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This Week in History

BBC Radio 4
This Week in History
Latest episode

84 episodes

  • This Week in History

    28/10/2026

    2026/10/26 | 5 mins.
    1st November 1908: Belgium annexes Congo, previously private property of King Leopold II.
    31st October 1922: Benito Mussolini becomes Italian Prime Minister.
    1st November 1755: An enormous earthquake shakes Lisbon and kills over 50,000 people.
  • This Week in History

    October 19th to October 25th

    2026/10/19 | 5 mins.
    24 October 1945: The Charter of a new international organisation, the United Nations, comes into effect.
    23 October 1642: King Charles I beats English Parliamentarian forces at the Battle of Edgehill in Warwickshire.
    20 October 1960: Penguin Books fights for the right to publish DH Lawrence’s novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' in a landmark trial at the Old Bailey.
  • This Week in History

    October 12th to October 18th

    2026/10/12 | 5 mins.
    Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
    16th October 1793: Marie Antoinette is executed in Paris.
    17th October 1814: A flood of beer courses through the streets of London.
    13th October 1963: The Beatles perform on 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium', marking the beginning of Beatlemania.
  • This Week in History

    October 5th - October 11th

    2026/10/05 | 5 mins.
    Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
    5th October 1910 - The centuries-old Portuguese monarchy was overthrown in a coup d'état organized by the Portuguese Republican Party. 
    10th October 1881 - The Savoy Theatre - the first public building to be lit by electricity - opens with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience.
    11th October 1440 - King Henry the Sixth founds Eton College. It was established as a charity school to provide free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to King's College, Cambridge.
  • This Week in History

    September 28th to October 4th

    2026/09/28 | 5 mins.
    28th September 1985: The shooting of Cherry Groce in her own home during a mishandled police raid, leads to clashes between the police and the black community in Brixton.
    28th September 48 BC: Pompey the Great is assassinated on the order of King Ptolemy of Egypt.
    28th September 1865: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson becomes the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain.
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About This Week in History
Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.
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This Week in History: Podcasts in Family