Modern Marvels (1993)

It’s the longest, most expensive and complicated railroad ever built. Ordered by the Czar in an effort to save his empire and unify his cou…

Some of the most imposing structures ever built, medieval castles withstood both bloody assaults and the test of time. Designed like machin…

Based on the book Denison’s Ice Road by Edith Iglauer, the episode detailed the treacherous job of driving trucks over frozen lakes, also k…

Traces the story of the U.S. Army’s legendary 10th Mountain Division. They were formed after WWII began, specifically to fight in high, rug…

All it takes to set off a booby trap is an unsuspecting victim lifting, moving, or disturbing a harmless-looking object. Booby traps contin…

Today, vacationers travel from British Columbia north through the Yukon Pass on their way to Fairbanks, Alaska, thanks to one 2-lane roadwa…

Rising almost 1,500 feet high, the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia were named the world’s tallest in 1996 by the Council on Tall Buildings…

Until recently, the Mackinac Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world. One of the top engineering marvels of the 20th century,…

Traveling between 135 and 190 miles per hour with an astonishingly high safety record, bullet trains can be found throughout Europe, Japan,…

They stun, debilitate, immobilize–providing police and peacekeepers with options other than shouting or shooting. From the ancient caltrop–…

Made up of soldiers and civilians, scientists and specialists in an enormous variety of fields, the US Army Corps of Engineers was created…

For over 20 years, the Black Hawk has been the U.S. Army’s front-line utility helicopter for air assault, air cavalry, and medical evacuati…

As Japan bombed its way into the Pacific during WWII, Imperial soldiers carried pride, a sense of invincibility, and an arsenal of clumsy a…

Welcome aboard the luxury liner Titanic, the world’s largest ship and pride of the White Star Line. Watertight compartments and a steel-pla…

Coal–the fuel responsible for more than half the electricity used daily. We unearth the amazing technological advances that have led to tod…

With a thrilling combination of dramatic reconstructions and 3-D animation, we step back in time to the Golden Age of Greece and the birth…

In war, certain missions demand the most and constitute much of the legends of bravery. Journey back to the Second World War when fearless…

After World War I, Russia began building its most prolific aircraft, the MiG line. MiG pilots fought with distinction in WWII, but the MiG…

Born out of a desperate need to defend the Motherland, Stalin enlisted the ideas of an American engineer, J. Walter Christie, to develop in…

During WWII, American tank crews duked it out with Nazi Panzers in a high-explosive duel to the death. The German tanks had thicker armor a…

From humble beginnings in the Davidson family garage to one of the world's most famous companies and a marketing juggernaut, Harley-Davidso…

For more than 3,000 years, emperors and generals, dictators and police, criminals, clerics, and even medical doctors have created and used…

The story of Russia’s “Crown Jewels”, the finest rocket engines in the world, built under conditions of absolute secrecy to land a man on t…

In a raging war for control of Earth, occupying forces buzz and skitter, with some out to draw blood! Termites, mosquitoes, rats, mice, ant…

They are the treasures of a select few. Each holds a story of human triumph…epic pagentry or desperate tragedy…cast forever in iron, steel,…

Look closely at those tall metal towers that span the country and you might see tiny specks climbing up the soaring steel like spiders on a…

In this full immersion journey through the world of maximum off-roading, learn what it’s like to blow the carbon out of your system as we t…

Toxic traffic is everywhere! An average of 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials hit our highways and railways daily. From Wild West woo…

Engineering disasters can result in personal tragedy, national humiliation, and economic ruin. But buried within their wreckage lie lessons…

Among the most mysterious disasters, tsunamis–Japanese for “harbor waves”–claimed over 50,000 lives in the 20th century! Generated by offsh…

When Paul Bunyan cried "Timber!", he never foresaw today's cutting-edge, controversial industry that feeds a ravenous, lumber-crazy world–a…

For decades, the sound barrier loomed as an impenetrable wall against manned flight that buffeted planes with shock waves as they approache…

In the mid-1960s, the US lost an average of 55,000 people yearly to car crashes. Since then, the number of cars on the road has doubled, bu…

Sandhogs work hundreds of feet down, where it is dark, damp, and dangerous, challenging nature’s awesome forces to drive tunnels through so…

Topless, unobstructed–the convertible completely transforms the driving experience and unlike any other car, sets the driver free. During t…

Each day ships, trains, trucks, and planes haul supplies that keep store shelves full and factories moving. At every stop there’s a loading…

The chance of enemy confrontation by sea, tank, or air battle is small, but terrorist networks operating in the shadows will likely challen…

How does technology grasp nature’s most violent, chaotic storm? For half a century, U.S. meteorologists have been building a countrywide sy…

