History Channel Documentaries

This incisive documentary analyzes the extreme, yet persistent, theories that cloud the memory of our national tragedy.

Chronicles the 100 year period since the discovery of oil. Profiles the rise and fall of British rule in the region, the Soviet's 'power politics,' imperialism and other issues which have dominated the demand for control of the world's oil supply from its discovery through today. The three-part series profiles how oil was first cultivated and the social and political impacts not only for the Middle East, but the rest of the world, too.

A clay tablet baked by apocalyptic fires; strange stone fortresses built hundreds of miles above sea level; hieroglyphs that tell of a terrifying invasion. Are these the clues that will unravel the mystery behind the greatest cataclysm of the ancient world? Travel back to 1200 BC, the era of the Great Pyramids and the world's first written languages - and witness an ancient Armageddon, where nearly every known civilisation was destroyed. What could have caused it? Plague? Pestilence? Natural Disaster? The wrath of avenging gods? The theories were many, but nearly every scenario now includes one mysterious and massively destructive factor - a force only the Egyptians would survive long enough to name: The Sea People...

Born in Germany in 1923, Henry Kissinger escaped the Nazi regime to become a powerful and controversial U.S. statesman. He first rose to prominence as a Harvard University professor and advisor to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. As national security advisor (1969-75) and secretary of state (1973-77) to Nixon and Gerald Ford, he negotiated arms treaties with the Soviet Union and earned a Nobel Prize for ending U.S. involvement in North Vietnam. After leaving the cabinet, he chaired the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America and served on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

According to the predictions of 16th-century soothsayer Nostradamus, the world will experience a major cataclysmic event--or perhaps even end--on December 21, 2012. This release presents a History channel special investigating the dire prophecy.

FIRST APOCALYPSE looks at how we can learn from the dinosaur's fall from grace and how much our own fate may be intertwined with theirs. Are we doomed to follow in the dinosaurs footsteps or can we face down extinction? Perhaps this fear is why we are so fascinated by the demise of a species that lived millions of years ago. If something so large that ruled the earth for so long can be wiped out in a matter of centuries, what does that say about our ultimate survival? The world we live in may already be in the throws of its own mass extinction... a new apocalypse.

In this sequel to Sharp Shooters discover people who perform seemingly impossible shooting feats with all kinds of firearms. Watch world-class shooters perform amazing shots as well as reenact shots made famous in history. Stories will include the toughest shot in Old West shooting exhibitions (the mirror shot) as well as modern-day Army snipers who hit targets a mile away. Super high-speed cameras will capture a bullet in the air and travel with its trajectory to the target and animation will dissect the technology of the gun, the ammunition, and the technique.

They are the most extreme marksmen in the world. They fire rifles, draw pistols, and shoot arrows. Now, MORE EXTREME MARKSMEN reveals that they can also use their skills to throw knives, crack whips, and even drive tanks. In this high-powered program, HISTORY™ puts the skills of some of the world's most renowned professional shooters to the test. Whether it's getting them up on a horse, or giving them shoulder-mounted weapons, or placing them in a complex obstacle course, watch as these sharpshooters are pushed to the limit of their abilities. As the participants prepare for each challenge, explore the history behind the test and then return to the range to find out if they've succeeded or failed at the task at hand. From an archery expert who can hit a target while holding the bow with his feet to shooters who attempt to hit a fly off a whiskey bottle to some of the most dangerous axe and knife throwing stunts ever seen, this feature-length special is a mesmerizing and jaw-dropping exhibition of extreme marksmanship.

A glimpse on how Hitler recruted Jew technicians in order to make the most unknown frauds in WWII

Before Lincoln finally came to rest in a steel-and-concrete-reinforced underground vault in Springfield, the President’s body was repeatedly exhumed and moved, his coffin frequently opened. An astonishing and macabre series of events also included a diabolical bodysnatching-for-ransom scheme. This remarkable final chapter is the subject of the gripping two-hour special. Bringing this astounding story to life like no other before it, the program features moving images of Abraham Lincoln, digitally created from actual historical photographs. For the first time, Lincoln walks and moves according to the historical record. The moving images and some of the stills showcase the first “virtual photography” of Lincoln and the only “virtual motion” pictures of him ever created. Using computer-generated imagery, it illustrates key sections of the story and brings them to life, often with startling effect.

Considering the Bible is one of the most analysed books in all of literature, that it raises contentious debate is nothing new. What is new, however; are the assertions of Finkelstein and Silberman, including that the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob never existed; and that the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan - the 'Promised Land' - never actually happened. While many scholars dispute the assertions of Finkelstein and Silberman, what is certain is that the debate these assertions have raised casts a shadow of doubt over what has been regarded as history by so many; in particular affecting the history of Israel as a nation.

