Witness History

In 1961, the American psychologist Stanley Milgram began a series of controversial experiments on ‘obedience to authority’.

His study aimed to show how ordinary people could be capable of committing evil acts, if ordered to do so.

He wanted to understand the psychology behind genocide, telling the BBC: “How is it possible that ordinary people who were courteous and decent in everyday life, can act callously, inhumanely, without any limitations of conscience?”

During the tests, participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to another person.

These fake shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been harmful had they been real volunteers.

Vicky Farncombe looks back at the experiment, using BBC archive.

This programme includes original recordings of the experiments which listeners may find disturbing.

(Photo: Stanley Milgram beside the shock generator. Credit: BBC)

It’s 70 years since General Alfredo Stroessner seized power in Paraguay in a military coup.

Stroessner remained in power for almost 35 years, before being toppled in 1989.

More than 450 people were murdered under Stroessner's rule, with the fate of thousands more unknown. They are remembered as 'the disappeared' of Paraguay.

One man has dedicated his life to finding the victims of Stroessner's dictatorship, including the remains of his own father.

Rogelio Goiburu shares his story with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Rogelio Goiburu digging for the remains of Paraguay's 'disappeared'. Credit: Getty Images)

On 13 December 1990, the anti-apartheid politician Oliver Tambo returned to South Africa after 30 years in exile.

As the president of the banned African National Congress (ANC), he had lived in Zambia building the liberation movement while other key ANC members including Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were political prisoners.

By lobbying around the world and attracting talented South African exiles such as Thabo Mbeki, he built the organisation into a legitimate contender for government.

When President FW de Klerk unbanned the ANC, Oliver or OR Tambo was finally able to return home where he was greeted by a crowd of thousands at the airport.

Oliver Tambo’s son, Dali Tambo, recalls to Josephine McDermott how his father and other ANC exiles danced in the aisle of the plane as they crossed into South African airspace.

(Photo: Oliver Tambo at Jan Smuts Airport. Credit: AP/John Parkin)

In August 2002, the remains of an indigenous South African woman called Sarah Baartman were returned to South Africa after almost 200 years away. Sarah died in Paris in 1815 after being forced to perform in European 'freak shows' where people considered to be biological rarities were paraded for entertainment. She had been subjected to racist and degrading treatment and her remains were exhibited at a French museum until 1976.

When Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa in 1994, he requested that Sarah's remains be returned to her homeland. However, by 1998 that had not happened. Poet Diana Ferrus decided to write about Sarah’s limbo. Her poem became so popular that it was noticed by politicians in France. Diana shares her memories of that time with Matt Pintus.

This programme contains discriminatory language.

(Photo: Sarah Baartman likeness at French museum. Credit: Getty Images)

Brenda Fassie was one of South Africa's biggest pop stars in the late 1980s. The singer’s career nosedived in 1990, but her comeback saw her dubbed the 'Madonna of the townships' by Time magazine.

Yvonne Chaka Chaka, born a year after Brenda, was perhaps the only South African pop star who could rival her popularity.

Twenty years ago, in 2004, Brenda died

Yvonne celebrates Brenda's life with Ben Henderson.

(Photo Brenda Fassie, a South African pop star, performing on stage. Credit :ALEXANDER JOE/AFP via Getty Images.)

When South African schoolchildren marched in protest against having to study Afrikaans in 1976, they were gunned down by the police.

The killings sparked a cycle of protests across the country against the racist apartheid regime.

In 2010, march organiser Bongi Mkhabela told Alan Johnston about her memories of the Soweto uprising.

(Photo: Protestors on the march. Credit: Bongani Mnguni/CityPress/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

On 18 March 1992, white South Africans overwhelmingly backed a mandate for political reforms to end apartheid and create a power-sharing multi-racial government.

It was a high-stakes referendum coming on the back of three by-elections where the ruling National Party had lost to the right wing Conservative party.

In a speech after the polling victory, President FW de Klerk said: “Today we have closed the book on apartheid”. His communications adviser, David Steward speaks to Josephine McDermott.

(Photo: President FW de Klerk with news of the referendum win. Credit: AP)

Major Charity Adams was the first African-American woman to lead a World War Two battalion. It was known as the Six-Triple-Eight (6888).

The 6888 was a majority African-American women’s unit, the women sorted through mountains of post across Europe, using the motto: 'No Mail, Low Morale'.

Charity went on to become lieutenant colonel, the highest possible rank for women in her unit. She died in 2002.

Her son, Stanley Earley, speaks to Marverine Cole.

This was a Soundtruism production for the BBC World Service.

(Photo: American Women's Army Corps Captain Mary Kearney and American Commanding Officer Major Charity Adams inspect the first arrivals to the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion Credit. Archive Photos/Getty Images)

On 18 April 2014, an avalanche on Mount Everest killed 16 men, who were carrying supplies for commercial expeditions to higher camps.

The sherpas were on the Khumbu Icefall, just above Base Camp in Nepal, when the avalanche happened.

It resulted in the climbing season being cancelled and sherpas demanding better working conditions on the mountain.

Lakpa Rita Sherpa helped dig bodies of his dead colleagues out of the ice, before transporting them home to their families.

He speaks to Laura Jones.

(Photo: The south-west face of Mount Everest and the Khumbu icefall. Credit: Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The 2014 Ebola outbreak devastated West Africa, killing more than 11,000 people over a two year period. One country that suffered was Sierra Leone.

The disease started in Guinea, but quickly spread to neighbouring countries.

