When Leningrad was cut off from the rest of Russia by German troops during World War Two, one third of its population died.

Some were killed in the fighting, but most died of hunger.

(Photo: Two women collect remains of a dead horse for food, during the siege of Leningrad)

In January 1911, an extraordinary gun-fight took place in the East End of London.

Two Latvian revolutionaries fought off hundreds of British police and troops for hours until their hide-out caught fire. The Home Secretary - Sir Winston Churchill - attended the scene in person.

The Siege of Sidney Street was one of the first big news events caught on film and would start a huge political row over immigration from Eastern Europe.

After Siad Barre was driven from power by clan militias in Somalia, the country fell into chaos.

It has not known peace since then and hundreds of thousands of people have died in the fighting, or from starvation.

Twenty years on, Somalia still has no central government.

Horst Woit was just 10 years old when he and his mother boarded a ship in the hope of escaping Russian forces towards the end of World War II.

He recalls the night that ship - the Wilhelm Gustloff - went down with huge loss of life.

With the death of Sir Winston Churchill Britain went into mourning for its great wartime leader.

He was given a state funeral in St Paul's Cathedral.

Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to pay their respects.

Alongside Louis XVI as he was driven to his death, was an English catholic priest, Henry Edgeworth. He wrote down everything he saw and heard that day.

In 1987, Tunisia's long-serving president was toppled in a political coup, and replaced by his prime minister - by Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

(Photo: Former Tunisian Prime Minister Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali (4th R) smiles to the cheering crowd 07 November 1987 in Tunis after being sworn in as President of Tunisia.)

In January 1966, two American military planes crashed over the remote Spanish village of Palomares. One of them was carrying four nuclear weapons.

Captain Joe Ramirez was one of the first US servicemen on the scene. He took part in the desperate search for the missing bombs.

(Photo: One of the four bombs recovered from the sea)

The Norwegian polar explorer Borge Ousland spent more than two months skiing alone across the continent of Antarctica.

He talks to Witness about the highs and lows of his journey.

Over 10,000 Jewish children were brought to Britain from Nazi Europe in the months leading up to World War II.

They travelled on trains which became known as the kindertransports.

Listen to one little boy's story. His name is Oliver Gebhardt.