Witness History: Witness Archive 2017

The photos taken in 1917 by two young girls were heralded by the Sherlock Holmes author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as proof of the existence of fairies. Cousins Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths were 15 and 9 when they took the photos in the village of Cottingley near Leeds in the north of England. In 1920 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published the photos in an issue of the Strand magazine as part of an article on fairy life. He was a leading member of the Theosophical Society, a movement interested in the spirit world which had gained a following in the devastating aftermath of World War One. In 1983 Elsie Wright finally admitted that the photos had been faked.

Photo: Copyright Alamy. Frances Griffiths and the "Cottingley Fairies" in a photograph made in 1917 by her cousin Elsie Wright with paper cutouts and hatpins.

A train carrying day-trippers crashed in September 1957 near the small town of Kendal, Jamaica. More than 200 passengers died and over 700 were injured. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Earl Clarke, who was 14 years old when he survived the accident.

Diana's brother Earl Spencer made a passionate speech at her funeral, which was interpreted by many as an attack on the Royal Family and the British press. He speaks to Mishal Husain about delivering the eulogy - and about the "bizarre and cruel" decision that her children William and Harry should walk behind her coffin.

Picture: Earl Spencer and Prince William outside the funeral ceremony for the Princess of Wales. Credit: Joel Robine/AFP/Getty Images

The online auction site first went live in September 1995. Initially, it targeted collectors of antiques and memorabilia. Soon, you could sell virtually anything on eBay. Ashley Byrne has been speaking to Jim Griffith one of the company's first employees.

Photo: the eBay logo.

The novel Animal Farm was an allegory about the dangers of Soviet communism and of the communist leader Joseph Stalin. It was first published shortly after the end of World War Two, as the Cold War was just beginning. Louise Hidalgo has been speaking to Orwell's adopted son, Richard Blair, about George Orwell's work, and about his memories of his father.

Photo: George Orwell with Richard on his knee in the 1940s. Credit: Vernon Richards

1983 saw a major breakthrough in the treatment of facial deformities. When the first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head using CT scans was presented to the medical world. The images allowed plastic surgeons a far more precise way of planning surgical procedures. Farhana Haider has been speaking to radiologist Dr Michael Vannier who invented the 3D imaging technique which has revolutionised medicine.

Photo: Three-dimensional CT scan of a male skull and arterial system. Credit SPL

In August 1958, Britain was shocked by nearly a week of race riots in the west London district of Notting Hill. The clashes between West Indian immigrants and aggressive white youths known as Teddy Boys led to the first race relations campaigns and the creation of the famous Notting Hill Carnival. Simon Watts reports.

PHOTO: Police making arrests in Notting Hill in 1958 (Getty Images)

Germany saw its worst racial violence since World War Two in August 1992, when a home for asylum seekers was set on fire in the city of Rostock. Lucy Burns speaks to journalist Jochen Schmidt, who was trapped in the burning building.

In BBC archive recordings, veterans tell the story of how medical care dealt with the horrors of WW1.

How an ophthalmologist and a dermatologist in Vancouver, Canada, discovered that small amounts of a deadly toxin could make frown lines disappear. Chloe Hadjimatheou spoke to Drs Jean and Alastair Carruthers about their breakthrough.