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.Tuesday, October 4, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Emergency Room. Emergency room medicine has only been a recognized specialty since 1989, and it took close to two millennia to get to this point. We'll examine advances that led to the modern emergency room--from the Byzantine's establishment of the first hospitals around 1050 A.D. to today's telemedicine. The prognosis for its future looks good. 8-9pm -- Wild West Tech - Massacres II. Genocide on the untamed frontier? Western technology did much to help--and harm--folks heading West. We examine various incidents, like the Camp Grant Massacre in Tucson, Arizona in April 1871, when a mongrel band of Anglos, Mexicans, and San Xavier Papagos Indians, savagely slew 140 Apache men, women, and children in their sleep. The Goliad Massacre--Texas, March 1836, hundreds of Mexican soldiers executed 342 Texans in a bloody betrayal during the Texas Revolution. The Council House Massacre--March 1840, in San Antonio, when a band of Comanche are blown away by a vengeful volley of gunfire. The Dragoon Springs Massacre--September 1858, in Arizona, stage company workers are brutally murdered in their sleep at the Dragoon Springs Stage Station. The motives for the massacre are still unknown. David Carradine hosts. 9-10pm -- Shootout - Guadalcanal. A small island in the southwestern Pacific, Guadalcanal was the place the US chose to confront the Japanese on the ground for the first time in WWII. Here, beginning in August 1942, Americans and Japanese were brought face-to-face in close-quarter shootouts that became a turning point of the war. From the near-total annihilation of Colonel Frank Goettge's intelligence patrol to the battles of Bloody Ridge, both sides learned what the other was made of. The Japanese were willing to fight to the death, and the Americans were eager to offer them that chance. The victory ultimately belonged to the US, but in the man-on-man struggles that characterized the campaign, winning or losing became personal and the difference between survival and death. Experience the thick of battle from the perspective of soldiers from both sides. 10-11pm -- Man, Moment, Machine - Howard Hughes and the Spruce Goose. Howard Hughes was a celebrity persona known around the world and an aeronautical genus, but he was a man with personal demons that drew the public to watch his every step. From producing movies to building aircraft for the government, Hughes was a dynamic figure. In 1948 Howard Hughes set out to prove many of his critics wrong by flying a machine that was termed "the Spruce Goose"--the H-4 Hercules, to date the largest plane ever built, was a flying boat designed to hold as many as 750 soldiers. In a moment only Howard Hughes could pull off, he would make history and prove that a 400,000-pound bird can fly. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, October 5, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Medical Imaging: The Voyage Inward. The story of medical imaging, the technology that allows us to see inside the human body, is full of amazing stories. Learn how X-rays were discovered in 1895, completely by accident; how ultrasound was developed to locate enemy submarines; and how the CAT Scan might never have been built if it weren't for The Beatles! 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Ice Road Truckers. During the harsh winter of Canada's Northwest Territory, remote villages and work camps are cut off from the world. To keep them supplied, a tenacious group of long-haul truckers drive their rigs over hundreds of miles on ice roads cut across the surface of frozen lakes. Sometimes the ice cannot support the heavy rig, and driver and cargo plunge through the ice and sink to the bottom. Hitch a risky ride along with the Ice Road Truckers as they drive headlong into bone-chilling danger. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - The Auto Store. Need a car part or an accessory to give it personality? Since 1903, when Sears dedicated a portion of its catalog, the automotive after-market grew into a billion-dollar juggernaut. We visit Auto Zone, the retail leader, whose largest store carries 25,000 parts. At SO-CAL Speed Shop, a sedan is transformed into a hot rod. Achieving $100-billion in annual sales didn't happen overnight, but largely on the shoulders of three entrepreneurs--cartoon characters Manny, Moe, and Jack, who were real people. In 1921, they opened their first store in Philadelphia--Pep Auto Supplies. By developing brand names, carrying key parts, and providing hands-on service, they set the standard. Finally, we look at odd products sold by auto stores, discover how Armor All transforms dull interiors into brand-new, and how a tire sealant named Slime may replace the spare tire. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Magnets. 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 modern technology. They can be found in computers, cars, phones, VCRs, TVs, vacuum cleaners, the washer and dryer, the ubiquitous refrigerator magnet, and even in an electric guitar! On the cutting edge of technology, scientists experiment with a variety of magnets. Magnets' amazing forces of attraction and repulsion may some day take us to the far reaches of outer space. