America: Facts vs. Fiction

  • : 2013
  • : 67
  • : 4
  • AHC
  • 21
  • Documentary History

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5
5x1
Bonus Round: Vote for the Truth
Episode overview
21, 2017
Profiles of U.S. generals, including Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur. Also: a look at Washington, D.C., landmarks.
5x2
World War 2
Episode overview
21, 2017
The war waged by America's greatest generation is obscured by myth. Few remember that an American admiral played a pivotal role in showing Japan how to attack Pearl Harbor or that the German army was not the mechanized wonder it's reputed to be.
5x3
Smoking, Drinking and Gambling
Episode overview
21, 2017
Myths obscure the real facts about our favorite vices: smoking, drinking and gambling. Discover which nation had the first anti-smoking campaign, what those three X's on a jug of moonshine mean, or where our first slot machines appeared.
5x4
Bonus Round: Fire in the Sky
Episode overview
28, 2017
A look at UFO sightings; and a pair of pioneering space flights.
5x5
Liberty, Leprechauns and Lounging
Episode overview
28, 2017
Myths taint our knowledge of the 4th of July, St. Patrick's Day, and our favorite mini-holiday, the weekend. We should celebrate Independence Day on July 2nd, St. Patrick wasn't Irish, and the idea of a fun weekend is a recent creation.
5x6
The Real West
Episode overview
28, 2017
Much of what we know about the old west is myth, not fact, drawn from movies and TV. Gunfights never started with a quick draw, cowboys weren't all white, and Native Americans feared enemies more menacing than settlers and soldiers.
5x7
Bonus Round: Secret Vaults and Final Journeys
Episode overview
04, 2017
Investigating the nation's most secret vaults to separate fiction from fact.
5x8
Secret Societies
Episode overview
04, 2017
Much of what we know about America's secret societies is myth, not truth. The Freemasons have no evil agenda, the Mafia took root not in New York, but the South, and Harvard's Skull and Bones does not control a sinister shadow government.
5x9
Space: The Final Frontier
Episode overview
04, 2017
Myths eclipse the real facts about NASA's dramatic rescue of three astronauts aboard the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft; Hollywood movies have a hit-and-miss track record of depicting the realties of interstellar exploration.
5x10
Bonus Round: The Truth Will Set You Free
Episode overview
11, 2017
Profiles of Lewis and Clark; and Pocahontas. Also: a look at the women's suffrage movement.
5x11
The Atomic Age
Episode overview
11, 2017
The real facts of the nuclear age are clouded by myth. Manhattan played a major role in the Manhattan Project; there were closer calls to World War III than the Cuban Missile Crisis; America's nuclear security hinges on a football and a biscuit.
5x12
American Villains
Episode overview
11, 2017
Al Capone was a philanthropist as well as a hood; Benedict Arnold was a hero as well as a traitor, Jesse James was no wild west Robin Hood; Billy the Kid's nickname was wrong.
5x13
Bonus Round: America Celebrates
Episode overview
18, 2017
The spotlight is on amusement parks and world's fairs to separate fiction from truth; explore the myths of two of our favorite holidays, Christmas and New Year's Eve.
5x14
Famous Feuds
Episode overview
18, 2017
Myths distort the stories of two of America's most renowned rivalries. Before their fateful duel, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were law partners; and the conflict between the Hatfields and McCoys didn't end in the backwoods, but a courtroom.
5x15
Bonus Round: Patriots and Presidents
Episode overview
20, 2017
The birth of America and the powerful people behind it are featured.
5x16
Moments That Changed History
Episode overview
25, 2017
Myths and misconceptions surrounding four pivotal historic moments: the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962; the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC; the Boston Tea Party in 1773 and the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
5x17
The Civil War
Episode overview
04, 2017
Myths cloud the real facts of America's Civil War. The North's biggest city tried to secede; the Union didn't go to war to end slavery; most deaths weren't caused by battle wounds, and Grant and Lee didn't end the conflict; two other generals did.
5x18
Bad Medicine
Episode overview
11, 2017
America's medical history is infected with myths. George Washington's doctors may have inadvertently killed him; Abraham Lincoln used a toxic remedy that warped his mind; and heroin was once a best-selling cough suppressant.
5x19
Bonus Round: Cowboys vs. Hollywood
Episode overview
29, 2017
Hollywood's vision of the old west is explored. Included: the truth behind some of America's renowned rivalries.
5x20
Bonus Round: No Liars Allowed
Episode overview
05, 2017
The true stories behind America's most infamous bad guys; and the truths behind America's notorious secret societies are investigated.
5x21
Bonus Round: Yankees, Rebels and World War II
Episode overview
12, 2017
The myths behind World War II are exposed. Delves into the truths that are often forgotten when it comes to America's Civil War.
5x22
Bonus Round: Vices and Vacations
Episode overview
19, 2017
The myths surrounding popular favorite vices and the facts behind the most-liked holidays are explored.
5x23
Bonus Round: Monumental Realities
Episode overview
12, 2017
The myths behind some of history's most defining moments are uncovered, as well as revealing facts behind America's space explorations.
5x24
Bonus Round: Science or Sci-Fi?
Episode overview
19, 2017
The science in America's history is examined, including its medical history and its nuclear age.

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