"Did a cataclysmic event plunge humankind into the period known as the early Dark Ages? Scientists now believe the early Dark Ages may have been triggered by a natural event that occurred around 535 A.D. Science writer David Keys is convinced that the cause was a phenomenon of cataclysmic proportions. At the center of a complex chain of events seems to be \"a loud bang\" -- a volcanic explosion equal to \"two thousand million Hiroshima size bombs.\" The subsequent environmental calamity, Keys believes, affected human civilization from Mongolia to Constantinople, precipitating plague, famine, death, great migration, the fall of the great Mexican city of Teotihuacan, the Anglo-Saxon victory over the Celts and perhaps even the rise of Islam. (UK \/ PBS)\n\nReleased to video (VHS) as a single episode. Run time 1:50."

"Did a cataclysmic event plunge humankind into the period known as the early Dark Ages? Scientists now believe the early Dark Ages may have been triggered by a natural event that occurred around 535 A.D. Science writer David Keys is convinced that the cause was a phenomenon of cataclysmic proportions. At the center of a complex chain of events seems to be \"a loud bang\" -- a volcanic explosion equal to \"two thousand million Hiroshima size bombs.\" The subsequent environmental calamity, Keys believes, affected human civilization from Mongolia to Constantinople, precipitating plague, famine, death, great migration, the fall of the great Mexican city of Teotihuacan, the Anglo-Saxon victory over the Celts and perhaps even the rise of Islam. (UK \/ PBS)\n\nReleased to video (VHS) as a single episode. Run time 1:50."

"Why did Greenland's Vikings disappear? The Vikings of Greenland left no clues to their sudden and mysterious disappearance. Or did they? On a desolate coast of Greenland, an international team of archaeologists, forensic anthropologists, entomologists and botanists sets out to investigate clues in a complex chain of events that may have led to the demise of a Viking colony. Unearthing the ruins of a settlement that included a cathedral complete with stained glass, the scientists carefully identify and date the vestiges of the Viking society. Among their discoveries are a \"mini Ice Age,\" a war with neighboring Inuits, and a religious order that may have doomed the Vikings to obsolescence. (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"Why did the great airship Hindenburg explode? The disintegration of the Hindenburg in 1937 is one of the most famous disasters of the 20th century. It took more than 100 years to develop what was, in its day, the fastest, most technologically advanced and most luxurious form of transportation in the world -- and 34 seconds to destroy it. The accident that ended the golden age of airships is generally attributed to the ignition of hydrogen gas used for lift. Addison Bain, a retired NASA scientist and hydrogen specialist, sets out on a personal quest of theorizing and experimentation to prove the Hindenburg's real flaw was only skin deep. (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"What happened to the peaceful ancient Pueblo civilization of the American southwest? For 1000 years, the Anasazi -- a democratic people with rich achievements in architecture, agriculture, astronomy and art -- flourished in what is now New Mexico. Yet around 1200 A.D., something brought their utopia to a sudden and mysterious end. Paleo-anthroplogist Christy Turner has found what he believes are clear signs of cannibalism among the Anasazi ruins, but American Indian groups and other archaeologists are skeptical. And while the evidence is difficult to refute, the meaning of the findings is still open to debate. In the shadow of a debate both scientific and political, question remain: Did the Anasazi culture become cannibalistic, or did cannibals from afar stumble across the perfect victims? (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"(Disease & Disaster) \u201cThe Witches Curse\u201d poses a shocking new idea about the violent convulsions, delirium, and strange skin sensations that struck a group of young girls in 17th-century Massachusetts and inspired the infamous Salem Witch Trials. In 1692, 19 of the town\u2019s residents were put to death because they were believed to have been witches. For hundreds of years, this tragedy was blamed on religious fanaticism, adolescent cruelty, and contagious hysteria. But these explanations failed to satisfy a \u201cdetective\u201d who embarked on her own fact-finding mission. Was Salem\u2019s Puritan community unwittingly living on bread infected by the fungus from which LSD is derived? Could toxic amounts of this fungus, known as ergot, be the real reason the accusatory teens endured psychotic episodes and saw blood dripping down their walls at night? And what clues could the 2,300-year-old corpse of a Danish murder victim possibly hold for Salem investigators? Tracking down historic outbreaks of ergot poisoning, Dr. Caporael compares its symptoms to those that plagued the girls in Salem, revealing a whole new side of this unsettling period. (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"A mysterious skeleton buried in a shallow grave beneath a famous ancient monument. Who was he? How long had he been there? And why had his head been severed from its body? Archaeologist Mike Pitts works with scientists, forensics experts and historian to dig up ominous information about early Britain and the circumstances that surrounded the man's death. Was he a cattle thief, an insurgent, or a pagan sacrifice in a newly Christian world? (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"The settlers at Jamestown, the first British colony in the New World, were looking for wealth and adventure. But within six months 80 of the original 100 arrivals were dead; 440 of the first 500 died within three years. Death came in sudden, brutal waves marked by severe bruising, weakness, wasting and madness. Did the men die of disease and starvation? Or is it more than a coincidence that the deadly outbreaks always seemed to strike just after the supply ships set sail? Clues from Europe and the recently rediscovered Jamestown site have led pathologist Frank Hancock to a radical new theory that implicates some unlikely suspects. (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"During the Anglo-Zulu wars in South Africa, the success of small British regiments against huge numbers of native warriors became the stuff of legend. But in one key 1879 battle, Zulu fighting unites known as Impis decimated the British forces at the battle of Isandlwana. Historian Ian Knight and forensic archaeologist Tony Pollard investigate the battle scene, trying to assess the impact of a solar eclipse on the outcome, and discovering the Zulu use of performance enhancing \"battle drugs\" that included cannabis and a powerful hallucinogenic mushroom. New evidence reveals the changing tide of the battle, the innovative strategy of the Zulu and one Critical, irreversible British mistake. (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"For centuries, visitors to the Church of the Holy Seplulchre in Jerusalem believed that they stood within what was merely a symbolic representation of Jesus' burial place. But what if the edicule within the church, an ancient crumbling structure, really does house Christ's actual tomb? Oxford archaeologists Martin and Birthe Biddle reconstruct Jesus' final day and trace the history of the various incarnations of the edicule -- looking for evidence that there is a tomb present, and trying to decipher whether or not Christ actually lay there. (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"In 1492, Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic in search of gold. But what his men carried back with them to Europe was something far less appealing. They brought the scourge of syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease never before seen in the Old World. At least that is what scientists have generally believed. But now, the discovery in Europe of a pre-Columbian body with definite signs of syphilis has archaeologist Charlotte Roberts convinced that syphilis existed in the Old World long before Columbus ever set sail. New evidence from across Europe is beginning to turn the prevailing Columbus theory on its head (UK\/PBS 55 min)"