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, October 6, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Machine Tools. Machine tools, power-driven machines of all shapes and sizes, are used to make metal parts and have built our modern world. Life today would not be possible without them. Beginning with the story of the steam engine and traveling forward to modern-day "machining centers" that are used to make incredibly complex space shuttle parts, we'll examine the basic types of machine tools and their development. We'll also look at machine tools of the future that will change the way products are made. 8-9pm -- Mail Call - Hurricane Katrina. Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey hits the skies with the Air Force Pararescue Teams, the PJs, to take a look at how these helicopter hard-chargers pulled refugees out harm's way and flew them to safety after the recent Katrina catastrophe in the Gulf Coast. Next, Gunny heads out on patrol with the Marines for door-to-door searches, water-main repair, and the rescue of a defenseless kitten. Now this isn't the first time the military has been faced with this sort of situation, so the Gunny gives a history lesson on previous military responses to natural disasters. Then, Lee takes a look at how the Marines are beginning the cleanup effort. But the Marines aren't the only ground-pounders in the area. The Gunny patrols the French Quarter with the 82nd Airborne to get the skinny on the work they did to secure the Superdome and what they and the Army National Guard are doing to help get the displaced citizens of New Orleans back on their feet. 9-10pm -- Katrina: American Catastrophe - A special that interweaves the devastation of Hurricane Katrina with New Orleans' history. Learn how the city, built precariously below sea level and between two bodies of water, came to be. What engineering feats made it survive for as long as it did, weathering other dire storms? Why did the various systems fail this time? How did so much of the nation's oil and gas repositories come to be in this environmentally fragile area? Was there anything that could have averted the disaster, given that the meteorology predictions of Katrina's path were quite accurate? Hear stories of shame and heroism that etch this devastation into our nation's history forever. This special mixes news footage, personal video, historical archive, and expert and witness interviews into a compelling hour looking at this disaster from a technology and historical perspective. 10-11pm -- Tsunami 2004: Waves of Death - The 2004 Tsunami, centered in the Indian Ocean, was caused by a 9.3 earthquake--the second strongest quake on record. Join us for a minute-by-minute look at nature's fury at its worst, when the tsunami kills more than 200,000 people in 14 countries. In this special, we examine the tsunami as it moves from coast to coast through the eyes of people who lived through it and scientists now studying its path of devastation. Drawing on the extraordinary volume of amateur video that recorded the disaster, we take viewers inside the world's deadliest tsunami. ____________________________________________________ Friday, October 7, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - The Colosseum. Nothing symbolizes the Roman Empire at its height or Rome in magnificent ruins more than the Colosseum. Built in 70 AD, it seated 80,000 people, boasted a retractable roof, underground staging devices, marble seating, and lavish decorations. It still serves as the prototype for the modern stadium. The complexity of its construction, the beauty of its architecture, and the functionality of its design made it the perfect place for massive crowds to congregate for the bloody spectacles it contained. 8-10pm -- The True Story of Killing Pablo - An exploration of the criminal life of Pablo Escobar that culminated in the largest manhunt in history and the controversial 1993 killing of Escobar on a rooftop in Medellin, Colombia. Based on his book Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw, author Mark Bowden anchors the program, guiding us through pivotal moments of Escobar's life and sharing startling revelations he uncovered during the research for his book. Features interviews with key officials of Colombia and the US. 10-10:30pm -- Mail Call - DOD Firefighter/USMC Martial Arts Training/Little David: #82. Gunnery Sergeant R. Lee Ermey, dons the duds of a Department of Defense firefighter at their training facility at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California. Highlighted is the DOD's new crash vehicle, a heavy-duty firefighting truck. Back at HQ, the Gunny provides a short history of Napalm--what it is and why we don't use it anymore. Next, Lee travels to Camp Pendleton, California for a demonstration of USMC martial arts training. Then, it's trigger time with the pistol favored by Japanese officers during WWII--the Nambu pistol. And, the Gunny shows some amazing archival footage of a secret US government project called Little David--a remote-controlled weapons platform that never made it out of the prototype stage. And along with Little David, is, of course, the story of Goliath--a WWII German remote-controlled tank bomb. 10:30-11pm -- Mail Call - Golden Knights/WWII Army Air Force or Air Corps?/Flying Tigers/AC-130U Spooky: #40. Join R. Lee Ermey as he prepares to jump with the Army's Golden Knights--and find out if he's too chicken! Since people get confused about what to call the Air Force during WWII, when it was a part of the Army, he digs into the history. Then, Lee focuses on the Flying Tiger volunteers who risked their lives in China before America entered WWII. And, he profiles the modern gunship AC-130U. Terrifying to the enemy, it flies at night, hence its nickname Spooky. