Witness History: Witness Archive 2016

In June 1973, the Russian rival to Concorde, the Tupolev TU144, crashed at the Paris Air Show, killing the crew of six a... Read more

Michael Foale was on board the Mir space station when a resupply vessel crashed into it in June 1997. It was worst coll... Read more

On September 29th 1957 there was a major accident at a secret nuclear facility in the Soviet Union. Dozens of workers di... Read more

In 1941, far-right Ukrainian nationalists declared an independent state. They expected Hitler to support them, but their... Read more

In January 1929, Belgian cartoonist Herge created one of the most famous cartoon characters in history - Tintin. Herge's... Read more

On May 11th 1988 one of the most notorious double agents of the Cold War, the English communist spy, Kim Philby, died in... Read more

The drug Ritalin was originally used as a stimulant for adults - until researchers discovered it could help children con... Read more

During WWII some Germans and Austrians classed as 'enemy aliens' by the British were sent halfway across the world to be... Read more

In 1918, more than fifty million people died in an outbreak of flu, which spread all over the world in the wake of the f... Read more

Archive recordings of the tunnellers who fought underground in WW1. They would dig tunnels under no-mans-land to detonat... Read more

In 1999 the famous folk singer was awarded one of Turkey's most prestigious musical awards. But his announcement at the... Read more

On November 25th 1960, three sisters and political activists in the Dominican Republic were beaten to death on the order... Read more

In 1966 China's communist leader declared the start of a Cultural Revolution. It was carried out by millions of young pe... Read more

How coal miners in post-war France went from being seen as heroes to being seen as pariahs. Their left-wing views were e... Read more

In 1941 the young Orson Welles revealed his first film. He had written, directed and starred in, the story of a great Am... Read more

In 1916 Marcus Garvey arrived in the US and began a movement for black pride. His dream was that black people would live... Read more

In 1904, the great American escape artist, Harry Houdini, made his reputation with a sensational performance at a theatr... Read more

The publication of Salman Rushdie's book in the autumn of 1988 outraged many Muslims who believed the book was blasphemo... Read more

In July 1966, US government health insurance programme Medicare came into force, providing limited free health insurance... Read more

In World War One, thousands of troops began suffering from psychiatric disorders which were given the name 'shell shock'... Read more