Mission X

In London, the heart of the British Empire, a contraption was patented on the 5th of January, 1769, that would change the world like no other device before or after — the steam engine. But that is only the beginning of the dramatic story of James Watt and his invention…

Josef Ressel, looking at a corkscrew, had an idea of momentous proportions. A new way to pull a ship through water instead of the cumbersome paddlewheel. He invented the modern propeller in 1829, but why haven't we heard more about him since his invention affected all modern travel?

The story of Alexander Graham Bell’s invention is a genuine “David vs. Goliath” story. It was a struggle by Bell against the spies and schemes of the most powerful corporation of his time, who did everything in their power to stop Bell’s telephone.

In 1878, Byron Benson saw a pipeline as the only way to break the railroad’s hold on transporting oil. But the war to build a steel pipeline for oil to the East Coast, fought for years with gritty determination both in courtrooms and in the political arena, at times erupted into physical violence.