The epic mini-series about slavery in the USA hit TV screens in January 1977. Based on a novel by Alex Haley it imagined the lives of his ancestors who had been brought to the US from Africa on slave ships. It revolutionised perceptions about African-Americans and their history. Ashley Byrne has spoken to Leslie Uggams who played the character Kizzy in the series.

(Photo: Actors LeVar Burton, Todd Bridges and Robert Reed in Roots. Credit: Alamy)

In the early 1990s, Somalia was consumed by civil war and famine. Millions fled their homes. Many tried to reach neighbouring Kenya in search of survival.

On 19 January 2007, Hrant Dink, Turkey's most prominent Armenian journalist was shot dead by an ultra-nationalist teenager in front of his office in Istanbul. Dink had founded Turkey's only bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos. The murderer confessed to the crime saying he'd killed Dink 'for insulting Turks'. Turkish writer Ece Temelkuran spoke to Cagil Kasapoglu about the day she lost her friend.

Photo: Hrant Dink is pictured on May 19, 2005. (Credit: Burak Kara / Getty Images)

In January 1992 a peace treaty was signed by El Salvador's Marxist FMLN rebels and the US-backed government to end one of the most bitterly fought Cold War conflicts in Latin America. It took two years of UN-brokered negotiations to reach a deal, which saw the FMLN lay down its weapons and become a legal political party. In return, the government agreed to radical reforms of the military and the creation of a new civilian police force. Mike Lanchin hears from a former female guerrilla about her experience of war and peace.

Photo: Two women launch doves during celebrations in San Salvador of the peace accords signed by the government and the guerrillas (FRANCISCO CAMPOS/AFP/Getty Images)

What exactly goes on during the months between the election of a President and their inauguration? Witness looks at past 'transition' periods and hears from Senator Ted Kaufman the man who re-wrote the rules about how the US government handover should take place.

Photo: President Obama with President-elect Trump in the White House. Credit: Getty Images.

In January 1997 the world's most famous woman, Diana Princess of Wales, called for an international ban on landmines. She was visiting Angola where she caught global attention by walking through a live minefield. Paul Heslop from the Halo Trust helped organise the Princess' visit and was with her during her iconic walk. He spoke to Farhana Haider about the impact of Princess Diana's campaign.

Photo: Princess Diana with Paul Heslop in a landmine field in Angola, 15th January 1997. (Credit: Alamy)

In January 1956, members of the Auca tribe in Ecuador attacked and killed five American missionaries. They had made contact with the isolated tribe to try to convert them to Christianity. Mike Lanchin speaks to Steve Saint and Valerie Shepard, children of two of the victims, who later met their fathers' killers.

Photo: Nate Saint and Wao, a member of the Auca tribe, January 1956 (courtesy of Saint family)

In January 2003, the city's governor announced that four men living on death row were to be pardoned. They had given false confessions after being tortured by police. Darrell Cannon, another of the victims, and his lawyer Flint Taylor spoke to Rachael Gillman for Witness.

Photo credit: Tim Boyle

In 1917, British code-breakers exposed a German plot against the United States which helped alter the course of World War One . The Americans had remained neutral during the first three years of war, but by 1917, Germany was planning to restart unrestricted submarine warfare which it feared would trigger America's entry into the war on the Allied side. German foreign minister, Arthur Zimmermann, proposed a Mexican attack on the United States.

In May 1999, a newly elected woman MP for the pro-Islamic Virtue Party in Turkey, Merve Kavakci, appeared in parliament wearing a headscarf. She faced a strong reaction from secular MPs and the Prime Minister at the time. She was booed, shouted at and prevented from taking her oath of office. Merve Kavakci spoke to Cagil Kasapoglu about that day.

Photo: Merve Kavakci in the Turkish parliament. (Credit: Turkish Assembly TV)