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Streamliners: America's Lost Trains

Aired February 5, 2001

Although fleets of these high speed trains crisscrossed the country by the 1940s, their success was short-lived. The dramatic story of the streamliners is one of remarkable achievements and opportunities lost.

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Return With Honor

Aired November 13, 2000

"Return with Honor" is the story of American fighter pilots held as prisoners of war in North Vietnam. More than 20 veterans describe their captivity and their struggle to survive mentally and physically, and return with honor. Their moving accounts are combined with archival footage from Vietnam and the United States to create an inspiring tale of personal heroism.

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Secrets of a Master Builder

Aired October 30, 2000 | 58 min

A self-made man and one of America’s greatest engineers, James Buchanan Eads led a life inextricably intertwined with the nation’s most important waterway, the Mississippi River. He explored the river bottom in a diving bell of his own design; made a fortune salvaging wrecks; in the 1870s built the world's first steel bridge over the Mississippi at St. Louis; then deepened the river at its mouth, turning New Orleans into the second largest port in the nation. By the time of his death in 1887, Eads was widely acknowledged to be one of the most influential men of his day.

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The Rockefellers

Aired October 16, 2000

Head of the most powerful family in America, billionaire John D. Rockefeller's vast philanthropy changed his family's reputation.

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The Wizard of Photography

Aired May 22, 2000

With his introduction of the popular Kodak and Brownie camera systems, George Eastman revolutionized the photographic industry, transforming a complex, expensive technology used by a small professional elite into one that anyone could use. A brilliant innovator and entrepreneur, Eastman changed the way people viewed time and the world around them -- and even themselves. Produced by James A. DeVinney.

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Joe Dimaggio: The Hero's Life

Aired May 8, 2000

He was one of the greatest sports heroes ever — and one of the most unlikely. Raised in a poor Italian fishing community in San Francisco, Joe DiMaggio joined the New York Yankees in 1936 and quickly rose to become the star of baseball's golden age.

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Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory

Aired November 19, 2019 | 53 min

In the chaotic decade following the Civil War, a group of young ex-slaves in Nashville, Tennessee, set out on a mission to save their financially troubled school by giving concerts.

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George Wallace: Settin' the Woods on Fire

Aired April 23, 2000

Four times governor of Alabama, four times a candidate for president, he was feared as a racist demagogue and admired as a politician who spoke his mind. A lightning rod for controversy, Wallace both reflected and provoked tensions in American society over more than four decades. This film traces the rise of the firebrand politician from his roots in rural Alabama to the assassination attempt that suddenly transformed him.

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John Brown's Holy War

Aired February 28, 2000

Martyr, madman, murderer, hero: John Brown remains one of history's most controversial and misunderstood figures. In the 1850s, he and his ragtag guerrilla group embarked on a righteous crusade against slavery that was based on religious faith — yet carried out with shocking violence. His execution set off a chain of events that led to the Civil War.

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The Duel

Aired February 14, 2000

The most famous duel in American history climaxed a longstanding conflict between two of the most important men in the country. The conflict between Alexander Hamilton, an architect of the Constitution and designer of American capitalism, and Aaron Burr, vice president of the United States and the first modern politician.

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Nixon's China Game

Aired January 31, 2000

In February 1972, after a quarter-century of mutual antagonism between the United States and China, President Richard Nixon traveled to Beijing for an historic encounter with Chairman Mao Tse-tung.

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Houdini

Aired January 24, 2000

In 1912 Harry Houdini was lowered into New York's East River in a crate wrapped in chains. The crowd of spectators gasped; reporters pulled out their stop watches. Houdini was out in less than a minute. The resulting media blitz established him forever as the world's greatest escape artist. On stage, Houdini subjected himself to the Water Torture Cell, being buried alive, and other perils of his own design. Throughout his rise from Hungarian immigrant to international star, Houdini confronted our greatest fears entrapment, pain, death -- and emerged victorious. Produced by Nancy Porter. Mandy Patinkin narrates.

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