"Ancient hominid fossils ignite controversy over the origins of humankind."

"Disease & Disaster. The Mystery of the Black Death begins in September of 1665, when a tailor in the secluded English village of Eyam 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, in the first five years since its arrival, had wiped out a third of the European population. To prevent the outbreak from spreading throughout the region, the whole town was quarantined \u2014 no one was allowed in or out. Outsiders assumed that the bacteria would simply wipe out the entire village. But they were wrong. Three hundred and fifty years later, Dr. Stephen O\u2019Brien, a geneticist from the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., is delving into the reasons why some individuals managed to survive the excruciating Black Death while others were dying all around them. Following O\u2019Brien as he takes DNA samples and investigates historical records and family archives, the film sheds light on the resistance to the plague, and reveals a stunning legacy that the plague survivors passed on to their descendants \u2014 a similar resistance to the modern-day scourge of AIDS. (UK\/PBS 46 min)"

"Modern Mysteries. After midnight on April 15th, 1912, an urgent knock woke Swedish Titanic passenger Alma Paulson and her four young children. Alma and her children were told to wait in a sitting room below deck for further instructions, and when they finally made it topside, all 20 of the lifeboats were long gone. As the ship\u2019s tilt increased, it became more and more difficult to hold on. A friend tried to help by scooping up two-year-old Gosta, yet none of the Paulsons survived. Only Alma\u2019s body was identified. Six days later, Canadian rescue workers spotted the lifeless body of a fair-haired toddler floating near the site of the wreck. The sailors were so moved by the discovery that they purchased a small white casket and held a service for the little boy in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which the whole town attended. He was buried in the Fairview Lawn cemetery with other unidentified Titanic victims. In this episode of SECRETS OF THE DEAD, historian Alan Ruffman and a team of scientists headed by Dr. Ryan Parr, co-director of the paleo-DNA laboratory at Ontario\u2019s Lakehead Univeristy, use incredible technology to help provide answers \u2014 and closure \u2014 for relatives of Titanic victims whose remains were never identified."

