History Channel Documentaries

A look at European history after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. At its height in the second century A.D., the Roman Empire was the beacon of learning, trade, power and prosperity in the western world. But the once-powerful Rome--rotten to the core by the fifth century--lay open to barbarian warriors who came in wave after wave of invasion, slaughtering, stealing, and ultimately, settling. As chaos replaced culture, Europe was beset by famine, plague, persecutions, and a state of war that was so persistent it was only rarely interrupted by peace. THE DARK AGES profiles those who battled to shape the future, from the warlords whose armies threatened to case the demise of European society, like Alaric, Charles the Hammer, and Clovis; to the men and women who valiantly tended the flames of justice, knowledge, and innovation including Charlemagne, St. Benedict, Empress Theodora, and other brave souls who fought for peace and enlightenment. It was in the shadows of this turbulent millennium that the seeds of modern civilization were sown.

A 1930s crime spree gives rise to the creation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, when people like John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Baby Face Nelson, and Bonnie and Clyde often had technological advantages over local police.

March 1876: Alexander Graham Bell struggles with an invention that may change the world. Early nineteenth century America is experiencing an explosive growth and expansion across a vast landscape. A technology is needed to meet the communication needs for this new nation, and Bell is convinced that he can transmit speech over great distances. Early telegraphs can only transmit one message over one wire at one time, and the message must be coded and decoded one letter at a time. Bell begins work on a multiple telegraph, but his genius will lead to a different revolutionary device that will carry thousands of simultaneous messages and shape the future--the telephone.

If humans were suddenly to disappear, what would happen to our planet--the structures we’ve built, the everyday items we take for granted, animals domesticated and wild, plants, trees? What would become of the things that define our species and leave our mark on this Earth? Visit the ghostly villages surrounding Chernobyl (abandoned by humans after the 1986 nuclear disaster), travel to remote islands off the coast of Maine to search for abandoned towns that have vanished from view in only a few decades, then head beneath the streets of New York to see how subway tunnels may become watery canals. THE HISTORY CHANNEL takes you on an amazing visual journey in LIFE AFTER PEOPLE, a thought-provoking adventure that combines movie-quality visual effects with insights from experts in the fields of engineering, botany, ecology, biology, geology, climatology, and archeology to demonstrate how the very landscape of our planet will change in our absence.

In 1944, the Nazi top brass believed that a rudimentary nuclear weapon might soon be within their scientists' grasp. Hitler, desperate to turn the tide of the war, hatched a secret plan for an aircraft that would usher in the age of global terrorism – the 'Amerika Bomber'. This would deliver the hoped-for 'wonder weapon' directly on to the biggest target of them all: New York City. Hitler's Plan to Atom Bomb New York uncovers the astonishing competition that was held between Germany's top aviation designers to build a completely new aircraft capable of carrying and dropping the bomb on the towers of Manhattan. They included a giant V-rocket that would later provide the basis for the Apollo missions, and a high-altitude craft with fundamental similarities to the modern space shuttle. The winner of the competition – a huge V-winged jet plane capable of crossing the Atlantic and returning in a single flight – was rushed into production. The film tells the story of how close the 'Amerika Bomber' came into being before an Allied mission put an end to the project once and for all.

The shadow of war between Christian and Muslim hangs over us today, but it is a war that began nearly a thousand years ago. By the close of the 11th century, Jerusalem had been in Muslim hands for over 400 years. In 1095 Pope Urban II launched an unprecedented military campaign to seize it back--a "Crusade" to purge the Holy Land of "the infidel". Over 60,000 Christian warriors would journey 3000 miles and for almost three years to reclaim the Holy City in the name of God. But their adversaries, the Turkish warlords of the Middle East would resist them every step of the way. In a series of epic battles and bloody massacres, tens of thousands would die as the crusaders inched ever closer towards Jerusalem.

In 1099 the Crusaders took Jerusalem in the bloodiest of battles, wrenching it back from the Muslims for the first time in 400 years. But, over the decades that followed, the Islamic world dreamed of fighting back. In 1144 the Muslims seized the city of Edessa from the Christians. The news reverberated back to Europe, and the Pope called for a Second Crusade. But this Crusade was a disaster. It failed to expand the Christian empire, and strengthened the resolve of the Muslims. Under their great leader, Saladin, the Muslim swept through the Christian Kingdom taking town after town. In 1187 he took Jerusalem. This shocked the west into responding, with a Third Crusade. Led by Richard the Lionheart they defeated Saladin and marched on Jerusalem. Richard failed to take the city and the Third Crusade failed.

