The History Hour

The History Hour episodes:

• 04.20.2024

  Ebola outbreak and the Friendship Train returns

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. It’s 10 years since the world’s deadliest outbreak of Ebola started in West Africa. We hear from a survivor and discuss the legacy of...

  
• 04.12.2024

  The history of art heists

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. It's 30 years since Edvard Munch’s painting, The Scream, was stolen from the national gallery in Oslo, Norway. We hear from the man who...

  
• 04.05.2024

  Swedish History

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. It has been 50 years since Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, so we're exploring Swedish history. Also in 1974, Sweden became the...

  
• 03.30.2024

  Seventy-five years of Nato and the Heimlich Manoeuvre

  It's 75 years since the founding of Nato. In 1949, a group of 12 countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to block the expansion of the Soviet Union. Professor Sten Rynning, the author of Nato: From Cold War to...

  
• 03.23.2024

  Chinese history

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. To mark 50 years since the discovery of the Terracotta Army, we're exploring modern Chinese history. We hear from the man who helped to...

  
• 03.16.2024

  Finding early vertebrate’s footprints and the Deaflympic badminton champion

  First, we go back to 1992, when off the coast of Ireland, a Swiss geology student accidentally discovered the longest set of footprints made by the first four-legged animals to walk on earth. They pointed to a new date for...

  
• 03.09.2024

  Uruguay's smoking ban and the Carnation Revolution

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We first hear about Uruguay’s tale of David v Goliath - when a tobacco giant took South America's second-smallest country to court over...

  
• 03.02.2024

  Whisky wars and the Lord of Sipan

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We first hear about a bloodless war between Denmark and Canada, that involved whisky. In 1984, the two nations were disputing...

  
• 02.24.2024

  Skiing and two-headed dogs

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the famous ski resort, Whistler Blackcomb. In 2003, the venue won its bid to host the Winter Olympic Games...

  
• 02.17.2024

  Letters to Juliet and Saint Valentine’s traditions

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the Juliet Club in Verona, Italy. The club has been replying to mail addressed to Shakespeare’s tragic heroine, Juliet since...

  
• 02.10.2024

  Inspirational black women

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service telling stories about inspirational black women. In 1973, the Battle of Versailles pit up-and-coming American designers using black models against the more...

  
• 02.03.2024

  Internet cafes and Doomsday seeds

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about Cyberia - the first commercial internet café which opened in London in 1994. Director of the Oxford Internet Institute at the...

  
• 01.27.2024

  Traitors and treachery

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service all about figures branded as traitors. In 1939 Wang Jingwei, once a national hero in China, signed an agreement with Japanese invaders which made...

  
• 01.20.2024

  Lady Tarzan and Ibadan Zoo

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We’re going wild for animals this week. We find out how the Ibadan Zoo became one of Nigeria’s biggest tourist attractions during the 1970s....

  
• 01.13.2024

  The first lesbian couple to get married and World Laughter Day

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriage. Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at...

  
• 01.06.2024

  Hindenburg disaster and wingsuits

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Barbara Waibel, author of a book on the Hindenburg and Director of Archives at the Zeppelin Museum in Friedrichshafen, Germany. She...

  
• 12.30.2023

  Pad Thai, kiwis and the chef Ken Hom

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. This week, we look at the disputed history of pad Thai with food writer Chawadee Nualkhair. We also hear from former fruit exporter Don...

  
• 12.23.2023

  Tsunamis and Caster Semenya

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. This week, we hear from Lumepa Hald who survived the devastating tsunami that hit Samoa in 2009 but suffered a tragic loss. Our expert...

  
• 12.16.2023

  Mandela's funeral and Tsar's reburial

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Dr Ongama Mtimka, lecturer in South African politics at the Nelson Mandela University. He tells us about Mandela's life and legacy...

  
• 12.09.2023

  Doom and Danish brains

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about two of the most influential computer games of the 1990s with their creators. John Romero was one of the developers of...

  
• 12.02.2023

  Saving animals from extinction and Cabbage Patch Kids

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. This week, the bird that defied extinction. In 1969, a Peruvian farmer Gustavo Del Solar received an unusual assignment - finding a bird...

  
• 11.25.2023

  Zambia celebrates independence and the invention of bubble tea

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. This week, we’re looking at the birth of a new African nation – Zambia - in 1964, and find out how the country got...

  
• 11.18.2023

  The Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption in Iceland and EpiPen invention

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Professor Jenni Barclay from the University of East Anglia in the UK. She tells us about some of the most significant...

  
• 11.11.2023

  Pakistani popstars, and the hippo and the tortoise

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear from Zoheb Hassen, one half of a sibling duo from Pakistan who topped the charts in countries all over the...

  
• 11.04.2023

  Che Guevara's daughter and marrying Freddie Mercury

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Tony Kapcia, Emeritus Professor at the University of Nottingham's Centre for Research on Cuba. He tells us about the history of...

  
• 10.27.2023

  Gezi Park protests and MAD hijack

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear from activist and actor Memet Ali Alabora on how his social media post contributed to the civil unrest following the Gezi Park...