"In 64 AD, Rome was the most magnificent city in the world. Fourteen sprawling districts were home to some two million people. But underneath the glorious fa\u00e7ade, trouble was brewing. Rome\u2019s erratic, ruthless ruler, Nero, was known for his decadent lifestyle and violent behavior. At the age of 16, he rose to power following the murder of his stepfather, Claudius. There were rumors that he murdered his mother and kicked his pregnant wife to death. Against the will of the senate, Nero was seeking to rebuild Rome and create a metropolis that conformed to his own grandiose vision. Then, in the early hours of July 19, fire broke out in the cook shops and cafes lining the Circus Maximus. The blaze raged for more than a week. The city\u2019s fire brigades were powerless, and the bulk of Rome was left in shambles. According to the historian Tacitus, Nero watched Rome burn while playing the fiddle and singing about the burning of Troy. 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 \u2014 is there any truth to his accusation? This episode recreates the conditions surrounding the fire\u2019s ignition and traces the path of the flames using information from excavated remains of Rome\u2019s burnt-out ruins in search of an explanation for one of antiquity\u2019s greatest disasters. (UK\/PBS)"

"In March of 1912, a team of seasoned Antarctic explorers perished on their way back from the South Pole. Learn what sabotaged their return."

"(Warfare) In the spring of 1943, nearly 150 highly decorated pilots were ordered to report to a Royal Air Force base in England to begin preparations for a top secret Allied raid. In complete secrecy, the team trained to master the dangerous art of high speed, low altitude night flying. On May 16th, 133 of the airmen boarded 19 modified Lancaster bombers. Each aircraft carried a top-secret weapon \u2014 a newly-invented bouncing bomb \u2014 designed to shatter Germany\u2019s major dams, stem the flow of water to the Ruhr valley\u2019s steel factories, and, ultimately, undermine the enemy\u2019s ability to produce weapons. In a matter of hours, four of the targeted dams were hit and two destroyed, more than 1,000 Germans killed on the ground, and countless factories and homes left in shambles. The raid took its toll on the airmen \u2014 53 men were lost. Nevertheless, the mission was deemed a success and boosted morale throughout the Allied forces. The mysterious bouncing bombs were the brainchild of Allied aircraft designer Barnes Wallis. How did Wallis come up with this unlikely weapon? How did losing his marbles make it all work? What did he go through to make it functional, and how did the elite airmen ensure its successful deployment?"

"The Battle of Towton in North Yorkshire, fought during the Wars of the Roses, was reputedly the bloodiest battle ever seen on English soil. In 1996 a mass grave of soldiers was discovered there by chance. This was the catalyst for a multi-disciplinary research project, still unique in Britain ten years after the initial discovery, which included a study of the skeletal remains, the battlefield landscape, the historical evidence and contemporary arms and armour. The discoveries were dramatic and moving; the individuals had clearly suffered traumatic deaths and subsequent research highlighted the often multiple wounds each individual had received before and, in some cases, after they had died. As well as the exciting forensic work the project also revealed much about medieval weaponry and fighting. Blood Red Roses contains all the information about this fascinating discovery, as well as discussing its wider historical, heritage and archaeological implications. (UK\/PBS)"

"(Modern Mysteries) While remnants of the abandoned structure exist today, jungles have consumed much of what remains. Construction records and documents revealing the railway\u2019s route are scarce. So just how did a team of men in such poor condition and confronted with so many obstacles manage to build the railway? And how did their Allied brethren achieve its demolition?"

"(Disease & Disaster) 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 come from and what made it so deadly? Virologists and epidemiologists the world over are still hunting down the answers."