Before May 2014, there had never been an outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone. By autumn that year, burial teams were struggling to keep up with the number of corpses that needed burying.

Dan Hardoon speaks to Yusuf Kabba, an Ebola survivor from Sierra Leone.

(Photo: Headstones in the Waterloo Ebola Graveyard, Sierra Leone. Credit: HUGH KINSELLA CUNNINGHAM/AFP via Getty Images)

When the train service between India and Bangladesh was suspended in 1965, following war between Pakistan and India, it lay dormant for 43 years.

But in a day of celebration in 2008, the Maitree (or Friendship) Express rumbled into life and connected the two countries once more.

In 2020, Farhana Haider spoke to Dr Azad Chowdhury who was on the inaugural train journey.

(Photo: Crowds line the tracks for the train’s first journey. Credit: STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images)

A group of men known as the ‘Cairo 52’ were arrested in Egypt in May 2001. They were on board the Queen Boat, a floating gay nightclub on the River Nile.

Omer, not his real name, was arrested and imprisoned for habitual debauchery.

There is no explicit law against homosexuality in Egypt and Omer was released early following the orders of US president at the time, George W Bush.

Omer speaks to Dan Hardoon about the arrest and its aftermath – in graphic detail.

This programme has been updated with the correct trial date.

(Photo: Some of the 'Cairo 52', dressed in white with their faces covered, being escorted by security into a court in Cairo. Credit: Marwan Naamani/Getty Images)

Hiroo Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who spent nearly 30 years in the Philippine jungle, believing World War Two was still going on.

Using his training in guerilla warfare, he attacked and killed people living on Lubang Island, mistakenly believing them to be enemy soldiers.

He was finally persuaded to surrender in 1974 when his former commander, Yoshimi Taniguchi, found him and gave him an order.

In a televised ceremony, Hiroo presented his sword to the then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos.

President Marcos returned the sword and gave him a full presidential pardon and told him he admired his courage.

Hiroo died in January 2014 at the age of 91.

This programme was produced and presented by Vicky Farncombe, using BBC archive.

(Photo: Hiroo Onoda steps out of the jungle. Credit: Getty Images)

After winning the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Franco's dictatorship began. During the war, he acquired St Teresa of Avila's severed hand and kept it for spiritual guidance, it was returned when he died in 1975.

The hand was initially stolen by General Franco's opposition from a convent in Ronda, but Franco’s nationalist soldiers took it for themselves when they won the Battle of Malaga.

Sister Jenifer is the Mother Superior of the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, Ronda, where the hand is kept on display for people to see.

She tells Johnny I’Anson who St Teresa was, why her hand was cut off, and what made it special.

(Photo: Monument of Saint Teresa of Avila, Spain. Credit: digicomphoto/Getty Images)

When Edvard Munch’s painting The Scream was stolen in 1994, an undercover operation was launched to get it back.

Thirty years on from its recovery, hear from the art detective at the centre of the story.

In 2013, Charley Hill told Lucy Burns how his task saw him take on a fake identity, rub shoulders with criminals and encounter the Thai kickboxing champion of Scandinavia.

(Photo: The Scream on display in Oslo in 2008, after being stolen for a second time. Credit: Scanpix Norway/AFP/Getty Images)

In April 1986, Pope John Paul II made a historic visit to a Rome synagogue.

It was aimed at healing centuries of deep wounds between Jews and Catholics.

Giacomo Saban, who welcomed the pontiff to the synagogue, tells his story to Alan Johnston.

This programme was first broadcast in 2014.

(Photo: Pope John Paul II at the synagogue. Credit: Getty Images)

Cardinal Albino Luciani became Pope John Paul I on 26 August 1978. He died unexpectedly 33 days later.

He was discovered in the early morning lying on his bed, a collection of sermons in his hand.

He was considered an excellent communicator, and his warm personality earned him the nickname of "the smiling Pope". But his death shook the Catholic Church.

Rebecca Kesby spoke to Cardinal Beniamino Stella who knew him well.

This programme was first broadcast in 2017.

(Photo: Pope John Paul I. Credit: Getty Images)

In January 1959, Pope John XXIII announced a council of all the world's Catholic bishops and cardinals in Rome.

It led to sweeping reforms, including allowing Mass to be said in languages other than Latin and an attempt to build relationships with other denominations and faiths.

But not everyone was happy with the changes.

Monsignor John Strynkowski was a student priest in Rome at the time and told Rebecca Kesby about the excitement and controversy surrounding the council that became known as Vatican II.

This programme was first broadcast in 2019.

(Photo: Pope John XXIII. Credit: Getty Images)

Following the death of Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005. He was elected after four ballots of the papal conclave.

The late Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor took part and told Rebecca Kesby the story of how the new leader of the Catholic Church was chosen by 115 cardinals.

This programme was first broadcast in 2013.

(Photo: Pope Benedict XVI. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1981, Rita Marley’s brother Leroy Anderson aka Lepke launched the Dread Broadcasting Corporation (DBC), Europe’s first dedicated black music station.

Frustrated by the lack of airtime for reggae music in the UK, Lepke setup a mast in his back garden and began to broadcast to a small area of West London every Sunday afternoon.

DBC soon expanded to cover all styles of black music and with its unmistakable logo featuring a dread with headphones and a spliff became a trailblazer for the future of black British radio in the UK.

Neil Meads speaks to former DBC station manager Michael Williams about the early days of the station, and DJ Carmella Jervier explains how inspiring it was to finally hear black female DJs on the radio.

