The History Hour

We hear Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot perspectives on the island's 1974 coup and subsequent invasion. Bekir Azgun, a Turkish-Cypriot writer, remembers the events.

On the 20 July 1974 Captain Adamos Marneros landed the final flight at Nicosia Airport.

Nicoletta Demetriou talks about returning to her family home in 2003.

Then, a Cypriot Olympic sailing hero Pavlos Kontides takes us back to the London 2012 Games.

And finally the 'Godfather of Ayia Napa', DJ Nick Power, tells us how the island became a party destination.

Max Pearson presents this week's Witness History interviews on the history of Cyprus. Our guest is Dr Antigone Heraclidou, senior research associate at CYENS Centre of Excellence in Cyprus.

(Photo: Greek Cypriot soldier killed in the 1974 conflict. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

We hear about the law in Brazil which made it illegal for women and girls to play football for 40 years.

Dilma Mendes shares her incredible experience of being arrested numerous times as a child, just for kicking a ball. Our guest, Alexandra Allred, herself a pioneering sportswomen, discusses the discrimination women have faced to break into competitive sport.

Plus, the moment when the 'Queen of Salsa', banned from Cuba by Fidel Castro, was allowed to return to Cuban territory for one performance.

We learn about the brutal crushing of a student movement in 1968 in Mexico City 10 days before the Olympic Games, which ended in dozens being killed.

Also, the start of an environmental movement in Italy in 1988, and the invention of the air fryer. The prototype was nearly as big as a dog kennel and made of wood and aluminium.

Contributors:

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.

We hear about the era-defining book Subway Art and how Fight the Power became a protest anthem. Artist curator Marianne Vosloo explains how both street art and hip-hop are linked.

Plus, two stories from Georgia. Firstly, how Stalin carried out his most severe purge in Georgia in 1937, killing thousands of people, and then how after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the newly independent state was thrown into a political and economic crisis.

Finally, we hear from a former Canadian prime minister, on how her party was left with just two seats after the election in 1993.

Contributors:

(Photo: People queing to buy Subway Art. Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes.

We hear the story of the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world and the creation of one of the most recognisable characters on the planet.

Plus, an amazing first hand account of the expulsion of German-speakers from Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War, the man behind Dignitas, the assisted dying organisation in Switzerland, and the son of a Guatemalan president who was overthrown in an American-backed coup in the 1950s.

Contributors:

(Photo: The Sagrada Família, in Barcelona. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service on the history of travel. Our guest is Dr. Susan Houge Mackenzie, Associate Professor in the Department of Tourism at the University of Otago in New Zealand.

First, we'll hear from the man responsible for the first commercial bungee jump.

Then, the pioneers of low-cost transatlantic flights and luxury cruises describe how they revolutionised travel.

Finally, we hear the remarkable stories of how Cancún and Benidorm transformed into holiday hotspots, involving General Franco, bikinis and excommunication.

Contributors:

(Photo: Bungee jumping. Credit: Getty Images)

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

First, we hear about Boko Haram militants driving into Gwoza in north-east Nigeria in 2014, to begin an assault which left hundreds dead.

Next, the Irish shopworkers who went on strike after refusing to handle South African goods.

Then, it’s 25 years since Nato bombed the Serbian state TV station in Belgrade.

Plus, Norway’s biggest industrial disaster.

And, Brazil’s iconic egg-shaped telephone booth.

Contributors:

Ruoyah who lived through the Boko Haram massacre.

Makena Micheni - Associate Lecturer at St Andrews University.

Irish shopworker Mary Manning.

TV technician Dragan Šuković.

Harry Vike and his wife Greta.

Chu Ming Silveira’s son Alan Chu.

(Photo: A woman from Gwoza displaced by the violence. Credit: Reuters/Stringer)

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

First, we hear how a young Irishwoman called Maureen Flavin Sweeney drew up a weather report that delayed the date of D-Day.

Then, 99-year-old former field medic, Charles Norman Shay, shares his remarkable account of landing on the Normandy beach in France codenamed Omaha on D-Day.

Next, we also talk to Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi who hurled his shoes at the President of the United States.

Plus, we hear about China gifting Taiwan two giant pandas, in a practice known as ‘panda diplomacy’.

Finally, it’s the 40th anniversary of the popular computer game Tetris being invented.

Contributors:

Edward Sweeney – Maureen Flavin Sweeney’s son.

(Photo: U.S Troops rushing to the Normandy beaches. Credit: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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

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

First, the story of Brazil's most wanted, Carlos Lamarca. He was a captain who deserted the army in the 1960s and joined in the armed struggle against the military regime in the country.

Then, Bill Booth - historian of twentieth century Latin America at University College London - joins Max to talk about other revolutionary figures from South America.

Next, the story of Australia's first Aboriginal MP and how he fought for indigenous rights.

Plus, the 90th anniversary of the first ever quintuplets, the 1984 Apple commercial that changed advertising and the 2014 Flint, Michigan water contamination crisis.

Contributors:

(Photo: Subcomandante Marcos pictured in 2001. Credit: Getty Images)

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

This week’s programmes are all about the history of footwear.

First we take a trip back to the 1960’s when Brazilians were introduced to a new type of footwear, which went on to become one of the country’s biggest exports.

Plus the story of how a then rookie basketball player called Michael Jordan signed a deal with Nike that revolutionised sports marketing.

We also hear about the thousands of shoes owned by the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos.

Then we learn how one family feud led to the creation of two massive sportswear companies, Adidas and Puma.

Finally, we hear how a Czech company revolutionised shoe production and brought affordable footwear to the world.

Contributors:

(Photo: Air Jordan Original. Credit: Getty Images)

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

This week, we hear how nuclear testing changed politics in French Polynesia.

Plus, the story of how the FBI caught Ana Montes, the spy known as the ‘Queen of Cuba’.

We also talk to Jewish and Palestinian people about the moment the state of Israel was proclaimed in 1948.

Finally, we tell the unlikely story of how a heavy metal rock band emerged during the violent years of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

Contributors:

(Photo: Antony Géros. Credit: Getty Images)