10,000 B.C. was a time of cataclysmic change on Earth. Extreme climactic fluctuations hurled the planet into a minor ice age; megafauna like the saber-toothed tiger and woolly mammoth were suddenly becoming extinct; and early humans began to inhabit North America. Cold and hungry, their fragile communities undertook perilous hunting expeditions. The slaughter of a single mammoth, weighing nearly ten tons, could be the difference between survival and death. JOURNEY TO 10,000 B.C. brings this unique and thrilling period to life, and investigates the geologic and climate changes that scientists are just beginning to understand. In a major forensic investigation, HISTORY visits early human archaeological sites to uncover fossilized bones, ancient dwellings, and stone weapons, and uses state-of-the-art CGI to recreate the treacherous mammoth hunts and the devastating impact of a comet colliding with Earth.

At the height of the Cold War, the CIA launched a highly classified, top secret research program that exposed Americans to biological agents, hallucinogenic drugs and psychological techniques aimed at mastering the art of mind control. Entire cities in America were contaminated with bacteria, exposing millions to germ warfare. NGC's CIA Secret Experiments examines what happened, shedding light on its research to better understand the extent and full reach of its disturbing experiments.

Martin Luther triggers the Protestant movement, revolutionizing Christianity, spurring the development of modern nationalism and democracy, and shaping ways people worship today.

A history of crucifixion focuses on the death of Jesus; explores the first known records of executions; and examines how people die and what eventually ends their lives during the agonizing process. Included: experiments by forensics experts using physical evidence from a crucifixion; and on-location footage from the Middle East.

Follow the story of Henri Charrière and René Belbenoit, as they reveal how they created a book and hit movie from the real experiences of being held captive in a WW2 penal colony.

June 6, 1944 on D-Day: the allies stormed the beaches at Normandy, gaining a tenuous foothold on the shores of France. On a stretch of shoreline the Americans had code-named Omaha Beach, the allied forces were subjected to one of the bloodiest battles of World War Two.

The litany of disasters reads like the Apocalypse: melted ice caps, submerged coastal cities, prairies turned to deserts. Mass extinctions. This worst case scenario is not merely a prophecy or work of fiction. It is a very real possibility that may loom in our not too distant future. But how likely is this outcome, what will bring it about and can it be avoided? To answer these imperative questions, THE HISTORY CHANNEL® applies its renowned expertise and authority to the issue of global warming in this very special feature-length documentary. A GLOBAL WARNING? spans the globe — fourteen extreme locations in all — to survey the frontline of scientific research and climatic impact. Meet with scientists unearthing evidence of our planet’s ancient weather history — crocodiles may have once roamed the Arctic! — and with experts analyzing humanity’s ever-expanding footprint. Understand, with the help of exacting animations, how sun activity, volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts, and even continental drift have made huge differences in the earth's weather systems.

Join a journey to retrace the eye-opening explorations and mind-bending discoveries of modern-day adventurer and scientist Richard Evans Schulte.

A team of scientists and wildlife filmmakers explore the Alaskan landscape.

Throughout history there have been legendary artifacts that have captured the imagination of adventurers everywhere. While belief in their existence seems to fly in the face of reason and science, there have been those who have devoted their lives to their discovery. One man has looked for some of these remarkable treasures. He is Indiana Jones--professor of archeology and an adventurer who has uncovered some of the world's greatest mysteries. But Dr. Jones is just a fictitious character and it's widely assumed that the artifacts he searched for were also figments of a writer's imagination. But were they?

Was life triggered by some event, like lightning hitting a pond full of amino acids? Earth was teeming with life billions of years before the dinosaurs existed. Single-celled organisms inundated the oceans, and the soil swarmed with living creatures. Where did it all come from and how do you go from a single-celled organism to a trillion-celled organism like Man? Cutting-edge science is testing out answers about life's origins and how life can be created on new worlds--or even our own.

Join host Monty Halls as he takes viewers on an excremental safari to investigate the historical, medical, scientific and evolutionary importance of dung. Discover that through a 14,000-year-old human dung deposit it has been determined that humans inhabited North America 1300 years earlier than previously thought. Climb a 100-foot mountain of bat guano in Borneo that is teeming with insect life. Travel to India and view housewarming rituals using sacred cow dung as good luck. Finally Halls drinks coffee made from poop and investigates, through their large droppings, why mammoths might have disappeared.

Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of the Dark Knight Delve into the world of Batman and the vigilante justice that he brought to the city of Gotham. Batman is a man who, after experiencing great tragedy, devotes his life to an ideal--but what happens when one man takes on the evil underworld alone? Examine why Batman is who he is--and explore how a boy scarred by tragedy becomes a symbol of hope to everyone else.

While presenting various lesser-known prehistoric giant creatures, various paleontologists explain how fossil analysis works and how they can deduce characteristics, behavior and look of these long extinct animals.