  
• 10.20.2023

  Osmondmania! and the launch of Lagos Fashion Week

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about Osmondmania! The moment in 1973 when teenage fans of American heartthrobs, The Osmonds, caused a balcony at Heathrow to collapse. Also,...

  
• 10.13.2023

  The creation of Ghana's flag and the oldest person at primary school

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear from Kwasi Okoh about how his mother Theodosia Okoh designed Ghana’s flag after it became the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to...

  
• 10.06.2023

  Marking 50 years since the 1973 global oil crisis

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. To mark 50 years since the global oil crisis, we’re focusing on oil - from discovery to disaster. We hear from Dr Fadhil...

  
• 09.29.2023

  The Lampedusa disaster and cat cafes

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the sinking of a migrant boat off Lampedusa in 2013 which was one of the Mediterranean’s worst shipwrecks. Also, we find out...

  
• 09.22.2023

  Nazi eugenics and the year of the vuvuzela

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the people with disabilities who were sterilised in Germany following an order in 1933, passed by the then Chancellor Adolf Hitler....

  
• 09.15.2023

  Israeli and Palestinian history

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. It's thirty years since the Oslo Accords were signed. This agreement in 1993 aimed to bring about peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. So...

  
• 09.09.2023

  The Chilean coup and Zanzibar’s most famous singer

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear from Chilean politician Hermógenes Pérez de Arce, who helped oust President Allende in 1973. We also hear from the widow of...

  
• 09.01.2023

  Historic Korean summit and goat island

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Jean H. Lee, an American journalist who has covered both North and South Korea extensively. Jean is also the co-host...

  
• 08.25.2023

  Ireland's 'ghost estates' and the first Rose of Tralee

  Max Pearson presents a collection of Witness History stories from the BBC World Service, this week we are focusing on Irish history. In 2006, Ireland’s economic boom, known as the Celtic Tiger, ended. It meant thousands of people, like...

  
• 08.18.2023

  Judy Garland's legacy and the Benin Bronzes

  A compilation of this week's Witness History episodes. Gerald Clarke, the author of Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, speaks to Max Pearson about the legacy of the stage and screen actress who died in 1969. We also look...

  
• 08.11.2023

  Presidential diamonds and Tupperware parties

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories from the BBC World Service. Journalist Claude Angeli discovered French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing received diamonds from a depraved African emperor, which contributed to him losing...

  
• 08.05.2023

  Dinosaur discoveries and a Berlin Wall treehouse

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about a prehistoric discovery in India - a nest full of dinosaur eggs found in 1982. Plus, why a Mongolian dinosaur...

  
• 07.28.2023

  West African food and computer viruses

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. Our guest is Ozoz Sokoh, Nigerian food writer and author of the Kitchen Butterfly food blog, who tells us about the history of West...

  
• 07.21.2023

  Wartime surrenders and the birth of Barbie

  Max Pearson presents a compilation of stories from this week’s Witness History episodes. In the autumn of 1945, World War II surrender ceremonies took place across the Japanese Empire. Thousands of people watched the incredible moment Japanese generals handed over...

  
• 07.14.2023

  Five great inventions that changed the world

  Max Pearson presents a selection of this week’s Witness History stories. In 1999, Aibo: the world's first robot dog, hit the shops in Japan and sold out in just 20 minutes. We hear from Toshitada Doi who spent six...

  
• 07.07.2023

  Tourism arrives in the Maldives and a royal night out

  Max Pearson presents a selection of this week’s Witness History stories. In 1972, tourists arrived in the Maldives for the first time. We hear from one of the people who made it happen, plus analysis of the growth of tourism...

  
• 06.30.2023

  South Korea store collapse and Lady Gaga's meat dress

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories. In 1995, the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store in the South Korean capital, Seoul, killed and injured hundreds of people. Explaining the impact it had on urban planning...

  
• 06.24.2023

  Somalia's civil war and golf on the moon

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories. Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, a fighter pilot in the Somali air force defied orders to bomb civilians in 1988. Explaining more about the Somali civil war and its legacy is...

  
• 06.16.2023

  Amazing photographs and the people who took them

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History stories. We focus on some of the world’s best known photographs - and the photographers who took them. We find out why Lee Miller was in Hitler’s bath...

  
• 06.09.2023

  Inuit children taken from families and Le Mans crash

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History and Sporting Witness stories. We hear about the Inuit children taken away from their homes and culture, to be educated in Canadian cities. Adamie Kalingo tells his story about being...

  
• 06.02.2023

  Scaling Everest, the highest mountain in the world

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes focusing on Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. It's 70 years since Edmund Hillary with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first people to reach the summit of...

  
• 05.27.2023

  Bosnian concentration camp photo and hero clown

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear how a shocking photo from a Bosnian concentration camp stunned the world, what it's like to be in a tornado and the...

  
• 05.19.2023

  Singapore executes Filipina maid and German child evacuees of World War Two

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week’s Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the German children who were evacuated to camps in the countryside to avoid the bombs of World War Two....

  
• 05.12.2023

  World War Two African victory and 'Kai Tak heart attack'

  Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service. We hear about the Allies' campaign in North Africa in the Second World War in 1943. Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the...