Deep in the Polar Arctic, the discovery has been made of a completely new species - a giant sea monster with the head of a T-Rex, a fifty-foot-long body the shape of a giant whale and huge flippers - making it the largest and fastest prehistoric sea creature ever to terrorize the oceans. Up until now the very existence of this creature during the Jurassic period has been completely unknown to science

Since the 15th century, the Bermuda Triangle has mysteriously vanished an untold number of ships, planes and lives with three more known incidents in 2004. Using today's scientific knowledge and investigative techniques, we study the riddle of the Bermuda Triangle. Through computer graphics, highly stylized recreations, and underwater cameras, we will dramatically visualize the accidents as well as investigate the possible causes and explanations. On-camera interviews with both skeptics and believers will help lay out the facts and opinions of the cases. Can the latest science available today finally lay to rest the mysteries of the Triangle?

A compilation of dangerous situations documented in Alaska. Included: an avalanche cuts power to the city of Juneau; police respond to a moose sighting in Anchorage; a hovercraft delivers mail and supplies to a remote village.

If you think that people with superhuman abilities are only found in comic books or in Hollywood movies--think again. In Superhuman, our superhuman host will travel around the world to meet the real life "X-Men" and "Heroes"--the people with truly remarkable powers. These include The Real Spiderman, The Real Aqua Man, The Strongest Girl In The World, Million Volt Man, and The Girl with X-ray Eyes, The Man Who Can See in the Future, The Real Bat Boy and The Human Magnet.

Documentary detailing the philosophy of Sun Tzu; A Chinese general who wrote the fundamental principles of war. This program analyzes wars in recent history and explains how Sun Tzu's philosophy is still relevant today.

Documentary on the main principles of Sun Tsu "Art of War" illustrated with examples from the second world war, the Vietnam war and the American civil war.

The Da Vinci Code was a smash hit novel and blockbuster movie, now experts investigate the fascinating truths, mysteries and secrets behind Dan Brown's preceding book, Angels and Demons.

More than just a biography, this film explores Bruce Lee's global impact to see how he has influenced all areas of popular culture including fitness, cinema, music, sport, dance, video games and philosophy. A journey across the United States, Asia and Europe, takes Shannon Lee on a trip back to her father's roots in Hong Kong and China. With unique access to the family's photographic archive, home movies and all material owned by the Bruce Lee Foundation.

Travel back to the blistering sands of the Holy Land, into the onion-domed chapels of Eastern Orthodox churches and onto the pages of the Koran. Unearth the trail of chapters that were left out of the ultimate version of the Scriptures. Included in the Koran is "The Life of Adam and Eve," a detailed account of the creation story written before Jesus was born. The incestuous account of "The Book of Jubilees" was included in the Orthodox Old Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls. "The Book of Enoch," an ancient bestseller, relates the story of the man said in Genesis to have walked with God and been assumed directly into heaven. This fascinating collection offers a fresh perspective on the figures at the foundation of faith.

The first part deals with the search for Arminius identity. Coming from a simple village of the Cherusci settlement and the dense forests of Germania, the Romans kidnap him under a treaty made in their civilization. They educate him and train him into a soldier. He proved himself in the suppression of a revolt against the Romans in Pannonia, and finally returns to the side of the Roman governor Varus, thereby returning to his homeland.

Part two is all about the legendary battle in the Teutoburg Forest. Arminius knows that the disciplined Romans are superior to the Germanic warriors. Therefore, he wants to exploit the trust of Varus' and to lead the Romans into the rugged forests of Germania, where they would attack. They almost see through his trickery: Segestes, the old clan leader of Cherusci and ally of Rome tries to warn Varus. But the thought that a man raised and educated in Rom such as Arminius could switch sides was unimaginable. Varus gives no credence to the accusations, orders the march, and leads his legions into ruin.

In the 60s British cinema audiences were transfixed as James Bond foiled the evil plans of a villain called Goldfinger. Little did they know that Goldfinger's plot to break into Fort Knox was not just a work of fiction, but a version of a true story that happened in London in 1914.

America's infrastructure is collapsing. Tens of thousands of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. A third of the nation's highways are in poor or mediocre shape. Massively leaking water and sewage systems are creating health hazards and contaminating rivers and streams. Weakened and under-maintained levees and dams tower over communities and schools. And the power grid is increasingly maxed out, disrupting millions of lives and putting entire cities in the dark. The Crumbling of America explores these problems using expert interviews, on location shooting and computer generated animation to illustrate the kinds of infrastructure disasters that could be just around the bend.

