The History Hour

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. We hear the story of the pianist who played on when Damascus was bombed and the Christians who met in secret. Plus how William Golding wrote Lord of the Flies, the handover of Macau to China in 1999 and the start of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This episode contains descriptions of violence, which some listeners may find distressing. Contributors: Aeham Ahmad - the Pianist of Yarmouk. Dr Gillian Howell - Senior Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Naghmeh Panahi - founder of a network of secret 'house churches' in Iran. Miguel Senna Fernandes - former member of the Macau Legislative Council. Judy Carver - William Golding's daughter. Campbell McLaren - co-creator of UFC. (Photo: Aeham Ahmad, the Pianist of Yarmouk and other Palestinian musician refugees in Damascus, in Syria, in 2014. Credit: Rame Alsayed/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Sporting Witness and Witness History programmes. We hear about the half-clay, half-grass exhibition match between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Then, we look back through the archives to find out how Greece held a referendum to decide the country’s future. Next, a mountain massacre on the Himalayas in Pakistan. Plus, India’s coal-mine rescue. And, how a mother successfully campaigned to change her child’s gender on official documents in Argentina. Contributors: Pablo del Campo – creative entrepreneur and tennis fan. Fiona Skillen – Professor of Sports History at Glasgow Caledonian University. BBC Archives. Aleksandra Dzik – Polish mountaineer. Sarpreet Singh Gill – Jaswant Singh Gill’s son. Gabriela Mansilla – Luana’s mother. (Photo: 'The Battle of the Surfaces' at The Palma Arena on May 2, 2007 in Mallorca. Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. We hear about Polish war hero Irena Sendler who saved thousands of Jewish children during the Second World War. Expert Kathryn Atwood explains why women’s stories of bravery from that time are not as prominent as men’s. Plus, the invention of ‘Baby’ – one of the first programmable computers. In the second half of the programme, we tell stories from Iran. Journalist Sally Quinn looks back at the excess of the Shah of Iran’s three-day party, held in 1971. Two very different women – the former Empress of Iran, Farah Pahlavi, and social scientist Rouhi Shafi – describe how it feels to be exiled from their country. Finally, Barry Rosen shares the dramatic story of when he was held hostage in the US embassy in the Tehran for 444 days. Contributors: Irena Sendler – WW2 hero. Kathryn J Atwood – author. Sally Quinn - journalist. Farah Pahlavi – former Empress of Iran. Rouhi Shafi – social scientist who fled Iran. Barry Rosen – former hostage. (Photo: Children rescued from the Warsaw Ghetto by Irena Sendler. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. For nearly 40 years, Siegfried and Roy wowed audiences in Las Vegas with death-defying tricks involving white lions and tigers. But in 2003, their magic show came to a dramatic end when a tiger attacked Roy live on stage. We find out what went wrong, and speak to magician and author Margaret Steele about the - sometimes dangerous - history of illusion and magic. Plus, we learn more about the so-called ‘Ken Burns effect’; the technique of making still photographs that appear to be moving. In 2002, the method came to the attention of one of the biggest names in the field of technology, Steve Jobs. Also, the New Zealand woman who was nicknamed ‘the Queen of the Skies’ for her record breaking flights of the 1930s. Jean Batten flew planes made of wood and canvas during the golden age of aviation. And we go back to 1996 for Brazil's early adoption of electronic voting, and discover more about the experiments behind the creation of Greenwich Mean Time. Contributors: Ken Burns - film maker Chris Lawrence - animal trainer Margaret Steele - magic historian, magician and author Carlos Velozo - lawyer Jean Batten – aviator Emily Akkermans - Curator of Time, Royal Museums Greenwich Keith Moore - the Royal Society of London (Photo: Siegfried and Roy with a white lion cub, Las Vegas, 1997. Credit: Barry King/WireImage)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. Our guest is Doctor Melissa Rogerson, who is a senior lecturer and board games researcher at the University of Melbourne in Australia. First, on its 50th anniversary, we hear from Luke Gygax, whose father created the fantasy role-play game, Dungeons & Dragons. Then, the first dinosaur remains discovered in Antarctica in 1986, by Argentinian geologist Eduardo Olivero. Next, Ethiopia’s internal relief efforts during the famine in 1984, led by Dawit Giorgis. Plus, the fight to stop skin lightening in India with Kavitha Emmanuel who launched a campaign in 2013. Finally, Angolan singer and former athlete Jose Adelino Barceló de Carvalho, known as Bonga Kwenda, speaks about his music being banned in 1972 and going into exile. Contributors: Luke Gygax - his father Gary Gygax created Dungeons & Dragons. Doctor Melissa Rogerson - senior lecturer and board games researcher at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Eduardo Oliver - Argentinian geologist. Dawit Giorgis - in charge of Ethiopia's internal relief effort during the 1984 crisis. Kavitha Emmanuel - campaigner. Jose Adelino Barceló de Carvalho - known as Bonga Kwenda. (Photo: Vintage game modules from the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons on display. Credit: E.Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images).