"In the summer of 2002, a team of textile restorers was invited to Turin to undertake an unprecedented renovation of the shroud, which called for the removal of the shroud's backing cloth and all of its medieval patches. The results were staggering -- brand new forensic evidence that the shroud is indeed 2,000 years old, dating from the time of Christ. Is it the authentic burial shroud of Jesus Christ, or just a brillian medieval fake?"

"In the three years leading up to D-Day, the Allies had assembled an array of weapons and transport vessels specially designed to overcome Hitler's defenses --\u00a0 among them gliders, landing craft, minesweepers, and swimming tanks. This is the story of the maverick innovators who conceived of such an armory and its implementation into the largest amphibious invasion in the history of the world, and of the brave young men who woe;dd it so capably on the beach of Normandy. Runtime: 1:36."

"(Archaeology) The myth of the Amazons, a tribe of bloodthirsty blond women thundering across arid battlefields to the horror of their male foes, has lingered for centuries. Their exploits seized the imagination of the Greek scribes Homer, Hippocrates, and Herodotus. But proof of their existence had always been lacking. Now, a 2,500-year-old mystery may have been solved, cracked by an American scientist whose ten-year odyssey led her tens of thousands of miles in pursuit of the truth. After unearthing evidence of a culture of ancient warrior women in the Russian steppes, Dr. Jeannine Davis-Kimball followed a trail of artifacts to a remote village in Western Mongolia, where her quest for a living link to a long-imagined tribe ended with a startling discovery. There, among the black-eyed Mongols, Davis-Kimball found a blond child, a 9-year-old girl named Meiramgul. Through DNA testing, Davis-Kimball finds that the DNA sequences of the warrior women and those from the girl of Mongolia are identical."

"Days after D-Day, Allied forces joined together for a different kind of mission. Through rare footage, eyewitness testimonies, and real-life accounts, the story is told of the race to capture the German physicists and other scientists and any secrets they may hold of advanced 'vengeance' weapons. Finding the scientists could mean gaining significant advantage in the looming Cold War. \n\nLiev Schreiber narrates the story of the scientists' dramatic capture and the influences they have on wars today."

"On October 6, 2004, FBI agents began digging up a Queens swamp in the hopes of finding the remains of the man who killed John Gotti's son. Instead, they unearthed a severed foot and other pieces of human skeleton, along with personal effects. Forensic tests tied the remains to Mob family captains who had been killed by mob boss Joseph \"Big Joey\" Massino. This program documents the search which opens a window into the grisly world of the mob."

"In 1789, over two hundred female convicts were pulled out of London's prisons and shipped off to Australia for a life of servitude. See how they took control of the situation to create a better life for themselves and the future of Australia."

"On the last night of an Atlantic voyage, the Andrea Doria luxury liner was broadsided by the 13,000-ton Stockholm in an accident that imperiled more than 1,700 passengers and crew. With the world watching in horror during one of the first televised tragedies, the Andrea Doria sank, sparking a ferocious debate over fault that remains to this day and ended the era of luxury cruise liners."

"On September 11, 1978, Bulgarian emigre, writer and broadcast journalist Georgi Markov died. Three days before, while waiting for a bus, Markov felt a sudden sting in the back of his thigh. Markov was soon hospitalized. After his death, an investigation ruled Markov had been poisoned. A pellet containing ricin had been shot into his leg. How had this political murder been executed?"

"A pivotal moment in World War II, one of the most legendary and best documented dogfights in Air Force history is reconstructed."

"The story behind the creation of the King James Bible from mysterious and inaccessible Latin texts to a book for the common english speaking people."

"On August 24th, A.D. 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the city of Herculaneum. This program documents the archaeological re-discovery of that ancient, well preserved city on the Bay of Naples."

"This documentary attempts to explain the mystery behind an unusual ancient burial site unearthed in England, and it's connection with a Roman Emperor."

"A plea is smuggled to a New York reporter from within Western Australia's Fremantle Prison. This letter launched an American whaler that stood its ground against an armed British steamer for freedom and independence. The whaler was the Catalpa, its captain was George Anthony and its human cargo consisted of six Irish political prisoners, who had suffered at the Fremantle prison for a decade."

"A recent archaeological discovery of more than 550 bodies near Mexico City suggests that the Aztecs were much more resistant to the Spanish Conquistadors than previously thought."

