NOTE: We are listing both EST/Pacific Time and individual television ratings. All rated [G] or [PG] unless noted. [NR] = Not Rated, news-related program.
8-9pm -- B-17 Flying Fortress - B-17 Flying Fortress.
In 1937, the Boeing Aircraft Company built America's
first all-metal, 4-engined heavy bomber--the legendary
B-17 Flying Fortress. Taking on the worst the
Luftwaffe offered, the 8th Air Force's Flying Forts
flew daylight bombing missions over occupied Europe's
most heavily defended cities. This is the story of the
young airmen of the "Mighty Eighth" and the dangers
they faced at 30,000 feet! Features superb interviews
and home movie material shot by U.S. airmen in
Britain--never before shown on TV!
____________________________________________________ Saturday, October 16, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Conspiracy? - Majestic Twelve: UFO Cover-Up. What really happened in Roswell, New Mexico in the summer of 1947? Did a flying saucer crash in the vast desert scrubland? The initial Army Air Force press release claimed they had recovered a flying disk. But a day later, the story dramatically changed--now they called it a weather balloon! In 1987, secret documents surfaced indicating the existence of the "Majestic 12"--an elite group of scientists and military and intelligence officials, allegedly brought together by President Harry Truman. Did the MJ-12 truly exist? If so, did these men forever trivialize the most talked-about UFO event in history, as well as all UFO sightings thereafter? 8-10pm -- Movies in Time - Movie. Tom Selleck plays General Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower in this sweeping story of the tense days leading up to the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe in WWII. Ike confronts seemingly insurmountable problems--not enough landing craft, tanks may get stuck on the beaches, paratroopers may be massacred in the sky, and weather threatens to doom the operation. Ike must make tough decisions--and accept the blame if the invasion fails! With Timothy Bottoms as Beetle Smith. (2004) 10-11pm -- Time Machine - It's perhaps the most widely discussed and hotly debated era in U.S. history. We know all about the glorious battles and godlike generals. But what about life after the lights went out? More than 50,000 books have been written about the Civil War, and yet, hardly a peep about sex. Only one book, in fact, deals directly and exclusively with the topic and reveals the secrets that have long been hidden in history's closet. Join us as we lift the covers on sexual practices during the Civil War. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, October 17, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Investigating History - Wyatt Earp at the O.K. Corral Virtually unknown to history before Hollywood crafted his saga in the 1930s, Wyatt Earp was an itinerant gambler, convicted horse thief and pimp, sometime saloonkeeper, and occasional lawman. We investigate this last incarnation and the shootout with the Clanton gang in Tombstone's O.K. Corral. Did Earp hide behind his tarnished badge to settle personal scores? Using court records of the gunfight investigation, we cut through the lingering gunsmoke to recreate the reality of the bloody gunfight. 8-9pm -- Punishment - The definition and exercise of criminal punishment has changed dramatically during the course of history. From execution by wild animals during ancient Greek and Roman times, to religious torture during the Inquisition using the most perverse instruments ever devised, to the cruel and unusual punishments meted out by many nations to this day, we trace the often ironic history of man's perverted and creative attempts to bring about a more "humane" society. 9-10pm -- Horrors at Andersonville Prison: The Trial of Henry Wirz - An angry peace lay over Washington during the summer of 1865, following the Civil War's end and President Lincoln's assassination. This was the tense atmosphere surrounding the trial and execution of Captain Henry Wirz, commandant of Andersonville Prison, where 13,000 Union POWs perished. In a collision of vengeance and justice, his trial proved a pivotal point in the nation's reconstruction. We illustrate the horrors of the prison camp, the drama of Wirz's trial, and the roles that others--from both South and North--may have played in the Andersonville atrocities, and see why the controversial trial, one of the nation's first war crime tribunals, created enduring moral and legal notions. 