Episodes

The little-known story of how close to nuclear destruction the world really was during those dark October days and how the heroism of one man saved us all

Beginning in the 1950s, American and Soviet scientists embarked on a perilous race to see who could build and detonate the world’s largest bomb. The results exceeded all expectations about how big a bomb could be built. Initially, the Americans led the way, but then left the field clear for the Soviet Union to break all records.

The extraordinary story of China’s 8,000 terracotta warriors begins two centuries before the birth of Christ. The First Emperor of China was preparing an extravagant tomb for his journey into the afterlife - and decreed that he be protected forever by a monumental army.

A modern day quest to find the truth behind one of exploration's greatest mysteries: What happened to famed adventurer Col. Percy Fawcett who went looking for a city of gold--the Lost City of “Z”--in the Amazon in 1925 and disappeared in the jungles of Brazil forever?

In 2009 a team of marine archeologists carrying out a sonar survey of the seabed around the remote Italian island of Ventotene made an astonishing discovery.

The slave ship Meermin set sail from Madagascar for South Africa in 1766, but the ship would never make it to Cape Town, the slaves mutinied and managed to overpower the Dutch crew, ordering the ship be sailed back to Madagascar and freedom.

The royal tomb of Pharaoh Psusennes I is one of the most spectacular of all the ancient Egyptian treasures - even more remarkable than that of Tutankhamun. So why hasn't the world heard about it? What mysteries does it contain? And what does it reveal about ancient Egypt?

The Battle of Stalingrad is known as one of the most pivotal actions of World War II. For decades after the war, the battle was seen as a victory for Stalin, whose carefully executed withdrawal baited Hitler's army into a battle that slowly decimated the German forces. But now, newly-released archives are revealing a very different picture of the battle that changed the course of history.

In the case of Hawley Crippen, the unusual poison choice, Hyosine, led investigators to question the validity of the remains. What are the more common poisons used in murders?

Learn how close the Japanese came to using an advanced submarine for an attack on the U.S. 2/29/2012

Timed for broadcast on the first anniversary of the attacks, this episode brings viewers first-hand survivor accounts, closed-circuit footage of the chaos from within the hotels and actual words spoken by both victims and terrorists.

In 1944, a U.S. bomber was hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire, and the crew ejected and parachuted into the wilderness. They were taken in and protected by members of the Dayak tribe - the "wild men of Borneo," who were infamous for their custom of hunting and smoking enemy heads. Months later, the airmen were found by an eccentric British Major who devised an ingenious plan to rescue the men.

More than 500 ago, Michelangelo Buonarroti was the darling of the Catholic Church, commissioned to create many of its most important pieces. Historians have long wondered about the mysterious circumstances of his death — and now, art historian Antonio Forcellino believes he has pieced together evidence of a deep rift between the Church and the esteemed artist.

Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard, was the most notorious pirate of his day. Now, 300 years later, a marine archaeology team believe they have found his sunken flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge, off the North Carolina coast. Did Blackbeard accidentally run his ship aground, or was it a deliberate plot to betray his crew and cheat them out of their share of the plunder?

Was Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, hanged in 1910 for poisoning and dismembering his wife, guilty of the crime?