They were to 'stay behind' if the Red Army overran Western Europe. Operating from secret hideouts behind enemy lines, they were to organise armed national resistance against the occupying Soviet forces. Recruited and trained by the CIA and MI-6 and coordinated by NATO, Europe's secret army was the most ambitious covert operation to defend democracy since the Second World War. But over time the top-secret stay-behind network set up by Britain and the United States in almost 20 European countries became involved in just the opposite: fixing elections, political assassinations, coups against democratically elected governments, and in what can only be described as acts of terrorism, which cost the lives of hundreds of Europeans. The story of Europe's stay-behind network with names like GLADIO in Italy or SDRA8 in Belgium is one of the most powerfully hidden secrets of recent American and European history. NATO'S SECRET ARMIES examines three major terror attacks: The Brabant massacres in Belgium, The Oktoberfest bombing in Germany and the Piazza Fontana killings in Italy. Through the testimony of former Gladio terrorists, ex-CIA agents, diplomats, prosecutors and police investigators the film pieces together the disturbing trail of influence behind each of the attacks and considers whether hundreds may have died at the hands of state sponsored terrorism. More chillingly, it asks whether the strategy of tension might still be in use today.

From 1947 to 1990, the Military Liaison Missions of France, UK and the US to the Soviet High Command in Germany, were positioned behind the Iron Curtain, in order to be able to closely observe Warsaw Pact Forces stationed in East Germany. How was it possible for adversaries to be so close for so long? How did each side feel about it? Rich in eyewitness accounts illustrated and supported by extraordinary documents shot films, photos and audio and video recordings never seen in public before that is the story this film aims to shed light on.

The story leading up to the July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 moon landing launch.

Travel back to 1969 and uncover fascinating trends, people and events that forever changed the way Americans think about and have sex. Viewers will travel from the Playboy Penthouse in Los Angeles to San Francisco's Hippie crash pads, New York's Gay baths.

The oldest known brothel in the world is discovered in Pompeii. A startling system is revealed that includes widespread prostitution and sexual slavery. Experts piece together the elaborate system and show how the sex trade helped reinforce class and power in Ancient Rome.

In 1898, a Minnesota farmer clearing trees from his field uproots a large stone covered with mysterious runes. Now known as the Kensington Rune Stone, it details a journey of land acquisition and murder--in the year 1362. Thought by some to be a hoax, new evidence suggests it could be real, and a clue that the Knights Templar discovered America 100 years before Columbus, perhaps bringing with them history's greatest treasure...The Holy Grail. See how symbols on the Rune Stone match Templar ruins all over Europe. History tells us the Templar were massacred on Friday the 13th, but that a Templar fleet allegedly containing treasure was last seen off Scotland in the late 1300s. Stones with similar markings as the Rune stone have been found on islands across the Atlantic Ocean, as well as in Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Is it possible the Templar were leaving clues to an incredible journey to the New World?

Leipzig in the autumn of 1989: thousands of East Germans take to the streets. They are demanding more freedom, civil rights, democracy! The people are rising up in protest against a state which suppresses its own citizens, incites people to spy on each other and keeps them under constant surveillance. Within just a few weeks, what began as prayers for peace in St Nicholas' church in Leipzig in September 1989 developed into the immensely powerful Monday demonstrations, calling for more freedom, reforms and free elections in the German Democratic Republic. That autumn history is written on the streets of Leipzig. It is the story of party officials prepared to resort to violence and of people who overcome their fears. It is the story of nameless individuals whose courage changed the world and marked the beginning of the end of the East German state - and of the entire Eastern Block. It is the story of the "Miracle of Leipzig".

In the current climate of widespread national security concerns in the U.S., many people worry that the threat of a nuclear attack on American soil is more plausible than ever. In this chilling program, get a firsthand look at what would happen if a nuclear bomb exploded in the heart of Washington, D.C.

A behind-the-scenes look at November 22, 1963 from the unique perspective of Lyndon Johnson. On his pivotal first day as President, Lyndon Johnson is put to the test as he contends with the jarring transfer of political power and the daunting challenge of securing the trust of a devastated nation.

Faces…and facts…fleshed out from the grave. Unprecedented technology brings to life extraordinary mirror images and powerful last impressions of history’s most powerful men. Every line, every wrinkle, every expression tells a story. Forensic-science and anthropology experts have identified that history’s most relevant figures left behind highly-detailed casts of their faces, created at their moment of death, to preserve their souls and physical memory for eternity. Using advanced facial-reconstruction techniques and 3-D imprint detailing, these death masks render an exact replica of every feature, and an intimate look at how their characteristics affected their lives. Includes startling new insights into the persistent mysteries surrounding these historic icons like Julius Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon and George Washington, and just may reveal some secrets these men preferred to conceal.

