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Abraham Lincoln is arguably America’s most beloved president. Yet nearly 150 years after his death, we’re still trying to piece together a true portrait of his life and character..
From the earliest archival materials to the most cutting-edge theories and discoveries, LINCOLN: MAN OR MYTH investigates the legends that have proliferated around the figure of Abraham Lincoln, exposing both fallacies and extraordinary truths through incisive scholarship, period accounts and artifacts, and modern technology. Noted scholars and historians grapple with such questions as: Was Lincoln truly the “Great Emancipator” who dedicated himself to freeing slaves? Did the writings that swayed the nation really come from his pen? Do we even know what he looked like?.
Finally disentangling the truth from legend, INVESTIGATING HISTORY takes a probing look into the life of a man who transformed, enlightened, and captivated America..
Inventor, writer, businessman, scientist, diplomat, and the face gracing the hundred-dollar bill--this stately figure is the Benjamin Franklin history has taught us to remember. Now, in this revealing yet informal History Channel® presentation, the real man behind the myth is finally brought to light. By his own admission, the man who negotiated an alliance with France, helped write the Declaration of Independence and was the first to tame lightning was far from perfect. A self-promoter and occasionally ruthless competitor, this Founding Father never made a penny from his achievements and was more comfortable speaking in front of the British Parliament than he was being with his own family. Narrated in an easy, conversational tone by Edward Herrmann (Intolerable Cruelty, The Practice), BEN FRANKLIN features in-depth interviews with renowned biographers and historians, as well as reenactments shot in High-Definition video on locations in Philadelphia--a truly remarkable virtual "walk" in Franklin's footsteps. Available on DVD for the first time, BEN FRANKLIN is a fresh, down-to-earth, informative look at one of America's most essential human monuments.
Theorists Edward Steers Jr. and Charles Higham present their controversial ideas about Lincoln's death. Most Americans know that John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln. But many are unfamiliar with what happened afterwards. CONSPIRACY? reveals that while Booth died in a standoff days after firing the fatal shot, eight other men were tried for conspiring to kill the President.
From the reaction to the crime and the news of Wilkes' death to the many theories surrounding Booth's actions, THE LINCOLN ASSASSINATION explores the facts and exposes the fictions. Was Booth an agent of the Confederacy? The Union? The Catholic Church? Now, new discoveries have put to rest some of the original speculations while raising new questions. Drawing on the expertise of some of the world's most prominent Lincoln scholars, CONSPIRACY? probes for the truth and lets you come to your own conclusions.
Select countries that have played host to Osama bin Laden, including Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, are visited in this exploratory program on the terrorist leader. TARGETED was produced by the History Channel for their HISTORY ALIVE show, and offers some theories and discussion on how the elusive bin Laden turned into a ruthless figurehead.
Warlike amazons; the one-eyed man-eating Cyclops; the ferocious griffin, part bird, part lion. Were these creatures, celebrated by the ancient Greeks and immortalised by Homer something more than myth? The Greek myths are filled with magical tales of transformation, tragic episodes of human pettiness and jealousy, inspiring accounts of courage and valor, and legions of gods and heroes. But perhaps the most compelling stories are those of creatures like the one-eyed Cyclops and the ferocious half-lion, half-eagle known as the griffin. ANCIENT MONSTER HUNTERS follows a group of palaeontologists as they explore newly-translated evidence and examine remains that just may have inspired tales of these legendary monsters. Travel to the island of Samos, said to be the site of an Amazon battlefield, and analyse the gigantic bones that were found there. New data suggests the ancients actually searched for, excavated, measured and displayed these massive fossils. Is this the proof that the practice of palaeontology, long considered a modern science, actually began some 2,000 years before? Meet the monsters that just might link the Greek classical age with earth's prehistoric past and find out if these mythological beasts really have a place in the fossil record.
This documentary explores the morality and military effectiveness of mass civilian bombing in World War II, from the Blitz to the devastating Allied raids on Hamburg and Dresden.
For a generation Romanian women were forced to have babies they didn't want. Nicolae Ceausescu imposed a ban on abortion and birth control and forced every woman of child bearing age to have at least four children. Control over reproduction was strictly enforced. The infant and maternal death rate was high. Thousands babies were born with AIDS. In cases when children were born with mental or physical disabilities, their parents were explicitly encouraged to leave them in the special orphanages. In certain cases, when parental agreement was not easily obtainable, parents were made to believe that their infant was dead while in reality the new-born was transferred to the special "child-care" institution. Plagued by horrifying living conditions and wide-spread abuse, these orphanages were often situated in remote areas of the country, keeping the "embarrassing" sight of disabled children away from public view. The film crew shot much of the footage in such institutions and the result is a shockingly graphic sequence of skeleton-like emaciated and neglected children. Ceausescu's lasting legacy is a generation of unwanted children.
Imagine the future - a strange new weapon is detonated high over a large city. There is no explosion, no visible destruction, but everything electronic within the range of this weapon will go out.. permanently. Every electronic gadget in every home and office - disabled. No computers, no TV, no life support systems in hospitals, no water supply, no heat, no lights - truly, a return to the dark ages. Imagine a full range of new weapons; one can take out the electricity in your city, another can destroy you. If you haven't heard about these weapons, it's no surprise. Their development has been secretive and they sound more like science fiction than reality.