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, October 8, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Poison. Since ancient times, man has tried to control the "devil's bounty"--deadly substances found throughout nature. Paradoxically, some of these lethal compounds are now found to possess life-giving properties. In this hour, we explore how ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans came to rely on the pernicious power of poisons and learn the physiological action of these potent killers. During the Renaissance, known as the Golden Age of Poison, the deadly practice helped shape European history--most especially that of the Catholic Church. We continue our investigation into the gas attacks of WWI and up to the 21st century, when a new and serious threat of bioterrorism plagues the globe. Finally, we peer into the future with scientists experimenting with poisons and venoms from the plant and animal kingdoms that may play an important part in healing diseases such as arthritis and even cancer. 8-9pm -- History Alive - Marijuana. In a series investigating the history of drug use, we begin our trip tracing the rise of marijuana and synthetic amphetamines. Marijuana, from the Indian hemp plant, has been used worldwide as a source of rope, cloth, and paper; its medicinal qualities were first documented 4,000 years ago in China. But it's best known as the drug of choice of the 1960s. During WWII, US troops were given an estimated 200 million amphetamines to fight drowsiness and battle fatigue, and they're still used to fight depression. 9-10pm -- History Alive - Cocaine. Derived from South America's coca leaf, cocaine was touted as a cure-all in the late 19th century and was the secret ingredient in many medicines and elixirs such as Coca-Cola. But cocaine's allure quickly diminished as racism entered the picture--the concept of the "cocaine-crazed Negro" even led police to strengthen the caliber of their guns from .32 to .38. We'll see how, though it was outlawed in 1914, its popularity soared in the 1980s and '90s and gave birth to a deadlier form--crack. 10-11pm -- History Alive - LSD, Ecstasy and the Raves. How did the psychedelic drugs LSD and Ecstasy journey from a scientific discovery to a popular recreation to banned drugs? Mental health professionals once believed that LSD could treat schizophrenia or alcoholism. Meanwhile, Ecstasy, the "penicillin for the soul", was used in marriage counseling. Now, continuing the cycle of the hallucinogen, some of the latest derivatives in this category of drugs, the "rave" drugs such as GHB and Ketamine, are about to be banned. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, October 9, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- History Now - Al Qaeda's Navy. Al Qaeda owns 15 to 20 large merchant freighters necessary for trade--carrying cargo like cement and sesame seeds. But they're also used for deadlier purposes. Their existence is one of the major concerns of the US and its allies. An attack at sea or on a coastal target could be catastrophic and bring the shipping industry to a halt. But the greatest threat is not posed by an individual terrorist or suicide bomber hidden in a container. It's that terrorists could ship explosives in a container, and the chances of security personnel finding them would be small. US ports are instituting new measures, but critics claim that the right balance hasn't been found and ports aren't adequately protected. The question remains: Will the new defenses be enough to stop an attack from cunning and determined members of al Qaeda's Navy? 8-9:30pm -- The Cole Conspiracy - The War on Terror began long before fuel-laden jets slammed into the World Trade Center's twin towers. Almost a year earlier, on a quiet sweltering morning off the coast of Yemen, a small fiberglass boat exploded alongside an American destroyer. Join us for a minute-by-minute look at the attack that killed 17 sailors, wounded more than 30, and nearly sank a US warship. Learn firsthand about the heroic actions of the men and women aboard the crippled destroyer as they fought to rescue crewmates and prevent their ship from sinking to a watery grave in the Gulf of Aden. It's also the story of the al Qaeda terrorists who meticulously planned and carried out the first military strike in their declared war against the United States. 9:30-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 8, Part 1. Join us for a devastating but enlightening look as we delve into complex and often-tragic engineering failures that have shaped our world. Dramatic events unfold as we discover what happened. (1/2 hour version.) 