"The story of Rudolph Vrba and Alfred Wetzler, two young Slovak Jews who escaped the Auschwitz death camp. They immediately wrote a detailed account of their experiences resulting in thousands of lives being saved."

"In the 1970s, female East German athletes came from nowhere to dominate international sport. But behind their success lay a horrifying secret. Doping for Gold reveals the truth behind the biggest state-sponsored doping program the world has ever known, creating a timely perspective on today\u2019s many sports drug scandals."

"Five thousand years ago the Minoans, Europe\u2019s first great civilization, flourished on the island of Crete. Yet in their heyday, they mysteriously disappeared. Sinking Atlantis digs deep into the Minoan soil and history, following archaeologists who are finding evidence of a massive tsunami that devastated the Minoans \u2013 and may have spawned the myth of Atlantis."

"In 1910, an American doctor named Hawley Crippen was convicted in England of poisoning and dismembering his wife. The vicious murder\u2014and execution that followed\u2014made international headlines. It was a landmark case: The first trial by media, and the first to be dominated by forensic science. But did the prosecutors get it right? Almost one hundred years later, investigators have re-opened the files on a murder that became known as one of the crimes of the century."

"Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard, was the most notorious pirate of his day. At the height of his rein, he commanded a fleet of four ships and a crew of 400 men. They were ruthless seafaring raiders who terrorizing vessels in American waters. In 1718, Blackbeard even blockaded the city of Charleston, crippling its economy. Eventually he was caught and beheaded by a posse from the Royal Navy. Now, 300 years later, a marine archaeology team believe they have found his sunken flagship, Queen Anne\u2019s Revenge, off the North Carolina coast."

"More than five centuries ago, Michelangelo Buonarroti was the darling of the Catholic Church. The Papacy commissioned him to create many of its most important pieces, including the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. He spent his life glorifying the Church, etching Catholic ideals into masterpieces that defined religion for the masses. Yet when he died, his body was secretly shepherded off to Florence, and the Church was denied the opportunity to honor him with a grand funeral in Rome. Historians have long wondered about the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, but now, art historian Antonio Forcellino believes he has pieced together evidence of a deep rift between the Church and the esteemed artist. The cause: Michelangelo\u2019s belief in Protestant ideals, and his involvement with a clandestine fellowship trying to put an end to the decadence and corruption of the Clergy and reform the Church from within."

"A tribe in Borneo protects a shot-down U.S. bomber crew from Japanese occupiers during World War II. The local missionaries, who converted the tribe to Christianity, were executed by the Japanese invaders, who had forced out Dutch and British colonialists, while massacring Borneo natives. A surviving missionary from Indonesia, employed by the Japanese military as an area administrator, outwits Japanese forces by hiding the U.S. airmen deep in a jungle canyon. The local Dayak people risk their lives, and force the occupiers to abandon their hunt for the airmen, using blowpipes and machetes against the Japanese army search parties."

"Accounts of the survivors of the indiscriminate terrorist massacres in Mumbai by Islamic Extremests in November 2008 and how the news media aided the terrorist by giving away the hiding places of the soon to be victims."

"During World War 2, Japan developed a super-submarine capable of launching bomber aircraft as a strategic weapon to carry the conflict to the United States mainland. But in the rapidly changing Pacific Theater, one intended mission after another becomes obsolete before the submarines can be deployed"

"Find out why Churchill chose to sink the French fleet."

"The Battle of Stalingrad, the deadliest single battle ever seen, has been lauded as a shining example of Stalin's military genius, and altered the course of World War II permanently. The battle established the Soviet Union as a superpower to be reckoned with in the long Cold War that lay ahead. More than a half-century later, with newly uncovered evidence the full impact of this horrific battle is revealed."

"Tanis, Egypt, circa 1939. On the brink of World War II, an excavation team led by French archaeologist Pierre Montet unearthed an intact royal burial chamber containing treasures that rival the riches found in Tutankhamun\u2019s tomb almost two decades before. But while the Tut discovery created an international sensation, the opening of the tomb in Tanis made barely a ripple in a world focused on impending war."