(Photo: Dread Broadcasting Corporation. Credit: BBC)

In July 1993, Melchior Ndadaye became Burundi’s first democratically elected president.

He was also the first president to come from the country’s Hutu majority.

For decades up to that point, Burundi had been ruled by a small group of individuals drawn from the among the Tutsi minority. President Ndadaye had come to power promising a new vision for Burundi.

But within months he was murdered by soldiers.

Rob Walker hears from Jean-Marie Ngendahayo who was Minister of Communications in President Ndadaye’s government.

(Photo: A relative of Melchior Ndadaye holding a photo of him at his funeral. Credit: Getty Images)

The US space shuttle Columbia broke up on its way back to Earth on 1 February 2003.

It had been in use since 1981.

Iain Mackness spoke to Admiral Hal Gehman who was given the job of finding out what went wrong. The admiral’s report led to the ending of the American space shuttle programme in 2011.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service first broadcast in 2019.

(Photo: Space shuttle Columbia. Credit: Getty Images)

30 years ago this month, Czechoslovakia split into the separate states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

It was a rare instance of a state separating without a single life being lost. Thanks to this it became known as the ‘Velvet Divorce’.

Rather than putting it to a vote, the country and its assets were divided behind closed doors by the Czech and Slovak leaders, Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar, who became the Prime Ministers of their newly independent states. Ben Henderson speaks to both of them about their memories from the time.

(Photo: Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar negotiate the split. Credit: Zehl Igor/ČTK)

Mordechai Chertoff was the foreign editor on the Palestine Post (precursor to the Jerusalem Post) when it was bombed on 1 February 1948.

He tells Lucy Williamson how, despite the attack, the newspaper still came out the next morning.

This programme was first broadcast in 2010.

(Photo: Palestine Post bombing. Credit: Getty Images)

Professor Karlheinz Brandenburg from Germany spent more than a decade developing MP3 technology, which was developed to convert audio into digital form.

He had been working on it since 1982.

It compressed music into a file size that made it easier to transmit, leading to the first MP3 players and fast music sharing.

Laura Jones has been speaking to Professor Brandenburg.

(Photo: Karlheinz Brandenburg wearing headphones, with his team. Credit: Fraunhofer IIC)

Using archive recordings, Alex Last tells the story of Britain's most famous hangman.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Albert Pierrepoint was responsible for the execution of some of Britain's most notorious murderers and was sent to Germany to hang more than 200 Nazi war criminals after World War Two.

He said he was always determined to treat prisoners with dignity and respect whatever their crime.

This programme was first broadcast in 2015.

(Photo: Albert Pierrepoint. Credit: Getty Images)

In 2010, a plane carrying the Polish president, Lech Kaczyński, crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk, killing everyone on board.

It was one of the most tragic moments in modern Polish history.

The country’s minister of foreign affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski was one of the first people to hear about it. He’s been sharing his memories of the disaster with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Smolensk air crash wreckage. Credit: Getty Images)

Yoshikuni Noguchi spent time as a guard in one of the prisons in Japan that would carry out the death penalty, and witnessed the hanging of a condemned prisoner in 1971, before going on to become a lawyer. He describes in detail what he saw.

Yoshikuni began speaking out to cast light on the reality of what death row inmates go through, as Japan continues to resist the calls to ban the practice, which is no longer in use in most countries. He tells his story to Dan Hardoon.

A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Yoshikunu Noguchi. Credit: Alamy)

Frontman of punk-rock band The Undertones, Paul McLoone, recalls the “weird, slightly funny, slightly sad, slightly surreal” time he was the voice of IRA commander-turned-politician, Martin McGuinness.

It was during the so called ‘broadcasting ban’ in the UK which came into force in 1988. It saw organisations believed to support terrorism forbidden from directly broadcasting on radio or television.

Paul tells Alys Harte how the legislation led to extra work for him.

(Photo: Paul McLoone during a performance. Credit: Getty Images)

In 2009, hundreds of teenagers’ lives were changed forever, when a vaccine designed to protect them against swine flu appeared to trigger a sleep disorder.

It affected people in various countries including Sweden.

Maddy Savage speaks to Christopher Tyvi from Stockholm, who is one of those who experienced problems.

A Bespoken Media production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Swine flu vaccine. Credit: Getty Images)

Between 1960 and 1966, France carried out 17 nuclear tests in the Algerian Sahara.

High levels of radioactivity, and a failure to safely dispose of nuclear waste, have left a dangerous legacy.

Dan Hardoon speaks to Abdelkrim Touhami, who was just a teenager when the French authorities announced a nuclear test near his home.

A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Dummies at the nuclear testing site in the Algerian Sahara. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1990s Kosovo, a generation of Albanians received their education crammed into thousands of private homes.

When Slobodan Milosevic’s Serb nationalist regime forcibly evicted them from schools and universities, Kosovan Albanians responded with improvised house schools in their apartments, attics and cellars.

The spontaneous reaction to their ethnic exclusion quickly evolved into a nationwide education system that would endure for the best part of a decade.

Linda Gusia, a pupil in the house schools, and university professor Drita Halimi speak to Jack Butcher. A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: A Kosovan house school. Credit: Shyqeri Obërtinca)

In 2013, horse meat was discovered in Irish beef burgers. The scandal snowballed and within six weeks horse meat was found in beef products in more than a dozen European countries.

The story revealed how complex and unregulated Europe’s meat industry was, making it a target for fraudsters.

Ben Henderson speaks to Alan Reilly, former Chief Executive of the Irish Food Safety Authority, who uncovered the scandal.