10-11:15pm -- Band of Brothers - The Patrol. Easy Company arrives in an Alsatian town near the German border, and is ordered to send a patrol across the river to take enemy prisoners. Lt. Hank Jones (Colin Hanks), fresh from West Point and eager for combat experience, volunteers to lead, though he must convince a skeptical Winters (Damian Lewis). Also assigned to the patrol is Pvt. David Webster (Eion Bailey), back in Easy after rehabilitation of an injury. While successful, the mission costs a soldier's life. ____________________________________________________ Monday, October 10, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Surveillance Tech. In the world of surveillance, Big Brother is not only watching, he's also listening, analyzing, recording, scanning, and tracking every aspect of our lives. And with advanced surveillance technology, there's virtually no place to hide. We'll examine some of the most important and potentially terrifying equipment the world has ever seen...or rather, not seen...in this thriving surveillance revolution. We check out parabolic microphones that pick up conversations a mile a way, cameras that learn what and who to photograph, RadarVision that "sees through walls", and Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). And we explore the mind-bending future of surveillance technology, while, of course, reviewing its surprising history. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - Kecksburg UFO. What came down in the forest outside the sleepy hamlet of Kecksburg, Pennsylvania on December 9, 1965? Some residents claimed to see an acorn-shaped metal object with strange, hieroglyphic writing on its side, half-buried on the forest floor. Astronomer Von Del Chamberlain wrote that the Kecksburg object was a meteorite. NASA consultant James Oberg theorized that it was a failed Russian probe, but now also thinks it was probably a meteorite. Often called the "Pennsylvania Roswell" in UFO circles, the debate raged until, in late December 2003, NASA finally released 39 pages of material and the Air Force released 2,800 pages on the case from its files. The only thing the government documents conclusively prove is that the object was not a Russian probe. But for UFO enthusiasts and researchers, many questions remain unanswered. 9-10pm -- Decoding The Past - Nazi Prophecies. Some say that the rise of Nazi Germany was foretold in prophecies that began in biblical times and continued for centuries until the emergence of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. These predictions paint a chilling portrait of an evil, sinister force that would terrorize the world. We expose the prophecies throughout history that foresaw the rise and fall of Hitler and the Third Reich. The program includes biblical prophecies in the Book of Ester and the Book of Daniel, the haunting predictions of the infamous Nostradamus, the disturbing and exact predictions of Eric Jan Hanussen--Hitler's personal clairvoyant--and more...much more. Plus, we delve into the roots of Nazism: into Germanic and Aryan legends, the occult, mysticism, and astrology. 10-11pm -- Digging for the Truth - Hunt for the Lost Ark. For centuries, adventurers, and archaeologists--the devout and determined, and even Indiana Jones--have all searched for the Bible's most sacred lost treasure: the Ark of the Covenant. Yet, despite all its fame, it mysteriously disappeared from the pages of history tens of centuries ago. How could something so powerful and holy simply vanish? That's what host and adventurer Josh Bernstein is determined to find out when he follows a trail that starts where the Ark's story begins--on Mount Sinai. Next, he explores a secret maze beneath Jerusalem's streets and visits Deir es Sultan, an Ethiopian monastery located on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In Ethiopia, he climbs up a sheer cliff to reach Debre Damo, one of the country's most ancient monasteries, and travels across Lake Tana to the place where some say the Ark is kept today. But how close can he get to this mighty and mysterious treasure? ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, October 11, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Nordhausen. It was the world's largest underground factory--seven miles of tunnels built to manufacture Hitler's secret weapons, primarily the V-2 rocket. But Nordhausen kept more than one secret. Technology and torture went hand-in-hand--25,000 concentration camp workers died there--and some of those associated with Nordhausen later helped take America to the moon. 8-9pm -- Wild West Tech - Bounty Hunters. They were the men who wouldn't take no for an answer, pursuing every lead, tracking every trail, and finally, bringing in their man--dead or alive. Follow along with some of the greatest trackers the West ever saw--men hunting human prey, with huge rewards waiting for those who succeeded. Join us as we separate Wild West fact from Hollywood fiction, and meet men like Charlie Siringo, who would travel tens of thousands of miles before he'd let a bail jumper go free; or Frank Hamer, who brought law to the most lawless parts of Texas, and death to the most notorious criminals of the early 20th Century. Hosted by David Carradine. 9-10pm -- Shootout - Wild West. Savage...sadistic...often justified--America's western frontier triggered many a shootout. The motivation? Money...women...religion--sometimes a dirty look triggered a melee. Western shootouts were messy, drunken, and deadly affairs. The vision of two gunslingers meeting in the street at high noon is pure myth. Shootouts were typically up-close and personal. They involved lawmen against outlaws, outlaws against outlaws, and sometimes lawmen against lawmen. We take a look at the Northfield Raid (James/Younger Gang vs. the Town of Northfield), the shootout at Hanska Slough (James/Younger Gang vs. the Medelia Posse), and Ingalls Raid (Doolin/Dalton Gang vs. US Marshals). And as we provide the motivation, strategy, and tactics, and examine the firearms involved on both sides of the gun battles, we detail each phase of the combat and its aftermath. 