When did this reality really begin and how far advanced is it now? This revealing documentary opens the window on this - until now - secretive science.
One of history's greatest military leaders, at age nine Hannibal accompanied his father Hamilcar Barca on the Carthaginian expedition to conquer Spain. Before embarking, the boy vowed eternal hatred for Rome, his people's bitter rival. Twenty years later, in 218 BC, he left New Carthage (now Cartagena, Spain) to wage war on "The Eternal City" with an army of about 40,000, including cavalry and elephants. After crossing the Pyrenees and Rhone River, he traversed the Alps while beset by snowstorms, landslides, and hostile mountain tribes. This 2-hour special brings to life the story of the Carthaginian general who struck fear in all Roman hearts and wreaked havoc with his masterful military tactics, bringing the mighty Roman Republic to the brink of ruin. Archaeologists, historians, and military experts guide us through ancient Carthage and give insight into his military strategy up to defeat at Zama in 203 BC.
The ancient Games, like our modern Olympics, included champions and cheaters, glory and scandals, bitter rivalries and contests of strength, speed and savage combat. Set in 448 BC when the pounding of horse's hooves and the brutal hand-to-hand combat could be heard and seen by the crowds that filled the Olympic stadium. This one-hour special event follows the glory and corruption of the arc of a single, five-day Olympiad. The competitions include chariot racing, running, jumping, discus, javelin and two man-to-man combat finals-boxing and pankration, a form of extreme fighting in which death was not uncommon. With the help of sports historians and great athletes such as George Chuvalo and Olympic medalists Donovan Bailey and Angela Schneider, viewers travel back to a very different life-in a very different world. Combining computer generated imagery and vivid re-enactments, Ancient Olympics brings the legendary Hellenistic spectacle to life.
A alien special for all you ET lovers.
By the summer of 1900, Galveston, Texas was one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States, and its citizens were full of optimism as the 20th century approached. One of those citizens was Isaac Cline, appointed a decade earlier to head the U.S. Weather Bureau office in Galveston. But on September 8 of that year, a Category 4 hurricane washed away most of the city and claimed more than 6,000 lives--still the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. This documentary focuses on Isaac Cline's role in the disaster: was he (as local legend has it) a heroic figure who saved lives by warning the population to flee, or did scientific hubris prevent him from seeing the danger until it was too late?
Filled with period documents, original artwork and dramatic re-enactments, The Battle of Tripoli relives the historic engagement of 1805 when a ragtag army of 1,000 men won a dramatic victory against one of the world's great powers. Led by diplomat turned general William Eaton, the force marched some 500 miles across the desert to free 307 American hostages held in Derna, Tripoli's second largest city. Eaton hoped not only to free the hostages, but to end the practice of paying tribute to the Mediterranean kingdom to protect American merchant ships from pillage by the Barbary pirates.
This 90-minute special presents the complex and riveting history of Rwanda, providing an in-depth look at the propaganda campaign that's crucial to understanding how genocide leaders got ordinary citizens to participate. In 1994, the small African country was awash in blood. An estimated 75 percent of the Tutsi minority was slaughtered, and in just 100 days, more than 800,000 were killed. And, at least 50,000 politically moderate Hutus also perished. We explore the 1994 genocide and post-genocide period, and grapple with the question: How does a country recover from its haunted past? Unfolding through
firsthand experiences of Rwandans who lived through the genocide, we document stories of survivors, perpetrators, and government officials and sort through the difficulties of balancing justice with reconciliation.
The story of knights is the story of their armour, from simple and functional, to the almost futuristic and fantastical. JThis is a look at the story of the knights and their armour, from their early beginnings to the peak of their power, to their decline and the legacy they have left us today. Knights and Armour combines the adventure and heroism of Excalibur, with the romance and chivalry of Camelot. Following, in part, the incredible true story of the quintessential knight, Sir William Marshal, Knights and Armour travels to the battlegrounds and ancient courts to tell the glorious tale of the knights who cut majestic and colourful figures whether on parade, jousting or fighting hand to hand with mace, sword, axe or lance.
Shot from the Sky tells the real life saga of B-17 pilot Roy Allen. Shot down over occupied France. Befriended by the French Resistance, betrayed to the Nazis, Roy becomes one of one-hundred and sixty-eight Allied airmen who are imprisoned at Buchenwald Concentration Camp. In the heart of the Nazi Empire. In the most deadly place on Earth. The only thing that can keep them alive is each other.
A compelling documentary that takes an in-depth look at the 490th U.S. Army Air Corps Bomb Squadron, who flew numerous bombing missions in China-Burma-India. These missions are from the so-called "forgotten theater" of WWII. Between February 1943 and August 1945, the squadron flew 615 missions, dropped 8,257,000 pounds of bombs and destroyed 192 bridges, earning them the nickname "Burma Bridge Busters." This is a heartfelt tribute to the brave men of the 490th Squadron
