In 1954 the president of Brazil, Getulio Vargas, chose to die rather than submit to the military. His sudden death resulted in a wide expression of public grief. His legacy was a letter to the Brazilian people that has passed into history.

Photo: Getulio Vargas, 1930 (Getty Images)

In August 1944, a US Air Force plane crashed into a village, Freckleton, in northwest England, killing 61 people. More than half the victims were children attending the local primary school. Survivor Ruby Currell speaks to Witness.

PHOTO: Ruby Currell in the nurse's uniform she was given after recovering in hospital. (Private Collection).

As an agreement between the Kurds and Saddam Hussein in 1970 disintegrates into war, Iran and America support the Kurds with weapons and money. But in 1975 the Shah tells the Kurds they're abandoning them; he's a made a deal with Saddam instead. Witness talks to a Kurdish politician who was at that acrimonious meeting.

Picture: the veteran Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani and Saddam Hussein celebrating the 1970 agreement, which quickly collapsed into war. (Credit:Central Press/Getty Images)

British India was divided into two new independent countries - India and Pakistan - in August 1947. But millions of people found themselves on the wrong side of the new borders. Witness speaks to the veteran Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar about Partition.

Picture: Kuldip Nayar (right) during a vigil at the border between India and Pakistan on 14 August, 2011. NARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images

In August 1944, French and US forces freed Paris from German occupation. The liberators were met by crowds of celebrating Parisians. Listen to reports of some of the war correspondents who arrived first in the liberated city.

Photo: A Parisian offering a glass of wine to a French soldier, August 1944 (STF/AFP/Getty Images)

Dambudzo Marechera was a celebrated Zimbabwean writer and enfant terrible, as famous for his explosive behaviour as for his powerful prose. Born in a Rhodesian township, he went on to win the Guardian First Book award for his short story House of Hunger - but on 18 August 1987, he died of an AIDS-related illness after living rough on the streets of Harare.

Witness speaks to his publisher, James Currey.

Photo: Dambudzo Marechera in Zimbabwe, Harare, February 1986. Copyright Ernst Schade

In August 1994, the terrorist, Ilich Ramírez Sánchez known as 'Carlos the Jackal' was arrested in Khartoum after decades on the run. We speak to a former CIA operative, Billy Waugh, who tracked him down.

Photo: Rare photo of Carlos the Jackal, taken in the 1970s (AFP/Getty Images)

In August 1964 Stuart Christie, an 18-year-old Scottish anarchist, smuggled explosives into Spain in a plot to kill General Franco. Now in his 60s, Christie recalls his clandestine journey across Europe, the secret signals and passwords he used, and his eventual arrest by Franco's secret police.

Photo: Stuart Christie, photographed by Spanish police shortly after his arrest

In August 1939, one of the most popular musicals of all time had its premiere in Hollywood. Featuring the young Judy Garland, the Wizard of Oz brought to life a well-known American fairytale. It made Garland a star for the rest of her troubled life. Witness brings together BBC archive recordings of members of the film's cast and crew.

Picture: Judy Garland, Credit: Associated Press/Warner Bros.

In August 1964 The Supremes began an unprecedented run of success in the US music charts with five hits, challenging the British dominance of the music scene. Mary Wilson, one of the original group members, speaks to Witness.

Photo: Diana Ross and The Supremes, 1968 - left to right, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Cindy Birdsong. (Keystone/Getty Images)