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes. We hear about the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan in 2014, the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003 and how flowers have been used as symbols in political history. Plus the Afghan refugee who fled as a 15 year old, the Yellow Fleet of ships which were stranded in the Suez Canal for eight years and the story of the British afro hair care institution Dyke and Dryden. Contributors: Brian Hioe - activist, who occupied Parliament in Taipei. Nino Zuriashvili - one of the protestors at the Rose Revolution. Prof Kasia Boddy - author of Blooming Flowers: A Seasonal History of Plants and People. Waheed Arian - doctor and former Afghan refugee. Phil Saul - who looked after the engineers and officers on board the MS Melampus and MS Agapenor in the Suez Canal. Rudi Page - the former marketing manager for Dyke and Dryden's afro hair products. (Photo: An activist taking part in the Sunflower Movement in Taipei on 21 March 2014. Credit: Mandy Cheng/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. Our guest is Zoe Kleinman, the BBC's Technology Editor. We start with the world's first general purpose electronic computer, the ENIAC, built in 1946 by a team of female mathematicians including Kathleen Kay McNulty. Then we hear about the man who invented the original chatbot, called Eliza, but didn't believe computers could achieve intelligence. Following that, Dr Hiromichi Fujisawa describes how his team at Waseda University in Japan developed the first humanoid robot in 1973, called WABOT-1. Staying in Japan, the engineer Masahiro Hara explains how he was inspired to design the first QR code by his favourite board game. Finally, Thérèse Izay Kirongozi recounts how the death of her brother drove her to build robots that manage traffic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Contributors: Zoe Kleinman - BBC Technology Editor. Gini Mauchly Calcerano - daughter of Kathleen Kay McNulty, who developed ENIAC. Miriam Weizenbaum - daughter of Joseph Weizenbaum, who built Eliza chatbot. Dr Hiromichi Fujisawa - developer of WABOT-1 robot. Masahiro Hara - inventor of the QR code. Thérèse Izay Kirongozi - engineer behind traffic robots. (Photo: Robots manage traffic in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Credit: Federico Scoppa/AFP via Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes. We start our programme in 1973, when two men claiming to be Colombian guerrillas hijacked a plane making it fly across Latin American for 60 hours. Our expert guest is Brendan Koerner author of 'The skies belong to us: Love and terror in the golden age of hijacking.' Then we take a look at the 2009 UN-backed war crime tribunals in Cambodia that aimed to hold the genocidal Khmer Rouge commanders to account. Following that we hear about the striking speech that inspired the Law of the Sea. Then we go back to 1989 and hear how South Africa became the first country to make and then dismantle nuclear weapons. And finally we hear a first hand account of the 1938 Kristallnacht. Contributors: Edilma Perez - former fight attendant for SAM airline. Brendan Koerner - Author of 'The skies belong to us: Love and terror in the golden age of hijacking.' Rob Hamill - Brother of Toul Sleng prisoner Kerry Hamill. Christina Pardo Menez - Arvid Pardo's daughter. David Attard - Arvid Pardo's friend. André Buys - Plant manager and systems engineer at Kentron Circle. Kurt Salomon Maier - Witnessed Kristallnacht. Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP. (Photo: SAM airlines 1973 Latin American flight. Credit: Jamie Escobar)