They were the knights of medieval Japan, an elite warrior class that held the reins of power and the fascination of the people for more than 700 years. Masters of sword and bow, driven by an unforgiving code of ethics, they proved ferocious in combat. They beat back foreign invaders and fought each other for land, status, honor and glory.THE SAMURAI explores the extraordinary legacy of martial artistry, ceremony, self-discipline and tenacity in battle that reaches to this day. Modern-day samurai explain the ways of life in the Bushido, while scholars detail the pivotal events in their centuries-long history. From the heyday of the Heian Period (794-1185) to the inevitable decline that followed the opening of Japan in 1853, this is the definitive study of some of world's most famous fighters.

Go into the cockpit of Air Force One with Colonel Mark Tillman. Security it so strict that many top-level White House staffers are not allowed inside this specially modified Boeing 747. Inside the plane is a plethora of technology and security to keep the most powerful man in the world safe. The security on board is only the beginning on the President's Central African tour. At each of his six stops, special measures are taken. Each airport must be upgraded to meet safety specifications. Armored limousines and helicopters are airlifted in for additional transport. Secret Service marksmen stand at the ready at each engagement. Even the plane's fuel is tested and secured. Every stop must be a "zero-fail" operation, everything must be perfect. See all the details that must be checked to ensure the President's safety. Go inside compartments that are rarely seen by the public. Take a ride aboard Air Force One.

Since 1945, hundreds of thousands of military personnel became human guinea pigs in experiments and intentional exposures conducted by the U.S. government--often without their knowledge or consent. Aided by recently declassified documents, we reveal the truth about human experimentation, once hidden as a threat to "National Security."

In 2007 a crew of 65 brave men and women set sail on a journey from Roskilde back to Dublin in a 30m (100ft) Viking longship named "Havhingsten fra Glendalough" ("Sea Stallion from Glendalough"), a Danish reconstruction of the Skuldelev 2 ship on display in the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum and originally built around 1040 near Dublin. Follow this amazing journey of experimental maritime archaeology.

In 1939 there were more than 3 million Jews in Poland, shockingly only two families are known to have survived the Holocaust intact. This is the story of one of them.

After 40 years of planning and construction, the biggest science experiment in history is ready to be tested. The "Large Hadron Collider" is an experiment created by the greatest minds in physics. It cost $10 billion and its resulting data has the potential to explain why we and the Universe exist. Their idea is to smash protons towards one another at the speed of light, trying to mimic what happened in the milliseconds after The Big Bang. Viewers will go on an amazing journey involving the struggles to plan and build the LHC, how it was constructed and what are its mechanics. Explore the future of what's possible through the geniuses of today.

New York City, September 11, 2001. The morning everything changed. 102 minutes passed between the first plane's impact into One World Trade Center, the second plane's attack on Two World Trade Center, and the eventual collapse of both buildings. In that time, people around New York experienced a range of emotions. Despite the horror and the incomprehensibility of what was happening, many knew, somehow, that they had a unique responsibility to record what they saw. They reached for their cameras. This unprecedented documentary special joins hundreds of pieces of their footage and audiotape into a single, seamless historical record. It is an intensely personal perspective of the tragedy, communicating for the first time that morning's events, as they were experienced by people around New York. It is an evocative, authentic and reverential memorial to one of the most cataclysmic events in world history.

Examining the controversial war that resulted in the United States taking control of nearly half of Mexico's territory in fulfillment of President James K. Polk's desire to expand to the Pacific Ocean. Host: Oscar de la Hoya.

Peeling back layers of time shows Manhattan Island as it looked when it was discovered by Henry Hudson in 1609, then examines how people and nature have changed the landscape and speculates on the city's future

His reign lasted only four years and he was dead at the age of 28.Yet, as the third emperor of the Roman empire, he remains one of the most notorious rulers in history.. Best remembered for his bacchanalian lifestyle and callous, heavy-handed ruling style, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, or “Caligula,” as he was known, packed a lot into a very short life. In this incisive program, BIOGRAPHY® goes beyond the legend to explore the anguished life of this infamous emperor. Discover how the first six months of Caligula’s rule were marked by a surprising degree of clemency and how a violent illness seemingly transformed him into the monster that history remembers today.. Featuring interviews with leading scholars, CALIGULA: REIGN OF MADNESS is the ultimate profile of Rome’s most reviled ruler: the bizarre, bloodthirsty Caligula.

History Channel investigates the phenomenon known as a "Black Blizzard." Black Blizzard brings to life the Dust Bowl that decimated the American Great Plains in the 1930's. We match modern science with special effects wizardry to reinvent the experience of living through blinding blizzards of dust, and we meet the survivors who refused to leave their land and lived to tell the tale. We also investigate the controversial history of the Great Plains - an area in the middle of the country, stretching from North Dakota to Texas - and reveal the reasons why the black blizzards ravaged the land.

