Smithsonian Channel Documentaries

  • Premiered: Jan 1970
  • Episodes: 265
  • Followers: 3
  • Running
  • Smithsonian Channel
  • Sunday at 21
  • Documentary

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Season 2015
2015x35 Season finale
Polar Bear Summer
Episode overview
Air date
Jan 01, 2015
The uncommon sight of polar bears wandering a colorful landscape during an iceless summer in Hudson Bay, Canada.
2015x26
Legend of Lead Belly
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 20, 2015
Huddie Ledbetter was born into poverty, battled racism, and did time, but in spite of his early hardships, or perhaps because of them, he became one of the great musicians of the 20th .. show full overview
2015x28
The Secrets of Shark Island
Episode overview
Air date
Feb 24, 2015
The Revillagigedo Islands, about 200 miles off the coast of Mexico, may not look like much on the surface, but beneath is one of nature's best-kept secrets: a home to some of the .. show full overview
2015x7
Siege of Masada
Episode overview
Air date
Mar 27, 2015
First told at the dawn of Christianity and at a moment of crisis for the Jews, the story of Masada has long fired the imagination of believers and non-believers alike. Yet, for most of .. show full overview
2015x1
Lincoln's Last Day
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 13, 2015
We all know the main story of Abraham Lincoln's death, how he was killed, where it took place, and who pulled the trigger. But what exactly happened during the last day of his life? .. show full overview
2015x2
The Spy in the Hanoi Hilton
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 28, 2015
In 1973, 591 American POWs returned home from the Vietnam War, bringing with them harrowing tales of survival. But there was an even more remarkable -- and secret -- story to tell: a .. show full overview
2015x3
World War II Spy School
Episode overview
Air date
Apr 30, 2015
Before there was the CIA, there was the OSS, a top-secret spy agency hatched by Roosevelt and Churchill in the darkest hours of World War II. The goal: help Britain get back into .. show full overview
2015x4
Sinking the Lusitania
Episode overview
Air date
May 07, 2015
The remarkable true stories of life, death, courage, and perseverance during the last voyage of the Lusitania.
2015x5
Nepal Quake: Terror on Everest
Episode overview
Air date
Jun 08, 2015
A massive earthquake rocks Nepal on April 25, 2015. In Kathmandu, centuries of culture are destroyed. In Langtang, an entire village is wiped out of existence. On Mount Everest, base .. show full overview
2015x27
Napoleon's Waterloo
Episode overview
Air date
Jun 15, 2015
It lasted only one day on a small piece of land, but the impact the Battle of Waterloo had on history is massive and far-reaching. This is the definitive account of the fight that ended .. show full overview
2015x6
Islands of Creation
Episode overview
Air date
Jun 24, 2015
In the jungles of a remote archipelago in the South Pacific, a biologist is attempting to do something Charles Darwin and Ernst Mayr never accomplished: catch evolution in the act of .. show full overview
2015x30
V2: Nazi Rocket
Episode overview
Air date
Jul 01, 2015
The Nazis knew it was their last chance. The British knew it was the deadliest threat they'd ever face. And the Americans knew it could fall into the wrong hands. The V2 rocket quickly .. show full overview
2015x8
Incredible Flying Jet Packs
Episode overview
Air date
Jul 19, 2015
The jet pack’s 50-year history and the advances being made to reach new heights.
2015x24
The Day The Bomb Dropped
Episode overview
Air date
Aug 02, 2015
The key scientists of the Manhattan Project. The pilot who navigated Enola Gay over its target. The man who broke the news to Truman that the bomb had been dropped. And the citizens of .. show full overview
2015x19
Samurai Warrior Queens
Episode overview
Air date
Sep 14, 2015
In ancient Japan, honor and glory were reserved for male soldiers only, which makes the story of Takeko Nakano so remarkable. Not only was she a female Japanese warrior, but she was .. show full overview
2015x21
The Day Hitler Died
Episode overview
Air date
Nov 16, 2015
As Russian and Allied forces surrounded Berlin in 1945, Hitler took refuge in a bunker beneath the crumbling city. What exactly happened in that claustrophobic labyrinth has long been a .. show full overview
2015x22
The Codebreaker Who Hacked Hitler
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 01, 2015
Meet Gordon Welchman, a key member of the British team that took on the Nazis, decoded the Enigma machine, and changed the course of World War II. An outcast in the very world he helped .. show full overview
2015x23
Moby Dick: Heart of a Whale
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 04, 2015
Herman Melville’s epic ocean adventure “Moby Dick” is an American masterpiece. But was this stirring tale of violence and revenge simply an allegory, or were there real giants of the .. show full overview
2015x32 Season finale
Electric Amazon
Episode overview
Air date
Dec 15, 2015
The Amazon is one of the wildest and least explored parts of the planet. Encompassing 6 countries and 2 million square miles of forest, river and floodplain, it has the highest diversity .. show full overview

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