Witness History

My Little Pony first appeared in shops in the United States in 1983 and in that decade alone more than 100 million would be sold.
But American toymaker Bonnie Zacharle tells Josephine McDermott how her idea to make a pony you could play with like a doll was turned down several times. She reveals the toys she liked to play with as a child living in Japan, how she updated Mr Potato Head and how her pony design first hit the market as a much bigger, harder model called My Pretty Pony.
She says she told her friend in toy marketing to get out of her office when she first suggested the ponies should come in pastel pinks and purples instead of realistic dun, black and grey colours. But she concedes that market testing showed it was what the customer wanted and she’s very proud of what she’s achieved.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: The original prototype of My Little Pony. Credit: Bonnie Zacharle)

In 1984, loggerhead sea turtle Jorge became trapped in fishing nets and was moved to an aquarium in Mendoza.
He was kept in captivity for more than 40 years until legal action and a campaign led to the closure of the aquarium and his release in 2025.
But, where is he now?
Megan Jones asks marine biologist Alejandro Saubidet, who was in charge of his rehabilitation.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: Jorge. Credit: Andres Larrovere/via Getty)

On 9 April 1990, people gathered at Khula Manch, an open stage in Kathmandu. They were celebrating the end of Nepal’s party-less Panchayat system and the beginning of multi-party democracy.
Among the crowd was Durga Thapa, who had spent weeks organising and coordinating the protests.
A photo of her in a sea of men, leaping up and giving the peace sign, her hands covered in red paint, came to mark the movement.
She speaks to Ribika Moktan about that day and her role in Nepal’s 1990 democracy movement.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: Durga Thapa celebrating in Khula Manch on the 9th of April 1990. Credit: Min Ratna Bajracharya)

On 8 May 1945, Yelena Rzhevskaya was handed a small box covered in red satin.
The box had once held perfume but now inside – so she said – were Adolf Hitler’s teeth.
Yelena later claimed this marked the beginning of the search for Hitler’s dental records and, with it, official confirmation that the Soviet Red Army had found the burnt corpse of the German leader.
According to her memoir, the hunt took the young war interpreter on a car ride through Berlin in the dying days of the Second World War.
And, Yelena said, what happened became a secret she had to keep for 20 years. Her granddaughter, Lyubov Summ, talks to Jane Wilkinson.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: Teeth said by experts to be Adolf Hitler's teeth, Moscow, 2000. Credit: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters)

In October 1942, the great French conceptualist artist Marcel Duchamp helped put on the first major surrealist exhibition in New York.
Carroll Janis's parents were friends of Duchamp.
Louise Hidalgo spoke to him in October 2016 about the exhibition, the man and his art, including his famous urinal, Fountain.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from how the Excel spreadsheet was developed, the creation of cartoon rabbit Miffy and how the sound barrier was broken.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: the moment Reagan and Gorbachev met in Geneva, Haitian singer Emerante de Pradines’ life and Omar Sharif’s legendary movie entrance in Lawrence of Arabia.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, like the invention of a stent which has saved lives around the world; the birth of the G7; and the meeting of Maldives’ ministers underwater. We cover everything from World War Two and Cold War stories to Black History Month and our journeys into space.
(Photo: Duchamp’s famous urinal. Credit: Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)