10-11pm -- Man, Moment, Machine - Ultimate Weapon: Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb. J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Father of the A-bomb, creates the world's deadliest weapon of mass destruction--with the "power of 1,000 suns" it can annihilate tens of thousands in a moment. His scientific brilliance is the power behind the atom bombs used against the Japanese during WWII, but his conscience led him to question the invention that helped end the war. Watch as Oppenheimer paces anxiously in New Mexico while the crew on a B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, deploys the massive "Little Boy" bomb towards the Aioi Bridge in Hiroshima. The resulting massive loss of life leads Oppenheimer to rethink the way in which nuclear energy was to be used. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, October 12, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Axes, Swords and Knives. Blade implements have been a part of civilized man's arsenal since the Paleolithic Age, when sharp tools were chipped off of flint or obsidian. But with the discovery of metallurgy, people were able to forge stronger, more versatile blade implements. We visit an axe-throwing contest in Wisconsin for an introduction to the least subtle of the blade tools. Then we visit a swordsmith and an experienced swordfighter who work in traditional methods from ancient sources, and review the history of knives. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Inviting Disaster #2. The amazing machines of human invention most often do our bidding with uncomplaining proficiency. But when they go wrong, they exact a terrible wage. In August 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk glided through the depths of the Arctic Sea. But the demands of the Cold War had planted the seeds of disaster in this great ship--118 men would pay with their lives. Their deaths would bring about an enormous step forward in Russia's evolving democracy. Based on James Chiles's book Inviting Disaster. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Oil Tankers. The biggest moving objects ever built by man, oil tankers dominate the world's waterways, both in size and numbers. Upwards of 10,000 strong, the world tanker fleet's vast number results from the modern, insatiable thirst for oil. We'll dig into the history of oil transport--from Civil War days to the critical WWII years and invention of the supertanker in the 1950s. And we examine the financial impact of modifying these steel leviathans to prevent future catastrophic environmental disasters. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Dredging. They dig, scoop, suck, and spew an ocean of silt and sediment. Dredgers are the mechanical beasts that fuel the world's economic engine by clearing and deepening ports for mega-container ships. The roots of dredging go back as far as the Egyptians, who used their hands to open channels on the Nile to keep crops watered. The Romans, who used harbor dredging to keep a tight fist on Europe, pioneered the "spoon and bag" dredge to speed up the process. Steam power brought about the first large-scale dredges and helped create the Panama Canal. We'll go aboard two of the largest US dredgers and see how they keep waters moving. And in Holland, we meet the biggest players on the dredging world and witness the launching of the largest dredge ever built. From there, we head to Dubai in the Middle East, where 90 square miles of new islands was dredged from the sea and will now create a pleasure world for the rich and powerful. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, October 13, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - City Water. When you tap your faucet does clean, pure water flow? Can your city supply enough water for industry, firefighting, and street cleaning? U.S. public water-supply systems serve nearly 99 percent of the population, yet few users know how the system of aqueducts, pipes, and pumps work. Learn the colorful history of the water systems in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles when we scour the past and look to the future, including desalination plants that turn seawater into drinking water. 8-10pm -- Boneyard: Where Machines End Their Lives - Where do machines go when they die? From B-52 Bombers to massive aircraft carriers, from passenger cars to Cold War cruise missiles and remnants of the Twin Towers, all that we manufacture has a lifespan. But reaching the end of their original purposes can be just the beginning. Join us on a fascinating visual journey as we follow some of our greatest achievements in manufacturing, design engineering, and construction to their after-lives and final resting places. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Extreme Aircraft. Join us for a supersonic look at some of the most cutting-edge aircraft ever developed--from the X-1 that first broke the sound barrier to the X-43 Scramjet that recently flew at Mach 7. These extreme aircraft have made their mark on aeronautical history, and sometimes on political history as well. The U-2 and SR-71 spy planes played a crucial role in the Cold War, and now Lockheed Martin's top-secret "Skunkworks" division is touting the new "air dominance" fighter plane-- the F/A-22 Raptor. ____________________________________________________ Friday, October 14, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - The Berlin Wall. During the Cold War, the Berlin Wall stood as a forbidding barrier in an embattled world. Erected in August 1961, the Wall system stretched 103 miles through and around Berlin, locking in 1.3-million people. 