Modern Marvels (1993)

From Pilgrim brew masters to early commercial ventures to today's monolithic corporations, we'll imbibe American beer's long history, focus…

Flight was born in America at the turn of the 20th century. But WWII saw more planes built in a single year–300,000–than had been built in…

Winchester…the name still evokes images of the Wild West and the taming of the frontier–it was the first reliable repeating rifle and settl…

The rousing story of the tank, from its primitive appearance in WWI to the high-tech world of modern tank warfare, with emphasis on the tan…

Here is the heroic story of a intrepid band of infantry soldiers, the "Tunnel Rats", charged with a daring mission–to search for, find, and…

From the early “egg beaters” of World War II to the “flying tanks” of Operation Desert Storm, we’ll fly aboard one of the most agile and po…

From today’s ultra chic, state-of-the-art private jets to Lockheed’s 1957 Jetstar, this 2-hour special investigates the history, the luxury…

His movies are legend, his women beautiful, and his toys the best in the world. Whether James Bond is foiling villains in space-age flying…

Press a button and you can soar in the sky, command a virtual pet, adjust the thermostat in your house while driving in your car, and, of c…

For millennia, luxury toys have functioned as flashy instruments of affluence, authority, and identity and driven many kingly consumers to…

As we power-up and unfurl the sails on a magical cruise through time, viewers meet the people who’ve devoted their lives to pleasure boatin…

How do you stop a speeding bullet? From body armor to armored cars and trucks, we review the history of the race between the bullet and a s…

A look at siege machines that convert energy into mechanical force to go over, under, or through fortified or fixed defenses too strong for…

It’s the place where one man’s trash is truly another man’s treasure. Enter the strange and mysterious world of the junkyard, where many pi…

October 7, 2001: Missiles from lethal U.S. jets rain down onto Afghanistan. One powerful and deadly plane led the majority of the assaults–…

Story of the development of engines and motors, with particular emphasis on the ones that have profoundly changed society. Beginning with t…

It’s known as the most powerful handgun in the world, made famous by Clint Eastwood in the Dirty Harry movies. But its origins stretch back…

Spinning your wheels isn’t just going around in circles. In fact, it’s revolutionary–literally. The history of civilization has turned on t…

Star City, the Gagarin Center for Training Cosmonauts, was established by the former Soviet Union in the 1960s as a school for the future c…

They are the toughest ships in the water, plowing headlong into one of nature’s hardest obstacles. Modern icebreakers can smash through 10-…

Who could imagine life without our "man-made weather"? On cold winter nights and hot summer days, we are forever grateful to the visionarie…

Pop open the hood, check out the carbs, and hear the engines roar as we journey back to a time when gas was cheap, emission controls non-ex…

Blade implements have been a part of civilized man's arsenal since the Paleolithic Age, when sharp tools were chipped off of flint or obsid…

Join us for a look at the biggest, heaviest, tallest, longest, meanest machines on the planet! We'll see what these monsters do and how the…

Legendary drivers lead us on a record-breaking race through a century-long search for sheer acceleration that began before World War One, w…

At 5:30 a.m., July 16, 1945, scientists and dignitaries awaited the detonation of the first atomic bomb in a desolate area of the New Mexic…

From ancient Egyptian fishing parties to today's high-tech bass tournaments, we untangle the fascinating technical history of man's quest t…

They are lethal tools that ensured our survival, altered our evolution, and maintained our dominion over other animals. Though hunting tech…

From ancient hunters’ camouflage to computer-generated digital pattern uniforms, we uncover the past, present, and future of deception thro…

Though they duplicate the real world for fun and fantasy, models are not always toys and they’re not always tiny. We explore the magic of t…

Come in for a smooth landing as we explore the history of hangars–stark, massive structures that house and protect flight vehicles. We visi…

Slap on your sun block and head to the ocean for a sizzling hour that explores the beach in a whole new way! We cover everything from Japan…

The Massachusetts Central Artery/Tunnel Project, a.k.a. The Big Dig, is the most amazing municipal construction project in U.S. history. It…

They are the cutting edge in firearm technology. They fight simulated battles on computers, decades before a shot is fired. But will they m…

With the ironic motto "Peace is our Profession", the Strategic Air Command was in charge of US nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992. SAC was th…

Traces the history and evolution of the world’s most important fossil fuel. Without gasoline, modern life would grind to a halt. Americans…

Think you know towing? As simple as engaging a tow man when your car is stalled? From mighty tugboats that guide massive ships safely into…

This program will tell the story of jet propulsion, which has radically transformed our world since it was first introduced near the end of…

It was the world’s largest underground factory–seven miles of tunnels built to manufacture Hitler’s secret weapons, primarily the V-2 rocke…

Examines how the great 19th-century peacetime invention developed into a powerful war machine, forever altering how, when, where, and why b…

Between 1941 and 1945, U.S. shipyards built more shipping tonnage than had been previously produced in the history of the world. American i…

We played with them as children, but the world of magnets isn’t kid’s stuff! The pervasive magnet serves as the underpinning for much of mo…

The 1,046-foot Chrysler Building in New York City, erected between 1928 and 1930, was the world's tallest edifice–until the Empire State Bu…

Imagine a superhighway designed for speed…thousands of miles of roadway unhindered by limits of any kind. Buckle up for safety as we take y…

From the outhouse to the smart house, our lives have improved drastically in the last 150 years. Convenience and comfort have always been c…

One of the most useful machines ever created, the crane is a simple but important combination of the pulley and the lever. Though cranes ha…

Over 200-million people around the world use the Internet–yet no one owns or controls it. Its phenomenal usage puts it on a par with the pr…

An exciting series that takes viewers into the heart of action as it focuses on a particular machine from WWII, beginning with the story of…

Throughout railroad history, disasters lay at the heart of progress since expansion and profit proved the main goals of management. In 1875…

The crash test dummy, patron saint of vulnerable motorists, has become a modern icon and is a potent symbol of safety in a risk-obsessed ag…

Join us for a walk on the wild side of the history of sexual enhancement and contraception–from Cleopatra’s box of buzzing bees to 17th-cen…

Designed in 1935 by R.J. Mitchell, the Supermarine Spitfire was a revolutionary fighter plane, which proved to be more than a match for its…

Modern Marvels examines the ever-changing nature of trash, the history of our efforts to dispose of unwanted material, and the evolving tec…

He’s everyone’s favorite spy, the man with a woman in every port and a gadget in every pocket! No villain is too strong, no situation too t…

Limousines have been stretched to greater and greater lengths–as has the notion of what can be done inside them! You can have a rolling dis…

DVD, CD, PDA, HDTV, PVR–they are the ultimate in “gotta have it” gadgets and gizmos and “to die for” technology that populate a digital wor…

It’s the only rock we eat – a priceless commodity essential to our very survival. It has over 14,000 uses – from de-icing our roads to soft…

They were pure fantasy on wheels, machines designed to make the heart race and the mind ask…what if? Explore the world of 1950s concept car…

What do you think about when you gaze out the window as your plane takes off? Probably not about the least heralded part of our infrastruct…

Join us for a salute to the dreamers and schemers who brought the world an odd assortment of flawed ideas–like flying, swimming, and jet-po…