10-11pm -- Conspiracy? - FDR and Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor shocked the nation. To many, the official explanations of misguided assumptions and missed clues did not account for the enormity of the catastrophe. We examine "alternative" theories that arose soon after the attack. Was a plot hatched in Washington to solve FDR's "problem"--convincing a reluctant country to fight the Nazis? Did FDR send a secret cable just days before the attack ordering Pearl Harbor chiefs to stand down? Did U.S. intelligence intercept a message from Tokyo asking its spies in Hawaii to map the harbor for an imminent air attack? More than six decades later, the controversy boils under the surface of recent U.S. history, igniting heated debates over collusion, intrigue, and thousands of American dead. ____________________________________________________ Monday, October 18, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Investigating History - Lincoln: Man or Myth? Abraham Lincoln remains our country's most beloved president--but nearly 200 years after his birth, we're still trying to piece together a true picture of this man who never fails to fascinate, surprise, and enlighten us. Scholars and historians examine how Lincoln became a myth. Was he really the Great Emancipator who deeply wanted to free slaves or a racist and white supremacist? Did the writings that inspired a nation truly come from his pen? Do we really even know what he looked like? 8-9pm -- UFO Files - UFOs: Then and Now? Aliens and Contact. On July 11,1991, thousands across Mexico looked skyward during a total eclipse and were greeted with a wave of UFO sightings. Was this a prelude to imminent contact? Or will humans get to them first? Join us for a review of mankind's efforts to reach out to Extraterrestrial Intelligence as we listen for a signal that we are not alone! 9-10pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - Mystery Sinking in Bermuda. On December 30, 1879, the iron 3-masted sailing ship North Carolina set out from Bermuda laden with cotton and bound for England. But 36 hours later, in the wee hours of New Year's Day, this brand new ship became yet another victim of the deadly circle of reefs that surround this lonely outpost in the Atlantic. Hosts John Chatterton and Melanie Paul join marine archaeologists from the Bermuda Maritime Museum to solve the mystery of the North Carolina's sinking. But while they examine the wreck and dig into records, puzzling facts emerge. As the mystery deepens, our Deep Sea Detectives must decide whether negligence, bad luck, or foul play sent her to the ocean's bottom. 10-11pm -- Investigating History - Dalton Gang Raid. On October 5, 1892, the Dalton Gang rode into history with a bold attempt to rob two banks at once in Coffeyville, Kansas. Brothers Bob, Grat, and Emmett Dalton, Bill Powers, and Dick Broadwell attempted to accomplish what no other outlaw gang had ever done--all were killed except Emmett, who, after recovering from his wounds, was sentenced to life in prison, though he was later pardoned. What really happened on that fateful day near the lawless border of Oklahoma and the Indian Territories? What went wrong from the Dalton's perspective, and conversely, what went right for the citizens who stood up to the gang? ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, October 19, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- History's Mysteries - Ship of Gold. In 1857, en route to New York from California, the steamship Central America vanished in a killer storm off North Carolina's coast, taking with her 400 passengers and nearly 21 tons of gold bullion. Here is the story of the worst U.S. peacetime sea disaster, and how high-tech treasure hunters recovered her fortune over 130 years later. 8-9pm -- Wild West Tech - Outlaw Tech. We think of outlaws as a primitive bunch, but these badmen were ahead of their time and took advantage of new technology. Host Keith Carradine shows how dynamite and the telegraph assisted criminals, and how photography stole their anonymity. As the 20th century approached, the technology that had helped them outrun authorities caught up with them in the form of a new invention--the automobile. Butch Cassidy, Jesse James, Henry Starr, Black Jack Ketchum, and a few others make appearances. 9-10pm -- R. Lee Ermey in Afghanistan - Join the Gunny on a trip to Afghanistan and see what it takes to fight on the frontline in the War on Terrorism. Starting with an Air Force C-17 flight into the heart of the war, you'll experience an armed patrol into the countryside; learn how to clear a minefield; call in an airstrike; and ride along on a helicopter trip into the mountains as our troops root out the bad guys. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 10. Disasters investigated include: the 1984 Union Carbide debacle in Bhopal, India, where a toxic chemical release killed 3,800 people and left 11,000 with disabling respiratory ailments; and the 2003 sudden collapse of a 10-story parking garage at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, New Jersey that killed four and injured 20. We find out why a series of structures in Hutchinson, Kansas mysteriously caught fire and exploded in 2001; and examine the 1933 construction of a canal ordered by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin that later proved to be nearly useless and cost many lives. And we get to the bottom of a maritime mystery, when a tanker carrying non-explosive materials in San Francisco Bay blew up in 1983. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, October 20, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Car Crashes. In the mid-1960s, the U.S. lost an average of 55,000 people yearly to car crashes. Since then, the number of cars on the road has doubled, but fatalities have decreased by nearly a third. The dramatic reduction is the culmination of research and development that led to safer roads and cars and quicker emergency response. But car-crash technology's future involves removal of its biggest threat--human drivers! Find out if computers and radar can prevent everything from fender-benders to pile-ups. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Presidential Movers. The vehicles that transport the President of the United States aren't your ordinary planes, trains, and automobiles. They are top-secret. And for your Average Joe, there's only two ways to find out what they're really like inside--either get elected or stay tuned... 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Extreme Trucks. 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 Technical Assistance Response Unit's mobile command truck; a garbage truck with an articulated arm; a concrete pumper truck with telescoping boom and pumping mechanism; and a 4-wheel-drive truck that can convert from mower to street sweeper to backhoe to snow blower in mere minutes. Learn how SWAT, bomb squad, HAZMAT, and crime scene specialty trucks are built. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Gas Tech. Gas--it makes a balloon go up, cooks our food, and fills our lungs. But this invisible state of matter does far more, and has a very visible impact on the world. We follow natural gas from well tip to stove top and trace its use from 3rd century BC Chinese salt producers to modern appliances. Next, we investigate the most plentiful gas in the universe--hydrogen--which may also prove to be the most powerful. We also experience the cryogenic world of industrial gasses--what they do and where they come from--as we travel to the British Oxygen Company's Braddock Air Separation Plant to see how they freeze millions of tons of oxygen and nitrogen. And at the Bush Dome Helium Reserve in Texas, we learn why the U.S. government sits atop 36 billion cubic feet of the stuff. Finally, we look inside the colorful world of gas and neon lights. So lay back, breathe deep, and count backwards from 10... ____________________________________________________ Thursday, October 21, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Nuclear Subs. The most priceless jewels in the arsenals of a handful of countries, some nuclear submarines carry more firepower than all the bombs dropped in history. Since the 1950s, these lethal steel sharks have been a cornerstone of American defense policy. The Cold War launched an underwater race for supremacy with the Soviet Union. The result: engineering miracles, which roam 70% of the earth's surface, providing deterrence to enemies, intelligence about adversaries, and an abiding sense of dread. 8-10pm -- Rumrunners, Moonshiners... - Heroes who fight tax collectors and moral crusaders, or just common criminals? Like it or not, America was built by rumrunners, moonshiners, and bootleggers--even founding father John Hancock was a smuggler. In the 1920s, Prohibition turned fishermen into rumrunners and two-bit gangsters into millionaires, and moonshine haulers in their souped-up cars helped create NASCAR. Rare archival footage and photos help weave the compelling tale of our nation's love-hate relationship with illegal alcohol. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Distilleries. From water and grain...to mash...still...vat...barrel and bottle--the distilling of alcoholic spirits is a big business and near-sacred religion. Its acolytes eye the color, swirl the glass, inhale the bouquet, sip, then ponder their ambrosia. What's your pleasure? Bourbon, Scotch, Rum, Gin, Vodka, or Tequila? We trace the history of distilling from the one-man/one-still tradition to the Voldstead Act of 1920 that devastated American distilleries to the mega-sales and high-volume distillery of today. ____________________________________________________ Friday, October 22, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Home Tech. From the outhouse to the smart house, our lives have improved drastically in the last 150 years. Today, there are fully automated homes in which everything, from the home theater to the outdoor waterfall, can be operated at the push of a button. But life wasn't always so easy for homemakers who were wrapped in the "drudgery of the dishcloth." Other great gadgets examined include the dishwasher, SOS pads, garbage disposals, Teflon-coated pans, the Jacuzzi, hair dryers, and the recliner chair. 