(Photo: Meat inspection in a French supermarket. Credit: Sebastien Bozon via Getty Images)

On 15 January 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River in New York, after geese struck both its engines shortly after take off.

All 155 people on board survived.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Dave Sanderson, the last passenger to be rescued.

(Photo: Passengers and crew aboard US Airways Flight 1549 await rescue. Credit: AP)

The world’s first tidal power station is on the estuary of the River Rance in France.

It was opened in 1966 by President Charles de Gaulle and has been capturing the natural power of the oceans’ tides and turning it into electricity ever since.

Alex Collins hears how the project to build it was a cause for national pride and how the facility is now a tourist attraction, as he speaks to Brittany historian Marc Bonnel.

(Photo: La Rance tidal power station. Credit: Getty Images)

A boom in demand for sea cucumbers in Asia in the 1990s set off a confrontation between fishermen and conservationists in the waters off the Galápagos Islands, where the protein-rich ocean creature was found in abundance.

The high price being paid for the sea cucumbers led to a gold rush on the South American archipelago, a chain of 21 islands home to many unique species.

In 2020, Mike Lanchin spoke to a Galapagos fisherman Marcos Escaraby and conservationist Alan Tye, who found themselves on opposite sides of the dispute.

(Picture: Sea cucumber. Credit: Getty Images)

In September 1956, a telephone cable called TAT-1 was laid under the Atlantic Ocean, making high-quality transatlantic phone calls possible for the first time.

Eight months later in May 1957, 1,000 people squeezed into St Pancras Town Hall in London for the world’s first transatlantic concert.

The person performing, Paul Robeson, was a globally renowned singer, but he’d been banned from travelling outside the USA. So, he made use of the new transatlantic telephone line to perform to his fans in the UK.

Ben Henderson speaks to John Liffen, who curated an exhibition on TAT-1 and the concert at the Science Museum in London.

(Photo: Engineers build repeaters used in TAT-1. Credit: Russell Knight/BIPs via Getty Images)

In 1953, a winter storm combined with high tides breached sea defences in the Netherlands, more than 1,800 people drowned.

Ria Geluk, remembers the once-in-a-lifetime flood.

In this programme first broadcast in 2011, Ria tells Trish Flanaghan what happened when water overwhelmed the farm she lived on.

(Photo: A man walking a flooded street. Credit: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. )

In 1971, marine biologist Edward Carpenter made a shocking discovery finding small bits of plastics floating thousands of miles of the east coast of America in the Atlantic Ocean.

More than 50 years later he tells the story of how he had to fight hard to get the scientific world to take notice of his discovery.

He also tells Alex Collins about when plastics in oceans went viral.

(Photo: Plastic floating in water. Credit: Getty Images)

In February 2012, Diana Burkot and other members of the feminist punk band Pussy Riot protested inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour against the church and its support for Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Some members were arrested and put on a trial which made the news inside Russia and around the world.

Diana kept her participation in the protest secret and avoided going to prison. She shares her memories with Alex Collins.

(Photo: Diana Burkot on stage. Credit: Getty Images)

After the 1973 military coup in Chile, Miguel Enriquez led resistance against the dictatorship. The secret police were ordered to track him down and assassinate him.

His wife Carmen Castillo remembers the day in October 1974 when she was six months pregnant and the military finally caught up with one of Chile’s most wanted men. Carmen tells her story to Jane Chambers.

(Picture: Admiral Toribio Merino, General Augusto Pinochet and Air Force General Leigh in 1973. Credit: Getty Images)

On 6 January 1992, the US Government ordered a suspension of all procedures involving silicone breast implants. More than 2,000 women had complained of poor health and pain after receiving implants.

Among the issues were ruptures of the implants, connective tissue diseases, and even fears of a possible link with cancer. The story raised concerns around the world.

Iain Mackness talks to plastic surgeon Alan Matarasso about the time the US banned silicone filled breast implants.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Silicone breast implant. Credit: Getty Images)

Tété-Michel Kpomassie grew up in West Africa but he was obsessed with the Arctic. When he was 16 years old he ran away from his village in Togo determined to reach Greenland.

It took him eight years but in 1965, he finally arrived. He then went north to fulfil his dream of living among the indigenous people.

Years later, he wrote an award-winning account of his odyssey, An African in Greenland, which has been translated into eight languages. In this programme, first broadcast in 2019, he tells Alex Last about his journey.

(Photo: Tété-Michel Kpomassie in Greenland in 1988. Credit: BBC)

In 1996, Scotland took to the field for a football World Cup qualifying tie in the Estonian capital city of Tallinn. The only problem was that there was no opposition on the other side.

Paul Lambert was one of the Scottish players who had to take part in the so-called match.

He has been sharing his memories of that time with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Scotland kick off the match. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1986, thousands of people gathered in the middle of Rome to protest against the opening of Italy’s first McDonalds fast food restaurant. One of the opponents to the opening of McDonalds was journalist Carlo Petrini.

Soon after, he founded a new organisation called the Slow Food Movement. Its main aim was to protect traditional foods and cooking.

He has been sharing his story with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Carlo Petrini. Credit: Slow Food International)

In August 1958, the Japanese entrepreneur, Momofuku Ando, came up with the idea of a brand new food product that would change the eating habits of people across the world.

In 2018, Ashley Byrne spoke to Yukitaka Tsutsui, an executive for the company founded by Ando, about the birth of the Instant Noodle.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Momofuko Ando holding noodles. Credit: Getty Images)

In February 1977 the bakers of Malta went on an unprecedented strike.

