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The History Detectives
This Season's Highlights
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WATCH SEASON 7 HIGHLIGHTS .

(Dur: 4.31)

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SEASON 7

History Detectives aired 12 episodes in Season 7.

See the previews below to find out more about each story.

Or if you're looking for an older story, browse the Archive featuring details you won't have seen on TV and full transcripts of each story.

Submit your Story Think you have a case for the History Detectives? Send us your mystery here.

 

EPISODE 12 - September 14, 2009

Shipwreck Cannons
Are these the last remains of a navy schooner that fought in a border dispute with the mighty British Empire?...More
Connecticut Farmhouse
How is this Connecticut farmhouse connected to the assassination of a Russian tsar?...More
Kahlil Gibran Painting
Is this painting an unknown work by an immigrant poet whose words inspired an American generation?...More

 

EPISODE 11 - SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Duke Ellington Plates
Are these plates the first edition of Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train”?...More
"Scottsboro Boys" Stamp
Did a penny stamp help save the Scottsboro Boys from the electric chair?...More
Civil War Bridge
Has a new discovery rewritten Civil War history?...More

 

EPISODE 10 - AUGUST 31, 2009

Stalag 17 Portrait
What happened to the artist of this portrait made in a German POW camp?...More
Seadrome
Did floating airports dot the Atlantic before modern air travel?...More
Black Tom Shell
Is this shell from a devastating act of foreign sabotage on American soil?...More

 

EPISODE 9 - AUGUST 24, 2009

WPA Mural Studies
Are these unusual paintings part of the biggest job creation program in America's history?...More
George Washington Miniature
Did the artist paint this portrait of Washington from life, and what is its surprising connection to the abolitionist White Matlack?...More
Japanese War Balloon
Is this scrap of fabric evidence of a secret wartime attack on the United States' mainland?...More

 

EPISODE 8 - AUGUST 17, 2009

Mussolini's Dagger
Did a World War II GI return home with Mussolini's dagger?...More
Liberia Letter
Does this letter help to trace one freed man’s dream to return to Africa?...More
N.E.A.R Device
Was this device invented to help Americans believe they could survive a soviet nuclear attack?...More

 

EPISODE 7 - AUGUST 10, 2009

Hindenburg Artifact
Was this device snatched from the burning wreckage of the ill-fated zeppelin? ...More
John Adams Book
Do these tattered pages open the book on a President who built a nation even as his own son fell into ruin?...More
Birthplace of Hip Hop
Did this Bronx apartment building give birth to a culture that now spans the globe?...More

 

EPISODE 6 - JULY 27, 2009

Amelia Earhart Plane
Was this twisted piece of metal ripped from one of the most famous missing planes in history?...More
Fillmore Pardon
Did President Fillmore pardon a Native American convicted of murder?...More
Boxcar Home
Why is a boxcar buried beneath this suburban kitchen?...More

 

EPISODE 5 - JULY 20, 2009

Tokyo Rose
Did this 1940s recording help convict the woman alleged to be a Japanese spy?...More
Crazy Horse
Is this the only photograph of a Native American legend?...More
World War II Diary
Does this diary hold the key to understanding the fate of a missing bomber pilot from World War II?...More

 

EPISODE 4 - JULY 13, 2009

Sideshow Babies
Was the owner of this cup once a four-pound sideshow exhibit?...More
Lubin Photos
What do these photo albums reveal about the birth of the silver screen?...More
Navajo Rug
Why would a weaver depart from tradition to make this rug?...More

 

EPISODE 3 - JULY 6, 2009

St Valentine's Day Massacre
Was this weapon fired in one of the nation's most infamous crimes?...More
Booth Letter
Did the father of John Wilkes Booth threaten to assasinate the President?...More
Cemetary Alarm
Was this explosive device used to stop a morbid black market trade?...More

 

EPISODE 2 - JUNE 29, 2009

Manhattan Project Patent
Could this drawing have been part of America's secret plans to fuel the atomic bomb?...More
Galleon Shipwreck
Is this a piece of treasure from a Spanish galleon washed up on an Oregon beach?...More
Creole Poems
Does this manuscript contain words of love or illegal acts of rebellion?...More

 

EPISODE 1 - JUNE 22, 2009

Psychophone
Did Thomas Edison make a machine to unlock the secrets of the dead?...More
War Dog Letter
The military put great effort into a new “War Dogs” program during WWII. What went wrong on Cat Island?...More
Pancho Villa Watch Fob
Did the owner of this watch fob witness the horrifying raid on Pancho Villa?...More



Don’t forget you can watch a video Sneak peek of Season 7, here.