8-9pm -- Time Machine - After the end of WWII, Allied forces faced guerrilla bombings and attacks in occupied Germany--Nazi loyalists tried to derail reconstruction by sabotage and killing collaborators, while Werewolves, an underground organization of die-hard SS officers, boasted of rebirth of the Party. Find out if their bark was worse than their bite in this dogged investigation into how Werewolves terrorized military and civilian targets, and the Allied attempt to purge Germany's past at denazification tribunals. 9-9:30pm -- Decisive Battles - Herman the German. Teutoburg Forest, 9 AD. According to the Roman historian Dio, Arminius (aka Herman), Chief of the Cherusci, and his father Segemerus, ambushed and wiped out three legions led by Quinctilius Varus. Not a good day to be out in the woods of Germany if you were a Roman. Strung out and unprepared for battle, the Romans were lulled into a false sense of security and led into the middle of a dense forest and ambushed in the heavy rain. The slaughter--which was total--lasted for three days in a mountain range in the northwest of Germany, and left the Emperor Augustus lusting for revenge and return of his legions' eagle standards. 9:30-10pm -- Command Decisions - Battle of Little Big Horn. Angered by the population influx due to the Gold Rush and hasty construction of a railroad through their land, the Sioux tribes rebelled and abandoned the reservations where they had been confined by the federal government. General George Custer, confident that the Sioux would flee, charged a major Sioux village--the site of the rebellion. But Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull led their people in a fierce resistance. The Sioux surrounded Custer's force and destroyed his army. Travel back to 1876 to southern Montana, where the American Indian achieved his greatest victory in battle against the United States government. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Gunslingers. During America's western expansion, a new breed of man arose--the gunslinger. Sometimes he wore a badge, sometimes he was an outlaw. But he always had a gun at his side, and the urge to step to the edge and pull the trigger. Wild Bill Hickok, Jesse James, Wyatt Earp--see how, the weapons these men carried, etched the gunmen's existence into American history. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, October 23, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Conspiracy? - FDR and Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor shocked the nation. To many, the official explanations of misguided assumptions and missed clues did not account for the enormity of the catastrophe. We examine "alternative" theories that arose soon after the attack. Was a plot hatched in Washington to solve FDR's "problem"--convincing a reluctant country to fight the Nazis? Did FDR send a secret cable just days before the attack ordering Pearl Harbor chiefs to stand down? Did U.S. intelligence intercept a message from Tokyo asking its spies in Hawaii to map the harbor for an imminent air attack? More than six decades later, the controversy boils under the surface of recent U.S. history, igniting heated debates over collusion, intrigue, and thousands of American dead. 8-11pm -- Movies in Time - Movie. Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, and Robert Mitchum head an all-star cast in this epic WWII drama depicting America's first major victory against the Japanese in the Pacific. Near the tiny Island of Midway, an outnumbered U.S. Navy defeats a massive Japanese flotilla, turning the tide of the Pacific Theater. (1976) ____________________________________________________ Sunday, October 24, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Battle In The Atlantic - Hunt the Bismarck. A colossus made of Krupp steel and armed to the teeth, she was regarded as invincible--the most powerful warship in the world. At the time of her launch, the Bismarck was already a legend. Hitler expected her to bring about the turning point in the battle of the Atlantic before the U.S. finally entered the war. The first opponent she encountered was the HMS Hood, Britain's largest battleship, and a duel of giants ensued. After she sank the Hood, the hunt for the Bismarck was on. Thanks to the revolutionary new technology of radar, the British succeeded in locating the German battleship. Today, her wreckage lies 15,000 feet below the Atlantic. The Bismarck sank on May 27, 1941. Of the 2,221 men onboard, only 115 survived. 8-9pm -- Battle In The Atlantic - The Submarine War. German submarines were among the most treacherous weapons of WWII--30,000 Allied seamen fell victim to them. The submarine commanders and crews were stylized into heroes--yet they were hunters and hunted at the same time. Three out of four did not survive their missions. Here, survivors from both sides report on the submarine war, a gruesome chapter in the catastrophic war unleashed by Adolf Hitler. By 1942, Admiral Karl Dönitz's men were everywhere--from the Caribbean to the Arctic Ocean. Ultimately, the U-boats were unable to prevent the Allies from landing in North Africa. And yet, Hitler continued to rely on them and his loyal vassal Dönitz. But increasingly, German U-boats were becoming a death trap for both the enemy and their own crews. 