"Three disparate Capetowners reveal a long-forgotten, dramatic slave ship revolt en route from Madagascar to South Africa. About half of Cape Town's population are descendants of White, Asian, and Black slaves captured by the Dutch East Indies Company from all around the Indian Ocean. After the captives force the surviving crew below deck, a brave Malagasy warrior and a devious Dutch company agent fight a battle of wits with many surprising turns. For some aboard, the journey ends on infamous Robben Island, where Tokyo Sexwale and Nelson Mandela were later imprisoned."

"In 2009, archaeologists discovered an underwater graveyard of five Roman shipwrecks off the coast of Ventotene, a small Italian island with a notorious past. It was one of the biggest archaeological finds in recent history. The vessels\u2019 well-preserved cargo indicates that these ships did not break up on the island\u2019s rocks, but instead sank to the seabed intact and upright. They were laden with exotic goods including wine, olive oil, and the ancient delicacy garum; a condiment highly prized among ancient Romans. These sunken treasures are providing researchers with insight into the wreck, how the Romans lived, and Ventotene\u2019s intriguing past."

"On April 20, 1925, Colonel Percy Fawcett, his elder son Jack Fawcett and Jack\u2019s lifelong friend, Raleigh Rimmell, departed from Cuiab\u00e1, the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, to find \u201cZ\u201d \u2014 Col. Fawcett\u2019s name for what he believed to be an ancient city lost in the uncharted jungles of Brazil. The search for the mysterious Lost City of Z would be the great explorer\u2019s last expedition. All three men would vanish without a trace.\n\nEighty-six years later, Secrets of the Dead has mounted a modern day quest with explorer Niall McCann to find the truth behind the disappearance of famed adventurer Col. Percy Fawcett and his party in Lost in the Amazon"

"The life-sized terracotta warriors of China are known throughout the world. This clay army of 8,000 including infantry, archers, generals and cavalry was discovered by archaeologists in 1974 after farmers digging a well near the Chinese city of Xian unearthed pieces of clay sculpted in human form.\n\n \n\nAn amazing archaeological find, the terracotta warriors date back more than two thousand years. But what was the purpose of this army of clay soldiers? Who ordered its construction? How were they created? Secrets of the Dead investigates the story behind China\u2019s Terracotta Warriors and documents their return to former glory for the first time."

"Beginning in the 1950s, American and Soviet scientists embarked on a perilous race to see who could build and detonate the world\u2019s 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.\n\n \n\nSecrets of the Dead chronicles how the bomb-makers on both sides were working blind as they pushed science into unknown territory to build The World\u2019s Biggest Bomb. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the detonation of the most powerful bomb ever constructed."

"An officer aboard a Soviet submarine refuses to fire a nuclear torpedo during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962."

"German POWs reveal inner thoughts about the Third Reich, including military secrets that helped the Allies win World War II."

"Forensic and scientific analysis help determine how 57 Irish immigrants died less than two months after arriving in Pennsylvania to work on the railroad."

"Scientists say some of the 49,000 year-old Neanderthal bones discovered in El Sidr\u00f3n, Spain, bear signs of cannibalism."

"New scientific research provides insights into how King Tutankhamen was buried, why his tomb remained intact and how he died."

"Bones of the Buddha is a 2013 television documentary produced by Icon Films and commissioned by WNET\/THIRTEEN and ARTE France for the National Geographic Channels. It concerns a controversial Buddhist reliquary from the Piprahwa Stupa in Uttar Pradesh, India. It was released in May, 2013, and was broadcast in July 2013 in the US on PBS as part of the Secrets of the Dead series."

"Fifty years after the tragic shooting of President John F. Kennedy, Secrets of the Dead chronicles minute-by-minute the assassination as it was revealed in the CBS newsroom from the moment the President was shot until Walter Cronkite's emotional pronouncement of his death, one hour and eight minutes later."

"New forensic technology helps researchers study Dr. David Livingstone's lost diary, which reveals he witnessed the massacre of slaves by their traders."