We start our programme with the story of a couple who were arrested under South Africa's Immorality Act, which banned sexual relationships between white people and non-white people. Another law banned Inter-racial marriage in South Africa. In 1985, this was lifted. The first couple to marry under the new rules share their memories. Our guest is Dr Susanne Klausen, The Brill Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at The Pennsylvania State University in the USA. She talks about love, marriage and sex in Apartheid South Africa and the two laws that were both repealed on the same day in 1985. We hear from a survivor of the Estonia ferry disaster in 1994, one of the deadliest shipping disasters since the Titanic. Also, Allen Hughes tells of the time when rap sensation, Tupac Shakur was fired from the crime movie Menace II Society. And finally, the ‘moon man of India’ tells of the country’s momentous mission to Mars. Contributors: Dr Zureena Desai- arrested under the Immorality Act in South Africa. Suzanne La Clerc and Protas Madlala - the first inter-racial couple to get married under new rules in South Africa. Dr Susanne Klausen - The Brill Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at The Pennsylvania State University in the USA. Urban Lambertson – survivor of the Estonia ferry disaster. Allen Hughes – filmmaker. Dr Mylswamy Annadurai- scientist working on India’s Mars Orbiter Mission. (Photo: Dr Zureena Desai. Credit: Abrie Jantjies)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes. We start our programme looking at the discovery of New Zealand’s first dinosaur by Joan Wiffen. Our expert guest is Professor Eugenia Gold, a paleontologist at Suffolk University, in Boston, United States, and the author of children’s book She Found Fossils. Then, we hear how the CT scanner was invented. Following that, we go to India in 1994 and an outbreak of the pneumonic plague. Plus, the story of how a small group of mountaineers risked their lives to camouflage landmarks in Leningrad during World War Two. Finally, we hear from designer Ruth Kedar about how she came to create one of the most famous logos in history. Contributors: Chris Wiffen – son of late fossil-hunter Joan Wiffen. Professor Eugenia Gold – paleontologist at Suffolk University, Boston, United States. Robert Cormack – son of late CT scanner inventor, Allan Cormack. Doctor Vibha Marfatia – who escaped the pneumonic plague. Mikhail Bobrov – late mountaineer who helped save Leningrad’s landmarks. Ruth Kedar - designer of the Google logo. (Photo: Theropod dinosaur. Credit: Science Photo Library)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week’s Witness History episodes. We’re looking at key moments in Ethiopian history, as it’s 50 years since Emperor Haile Selassie was overthrown in a military coup. We start our programme looking at the moment a military junta called the Derg who ousted the monarchy in September 1974. Then, we hear how, before this, the Emperor lived in exile in Bath, in the west of England. Our expert guest is Hewan Semon Marye, who is junior professor at the University of Hamburg in Germany. Then, Abebech Gobena who founded an orphanage and was known as Africa’s Mother Teresa. Following that, the oldest skeleton of a human ancestor, discovered in 1994. Finally, the Axum Obelisk, returned to Ethiopia in 2005, after being looted by Italy’s fascist dictator. Contributors: Lij Mulugeta Asseratte Kassa – relative of Haile Selassie. Professor Shawn-Naphtali Sobers – University of the West of England, Bristol. Professor Hewan Semon Marye – Ethiopian Studies and Contemporary North-East African Studies at the University of Hamburg, Germany. Hannah Merkana – raised in Abebech Gobena’s orphanage. Professor Yohannes Haile Selassie – Paleoanthropologist. Michele Daniele – Architect. (Photo: Haile Selassie in his study. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Myra Anubi presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. We hear about the Irish law that banned married women from working in state jobs until 1973 and Apollo 13's attempted trip to the Moon in 1970. Plus the Umbrella protest in Hong Kong, the ancient Egyptian mummy who flew to France for a makeover and the Argentine basketball player and wrestler nicknamed the Giant. Contributors: Bernie Flynn - one of the first married women to keep her job after the marriage bar was abolished in Ireland. Irene Mosca - economics lecturer at Maynooth University, in Ireland. Fred Haise - NASA astronaut who was on board Apollo 13. Nathan Law - leader of the Umbrella protest in Hong Kong. Anne-Marie Gouden - receptionist at the Musée de l'Homme in Paris. Julio Lamas - Jorge Gonzalez's basketball coach. Bill Alfonso - wrestling referee and Jorge Gonzalez's personal assistant. (Photo: A couple on their wedding day. Credit: Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. Our guest is European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, who completed the longest uninterrupted space flight of any European. First, we go to Australia in the 1990s when amateur radio enthusiast Maggie Iaquinto befriended Soviet cosmonauts on the Mir space station. She updated them on global news as the USSR crumbled back on Earth. Then, the inspiring story of Waris Dirie, who walked barefoot across the Somalian desert to escape child marriage and became an international supermodel. We hear a harrowing account of Guatemala's civil war that ended in 1996. Then, why the author of Mary Poppins, PL Travers, hated the Disney film. Finally, the Canadian town that welcomed aliens in 1967. Contributors: Samantha Cristoforetti - European Space Agency astronaut. Ben Iaquinto - son of Maggie Iaquinto who befriended Soviet cosmonauts. Waris Dirie - model from Somalia. Jeremias Tecu - survivor of Guatemala's civil war. Brian Sibley and Kitty Travers - friend and daughter of PL Travers. Paul Boisvert - worked on Canada's alien landing pad. (Photo: Mir Space Station in 1995. Credit: Space Frontiers/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A warning, this programme includes an account of antisemitic views and descriptions of violence. Egypt recruited thousands of Nazis after World War Two to bolster its security. We hear from Frank Gelli, who in 1964 met Hitler's former propagandist, Johann von Leers, in Cairo. Author, Vyvyan Kinross is our guest and talks about Nazis in Egypt. Also, the celebrity murder case that divided France and how in 2001, Argentina went through five leaders in two weeks. Shatbhi Basu, talks about how became known as India's first female bartender and finally the origins of La Tomatina, one of Spain’s most popular international festivals, as well as the largest tomato fight in the world. Contributors: Eduardo Duhalde – former Argentine President. Vyvyan Kinross – author. Michelle Fines- journalist. Shatbhi Basu - beverage consultant, mixologist and writer. Frank Gelli -met Nazi propagandists in Cairo. Goltran Zanon – involved in the first La Tomatina. Maria Jose Zanon - daughter of Goltran Zanon. Enric Cuenca Yxeres - Valencian history teacher. (Photo: Johannes von Leers. Credit: ullstein bild via Getty Images)

