Witness History Folgen

In April 1972 the famous silent movie star set foot in the USA for the first time in two decades. He had left with his family in the 1950s, amid scandals over his personal life and left-wing views. The family settled in Switzerland. His son, Eugene Chaplin, speaks to Mike Lanchin about his father, and recalls Chaplin's love-hate relationship with America.(Photo: Charlie Chaplin as the Tramp in the 1925 film, The Gold Rush. Credit: Getty Images)

In April 1966 thousands of artists and performers from all over Africa descended on the Senegalese capital, Dakar, for the first World Festival of Black Arts. Ibrahim el-Salahi and Elimo Njau are two leading African artists who took part in that first festival. They have been speaking to Ashley Byrne.Photo: Poster from the first World Festival of Black Arts.

In April 2001 the Peruvian Air Force mistakenly shot down a small passenger plane as it flew over the Amazon jungle. The Peruvians believed the aircraft was carrying drugs. Onboard was a group of American missionaries. Mike Lanchin spoke to Jim Bowers, who survived the crash, but whose wife and baby daughter were killed.Photo: The missionary plane shot down by the Peruvian Air Force lies in shallow waters of the Amazon River. (Photo by Newsmakers)