Max Pearson presents a collection of this week's Witness History episodes from the BBC World Service.
In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise gay marriage. Four couples were chosen to take part in a collective wedding at midnight which was broadcast on TV. Hélène Faasen and Anne-Marie Thus talk about the wedding they thought they'd never have.
Our guest Lauren Moss, the LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News tells us about the history of gay marriage. Also, the man who risked his life to make the audio recordings which blew open one of the biggest corruption scandals in Spain's recent history.
Then we hear the story of the 1970s defection from the Soviet Union of a world-famous ballerina. Plus, the mystery surrounding the fate of the last king of France's son and the man who really does believe that laughter is the best medicine.
Contributors: Hélène Faasen & Anne-Marie Thus - the first lesbian couple to get married legally. Lauren Moss - LGBT & Identity Correspondent at BBC News. José Luis Peñas - the man that made secret recordings that revealed the Gurtel scandal. Prof Jean Jacques Cassiman - Belgian geneticist. Deborah Cadbury - historian. Dr Madan Kataria – founder of World laughter day.
(Photo: The couple arrive to be married at the Amsterdam City Hall. Credit: Marcel Antonisse/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)
Hindenburg disaster and wingsuits
Pad Thai, kiwis and the chef Ken Hom
Tsunamis and Caster Semenya
Mandela's funeral and Tsar's reburial
Doom and Danish brains
Saving animals from extinction and Cabbage Patch Kids
Zambia celebrates independence and the invention of bubble tea
The Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption in Iceland and EpiPen invention
Pakistani popstars, and the hippo and the tortoise
Che Guevara's daughter and marrying Freddie Mercury
Gezi Park protests and MAD hijack
Osmondmania! and the launch of Lagos Fashion Week
The creation of Ghana's flag and the oldest person at primary school
Marking 50 years since the 1973 global oil crisis
The Lampedusa disaster and cat cafes
Nazi eugenics and the year of the vuvuzela
Israeli and Palestinian history
The Chilean coup and Zanzibar’s most famous singer
Historic Korean summit and goat island
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