"146 B.C.: Carthage, the proud capital of the vast Carthaginian Empire, is ablaze. Marauding Romans are mercilessly slaughtering and pillaging. Any survivors face a terrifying fate as slaves on Roman galleys or in their quarries. Escaping the bloody carnage is impossible...or is it? Could some of the once-mighty Carthaginians have got away? And even more incredibly \u2013 could they have turned west on an epic journey across the vast Atlantic Ocean to new shores? Did they set foot in South America, long before Columbus ever walked the face of the Earth? Ancient documents suggest there was a Carthaginian getaway, and modern science has found evidence to support these extraordinary claims."

"The search for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World despite a lack of physical evidence that they existed. Dr. Stephanie Dalley (Oxford University) posits that the legendary gardens were not located, as commonly believed, in the ancient city of Babylon, but hundreds of miles to its north, in what's now central Iraq."

"Discover a portrait of a younger and more beautiful Mona Lisa that predated the famous Louvre masterpiece. In September 2012, headline news shook the art world. A secret da Vinci had been uncovered, a portrait of a younger and more beautiful Mona Lisa that predated the famous Louvre masterpiece. Now an elite group of art historians, research physicists, restoration experts and forensic imaging specialists have gained exclusive access to analyze the painting first hand. Applying high-precision, scientific techniques they will aim to verify the painting\u2019s date, decipher hidden mathematical codes within it, and unravel the clues that point to da Vinci\u2019s genuine hand."

"Scientists test the bones of England's fierce King Richard III."

"Scientists test the bones of England's fierce King Richard III."

"In November 1997, when the skeletal remains of at least 28 bodies were unearthed in the basement of an elegant townhouse, police feared it was the work of a serial killer. But when research indicated the bones actually dated to the mid-1700s, the implications became even more dramatic. This was no ordinary house: 36 Craven Street was the former residence of one of the most important men in American history, Benjamin Franklin. Could the unthinkable be possible? Could one of America\u2019s most iconic figures have been responsible in some way for the bones in the basement?"

"For many, President Lyndon B. Johnson is chiefly remembered for escalating the United States military involvement in Vietnam. But his legacy is much more than his role in the Vietnam War. In fact, Johnson engineered the passing of two of the most important laws Congress ever approved: the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965."

"The Trojan Horse\u0085 It was the ultimate sneak attack, bringing a city that would withstood nine years of battle to its knees. But was it simply a work of fiction? Or did the Greeks really trick the Trojans into defeat with a giant wooden horse that concealed enough soldiers to reduce the powerful city to rubble?"

"Information gathered about aberrant, unorthodox burial practices from medieval times shed some light on how today's myths about vampires may have started."

"Forensic anthropologists excavate an early American colony of Jamestown, Virginia."

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"Dr. Kathleen Martinez searches for the lost tomb of Cleopatra. Following her excavations of a 35-meter deep underground shaft in a temple complex in a temple complex dedicated to the ancient Egyptian god Osiris and goddess wife Isis."

"International scientists study and document the ancient royal tombs beneath the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuac\u00e1n"

"Researchers working in secret inside a quarry study the charred remains of an English settlement that dates back 3,000 years."

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"What did Vincent Van Goh really do on the night of December 23, 1888?"

"Follow Archaeologists who map underwater ruins of ancient Rome's version of Las Vegas"

"An investigation to discover if Leonardo da Vinci came up with all of his credited ideas and inventions, or were they borrowed from ancient scholars and scientists?"

"The only one of the seven wonders of the world still standing, the Great Pyramid of Khufu has fascinated people for centuries. Tracing the origin of the legends of secret chambers hidden in the heart of the pyramid, Scanning the Pyramids will show what lies within, solving a 4,500-year-old mystery, by following the first scientific mission in 30 years to be authorized by the Egyptian government to examine the pyramids of Egypt."

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"On October 4, 2011, construction workers were shocked to uncover human remains in an abandoned lot in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens, New York. So great was the level of preservation, witnesses first assumed they had stumbled upon a recent homicide. Forensic analysis, however, revealed a remarkably different story. Buried in an elaborate and expensive iron coffin, the body belonged to a young African American woman who died in the first half of the 19th century, before the Civil War and the federal abolishment of slavery. But who was she? Secrets of the Dead: The Woman in the Iron Coffin follows forensic archaeologist Scott Warnasch and a team of historians and scientists as they investigate this woman\u2019s story and the time in which she lived, revealing a vivid picture of what life was like for free African American people in the North."