261 died trying to get over, under, around, and through it. We review the daunting devices within the Death Strip--one of the deadliest obstacle courses ever--and the ingenious ways people ran it. When the Wall fell with a thud in 1989, its pieces became souvenirs or were recycled for new roads. 8-9pm -- Hitler's Lost Plan - In 1958, in a sweltering, converted torpedo factory in Alexandria, Virginia, historian Gerhard L. Weinberg was combing through massive stacks of documents that the U.S. had captured from Nazi Germany. In a faded green box, Weinberg came across an unknown prize--a secret book dictated by Adolf Hitler in 1928, the unpublished sequel to Mein Kampf. Mixed in with Hitler's racial hatred, the book contained shocking revelations of his master plan for continuous war. We follow the clues to its discovery and show the rigorous steps taken to authenticate the document--the book is considered legitimate. And we reveal the contents of the book, including Hitler's plan for global domination culminating in an invasion of America! 9-10pm -- Hitler's Family - Nazi propaganda portrayed Adolf Hitler as a man minus family or private life. As a matter of fact, he kept in touch with his family--mainly to control them. There was shady half-brother Alois, a Berlin innkeeper who tried to profit from his name, and half-sister Angela, in charge of housekeeping at the Berghof retreat, who had neighbors chased away. His niece Geli, who called her uncle a "jailer", committed suicide. His "favorite nephew" was educated at an elite Nazi school. His sister Paula wanted to marry a surgeon and mass murderer. And his English-born nephew William Patrick, a playboy in Berlin, extorted money by threatening to expose family secrets. We present previously unknown documents and personal records and descendants of the Hitler family talk about living in the shadow of a dictator. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Secret Allied Aircraft of WWII. At WWII's outset, US and UK military aircraft designs were woefully behind Germany's and Japan's technologically superior planes. But the genius and ingenuity of innovators on both sides of the Atlantic closed the gap. For America, it was a handful of visionaries and their teams; for Great Britain, a creative and thoughtful spirit emanated from the top leadership on down. In this hour, we recount the untold stories of their cutting-edge designs and solutions, some of which proved decades ahead of their time. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, October 15, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Hitler's Managers - Alfried Krupp: The Weapons Builder. In 1948, an American military tribunal sentenced Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach to 12 years imprisonment and confiscated his fortune. No other German industrialist was punished so severely for activities during WWII. The biggest armament manufacturers of the Third Reich, for generations the family business had made weapons for Prussian kings and German kaisers. After a close association with Hitler, Gustav Krupp groomed his son Alfried, a lonely, unhappy man, to take over. But Nazi leaders were disappointed in Alfried, who lacked the characteristics demanded of an ideal manager. In 1951, Alfried was pardoned and his fortune restored. Ultimately, he accepted some responsibility, ensuring that Jewish forced laborers received compensation. 8-9pm -- Hitler's Managers - Albert Speer: The Architect. As Munitions Minister, Albert Speer gave shape to the Nazi ideology in stone and concrete. Yet, he never regarded himself as a political enforcer of Nazi ideology or as a believer in that creed. For the rest of his life, he denied any awareness of the Holocaust. However, a document has recently come to light, a letter from Speer to SS chief Heinrich Himmler dated September 1941, that shows just how involved Speer was in Nazi atrocities. But at the Nuremberg Trial, the close links between Speer and the SS were not revealed. Speer was found guilty at Nuremberg of bearing general administrative responsibility for the crimes committed by the Nazi regime, along with a large number of other defendants. Speer was released after serving 20 years in prison. 9-10pm -- Hitler's Managers - Alfred Jodl: The General. On May 7, 1945, General Alfred Jodl signed the document of German capitulation. As Supreme Commander of the army, he managed the daily course of the war. While other generals led men into battle, Jodl stayed in headquarters, taking part in over 5,000 meetings. He reported to Hitler, putting his orders on paper and ensuring they were forwarded to the responsible authorities. After Hitler committed suicide, Jodl signed the surrender. At the Nuremberg Trials, he vehemently denied personal responsibility for the crimes committed by the Nazi regime, though he had issued several of the relevant orders. He presented himself as a loyal but politically naive army officer who had applied himself solely to his military duties and knew nothing of the Holocaust and other atrocities. 