Modern Marvels (1993)

They hold just about everything we need, from condiments to cargo. Made of steel, aluminum, paper and glass, they protect and preserve. The…

Out of control it’s a monster with a voracious appetite. Properly harnessed it’s a force that has shaped our world. We’ve learned to create…

Tune in as Modern Marvels looks into the history of cotton, a product used in hundreds of different products, from clothing to lipstick.

Modern Marvels shows more of the world's biggest engineering disasters. We look at faults in the U.S. Army's Stryker Light Armored Vehicle,…

It pulls, stretches, bubbles, hardens, crunches, and melts! We eat about 7-billion tons of it yearly. We’re talking about Candy–loved by ki…

Examining unusual World War II weapons that were in the planning or testing stages for use by the Axis powers. Included: an assault rifle t…

Examining unusual World War II weapons that were in the planning or testing stages for use by the Allies. Included: floating tanks; pigeon-…

Modern Marvels examines the destruction Hurricane Katrina caused in New Orleans.

Made by the tanning of animal hides, leather has proven to be a versatile and important material. Without it, the Pilgrims may not have sur…

More engineering disasters are profiled, including the sinking of SS Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975 in Lake Superior; two Boeing 737 crashes; a…

Although quite simple in nature, insulation is a very important component in keeping our homes a comfortable temperature. In this episode,…

This is the true story of the scientific feats and failures of Hitler's Nazi Germany.

Man has always had a need to move large amounts of earth. In this episode, we profile the technological advances which have allowed shovels…

The program features the quest to drill the deepest hole ever and the scientific drill ship expected to perform the feat, and also looks at…

Remember “brick” cell phones, Pac-Man, Rubik’s Cube, Sony Walkman, and the first music CDs? Remember all the new and exciting gadgets of th…

One of the most prodigious American inventors, Ben Franklin is credited for creating things like the lightning rod, the armonica, the Frank…

More than a century ago two men controlled nearly all of U.S. copper production, transforming Butte, Montana from a washed-up gold-mining c…

They are elements that occupy a select portion of the periodic table and are so essential to America's economic and military might that the…

Visit the United States Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for an inside look into the government facilities where U.S. legal te…

An old-fashioned style of cooking, barbecue has evolved into a modern food craze and spawned a multi-billion dollar industry. We digest fam…

Since the creation of black powder in China centuries ago, explosives have been decisive on the battlefield. Follow their incendiary story…

Bold, cunning, and audacious, pirates are a breed of fighting men and women who have terrorized the high seas since before recorded history…

Where do machines go when they die? From B-52 Bombers to massive aircraft carriers, from passenger cars to Cold War cruise missiles and rem…

Join us for another look at big machines. At NASA's Ames Research Center, we visit the world's biggest wind tunnel, part of the National Fu…

Skyscrapers are an extraordinary feat of human engineering: exposing millions of pounds of concrete and steel to the enemy forces of wind a…

The development of the deadly Avtomat Kalashnikova, 1947, known as the AK-47, is discussed by its inventor, Mikhail Kalashnikov, who talks…

Pintsized as a pea or big as a bowling ball, nutritional, durable, and versatile, nuts have been a staple of the human diet since time bega…

Mixtures of metals and caustic chemicals that make our tech, tools and toys surge with energy.

After thousands of years, Egyptian mummies are speaking from the grave. With the use of state-of-the-art computer tomography scanning we ex…

From collapsing floodwalls in New Orleans to high-tech mechanical storm surge barriers in Europe, we'll explore the 2,500-year history of k…

Water, the most needed substance for life, so powerful it can carve our landscape, yet so nurturing it can spawn life and support its intri…

Coke vs Pepsi for world supremacy. Each year, Americans consume more soft drinks than tap water. Available in nearly 200 countries, Coca-Co…

It transports electricity, water, and heat. It brings music to our ears and beauty to our eyes. Copper--its impressive traits, long history…

The first specialized gun, the British upper-class used it to shoot birds and small game for sport. The shotgun took on a variety of roles,…

The greatest religious structures are marvels of engineering, technology, and invention, representing not only the glory of God, but also t…

Buckle up for a rip-roaring ride through the world of extreme horsepower. Experience the fastest accelerating cars on earth. Find out how h…

Take an in-depth look at the most proven and reliable sources: solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels, and tidal power. From the experimental to…

Explore the history of freight transportation from its humble beginnings as tramways in mines to complex system of rails that stretches to…

Teamed with leading archeologists and experts, peel back the layers of the past--to reveal a hidden history that hasn't seen the light of d…

The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway is comprised of a system of canals, land cuts, and a series of natural and artificial barrier islands, w…

They are the swarthy eagles of the sky: Past, present, and future advances in stealth military aircraft.

It's one thing to make a 60-foot-long jet aircraft seem invisible, but quite another to hide a 400-foot-long warship from the prying eyes o…

Invented by the Chinese in about 3000BC, it spread the word of God and war. It set us free and spelled out our rights. It tells stories, se…

It's an art, it's a science and it's a marriage of vapor and water. From the elite to the illegal, the banned, to the celebrated, the disti…

Strength...a powerful word, but what does it mean? How is it measured? Why are some things simply stronger than others. How strong is a rop…

Hosted by Terry Deitz, a former Tomcat pilot, this special explores the legacy of one of the greatest fighter jets ever built. Witness firs…

Discovered around 18,000 years ago, tobacco was first cultivated in the Andes between 5000 and 3000 B.C. At a modern tobacco farm in North…

Our basic need and desire for food has made the supermarket one of the great success stories of modern retailing. Making customers' visits…

It slices and squeezes, sorts and sizes, mixes and cooks. Every morning we count on it to keep our orange juice fresh, our eggs whole, our…

A glass a day is said to keep the doctor away. A defeated Napoleon drowned his sorrows in it; Thomas Jefferson became obsessed with it. Win…

In America's orchards and farm fields, the constant struggle between hand labor and mechanization has produced dozens of efficient and some…

In March of 2005, the BP Refinery in Texas City, Texas, suffered a series of explosions that decimated a large portion of the facility and…

It is the bane of every suburban parent and the joy to every school kid. Born in a swirling storm cloud through a process called nucleation…

After water, tea is the second most popular drink in the world. It has been around as a drink for 5000 years, and 6 billion pounds of tea a…

Christmas is observed by many people around the world, for both religious reasons and more secular purposes. Trees, lights, ornaments, and…