It sent shock waves through the Maltese people who couldn’t imagine life without their favourite food… bread.

Before long the military was guarding bakeries, the panicked population had created a bread black market and local prisoners were enlisted to bake for the public.

Forty-five years later Maltese cultural historian Noel Buttigieg shares his memories of the time, with Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty.

(Photo: A queue outside of a bakery during the 1977 strike. Credit: Noel Buttigieg)

Chef Nelson Wang created his signature dish Chicken Manchurian in 1975. It was the birth of modern Indo-Chinese cuisine which went on to become hugely popular around the world.

He went on to open China Garden, a Chinese restaurant in Mumbai that would draw in Bollywood's glitterati.

Nelson's son Edward Wang, who is also a chef, speaks to Reena Stanton-Sharma.

(Photo: Chicken Manchurian. Credit: Paul Yeung/South China Morning Post via Getty Images)

In 1982, rally driver Arnaldo Cavallari created ciabatta bread in Adria, in northern Italy.

His family owned a flour mill and he wanted to invent a loaf to rival the French baguette.

Rachel Naylor speaks to his close friend and fellow baker, Marco Vianello.

(Photo: Ciabatta. Credit: Getty Images)

On 5 August 2010, 33 miners were trapped underground after a rockfall in the San José copper and gold mine in Chile.

They were rescued 69 days later.

Rachel Naylor speaks to one of the miners, Mario Sepúlveda, who was nicknamed Super Mario by the media.

(Photo: Mario Sepúlveda, in the centre, celebrates being rescued from the mine on 13 October 2010. Credit: Rodrigo Arangua / AFP via Getty Images)

In December 1994, Russian forces began the siege of Chechnya’s capital Grozny.

Dr Aslan Doukaev was a university teacher when the first Chechen war started.

In this programme first broadcast in 2010 he tells Ed Butler about surviving months of conflict.

(Photo: Russian soldier during the siege of Grozny. Credit: Getty Images)

In 2008, it was revealed that Colombia’s army had been executing civilians and pretending they were rebels killed in the country’s ongoing civil war. At least 4,600 innocent people were murdered in this way. They became known as the ‘false positives’.

Ben Henderson speaks to Jacqueline Castillo, whose brother was one of the victims, and Carlos Mora, who was ordered to execute civilians when he was a soldier.

(Photo: Families of 'false positives' victims. Credit: Juancho Torres/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

It is the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service. Broadcasting to countries behind the Iron Curtain without a free or independent media between 1947 and 1991 was arguably the service’s finest hour.

The corporation was on the front line of the information war as the BBC’s former Moscow correspondent Bridget Kendall recalls.

Programmes such as the German Service’s Letters Without Signatures created a sense of community among isolated East Germans who could not air their views publicly at home.

Meanwhile, Peter Udell, the former controller of European Services, had the challenge of trying to overcome the Soviet censors. Produced and presented by Josephine McDermott.

Archive recordings of former employees in the BBC Oral History Collection were used courtesy of Sussex University.

(Photo: A West Berlin policeman looks at an East German watchtower at night, 1961. Credit: Getty Images)

To mark the 90th anniversary of the BBC World Service, we trace the development of the Caribbean Service.

Its beginnings go back to the early 1940s when the BBC’s first black producer, Una Marson was employed.

She created Caribbean Voices, which gave future Nobel laureates such as Derek Walcott their first international platform.

In 1969, one of the UK’s best known newsreaders, Sir Trevor McDonald, left Trinidad to join the BBC Caribbean Service as a producer.

He reflects on its legacy. Produced and presented by Josephine McDermott.

Archive recording of West Indies Calling from 1943, is used courtesy of the Imperial War Museum. Una Marson's poem Black Burden is used courtesy of Peepal Tree Press and the BBC Caribbean Service archive material was provided by the Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies.

(Photo: Sir Trevor McDonald and Una Marson. Credit: BBC)

In October 2012, skydiver and former Austrian paratrooper Felix Baumgartner was watched live by millions as he ascended into the stratosphere in a helium balloon. He then jumped an estimated 38km from space back to earth.

In doing so, he broke the speed of sound and the highest skydive record that had lasted more than 50 years. Felix tells Dan Hardoon about his big leap.

A Whistledown production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Felix Baumgartner jumping from space. Credit: Getty Images)

Slava Zaitsev was the first designer to create high fashion collections in the Soviet Union.

He tells Dina Newman about the challenges he faced working under communism.

This programme was first broadcast in 2018.

(Photo: A sketch of a dress designed by Slava Zaitsev. Credit: Slava Zaitsev)

When Zahra Nordien was forced out of District Six in Cape Town in 1977, she vowed to one day return.

She was one of the 60,000 people who were forcibly removed from the neighbourhood because of the racist South African apartheid government.

What seemed like a pipe dream became a reality when Zahra set up the District Six Working Committee campaigning to get former residents into newly rebuilt homes.

In 2013 her elderly mother moved back into District Six with Zahra, more than three decades after they were expelled.

Zahra tells Reena Stanton-Sharma about her ongoing fight for restitution.

(Photo: Cape Town, South Africa in the 1970s. Credit: Gallo Images / Juhan Kuus)

Shopkeeper Louisa Gould risked her life to hide a Russian prisoner who had escaped from the Nazis during the German occupation of Jersey in World War Two. She was later betrayed and died in Ravensbrück, a concentration camp, in 1945. Vicky Carter speaks to her great-niece Jenny Lecoat.