In the mid 1700s, a mysterious beast viciously attacked and killed 102 villagers in the French village of Gevaudan. The victims, mostly women and children, were mauled and decapitated, their naked bodies all bearing the bite marks of a non-human creature. The killings mark the largest number of alleged werewolf attacks in history and are the basis of the Hollywood Wolfman legend. Venture deep into the mythology and folklore of werewolves with renowned cryptozoologist Ken Gerhardt and veteran criminal profiler George Deuchar as they investigate this reviled creature that brutally kills when the moon is full. In their investigation, they uncover intriguing paranormal transformations, diseases that make men look and act like animals, strange but true stories of children raised by wolves and, eventually, the dark side of human nature in the horrific truth behind the Gevaudan werewolf attacks

Terra incognita for centuries, Bhutan is now going to become a parliamentary democracy. BHUTAN: BIRTH OF A DEMOCRACY offers background information about this transformation and provides an insight into this nearly unknown society and its beliefs. Filmed over two years, the filmmaker had exclusive access to people and politicians. Bhutan has opened up (a little) and what we hear about it continues to provoke the imagination: a Kingdom with a development policy that is focused on national happiness rather than national product; an economy based on sustainable development; an approach to conservation which designates a third of the country’s area as national parks; and, on top of it all, a King who abdicates in favor of his young son and abandons his prerogatives to establish a parliamentary democracy. Through characters drawn from different elements of Bhutanese society, the film sketches a portrait of this world in transition, this country which has so long chosen to be closed to the world and whose king has provided it with the motto: "Gross national happiness is more important than gross national product."

Before Kokoda, before the bombing of Darwin, Australia came under attack from the full might of the Japanese Empire - Rabaul, 1942. In the ensuing carnage of aerial bombardments and an armada not seen in Australian waters before, a small garrison of Australian soldiers, forgotten by many , made a courageous stand against an insurmountable force. Some men would escape, some would be shipped to Japan, but most - 1053 in total - would perish in Australia's greatest maritime disaster, The Tragedy of the Montevideo Maru.

While exploring the history of some of the traditional events surrounding the holiday season, hostile comic Lewis Black consults with experts about avoiding stress, Kwanzaa, Chanukah, Saint Nicholas, New Year’s Eve and more.

A collection of interviews and footage of the band detailing how their sound progressed and how their albums were made.

When the Berlin Wall was built with a few railway cars and a lot of barbed wire in August 1961, no one could have foreseen its rise and fall. In this feature-length special, HISTORY uses computer imagery to reconstruct how the wall grew from a meager obstacle to a mighty barrier of seven concentric walls with ditches, fences, signal wires, tank-traps and a flood-lit death strip patrolled by half-starved dogs a nearly impenetrable barricade with a 96-mile circumference, 200-plus bunkers and 302 watchtowers. RISE AND FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL gets firsthand accounts from the people who tried to escape this Wall of Death by any means possible, including tunnels, hot air balloons, wind surfing boats, bi-planes and a cable railway. Additional interviews with the security officials who designed the wall and Stasi men who protected it, border guards, politicians, historians and journalists help to breathe life into the Cold War icon whose demise, beginning on November 9, 1989, signaled the start of one of history s most dramatic political transformations.

Scattered across the island of Sicily, beneath picturesque churches, are thousands of mummified bodies. And most mysterious of all is one of the last to be enshrined: shes known as the sleeping beauty Rosalia Lombardo a child barely two years old when she died nearly a century ago, somehow her corpse remains flawlessly preserved. Now, for the first time, a scientific team of mummy hunters is on the case, unearthing hundreds of Sicilys miraculous dead, exploring how this baffling culture of mummification could operate within the Catholic Church itself, and finally, revealing the secret formula behind Rosalias perfect preservation.

The deadliest weapon on the battlefield is neither bullet nor gun; it's the lone sniper. Journey inside the science and psychology behind the greatest shots in military history, through the scope of the world's most extreme marksmen. Deconstruct the missions, ranging from Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan, presented by the men who were there and pulled the trigger. For the first time on American television Canadian sniper Robert Furlong, tells the story of his history-making shot in Afghanistan--striking a Taliban fighter from 1.5 miles away. Ballistics... Tactics... Weaponry... Stalking... This two-hour special examines these critical components in vivid detail, combining interviews with cinematic reenactments, CGI and present day shooting demonstrations to put the viewer squarely inside the crosshairs.