In November 1971 a young American conceptual artist decided to get a friend to take a shot at him. His name was Chris Burden and the shooting would go down in the history of performance art. He has been speaking to Witness about the ideas behind the event. This programme was first broadcast in 2012.

In November 1899, Viennese neurologist Sigmund Freud published a book called The Interpretation of Dreams. It was the beginning of a new science he called psychoanalysis, which would revolutionise our understanding of human psychology. Witness hears from Sigmund Freud himself in the only known recording of his voice - from a BBC interview in 1938.

(Photo: Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud c.1920. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In 1960 a young Englishwoman made a discovery that changed our understanding of animal behaviour. Jane Goodall was living among wild chimps in Tanzania when she observed them using sticks and grasses as tools to get food.

(Photo: Jane Goodall with chimpanzeess. Credit: AFP)

As the UK ends combat operations in Afghanistan, hear from a translator who worked alongside British troops in the country, and who was eventually forced into exile because of hostility towards the coalition forces.

Photo: British troops on patrol in Helmand Province. Credit: Press Association

In October 1973 Arab nations slashed oil production in protest at American support for Israel during it's war against Egypt and Syria. Oil prices sky-rocketed. We hear from former deputy secretary general of OPEC, Dr Fadhil Chalabi, about the struggle for control of oil in the early 1970s.

(Photo: An American car displays a 'No Gas' sign during the 1973-74 oil crisis)

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot by her Sikh bodyguards on 31 October, 1984. We speak to RK Dhawan, one of her closest aides, who was with her in the garden that morning and was a witness to her assassination.

This programme was first broadcast in 2013.

Photo: Indian school children light candles to pay tribute to the late former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Credit: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images

In October 1964 thieves carried out an audacious jewel robbery. They stole some of the world's most famous gems from the American Museum of Natural History. Witness hears from Jack Murphy, one of the gang members.

In October 1973, Egypt and Syria launched a surprise attack on Israel. The war lasted three weeks and both sides would claim victory. But it was a war that would eventually lead to the first peace treaty between Israel and an Arab state. US diplomat Hal Saunders talks about his memories of the war and the peace process.

Photo: Israeli troops cross the Suez canal during the October war, Credit: AFP/Getty Images

In October 1975 the prominent Brazilian journalist Vladimir Herzog was killed by the secret police. His murder became a symbol of the brutality of the military regime. Witness speaks to his son, Ivo, who was just nine years old at the time.

Photo: Vladimir Herzog with Ivo as a baby (courtesy of the Herzog family).

In 1999, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of Turkey's Kurdish rebel group, the PKK, was arrested. He has been in jail ever since. We hear why the relationship between the Turkish state and the Kurds is so fraught, from the Kurdish political activist Adem Uzun.

(Photo: Turkish Kurds hold posters of Abdullah Ocalan. Credit: AP)