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"Follow historian James Holland on his quest to understand how the use of amphetamines affected the course of World War II and unleashed the first pharmacological arms race."

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"The Romans left Britain in 410 AD, leaving the island's fate hanging in the balance. In the 5th century, the country descended into the period known as the Dark ages, which left the nation ..."

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"Join three groups of treasure hunters, armed with modern technology and newly uncovered clues, as they set out to find the lost treasure of notorious Prohibition-era gangster Dutch Schultz and solve an 85-year-old mystery."

"500 years ago, Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set sail to gain control of the global spice trade. What resulted was the first circumnavigation of the earth, laying the groundwork for colonization and globalization still felt today."

"Incredible scientific investigations from across the globe are helping piece together the untold story of prehistoric women. The latest research separates fact from fiction and sheds new light on our ancient foremothers."

"A decade-long archaeological quest reveals that the oldest stones of Stonehenge originally belonged to a much earlier sacred site \u2013 a stone circle built on a rugged, remote hillside in west Wales."

"A fresh look at the science and conditions surrounding the Hindenburg explosion reveals ten particular flaws that directly led to the infamous disaster in 1937."

"In 1613, feudal lord Date Masamune sent a Japanese diplomatic mission to Europe to negotiate with the Pope and the King of Spain in hopes opening a new trade route. Led by samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga and Franciscan monk Luis Sotelo, the expedition spent seven years traveling one-third of the globe."

"Father Marius Zerafa, director of museums in Malta, risks his life to recover a Caravaggio masterpiece stolen from a cathedral in 1984."

"Charles, Ninth Earl Spencer \u2014 best-selling author and brother to Diana, Princess of Wales \u2014 may be sitting on the greatest British archaeological find of the century. Searching Althorp, the Spencer family estate, for a medieval village, a team of British archaeologists find evidence of something far older."

"An ornate ceremonial chariot was recently discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, offering insights into the lives of wealthy, high-ranking landowners who lived outside the city. Buried by the Vesuvius eruption 2,000 years ago, this is not a humble transport cart. \u201cIt's the Lamborghini of this ancient world,\u201d says Eric Poehler, an expert on ancient infrastructure in Pompeii."

"What if climate change and pandemics were the real causes of the decline of the Roman Empire? Scientists from a range of disciplines are accumulating clues to show that three successive waves of deadly epidemics and powerful temperature drops could have caused the collapse of the Empire \u2014 and draw frightening parallels to today."

"The first modern translation of Egyptian hieroglyphics happened 200 years ago. How was the ancient code cracked? Today, archaeologists are busy translating hieroglyphics from an important scribe\u2019s tomb, its walls covered from floor to ceiling with symbols thousands of years old. This new research is giving archaeologists a better understanding of life in ancient Egypt."

"Recent discoveries, including funerary urns with highly decorative patterns, and technological advances like the remote sensor system known as LiDAR, are shedding new light on our understanding of pre-Columbian societies in the Amazon. Scientists speculate the rainforest was home to between 8 and 10 million people living in large, well-established communities."

"Uncover the sunken remains of a 4th-century basilica in Turkey. Submerged beneath the waters of Lake Iznik for hundreds of years, the church could reveal crucial insights into the early days of Christianity. Join a team of international researchers as they travel back through time\u2014and grapple with Turkey\u2019s many earthquakes, which could sink the structure deeper at any moment."

"Discover the world of dinosaur collecting, a controversial hobby with a booming market. Hear perspectives on the fossil trade from private collectors, paleontologists, and others, as \"Big John\"\u2014the largest Triceratops fossil ever found\u2014is assembled in Italy and auctioned in France."

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"Find out if one of history's greatest cold cases-the imprisonment of two princes in the Tower of London-can finally be solved. Their disappearance led to centuries of mystery and speculation."

"A team of archaeologists search for Assyrian artifacts that survived the Isis occupation of Mosul, including clues to a possible location of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon."

"Why Wolfgang Mozart's sister Maria Anna, his musical partner and collaborator, was forced to withdraw from public life and what happened to her music."

"Computer scientist Brent Seales attempts to read inside hundreds of carbonized ancient scrolls found at the archaeological site of Herculaneum in Italy."

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