Witness History: Black history

In 1936, Haile Selassie came to Bath in the west of England to escape Mussolini and the fascists who had invaded Ethiopia.He bought a property – Fairfield House - and moved his entire family and staff there. He quickly became the talk of the town.The local paper ran daily updates on the Emperor’s schedule and dispelled rumours such as the Emperor’s beard "having turned white with anguish" or that he was keeping lions in the basement.Haile Selassie also made a point of indulging in local amusements and even took a trip to the Tropicana outdoor swimming pool in the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare.Selassie returned to Ethiopia in 1940 after the British helped remove Mussolini. He never forgot his time in Bath and renamed one of his palaces Fairfield in tribute to the British city.Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by 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 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: Haile Selassie during his coronation. Credit: Getty Images)

In 1931, nine black teenagers were convicted of raping two white girls in the southern US state of Alabama.Eight were sentenced to death by an all-white jury; but after years of campaigning, all eventually went free.We hear from the daughter of Clarence Norris, one of the accused.Picture: Police escort two recently freed "Scottsboro Boys" New York, 1937, Credit: Associated Press

In 1925 a young black American dancer became an overnight sensation in Paris. Her overtly sexual act soon made her one of the most famous women in Europe. Her name was Josephine Baker - hear from her adopted son Jean-Claude Baker about her dancing, and her life.(Photo: Josephine Baker in her heyday. Credit: Walery/Getty Images)

Birmingham in Alabama was one of the most segregated cities in the USA in 1963. In May that year thousands of black schoolchildren responded to a call from Martin Luther King to protest against segregation at the height of racial tensions. It became known as the Children's Crusade.Gwendolyn Webb was 14 years old at the time and took part. Listen to her story. (Photo: Firefighters turn their hoses on civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama. Credit: AP Photo/Bill Hudson)

In 1958, a mixed-race couple, Mildred and Richard Loving, were arrested and then banished from the US state of Virginia for breaking its laws against inter-racial marriage. Nine years later, Mildred and Richard Loving won a ruling at the Supreme Court declaring this sort of legislation unconstitutional.Witness speaks to the Lovings' lawyer, Bernie Cohen.Image: Mildred and Richard Loving, pictured in 1967 (Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

On 1 February 1960, four young black men began a protest in Greensboro, North Carolina against the racial segregation of shops and restaurants in the US southern states.The men, who became known as the Greensboro Four, asked to be served at a lunch counter in Woolworths. When they were refused service they stayed until closing time. And went back the next day, and the next. Over the following days and months, this non-violent form of protest spread and many more people staged sit-ins at shops and restaurants. Witness hears from one of the four men, Franklin McCain.

The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode on buses, testing out whether bus stations were complying with the Supreme Court ruling that banned segregation. Listen to Bernard Lafayette Junior, an eyewitness to how Martin Luther King managed to prevent inter-ethnic bloodshed on a night of extreme tension during the battle against segregation in the American South.Picture: A group of Black Americans get off the 'Freedom Bus' at Jackson, Mississippi, Credit: William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images

Andrew Goodman was one of the three civil rights workers killed by the Klu Klux Klan in Mississippi in 1964. He and the other two victims, James Chaney and Michael Schwerner, had been working on a project to register African-Americans to vote. For Witness, Andrew's brother David recalls his brother's strong sense of justice and what his family lived through in the 44 days he was missing. He remembers how nationwide shock helped change America for good - and that it took the deaths of two white people to awake the conscience of middle America.Picture: Andrew Goodman, Credit: Associated Press

In 1968, when Petula Clark touched Harry Belafonte's arm during a duet, it was the first time a white woman had touched a black man on US television.The sponsor insisted it be cut from the programme, but the programme makers refused. Louise Hidalgo speaks to the producer of the programme, Steve Binder.(Photo: Harry Belafonte. Credit: Alan Meek/Express/Getty Images)

John Howard Griffin, a white journalist, dyed his skin black to experience segregation in America's Deep South. John Howard Griffin wrote a book about his seven week experience.*** Listeners should be aware that some of the language in this programme reflects the historical context of the time. ***Photo: Griffin as a black man in 1959 (left). Courtesy of John Howard Griffin Estate.