(Photo: Louisa Gould. Credit: Courtesy of the Channel Islands Occupation Society (Jersey) Collection held at Jersey Archive)

In 1990, a peaceful revolution brought democracy to Mongolia after almost 70 years of Soviet backed rule.

University lecturer Ganbold Davaadorj was one of the lead figures in bringing together the Mongolian people. He went on to be the first deputy prime minister of Mongolia.

He shares his story with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Protestors occupy Sükhbaatar Square in 1990. Credit: Getty Images)

It’s 1994 and the BBC is looking for a brand-new children’s TV series.

TV producer Anne Wood decides she’s going to make a show aimed at an audience that’s never had programmes made for it before – two and three-year-olds.

She tells Melanie Stewart-Smith the fascinating story of how spacemen and technology inspired the creation of one of the most popular kids TV shows of all time, Teletubbies.

(Photo: Teletubbies. Credit: Ragdoll Productions for the BBC/Wildbrain)

In November 1975, the Australian Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, was controversially sacked by an unelected official in the country's biggest constitutional crisis.

Many Australians were outraged and rumours spread that Buckingham Palace was involved. It became known simply as 'The Dismissal'.

Paul Kelly was a political correspondent in the Australian parliament that day. He shares his memories with Ben Henderson.

(Photo: Gough Whitlam in 1975. Credit: George Lipman/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)

On the 22 July 2005, unarmed Brazilian man Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by anti-terrorism police in London.

He was shot because he was mistaken for terrorist Hussain Osman who had been involved in a failed suicide attack just 24 hours previously. The killing made headlines all over the world, and Jean Charles’ family demanded justice.

Matt Pintus has been speaking to Jean Charles’ cousin and best friend, Patricia da Silva.

(Photo: Patricia da Silva in front of mural of Jean Charles de Menezes. Credit: Getty Images)

Hindu extremists demolished a 16th century mosque in the Indian city of Ayodhya in December 1992 prompting months of communal violence across India.

Photojournalist Praveen Jain witnessed rehearsals for the demolition the day before the activists stormed the mosque.

He spoke to Iknoor Kaur in 2019.

(Photo: Hindu extremists rehearsing the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Credit: Praveen Jain)

In October 1995, the people of Quebec went to the polls to decide whether the province should declare independence from Canada.

Kevin Caners hears the first-hand testimony of Jean-François Lisée and Stephane Dion, who represented opposite sides of a debate which nearly split the country in two.

A Whistledown Production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Voters at the 1995 Quebec referendum. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1970, feminists stormed the stage at the Miss World pageant in London.

They were protesting against the objectification of women.

Sally Alexander was one of the young protesters who was arrested for her part in the demonstration. She spoke to Andrew Whitehead in 2014.

(Photo: Protestors outside the 1970 Miss World pageant. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1985, at the height of the Cold War, Bulgaria was a strictly controlled communist dictatorship.

It was also facing a wave of infection and death caused by a mysterious new virus. The authorities refused to recognise the threat of HIV and AIDS, so one of Bulgaria’s virologists took the initiative.

In this programme for World Aids Day, Professor Radka Argirova tells Janet Barrie how she smuggled the live HIV virus back from Germany to start testing in Bulgaria for the first time.

(Photo: Professor Radka Argirova in her laboratory. Credit: BBC)

In 1947, thousands of Japanese families were expelled from their island homes by Soviet troops. They were taken from the Northern Territories, also known as the Southern Kurils, after the Soviet Union took control of the islands.

Japan and Russia have failed to sign a peace agreement after World War Two because of the dispute.

Yuzo Matsumoto, who's now 81, has been speaking to Laura Jones.

(Photo: Yuzo Matsumoto with photos of his parents, standing in front of a map of Etorofu. Credit: BBC)

In 2000, an American personal trainer invented CrossFit.

They now have gyms around the world and hold an annual international competition.

Rachel Naylor speaks to two-time world champion Annie Thorisdottir, from Iceland.

(Photo: Annie Thorisdottir. Credit: CrossFit LLC)

In 2002, journalist Kelly Hartog was on a press trip in Mombasa, in Kenya, when suicide bombers drove a car packed with explosives into the hotel where she was staying.

The attack killed 18 people and injured 80.

Almost at the same time, terrorists tried to bring down an Israeli charter jet using surface-to-air missiles – but narrowly missed.

Kelly tells Vicky Farncombe about her ordeal.

(Photo: People stand outside the Paradise Hotel after it was attacked by suicide bombers. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1934, the late Percy Shaw almost crashed while driving home from the pub on a foggy night in West Yorkshire, in England.

He was saved when his headlights were reflected in the eyes of a cat and it gave him a brilliant idea.

He invented reflective studs for the road and called them cat’s eyes.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Percy's great-niece, Glenda Shaw.

(Photo: Percy Shaw holding one of his cat's eyes, outside his factory in Halifax, England, in 1958. Credit: Getty Images)

On 20 September 1998, the former deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, was arrested and charged on suspicion of committing fraud and sodomy.

Homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia but charges are rare and the case was internationally condemned as being political motivated. Anwar believed that he was being framed by his former boss, the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Almost 25 years on, Anwar shares his memories of the time with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. Credit: Getty Images)

In September 1967, all Swedish traffic had to change the habit of decades and swap to driving on the right-hand side of the road.

It brought them into line with most of the rest of Europe except for Britain and Ireland but caused a day of chaos. In 2016, Ashley Byrne spoke to Bjorn Sylven who remembered that day.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: First day of driving on the right-hand side in Stockholm. Credit: Keystone-France/Gemma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Iran’s first ever minister for women’s affairs was appointed in 1975.