Armageddon. It is a universal theme that has spanned centuries and cultures...and has, as some say, become increasingly more relevant today. Surprisingly, however, a final chapter of this apocalyptic end has received little examination: the actual final battle between God and Satan, good and evil. The Bible points to a battlefield at Meggido in present day Israel, with each side taking a series of steps that will lead up to, and unfold, during this actual battle. What will this battle look like? Where do the stories come from, and how have they differed throughout history, between religions? God vs. Satan: The Final Battle will take viewers on a tour of the final days, and moments, as envisioned by believers of the three Abrahamic religions.

PRIMAL FEAR goes beyond the innate terror associated with our deepest fears to examine the history, psychology, and science behind what scares us most. Each fear--being buried alive under six feet of suffocating dirt, the strike of a lethal snake, terrorist attacks that can occur at any time--will be explored by looking at its history, the science behind it, and contemporary survivor stories that relate what a near-death experience was like. Examine the roots of each fear, when the fear flourished, how the fear has changed over time, and how many of these fears have been manipulated to create mass hysteria. Listen in as science experts, supported by CGI, show how the instinctual response to danger of fight or flight has been essential to survival throughout history, describe the physiological cause of death on those who didn t make it, and explore the influence of these fears on pop culture and the human condition.

Albert Einstein's revolutionary theory that turned the world upside down might have been dismissed but for a math mistake, a cloudy sky, and the start of World War I. This fascinating two-hour special tells the story of Einstein's little-known, 15-year struggle to prove one of his most radical theories -- a theory that upended Newton and three centuries of scientific thought and called into question the definitions of space and light and gravity -- the game-changing concept known as the Theory of General Relativity. Today, more than a century since the "Miracle Year" in which he published many of his breakthrough papers, Einstein's ideas remain a living, vibrant influence. They continue to push scientists farther, and deeper, into the universe than even he could have imagined.

When the Second World War broke out, Philipp von Boeselager fought enthusiastically for his country, leading a cavalry unit first in France and later on the Russian Front. However, when he discovered what the SS were doing to Jews and Gypsies in the summer of 1942 his enthusiasm quickly turned to disgust. Along with his brother Georg, he joined a group of conspirators in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler. After several abortive assassination attempts, including one in which von Boeselager was supposed to shoot the Fuhrer with his own pistol, the plotters finally decided on a plan to blow Hitler up with a bomb. Von Boeselager transported the explosives and passed them on to Claus von Stauffenberg. He and his brother then moved their cavalry units to Berlin to take control of the city. When the plot failed, the SS instituted a terrifying purge of senior army officers. In an attempt to disguise their part in the conspiracy, the Boeselager brothers hurried back to the eastern front with their units. One by one their fellow plotters were found out, tortured and executed, and it is a testimony to their fortitude that they never gave away the Boeselagers' names. Georg von Boeselager eventually died in battle on the Russian Front, but Philipp survived the war and outlived all his fellow conspirators. His family still owns the pistol with which he was supposed to shoot Hitler.

Was it an act of treason or patriotism? Bold in concept and challenging in execution, learn the real story behind the Valkyrie plot--a plan by a group of German officers to assassinate Adolph Hitler and take control of the government. The events leading up to July 20, 1944 are brought to life through interviews with survivors, relatives, firsthand witnesses and historians. Newsreel footage, archival photographs and re-creations are also included. Discover what the Valkyrie Legacy means to Germans and Germany, and what it says about the sometimes complex nature of heroism, and the legacy of the Resistance overall.

A look at the christian bible through the eyes of a military historian.

The conquistadors forged alliances with native groups hostile to the Incas and seized enough treasure to make Spain the most powerful nation in Europe.

Experience what it would have been like to be present at history's most world-changing moments in What Went Down, the gripping series from HISTORY that serves as an HD time machine to the past. From the showdown at the Alamo to the cockpit of a Japanese plane at Pearl Harbor, What Went Down brings crucial historical events vividly to life. With the help of top CGI artists and on-location experts, each detail of these earth-shaking moments is meticulously investigated and researched, allowing viewers to see history from firsthand angles and points of view, as if they were there themselves. Watch as Bill Chemerka, founder of the Alamo Historical Society, helps a production team re-create a view from above that would have been impossible to see in 1836, and follow Dr. Donald Goldstein on a site survey in Pearl Harbor to see the lucky shot that sunk the USS Arizona battleship on December 7th, 1941. Witness these crucial periods in history as never before what they looked like, what they sounded like what went down

Go beyond the mystery and discover the first serial killer to reveal the dark underbelly of London's Victorian East End. Investigate one of the most talked about criminals of all time--Jack the Ripper. Take a walk down the streets that Jack once stalked and visit the pubs and brothels his victims frequented. Computer graphics and expert examination will help to recreate life as seen through the eyes of one of the most infamous and blood thirsty murderers in recorded history.