The challenge: Move millions of soldiers and tons of cargo halfway around the world and into the thick of action. How? Use the biggest ship…

From "safe" bullets that stop hijackers but leave aircraft unscathed to bullets that chain-saw through steel and "smart" bullets computer-p…

From the earliest experiments in WWI to the technological wonders that ruled the sea and sky of the Middle East, George C. Scott chronicles…

It takes brave sailors to steer their gunboats into waters where larger ships cannot go. In this historic documentary, relive the dramatic…

They constitute the very essence of the modern world; the cadence of our progress sounds in the measured ring of the blacksmith’s hammer. F…

A major battlefield weapon since the American Civil War and the stuff of nightmares ever since, the civilian toll from landmines remains im…

Combination rocket, spacecraft, and airplane, the space shuttle is the most complex vehicle ever built. Long before it ever flew, the shutt…

A spectacular roadway nearly 120 miles long, the Overseas Highway links mainland Florida with the Florida Keys, and contains 51 bridges, in…

Witness the construction of a terrorist-proof safe room. Discover how your windows might someday act as biological weapons detectors. Learn…

The engineering marvel Machu Picchu sits perched on a ridge in the Peruvian Andes. Originally built by the Incas, this magnificent structur…

Pound for pound, the small wooden Patrol Torpedo Boats of WWII were among the most powerful warships of all time. Daring PT vets recall why…

General quarters! You’re going into battle aboard the century’s deadliest warships–the Dreadnought, Bismarck, Missouri, Yamato. Follow the…

The story of the birth and development of rapid fire weapons from the 14th century until the end of WWI–where on one terrible day the machi…

Precision-guided munitions, smart bombs were the media buzz of the first Gulf War and a major military and political driving force of the s…

In the land of Mardi Gras, jambalaya, and zydeco, exists an engineering marvel called the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway that seems to go on f…

They make our lives more comfortable, more rewarding, and more secure. They are the magical machines that have brought us to the edge of th…

What if the Nazis had held out and the war in Europe lasted until 1946? We’ll review the remarkable aircraft that Germany had in developmen…

The story of a revolutionary breed of tank, a weapon whose speed and power would dominate European battlefields with a new kind of battle,…

They dominated the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to the eastern coast of the U.S. They struck against Allied shipping with near impunity, hold…

The amazing machines of human invention most often do our bidding with uncomplaining proficiency. But when they go wrong, they exact a terr…

To spearhead its fight against crime and terrorism in the 21st century, the FBI is relying on its $150 million-plus building, the new Crime…

No program better symbolizes human mastery of machines than does the space shuttle. But the breakups of EM Challenger /EM and EM Columbia r…

Based on the popular book, this episode explores historical building collapses–from ancient pyramids to the Cathedral at Beauvais to Kansas…

Shipyards are waterside construction sites where the extraordinary takes shape and where some of the largest tools built by humans help cre…

Hop into the cockpit for a daring century-long ride through the history of aircraft weaponry–from the very first handgun fired from a bipla…

Hop into the cab for the ride of your life as we examine extreme trucks, including: a jet truck that can travel 300 mph; the Baltimore Tech…

In 2003, with Mars closer to Earth than it had been in 60,000 years, scientists launched three life-seeking planetary landers. If the long…

There is very little that collectors, historians and auctioneers agree about, but they do agree that a few passionate visionaries created a…

Explore the technology and survival techniques used by the men of Lewis and Clark on their landmark journey to the Pacific. From their 15-t…

For nearly half a century, one bomber has dominated the skies. With a maximum speed of 650 m.p.h., a range of over 8,000 miles, and ability…

The world’s most famous brand, Rolls Royce, is owned by the same company that makes Bentley, a luxury leader once known for its prowess on…

At stadiums nationwide, thousands of football fans come together to show team spirit, eat incredible food, and join the community of tailga…

Land Yachts, Portable Palaces, Corrugated Condos–whatever the name, travel trailers and RVs have become an American icon–the 20th century’s…

Car aficionados rarely agree on what makes a true sports car, but they concede that in little over a hundred years, they went from crude to…

Two brainy bicycle makers…a remote North Carolina moonscape…and an impossible dream. On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright took w…

Constructed as tombs for the ancient pharaohs, over 100 pyramids remain in Egypt. Built during a span of well over 1,000 years, they stand…

During the Cold War, the Berlin Wall stood as a forbidding barrier in an embattled world. Erected in August 1961, the Wall system stretched…

All aboard the nostalgia express as we take a trip through the past to enjoy toys of our youth–the ones we can't forget and those that some…

Examines some of the most notorious engineering failures of recent years and asks what went wrong and what we learned from them. We take vi…