.

    The bird that defied extinction

    In 1977, the white-winged guan was rediscovered in Peru after a century

  2. Cabbage Patch Kids

    Christmas 1983 saw frenzied shoppers buy three million Cabbage Patch Kids

  3. The Mumbai attacks

    In 2008, 10 gunmen killed more than 100 people in Mumbai’s busiest hot spots

  4. The Paris heatwave

    In 2003, Paris was overwhelmed by the hottest European heatwave for 500 years

  5. Kennedy’s nail-biter election victory

    In 1960, John F Kennedy became the youngest person to be elected United States president.

  6. The invention of bubble tea

    Chun Shui Tang tea house in Taiwan began selling bubble tea in 1987

  7. The independence of Zambia

    How Zambia became independent in 1964

  8. Discovering the ancient city of Thonis-Heracleion

    In 2000 Franck Goddio made one of the greatest ever underwater discoveries

  9. The Bolivian Water War

    How Bolivians in the city of Cochabamba fought against the “leasing of the rain”

  10. Rosalind Franklin: DNA pioneer

    The scientist produced an X-ray photograph in 1952, that helped show the structure of DNA

  11. Eyjafjallajökull: The volcano that stopped a continent

    In 2010, a cloud of volcanic ash brought Europe’s planes back to earth

  12. The invention of the EpiPen

    How engineer Sheldon Kaplan and his team made the EpiPen, the lifesaving allergy device

  13. The hippo and the tortoise

    In 2004, a hippo and a tortoise became friends. Their story gained worldwide fame

  14. Destruction of Mostar Bridge

    On 9 November 1993 the historic bridge was destroyed during the Bosnian War

  15. The Pakistani teens who became disco superstars

    How Nazia and Zoheb Hassan changed South-East Asian pop with their album, Disco Deewane

  16. Debbie McGee in Iran

    Showbiz star, Debbie McGee describes being caught up in the Iranian revolution in 1978

  17. Ycuá Bolaños supermarket fire

    More than 300 people died in Paraguay's capital in 2004

  18. Freddie Mercury 'marries' Jane Seymour

    The actress Jane Seymour shares what it was like being rock star Freddie Mercury's bride

  19. Che Guevara’s daughter: A Cuban doctor in Angola

    In 1986 Dr Aleida Guevara travelled from Cuba to treat children in communist Angola

  20. Inventing the black box

    In 1962 a prototype of the cockpit flight recorder was tested in Australia

  21. The discovery of the HIV virus

    In 1983, scientists at the Pasteur Institute in Paris first discovered the HIV virus

  22. The billion dollar bid to stop oil drilling in the Amazon

    In 2010 a $3.6billion fund began to stop oil drilling in Ecuador’s Yasuni national park

  23. Turkey: Gezi Park protests

    In 2013 protests in Istanbul’s Gezi Park led to civil unrest across Turkey

  24. 'The streets of Harare were littered with money'

    Professor Gift Mugano describes when Zimbabwe’s inflation hit 89.7 sextillion per cent

  25. The 1993 MAD hijack

    In 1993, a Nigerian Airways flight from Lagos to Abuja was hijacked

  26. The 1980 Turkey coup

    On 12 September 1980, the military took control of Turkey

  27. The first Bosphorus Bridge

    In 1973, the first bridge connecting Europe and Asia was completed

  28. Osmondmania

    Donny Osmond shares his memories of teen hysteria in 1973

  29. Launching Lagos Fashion Week

    Lagos Fashion Week was launched in 2011 putting Nigerian style on the global map

  30. Mexico’s murdered women

    In the 1990s, hundreds of young women were murdered in a Mexican border town

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