Mahnaz Afkhami was the first person in the Muslim world to hold that position. While she was in that role, the government granted women equal divorce rights, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 and supported women’s employment with maternity leave and childcare.

In 2018, Farhana Haider spoke to her about being the only woman in the pre-revolutionary Iranian cabinet.

(Photo: Mahnaz Afkhami at the UN in 1975. Credit: Mahnaz Afkhami)

In 1958, the late Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin invented the three-point safety belt for cars.

It's estimated to have saved more than one million lives around the world.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Nils' stepson, Gunnar Ornmark.

(Photo: Nils Bohlin, in 1959, modelling his invention. Credit: Volvo Cars Group)

In 1978, Kaltham Jaber published her first book – a collection of short stories. She is an assistant professor and acclaimed writer from Qatar. Her success as an author came just two decades after girls were first allowed to go to school in the oil-rich state.

Kaltham became a really important figurehead for women in the country as she campaigned for gender equality.

She shares her story with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Kaltham Jaber. Credit: Kaltham Jaber)

It was rare for women in what is now the United Arab Emirates to go to school in the 1960s.

At the time, the future country was a collection of emirates under British protection. The Sheikdoms were traditional societies.

This is the story of a young woman who was among the first to graduate from high school. She went on to become the first teacher there. Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi tells Farhana Haider about her trailblazing experience.

(Photo: Nama bint Majid Al Qasimi with her students at Fatima Al Zahra School, Sharjah, 1970. Credit: Shaikha Nama bint Majid bin Saqr Al Qasimi)

In 2003, a Qatari engineer came up with the idea for a robot jockey, to replace child jockeys in camel racing.

Two years later, the robot was approved for use. The tiny gadgets, which wear caps and hold whips, are now used all over the Middle East.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Esan Maruff, who helped develop them.

(Photo: Robot jockeys riding camels. Credit: Getty Images)

The tallest building in the world opened in 2010. There was a glitzy firework display to celebrate the occasion.

The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates is nearly three times the height of the Eiffel Tower.

The statement building cemented the reputation of the city as a place for luxury tourism and high-end real estate.

Alex Collins speaks to chief architect Adrian Smith about his creative vision and the challenges he faced on such a huge project.

(Photo: Burj Khalifa. Credit: Getty Images)

A new country, the United Arab Emirates, was formed in 1971. It’s a federation of seven states that has grown from a quiet backwater to one of the Middle East’s most important economic centres.

Laura Jones speaks to businessman Mohammed Al-Fahim about his country’s dramatic transformation.

(Photo: Mohammed Al-Fahim as a child. Credit: Mohammed Al-Fahim)

The 1 September 1939 was Kitty Baxter’s ninth birthday, it was also the day her life and millions of other people’s changed with the beginning of World War Two.

Kitty was among the hundreds of thousands of children taken out of UK cities and into the countryside, away from the risk of German bombs. She’s been speaking to Laura Jones.

(Photo: Child evacuees leaving a London train station. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1981, the South African rugby tour of New Zealand was disrupted by Māori anti-racism campaigners who invaded pitches.

They wanted to highlight the injustice of apartheid in South Africa and the discrimination Maoris were suffering in New Zealand.

Ripeka Evans organised and took part in the protests. She tells Alex Collins about the direct action she took to sabotage high-profile matches.

(Photo: Protesters form a circle in the middle of the pitch at Rugby Park, Hamilton. Credit: John Selkirk)

It has been 20 years since one of the most controversial politicians in Europe was assassinated just days before a general election. On 6 May 2002, Pim Fortuyn was shot dead by an animal rights activist because of his anti-Islamic views.

It was the first time a Dutch politician had been murdered since the 17th century. TV journalist Dave Abspoel was one of the first people on the scene. He has been sharing his memories with Matt Pintus.

(Photo: Pim Fortuyn pictured in 2002. Credit: Getty Images)

1972 was a time of feminist action in the US. People were talking more openly about rape and sharing their experiences. It led to rape crisis centres being set up, which offered support for women.

Activist Sue Lenaerts taught women self-defence and worked on the helpline at the first centre in the capital, Washington DC. She’s been speaking to Laura Jones.

(Photo: Sue Lenaerts in the early 1970s. Credit: Sue Lenaerts)

In the early 1970s, New Zealand’s government cracked down on Polynesian migrants who had overstayed their work permits.

They carried out what became known as the Dawn Raids, when police raided Polynesian households in the early hours of the morning looking for overstayers.

The Polynesian community felt targeted and formed a resistance group, the Polynesian Panthers, in June 1971. Ben Henderson spoke to founding member, Melani Anae.

(Music credit: Thou We Are - Unity Pacific)

(Photo: Protestors. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1975, President Juvénal Habyarimana introduced Umuganda in Rwanda, where citizens had to help with community projects like planting trees and building schools, every Saturday morning.

Rachel Naylor speaks to former minister Jean Marie Ndagijimana, who loved taking part.

(Photo: Residents of the village of Mbyo, in Rwanda's Eastern Province, taking part in Umuganda in 2014. Credit: Getty Images)

Dame Carmen Callil, who died in October this year, founded feminist publisher Virago Press in 1972 to promote women’s writing.

In this programme first broadcast in 2019, she tells Claire Bowes how she hoped to put women centre stage at a time when she and many others felt side-lined and ignored at work and at home.

Music: Jam Today by Jam Today courtesy of the Women’s Liberation Music Archive.

