This Week in History - May 5 - May 11

Fascinating, surprising, and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

BBC Radio 4 explores the history books and archives to see what else has happened on this same week throughout history.
With short looks at the events that have shaped the world and made us who we are today.

This week. May 5th – May 11th
- 8th of May 1945. Nazi Germany surrenders unconditionally to the Allied forces, and Victory in Europe Day – VE Day – was declared.
- 6th of May 1937. A disaster captured in real time, as the radio reporter Herbert Morrison reports on the crash of the LZ 129 Hindenburg airship.
- 9th of May 1671. The audacious attempt of the notorious Colonel Blood to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, the last man to ever try such a feat.

Presented by Ron Brown and Viji Alles
Produced by Luke Doran and Kerry McCarthy

Published on Monday, 5th May 2025.

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We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the This Week in History webpage.