We hear about the founding father of Indonesian independence. Then, we look at how 'spray on skin' was used after the 2002 Bali bombings. Next, we hear about the last ever Olympic art competition. Plus, the most decorated Paralympian in history. And, the Brazilian singer who earned the title Queen of Samba. Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History and Sporting Witness interviews. Our guest is Professor of Indonesian history, Kirsten Shulze from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Contributors: Kartika Soekarno – Sukarno’s youngest daughter. Professor Kirsten Shulze - London School of Economics and Political Science. Professor Fiona Wood – Burns specialist. Daniel Weinzweig – John Weinzweig’s son. Trischa Zorn-Hudson – Paralympian. Adelzon Alves – Broadcaster and samba record producer. (Photo: Sukarno. Credit: Christian Hirous/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images).

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. It's 50 years since Richard Nixon became the first US president in history to resign, following the Watergate scandal. To mark this anniversary, we're featuring first hand accounts from major moments in US presidential history. We start with the first ever presidential television debate. In 1956, the Democratic and Republican candidates sent female representatives. They were Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Chase Smith. Our expert guest, Dr Kathryn Brownell, from Purdue University in Indiana in the US, discovers other key television debate moments in presidential history. Then, we hear about the rise of the religious right in America, exploring the emergence of the Moral Majority in the late 1970s. Following that, we look at one of the closest and most contested elections in history, as Al Gore went head-to-head with George W Bush in the battle for the White House in 2000. Finally, we hear from the photographer inside the Situation Room as the US closed in on terrorist Osama Bin Laden in 2011. Contributors: Tom DeFrank - Journalist. Dr Kathryn Brownell - Associate professor of history at Purdue University. Kate Scott and Janann Sherman - Historians. Richard Viguerie - One of the founders of the Moral Majority. Callie Shell - The official photographer for Al Gore's presidential campaign. Pete Souza - Chief Official White House Photographer during Barack Obama's presidency. (Photo: Richard Nixon waves after becoming the first US president to resign. Credit: Bettmann / Getty Images)