(Photo: Dame Carmen Callil 1983. Credit: Peter Morris/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)

Over the last 50 years an estimated 46 million girls have been aborted in India.

The cultural preference for boys and the development of pre-natal sex determination tests like ultrasound in the 1980s, meant an increase in the number of girls being aborted.

Activist Manisha Gupte describes how she campaigned, as part of the feminist movement, against sex-selective abortion - including the use of sit-ins and rallies - eventually raising enough awareness to bring about a national law in 1994 - the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act.

The legislation has had limited effect in a complex society with entrenched male preference and poverty.

Manisha has been speaking to Josephine McDermott.

(Photo: Campaigners rally against fetal sex selection in Mumbai in the 1980s. Credit: Dr Vibhuti Patel)

In the 1970s, Albania’s Stalinist leader, Enver Hoxha, launched a new series of purges against government ministers and officials, following numerous purges in previous decades.

Those accused of being ‘enemies’ of the ruling Party of Labour were executed or received lengthy prison sentences. Their families were punished too. Many were sent into internal exile and forced to work in the fields.

Rob Walker speaks to Kozara Kati whose father was imprisoned in 1975. She spent 15 years in a camp with her mother, brother and sister.

Rob also hears from Fred Abrahams, long term researcher and writer on Albania, who is the author of ‘Modern Albania: From Dictatorship to Democracy in Europe’.

(Photo: Enver Hoxha embraces Chinese Leader Yao Wen-Yuan 1967. Credit: Keystone-France, Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

In 1985, Carol Taylor wrote a survival guide for young black men in the Unites Stated who were stopped by the police.

Her son, Laurence Legall, tells Ashley Byrne the story of the small and important book created by his mum to help young black men stay safe on the streets of New York.

It all began when Laurence went shopping and was robbed but the police didn’t take his complaint seriously.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: Carol Taylor. Credit: Laurence Legall)

In October 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard made an impromptu speech in the Australian parliament setting out the misogyny she endured for years as a prominent female politician.

Ten years on, she discusses with Alex Collins her career defining-speech which has been viewed online by millions of people.

(Photo: Julia Gillard giving her misogyny speech. Credit: PA)

In 1991, a law was introduced in Sudan which was used to control how women acted and dressed in public. It resulted in arrests, beatings and even deaths during the 30 years it was in place.

Amiera Osman Hamed was arrested and fined for wearing trousers in 2002. She’s been speaking to Laura Jones.

(Photo: Amiera Osman Hamed. Credit: Amiera Osman Hamed)

It is 20 years since heavily-armed Chechen rebels took an entire theatre full of people hostage.

They threatened to kill them all if the Russian government didn't call off the war in Chechnya. When Russian special forces stormed the theatre they let off gas to stun the Chechens - it killed many of the hostages as well. In this programme first broadcast in 2012 Dina Newman speaks to one of the survivors, Prof Alex Bobik.

(Photo: Chechen rebel on Russian TV. Credit: Getty Images)

Many women supported Iran’s 1979 revolution against the monarchy but some later became disillusioned.

Islamic rules about how women dressed were just one of the things that women objected to. Sharan Tabari spoke to Lucy Burns in 2014 about her experiences during, and after, the Iranian Revolution.

(Photo: Iranian women at the 1 May 1979 protest. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1998 President Suharto of Indonesia resigned after more than thirty years of military rule. It meant people from indigenous communities were finally free to speak out after years of being ignored.

Tribal leaders seized their chance to gather together at the first ever Congress of Indigenous People of the Archipelago in Jakarta in 1999.

Laura Jones has been speaking to Rukka Sombolinggi.

(Photo: People in tribal dress at the Congress of Indigenous People of the Archipelago in 1999. Credit: Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara, the Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago)

We go back to 1959 when Cuba’s most famous ballet dancer Alicia Alonso turned her back on a successful career on the world stage and returned home to form Cuba’s National Ballet Company.

She spoke to Mike Lanchin in 2015.

(Photo: Alicia Alonso. Credit: Alicia Alonso)

Earlier this year, Cuba lifted a 60-year ban on professional boxing, which Fidel Castro imposed in 1962.

Before then, amateur boxers who wanted to turn pro, had to risk everything in order to defect.

Rachel Naylor speaks to Mike ‘The Rebel’ Perez, who escaped in 2007 with the assistance of Mexican gangsters, a fishing boat and an Irish promoter.

(Photo: Mike Perez (right) and Bryant Jennings during their heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden on 26 July 2014 in New York. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1961, Fidel Castro launched a nationwide campaign aimed to eradicate illiteracy in Cuba.

An ‘army’ of volunteers known as brigadistas equipped with books and pencils travelled across the country to teach people how to read and write.

Alex Collins spoke to Rosa Hernandez Acosta who taught many adults even though she was a 10-year-old schoolgirl herself.

(Photo: Rosa Hernandez Acosta. Credit: Kian Seara)

Jo Fidgen hears what was happening in the Pentagon and the Kremlin in the final days of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev finally offered to withdraw the missiles as the crisis came to a head.

In 2012, his son Sergei remembered those fraught few days.

(Photo: Nikita and Sergei Khrushchev. Credit: Sergei Khrushchev)

In 1962, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Jo Fidgen spoke to American Intelligence officer Dino Brugioni who played a crucial role as the crisis unfolded. Dino was a CIA expert whose job was to interpret the photographs of missiles in Cuba. This programme was first broadcast in 2012.

(Photo: Dino Brugioni. Credit: The Washington Post/Getty Images)