Episodes

The Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled France on June 6, 1944, looms larger in our collective conscience than perhaps any other single battle. Explore the back story of the “Longest Day,” using the invasion itself as a narrative spine, and recounting, in remarkable detail, the long-term planning and ingenious execution that led to the Allied victory.

In a central part of Turin Cathedral is an elaborate, baroque shrine housing one of the Catholic Church’s most precious and controversial artifacts: a 15-foot-long piece of cloth known as the Turin Shroud. Could it actually be stained with the blood of Jesus Christ? Experts debate the origin of a prized religious relic.

In 1918, a flu pandemic ripped through the global population with such speed and virulence that by the end of the following year an estimated 40 million people would be dead. Where did this particular flu strain come from, and what made it so deadly? 85 years later, virologists and epidemiologists the world over are still hunting down the answers to those two critical questions.

The infamous "Bridge on the River Kwai," and remnants of railway (abandoned in 1945), do stand today, but the Thai and Burmese jungles have consumed much of their remains. Just how did a team of Allied POWs in such poor condition and confronted with so many obstacles manage to build the railway? And how did their Allied brethren ultimately achieve its demolition?

In the spring of 1943, Allied forces to begin preparations for a top secret Allied raid. Each aircraft carried a top-secret weapon -- a newly-invented bouncing bomb -- designed to shatter Germany's major dams.

In March of 1912, a team of seasoned Antarctic explorers perished on their way back from the South Pole. Was it possible the explorers were blind-sided by conditions they could never have anticipated?

In 64 AD, Rome was the most magnificent city in the world. Then, in the early hours of July 19, fire broke out in the cook shops and cafés lining the Circus Maximus. Centuries later, questions linger. Was the fire an accident, or was it arson? Is Tacitus a reliable witness? Nero blamed the catastrophe on the Christians — is there any truth to his accusation?

In the aftermath of the Titanic, Canadian rescue ships recovered 328 bodies and buried dozens in unmarked graves. Today, scientific breakthroughs may help 3 families of missing passengers learn the true fate of their relatives.

In 1665, a British tailor opened a flea-infested shipment of fabric from London. In a matter of days, the tailor and much of the village were suffering the telltale signs of bubonic plague, the disease that wiped out a third of the European population. 350 years later, an American geneticist is delving into the reasons why some managed to survive the Black Death while others were not so lucky.

Explore the scientific mystery of human genesis through a close investigation of 13 fossils found in October 2000. The bones are the oldest hominid remains ever discovered — so old that they come from the time when the divergence of man and ape is thought to have occurred — and could be the blueprint for the first generation of the species that ultimately evolved into modern humans

In 1492, Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic in search of gold in the uncharted New World. But his ships brought back something entirely different: syphilis. But if the scourge really did originate in the Americas, what is the explanation for the discovery of a European who was racked with indisputable signs of the disease 150 years before Columbus set sail?

Reconstructing Christ’s final days, this episode traces the history and various incarnations of the tomb through the efforts of an Oxford professor who, with his wife, has been studying the site for 10 years. Is the very rock shelf on which Christ’s body was laid 2,000 years ago within the reach of modern science? Or will we always wonder?

In January 1879, one of the worst defeats of the Victorian era befell the British Army at Isandlwana in South Africa. Almost an entire battalion — 1,300 soldiers — were massacred by the Zulu. Now a team of experts has been assembled to tackle the mystery of how a so-called "primitive" tribe of warriors could defeat a highly-trained modern army.

Three years after setting foot on American shores, 440 of the original 500 Jamestown settlers had died. Why did deadly outbreaks strike just after the ships headed home? And is it a coincidence that the only map of the colony today belongs to Spain? Take a 21st-century look at the eerie the plight of these fated settlers.

In the shadow of Stonehenge, an ancient body has been found — stuffed into a shallow grave with its head separated from its body. Who was this man and how did he die? Using modern science and forensic techniques, archaeologist Mike Pitts attempts to solve this ancient murder mystery.