9-10pm -- Battle In The Atlantic - Turning Point. In mid-1941, the British pulled off an enormous coup: They bombarded U-110 and forced the submarine to surface. The pickings were rich--what fell into their hands was nothing less than an Enigma machine, providing the key to the German Navy's secret code. The machine allowed experts to decipher Admiral Karl Dönitz's radio commands to his officers and, even more important, reveal the positions of German submarines. The Germans knew nothing of the capture, which was to play a decisive role in the Battle of the Atlantic. 10-11pm -- Conspiracy? - Anthrax Attacks. Two weeks after the 9/11 tragedy, news outlets in New York and Florida became targets of the first biowarfare attack in U.S. history as recipients of letters tainted with anthrax. Soon, prominent U.S. Senators received tainted envelopes. Within weeks, five people were dead, 17 seriously sickened, and thousands exposed to the bacterium. The second pair of letters contained refined anthrax that could only be prepared by scientists in tightly controlled environments. The most startling discovery--it was a variety of the Ames strain, long favored by and under the control of the U.S. biodefense community. Can the FBI solve this mystery? Or is it anxious to protect our government from questions about rogue scientists and a bioweapons program supposedly discontinued in 1972? ____________________________________________________ Monday, October 25, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Military Movers. The challenge: Move millions of soldiers and tons of cargo halfway around the world and into the thick of action. How? Use the biggest ships, the widest planes, and the strongest trucks. Today, military planners move men and equipment further and faster than ever. The United States Transportation Command, answering to the Department of Defense, runs military transport like an efficient private shipping and travel agency. From the Civil War to U.S. Transcom, we track the development of military logistics. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - UFOs in the Bible. Journey back through time into the mysterious world of UFOs as revealed through ancient biblical texts. Through intensive reinterpretation of early religious documents, researchers believe that they have found evidence of ancient UFO activity. From Elijah's flying "chariots of fire" to Ezekiel's "wheels within wheels in the sky," and even the enigmatic aerial phenomenon leading Moses during the Exodus, we put a modern perspective on the writings of the Bible in the context of UFOs. 9-10pm -- Deep Sea Detectives - Mystery U-boat of World War I.. In 1985, a WWI German submarine, the UB-107, was discovered off the English coast, 100 feet down at the bottom of the North Sea. But according to history books, the UB-107 was attacked and sunk 30 miles away! And, as divers make their way along the wreck, they discover, entangled in her wreckage, the British steamship Malvina. But according to WWI archives, the Malvina went down six days after the UB-107 and 30 miles away! Host John Chatterton travels to the English coast to dive on both wrecks in the dark and murky North Sea, and meet up with historians and divers who help him piece together clues left by these two WWI ghosts. 10-11pm -- Investigating History - Taking out Al Capone. Most people know that the Federal government finally locked up Al Capone for tax evasion, and believe that the man who really brought him down was his archenemy, U.S. Treasury Agent Eliot Ness. But there's much more to the story. After the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, a group of Chicago businessmen, "The Secret Six", decided to put an end to Capone's 7-year reign as crime king. They enlisted President Hoover and helped to finance intelligence agents to unravel Capone's business operations. Hoover sent two groups of special agents to infiltrate the Capone gang. We look at new evidence, uncovered by a university professor, that shows why Capone was indicted on income tax evasion instead of breaking Prohibition, and why a plea bargain was abruptly taken off the table by the trial judge. ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, October 26, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Fire and Ice. Who could imagine life without our "man-made weather"? On cold winter nights and hot summer days, we are forever grateful to the visionaries who took two basic elements--fire and ice--and turned them into true modern marvels. Fire warmed the caves and primitive dwellings of mankind for centuries, yet the technology of keeping cool lagged far behind as we learn in this chronicle of heating and air conditioning that covers advancements from the home and industry to outer space and beyond! 