A warning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners - this programme contains the names and voices of people who have died. Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. We take a look at the Ice Bucket Challenge, the viral fundraising sensation that took over the internet in 2014. Our guest Professor Sander van der Linden breaks down the psychology behind virality and outlines the challenges facing those who conquered the algorithm. Plus, how one man smuggled punk rock over the Berlin Wall. Also, we meet the man who found a retirement home for Bulgaria's dancing bears. We hear the remarkable story of Australia's Freedom Riders who campaigned against indigenous discrimination. Finally, we relive the mountain top escape of the Yazidi's who were fleeing Islamic State Militants. Contributors: Nancy Frates – Pete Frates mother. Sander van der Linden - Professor of Social Psychology at Cambridge University. Mark Reeder - smuggled punk rock over the Berlin Wall. Dr Amir Khalil – founded the sanctuary for dancing bears. Darce Cassidy and Gary Williams – involved in the Freedom Rides. Mirza Dinnayi - helped evacuate the Yazidi's. (Photo: Ice Bucket Challenge. Credit:Getty Images)

Max Pearson presents a collection of the week's Witness History episodes. We go underground for a tour of the Moscow Metro, the subterranean transport network built by thousands of Russian workers in the 1930s. Our guest Mark Ovenden, author of Underground Cities, reveals how the Moscow system influenced many other countries around the world. Plus, more about a revolutionary new method for transporting medicines that was launched in Ghana in 1974. The cold chain system helped refrigerate vaccines aimed at tackling potentially deadly diseases. Also, as Paris lifts the curtain on the 2024 Olympics, we go back to the last time the French city hosted the Games - one hundred years ago. We hear the remarkable story of Somali 400m sprinter Zamzam Farah, and how she became a crowd favourite in the London 2012 Olympics after finishing last in her heat by 27 seconds. Finally, we meet Shuss - a French cartoon skier and the first Olympic mascot, designed for the 1968 Winter Games. Contributors: Tatiana Fedorova – a worker on the Moscow Metro. Mark Ovenden - author of Underground Cities. Patience Azuma – vaccinated as a child in Ghana. Dr Kofi Ahmed – chief medical officer. Harold Abrahams – Olympic medallist. Kitty Godfree – Olympic medallist. Zamzam Farah – Somali sprinter. André Thiennot - manufacturer of Shuss merchandise. (Photo: Underground train station ceiling in Moscow. Credit: Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

We hear Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot perspectives on the island's 1974 coup and subsequent invasion. Bekir Azgun, a Turkish-Cypriot writer, remembers the events. On the 20 July 1974 Captain Adamos Marneros landed the final flight at Nicosia Airport. Nicoletta Demetriou talks about returning to her family home in 2003. Then, a Cypriot Olympic sailing hero Pavlos Kontides takes us back to the London 2012 Games. And finally the 'Godfather of Ayia Napa', DJ Nick Power, tells us how the island became a party destination. Max Pearson presents this week's Witness History interviews on the history of Cyprus. Our guest is Dr Antigone Heraclidou, senior research associate at CYENS Centre of Excellence in Cyprus. (Photo: Greek Cypriot soldier killed in the 1974 conflict. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

We hear about the law in Brazil which made it illegal for women and girls to play football for 40 years. Dilma Mendes shares her incredible experience of being arrested numerous times as a child, just for kicking a ball. Our guest, Alexandra Allred, herself a pioneering sportswomen, discusses the discrimination women have faced to break into competitive sport. Plus, the moment when the 'Queen of Salsa', banned from Cuba by Fidel Castro, was allowed to return to Cuban territory for one performance. We learn about the brutal crushing of a student movement in 1968 in Mexico City 10 days before the Olympic Games, which ended in dozens being killed. Also, the start of an environmental movement in Italy in 1988, and the invention of the air fryer. The prototype was nearly as big as a dog kennel and made of wood and aluminium. Contributors: Dilma Mendes - defied Brazil's ban on women playing football. Alexandra Allred - author of When Women Stood: The Untold History of Females Who Changed Sports and the World. Omer Pardillo Cid - manager and close friend of Celia Cruz. David Huerta - witness to the Mexico City massacre in 1968. Rosa Porcu - a protester against the 'poison ships' docked in Italy in 1988. Suus van der Weij - daughter of Fred van der Weij, inventor of the air fryer.