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EPISODE · Jan 28, 2026 · 9 MIN

Chile's 'Penguin Revolution'

from Witness History · host BBC World Service

In 2006, hundreds of thousands of school children in Chile took over their schools and marched in the streets, in a protest about inequality in education. It was known as the "Penguin Revolution" because of their black and white school uniforms.The students were demanding good quality education for all children, regardless of whether they were rich or poor.Grace Livingstone speaks to Karina Delfino, who was a 16-year-old school girl and one of the leaders of the movement.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 the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest; the disastrous D-Day rehearsal; and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.(Photo: Riot police block an avenue in Santiago during clashes with students, 5 June 2006. Credit: David Lillo/AFP via Getty Images)

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Jan 28, 2026

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