8-9pm -- Wild West Tech - Cowboy Tech. A no-bull episode that roams the range hunting for the gritty truth behind the Old West's most enduring figure. Host Keith Carradine examines the cowboy's trade tools--from saddle to spurs--and undergoes the dangers of a cattle drive. Reenactments show off cowboy skills, including roping, riding, shooting, and branding, as we see how the tradition lives on in rodeos. And, we shoot down reputations as we look behind the myths of legendary cowboys like John Wesley Hardin, Billy the Kid, and Tom Horn. 9-10pm -- How They Won with Mo Rocca - Hallowed principles, lofty ideas, substantive social agendas--all vital to a successful bid for the highest office in the land. But according to history, offering American voters ideas to aid the poor, defeat enemies, and better the human race isn't all it takes to win the White House. Pop cultural historian Mo Rocca delves into the history of America's presidential elections and takes a hard look at some of the other, less weighty topics that shaped past winners and losers. Can hairstyle make or break a campaign? What kind of pet will attract the most votes? Is having a drunken criminal for a brother actually a benefit? Hosting the show from Grant's Tomb, Mo offers answers to these and many more questions, and gleans seven secrets for winning the presidency that contenders won't want to miss! 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 11. Join us for look into five engineering disasters... A dangerous cloud of gas explodes into Cleveland's worst fiery industrial disaster in 1944, killing 128 people. A dance competition turns deadly at the new Kansas City Hyatt in 1981, when a skywalk gives way and kills 114. In 1995, neighbors gaped at the spectacle of a $1.5-million San Francisco Bay area mansion breaking into bits as it fell into a massive sinkhole during a rainstorm. In 1931, one of the worst "natural" disasters ever occurred in the Yangtze River basin when six huge flood waves swept down the river destroying the insufficient dams and levees and killing at least 145,000 people. The "miracle mineral" that the U.S. was built upon turns out to be an invisible killer--an estimated 10,000 people die each year from asbestos-related diseases. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, October 27, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Terror Tech: Military. The chance of enemy confrontation by sea, tank, or air battle is small, but terrorist networks operating in the shadows will likely challenge the U.S again. Instead of waiting to react, the military's new mission is to detect, deter, and defend America from terrorist attack. We examine cutting-edge technology that leads the fight in this new battle landscape, including Smart Bombs, Tactical Ballistic-Missile Systems, GPS-driven technology, Electro-Optical Systems, and the pilotless drone Predator. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Breaking the Sound Barrier. For decades, the sound barrier loomed as an impenetrable wall against manned flight that buffeted planes with shock waves as they approached the speed of sound. Scientists thought the barrier couldn't be breached--until the development of jet technology and rocket fuel at the end of WWII. This is the dramatic story, told through the eyes of many who were there, of the work leading up to October 10, 1947, when 24-year-old test pilot Chuck Yeager smashed through the sound barrier in a Bell XS-1 aircraft. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel. Named one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern age, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel connects Virginia proper with its easternmost landmass. Stretching 17 miles across the historic Chesapeake Bay, the structure represents a man-made boundary between the Bay and the Atlantic. The structure includes two two-lane highways supported mostly by trestles, four man-made and one natural island, two truss bridges, and two revolutionary sunken tube tunnels. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - The World's Longest Bridge. Bridges are the lifeline of Japan. Since the 1930s, the island nation has dreamt of linking its many parts as a whole. But WWII diverted the incredible resources needed to accomplish this, and only since 1960 has the dream moved again, slowly, toward reality. The final step in this massive undertaking was the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world. This marvel of architectonics stands as a testament to the genius of Asian engineering and, judged in a context that perhaps the Japanese understand best, as the most beautiful bridge in the world. We'll watch it rise, from sketch to completion, and see how it fared during the massive Kobe earthquake. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, October 28, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 8. Join us for a devastating but enlightening hour as we delve into complex and often-tragic engineering failures that have shaped our world. Five dramatic events unfold as we discover the causes of: the 1983 collapse of New England's Mianus Bridge; the sinking of the Ocean Ranger offshore oilrig in 1982; the crash of a Learjet 35 private plane carrying pro-golfer Payne Stewart in 1999; the 19th-century failure of South Fork Dam that resulted in the flooding of Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and the 1988 PEPCON (Pacific Engineering Production Company of Nevada) jet fuel plant explosion. 8-10pm -- Time Machine - From 1939-1945, Germany and Japan forged a strategic alliance that included logistical support from both sides and a range of technical cooperation, as well as jointly supporting major anti-British uprisings in India. In perhaps the boldest scheme, they conspired to destroy the Panama Canal. We'll review their wartime union. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Japanese Sub at Pearl Harbor. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was a move of unprecedented aggression that shook the U.S. out of its peaceful slumber and into WWII. But for 60 years, veterans of the destroyer USS Ward claimed that they sank an enemy submarine outside the harbor more than an hour before the aerial attack began. The wreck was never found, and the story was dismissed. However, in August 2002, a dive team crossed its path and their find made headlines worldwide. We travel to Pearl Harbor to investigate the midget sub mystery. ____________________________________________________ Friday, October 29, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Cemeteries. More than 2-million people die in the U.S. each year. That works out to about 5,500 burials a day, with roughly 80 percent taking the long goodbye in a casket, and the remaining 20 percent electing to be cremated or finding some alternative method of crossing eternity's threshold. We take a look at dealing with the dead throughout the centuries, and at today's $20-billion funeral industry. Any way you look at it, it's a healthy business, with new generations of customers year after year! 8-9pm -- Making History with Roger Mudd - A Conversation with Walter Cronkite. In a free-ranging and candid interview, Roger Mudd sits with one-time colleague, CBS anchorman Walter Cronkite. Mudd and Cronkite revisit their shared history at the "Tiffany" network--from dawn of the TV age through the tumultuous 1960s and '70s. Cronkite also digs into his past for harrowing tales from the frontlines of WWII--when he crossed the line between reporter and soldier to shoot at German planes--to the frontlines of Vietnam, when he broke the reporter's rule of neutrality and let America know what he thought we should do about the war. He fought tears the day JFK was killed and fought CBS to deliver the Watergate story. He sets the story straight on his 1981 exit from CBS, and is more provocative than ever as he defines his outlook on the War in Iraq and the state of the news. 9-9:30pm -- Decisive Battles - Cannae. Cannae, Italy, August 216 BC. In a classic example of double-envelopment maneuver, Hannibal inflicts the greatest ever defeat on the forces of Rome. A mighty Roman army, eight legions strong, marches out to crush the Carthaginian general on an open battlefield. Though Hannibal has far fewer men at his disposal, and none of his famous elephants, he manages to surround and slaughter the superior Roman force. See why Hannibal's military genius is still being lauded and taught in academies today. Hosted by Matthew Settle (Band of Brothers). 9:30-10pm -- Command Decisions - Battle of Desert Storm. It's 1990. General "Stormin'" Norman Schwarzkopf has been watching Saddam Hussein maneuver in the Middle East. He knows that the Iraqi dictator has a massive army and that he's capable of extreme brutality. Now, Schwarzkopf sees signs that Hussein is about to launch a massive invasion. Schwarzkopf is the hot-tempered commander at the center of Operation Desert Storm. It's up to him to drive Hussein out of Kuwait. His main concern? Sparing the lives of his soldiers. But the desert terrain is tough...the enemy ruthless...and the orders from the White House nearly impossible to achieve. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - M1 Abrams: Supertank! Join us as we penetrate the history of the world's most sophisticated tank--the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank. In the most radical departure in U.S. tank design since WWII, the Supertank combines speed, heavy protective armor, and a fearsome 120mm main gun. In 1991, the new and unproven Abrams tank was deployed in Operation Desert Storm. Using night vision and laser targeting, the M1 Abrams tank destroyed Saddam Hussein's armored Republican Guard, and is again doing desert duty in the War in Iraq. