Witness

In November 1995, a proposal of having an annual day focused on celebrating books was put forward at the UNESCO conference in Paris.The idea came from a long-established Spanish celebration ‘The Day of Books and Roses’.The first World Book Day was on 23 April 1996. Although some countries now celebrate World Book Day on different dates, it’s marked on 23 April in the majority of countries.Pere Vicens is a book publisher from Barcelona in Spain and one of the creators of World Book Day. He tells Gill Kearsley the origins of this now annual event. 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 inventi