In 1963 Soviet Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova went into orbit.

In June 1979 an American TV reporter was shot dead by government forces in Nicaragua. The killing led to the withdrawal of US support for Nicaragua's president, Anastasio Somoza.

We speak to Stephen Cherry-Downes, who was working as Somoza's personal pilot at the time.

(Image: President Somoza, Jan 1978. Credit: AFP)

Forty years ago, a low-budget comedy musical called the Rocky Horror Show had its opening night at a tiny London theatre. To the surprise of his creators, the antics of a transexual transvestite from Transylvania soon became a cult hit and then a Hollywood film. Richard O'Brien, the writer of the Rocky Horror Show, talks to Witness.

(Image: Cast members of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, including Tim Curry, Patricia Quinn, Richard O'Brien and Little Nell Campbell. Credit: Getty Images)

It is 60 years since an American couple were executed for spying. They had been convicted of passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. They left two young sons in the care of friends. Their younger son, Robert, spoke to Witness in 2010.

(Image: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Later this month the US Supreme Court is expected to rule on same sex marriage. But more than forty years ago a gay couple from Minnesota managed to get a marriage licence - and even had a Christian wedding ceremony. We look back at the story and speak to the Minister who married them.

Photo: Jack Baker and Mike McConnell, photographed by R. Bertrand Heine. Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society.

In 1971 one man leaked thousands of pages of secret US government documents to the press. The papers, relating to America's role in Vietnam, were copied and distributed to the media by Daniel Ellsberg.

Photo: Associated Press

A child's eye view of life in the ruined German capital after the end of World War II. Food and fuel were scarce and Berliners had to live on their wits. Christine Buschschluter was just three years old when Berlin fell to Soviet soldiers but she remembers life in the occupied city with a mixture of humour and pride.

(Image: Christine Buschschluter as a child)

On June 12 1993, Nigeria held an election which was supposed to mark the end of military rule. What happened next sparked years of controversy. We speak to an aide to the presumed winner, MKO Abiola.

Abiola died in jail still believing he was Nigeria's rightful ruler.

(Image: Chief MKO Abiola at polling station, June 12 1993. Credit: AFP)

In June 1962 three prisoners escaped from the maximum security US jail on the island of Alcatraz. Hear from one of the civilians who was living on the island at the time.

Photo: BBC.

In June 1968, Senator Robert Kennedy was gunned down during his campaign for the American presidency. Amid the nationwide mourning that followed, his funeral train travelled from New York to Washington with huge crowds lining the tracks. Witness speaks to Kennedy's former press secretary and to his former bodyguard. This programme was first broadcast last year.

PHOTO: Robert Kennedy in 1968 (US National Archive/Getty Images)