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, October 30, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Conspiracy? - Anthrax Attacks. Two weeks after the 9/11 tragedy, news outlets in New York and Florida became targets of the first biowarfare attack in U.S. history as recipients of letters tainted with anthrax. Soon, prominent U.S. Senators received tainted envelopes. Within weeks, five people were dead, 17 seriously sickened, and thousands exposed to the bacterium. The second pair of letters contained refined anthrax that could only be prepared by scientists in tightly controlled environments. The most startling discovery--it was a variety of the Ames strain, long favored by and under the control of the U.S. biodefense community. Can the FBI solve this mystery? Or is it anxious to protect our government from questions about rogue scientists and a bioweapons program supposedly discontinued in 1972? 8-10pm -- Movies in Time - Movie. The true story of the "Lost Battalion" of U.S. soldiers--a group of Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Polish "gangsters" from New York who were trapped behind enemy lines in World War One and fought heroically against the odds. Rick Schroder stars as battalion leader Major Charles Whittlesey, the civilian-turned-soldier who won the Congressional Medal of Honor for keeping his outnumbered troops alive and fighting in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. (2001) 10-12am -- The Face of Evil: Reinhard Heydrich - Reinhard Eugen Tristan Heydrich was arguably the most enigmatic Nazi leader, and as the "Final Solution" architect, definitely the most murderous as we see in a 2-hour analysis of his meteoric rise to command over the Gestapo, SS intelligence network, and Czechoslovakia. In 1942, Heydrich was considered the most dangerous man in Germany after Hitler. The Allied plot to assassinate him--planned in England and carried out in Prague--was the most brazen of its kind. Narrated by Charlton Heston. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, October 31, 2004 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- The Haunted History of Halloween - On October 31, when pint-sized ghouls and goblins trick or treat, they're upholding an ancient northern European ritual dating back thousands of years. From the Celtic festival of Samhain to the mumming tradition and the Christian feast day All Hallows' Eve, we find out why this night is the scariest of the year! 8-9:30pm -- Witch Hunt - Devils, witches, ghostly apparitions, spectral disturbances... Whether real or imaginary, the end result proved ghastly--20 people tortured and hanged in 1692. Mass hysteria? Psychological stress brought on by the brutal Indian Wars? A devious act of personal revenge? Drug-induced psychosis? Demonic possession? Meld with the worldview of 17th-century New England Puritans--to whom witchcraft was real, dangerous, and a capital crime--as our vivid, sometimes shocking, recreations reveal the horrifying hardships of life and how superstition filled inexplicable dark corners. Period transcripts, diaries, and letters bring to life the infamous trials and executions. 9:30-10:30pm -- Conspiracy? - Area 51. Each day, they board unmarked 747s at a private section of Las Vegas's McCarren Airport for unscheduled flights to a base that doesn't officially exist to work on projects so hush-hush that they can't talk to their families about them. Welcome to Area 51! Born in the Cold War along with flying saucers and bomb shelters, Area 51 (aka Groom Lake or Dreamland) became the Air Force's strategic test site for top-secret planes and the mysterious Aurora Project--and a symbol of the nefarious military-industrial-intelligence complex. We interview New York Times writer Phil Patton, author of Dreamland: Travels inside the Secret World of Area 51 for an account of the "black projects", and visit the tiny Nevada town of Rachel, which borders the top-secret base, for a look into mysterious deaths of base wrokers. 10:30-11:30pm -- Weird U.S - From Alaska to California to Florida--from all across America we investigate macabre legends, peculiar places, and strange stories that aren't written up in history books, but merely whispered about in the Weird U.S. In Morristown, New Jersey, our hosts and travel guides Mark Scuerman and Mark Moran expose the gruesome tale of a man who was hung in 1833, dissected...then turned into wallets! In Tennessee, Mark and Mark untangle the twisted tale of folks claiming descent from the first American settlers--not Pilgrims, but Melungeons. And after investigating Cold War nuclear bunkers, they head to Florida to tour the country's most unusual retirement community, where the circus sideshow comes rest______________________________________________________
For info on UFOs, check out the interview on MonsterVision's Mars Attacks page
Watch Mail Call every week if you know what's good for you, scumbag,
hosted by R. Lee Ermey of Full Metal Jacket
(movie available on video and DVD)
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