10-11pm -- Hitler's Managers - Ferdinand Porsche: The Engineer. Ferdinand Porsche fought for his automotive technical innovations with unwavering ambition. But established car manufacturers thought many of his ideas expensive and impractical, so he turned to Adolf Hitler. The Volkswagen was their joint project. But his new car factory was then charged with providing vehicles for the German Army. At the peak of wartime production, two-thirds of the workforce were forced laborers. The factory also produced aircraft components, bomber engines, and the V1 (Vengeance Weapon). After the war, the 70-year-old Porsche spent six months in a French prison, which he felt was a great insult. He was never put on trial: in political and legal terms he was considered free from guilt. Workers on the first Volkswagens give accounts of the famous factory's construction, while forced laborers describe conditions as it was given over to munitions production. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, October 16, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Nazi Prophecies - Some say that the rise of Nazi Germany was foretold in prophecies that began in biblical times and continued for centuries until the emergence of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. These predictions paint a chilling portrait of an evil, sinister force that would terrorize the world. We expose the prophecies throughout history that foresaw the rise and fall of Hitler and the Third Reich. The program includes biblical prophecies in the Book of Ester and the Book of Daniel, the haunting predictions of the infamous Nostradamus, the remarkably accurate prophecies of Matthias Stormberger and Henrich Heine, the disturbing and exact predictions of Eric Jan Hanussen--Hitler's personal clairvoyant--and more...much more. Plus, we delve into the roots of Nazism: into Germanic and Aryan legends, the occult, mysticism, astrology, and more to uncover prophecies that foretold the emergence of one of the most horrifying tyrants in history: Adolf Hitler. 8-9pm -- The Nazi Expeditions - A ship sailing under the Swastika flag glides through the Antarctic Ocean in search of stone and ice samples to support the "global ice theory", according to which a comet crashed to Earth in prehistoric times and scattered the "original Aryans" worldwide. In Tibet, an expedition hunted for new findings relating to early Germanic history. The Nazis believed in a Nordic master race that survived the demise of Atlantis. These expeditions within and beyond the German Reich were planned in direct collusion with Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler. They were funded to produce proof of the superiority of the German race and reinforce the Nazi claim to world supremacy. Featuring previously unpublished library material and statements by witnesses, expedition members, historians, and scientists, we shed light on these bizarre operations. Unpublished film shots, propaganda films, and photos from public and private archives provide incredible testimony. 9-10pm -- Auschwitz: The Forgotten Evidence - When an Allied photo reconnaissance plane flew over southern Poland in the summer of 1944, it took horrifying images of the Nazi's most evil extermination camp--Auschwitz. The gas chambers and the crematoria in which 12,000 people were being murdered daily are clearly visible. But the photos were not analyzed at the time--simply filed away. Using these photos as a unique starting point, we take a new look at the Holocaust and ask what the Allies knew about the extermination camp and when they found out. When Churchill heard about Auschwitz, he implored the RAF to bomb it or the railway lines leading to it. But this was not done. We explore all the arguments around the practical difficulties of bombing Auschwitz, but the question remains whether the Allies should not have done something to stop the killing. Includes interviews with Auschwitz survivors and expert historians. 10-11:10pm -- Band of Brothers - Why We Fight. Easy Company finally enters Germany to surprisingly little resistance, and relaxes for the first time in months. A patrol in a nearby forest discovers an abandoned Nazi concentration camp, still filled with emaciated prisoners. The local citizenry, unbelievably disavowing knowledge of its existence, is made to clean it up. Suddenly, news arrives from Berlin--Adolf Hitler committed suicide! ____________________________________________________ Monday, October 17, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Satellites. Strong enough to survive their fiery launch into orbit, sophisticated enough to provide life-saving images or relay tens of thousands of phone calls at the same time. By monitoring weapons systems and troop movements, these "eyes in the sky" may be the difference between security and annihilation. From the futuristic visions of a British sci-fi writer to creations of a German rocket designer for the Nazi war machine to the Cold War technological race, we review the satellites that link our world. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - 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? 9-11pm -- Decoding The Past - Beyond The Da Vinci Code. Is it the greatest story ever told--or the greatest story ever sold? A best-selling novel sparks a debate that could change Christianity forever. Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and co-leaders of their movement? Was Mary Magdalene, herself, the Holy Grail--the vessel said to hold Jesus's blood--and mother of his descendants? Did the early Church know this "truth" and deliberately mislead followers? Is there a secret, ancient society, the Priory of Sion, which still protects this bloodline? Have some of the most illustrious names in art and science been members? These are some of the questions that Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code raises. We examine both sides of the story--the conventional view of Christianity and the "alternate history" proposed by Brown--so that viewers can decide. ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, October 18, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Observatories: Stonehenge to Space Telescopes. From Stonehenge to the Hubble Telescope, man has always been a species of stargazers. Unforgettable film footage and expert accounts reveal the facts of astronomy's most mind-boggling discoveries. 8-9pm -- Man, Moment, Machine - The Higgins Landing Craft. In the early morning of June 6, 1944, history's largest amphibious invasion force amassed off the Normandy coast. Hundreds of 36-foot shoebox-shaped boats, known as LCVPs, or Higgins Boats, bob in the waves. These landing craft, which deliver soldiers to the beach, are designed and built largely through the efforts of one man--Andrew Jackson Higgins. We examine Higgins' life and study the boat that could land a platoon of 36 men with equipment, or a jeep and 12 men. By 4 AM on June 6, 1944, the first wave of Higgins Boats is loaded with troops for the 12-mile journey to the Omaha and Utah Beaches. The first wave of landings is close to disastrous, but as wave after wave of Higgins Boats unload, the tide begins to turn. 9-10pm -- Shootout - WWII Assault on Germany. In 1944, General Eisenhower's order was short and to the point: destroy the German army. If successful, Allied forces would win the war in Europe. To American GIs that meant defeating a foe bent on defending his homeland at all cost. This episode recounts and reenacts the experiences of US soldiers who participated in one of WWII's greatest military campaigns Through interviews, archival footage, and recreations, vets share graphic memories of penetrating the Siegfried Line, the formidable German border-defense system; fighting in the Hurtgen Forest, a dark, dense wooded area that rendered tanks and air power useless; and sewing up the industrial region known as the Ruhr Pocket. Veterans put viewers right in harm's way with their deeply personal stories of what it was like to conquer Germany one pillbox, one troop shelter, one hilltop, and one town at a time. They shed tears over lost comrades and reveal the effects of combat, including psychological stress that still haunts them. 10-11pm -- Wild West Tech - Vices. In the Old West, there were whores a-plenty and rivers of homemade hooch. Sin was in and available in various flavors. Most vices were still legal back in the 19th century, and inventors could make a fortune creating new technologies to bring them to the masses. Back in the good old days, cocaine was even found in soda pop, and the cure for alcoholism was said to be heroin! Thanks to technology, you didn't have to slump at the opium den, you could get high at home. Take a "trip" out West to the frontier of sex, drugs, and lock'n'load! ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, October 19, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Apollo 11. As mankind's greatest achievement of the 20th century, Apollo 11 stood as the apogee of science, exploration, flight, and technological prowess. In scarcely 10 years, America went from rocketing monkeys to landing a man on the moon. Leaving Earth on July 16, 1969, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Mike Collins pushed the limits of skill and endurance. See and experience the flight of Apollo 11 through the eyes of the astronauts, mission controllers, engineers, and designers who made it happen. 8-9pm -- Modern Marvels - Metal. They constitute the very essence of the modern world; the cadence of our progress sounds in the measured ring of the blacksmith's hammer. From soaring skyscrapers and sturdy bridges to jet planes and rockets, metals play a key role. Our journey begins before the Bronze Age and takes us into the shiny future when new metal structures--engineered at a molecular level to be stronger, lighter, and cheaper--shape human progress, as they have since man first thrust copper into a fire and forged a tool. 9-10pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 6. An in-depth look at the modern era's most complex, deadly, and controversial engineering failures. With the aid of 3-D animation, forensic experts, and footage of disasters, we seek to understand what went wrong and how mishap led to remedy. Stories include: the Marines' AV-8 Harrier "Jump Jet"; the Ford Explorer/Firestone rollovers; fire on the Piper Alpha offshore oilrig; derailment of a high-speed train in Germany; and computer errors that brought the world to the brink of accidental nuclear war. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Engineering Disasters 13. In this hour, death seeps out of the ground into a neighborhood sitting on a toxic waste dump at Love Canal in New York; soldiers die during Desert Storm in 1991 when software flaws render Patriot Missiles inaccurate; on September 11, 2001, World Trade Center Building #7 wasn't attacked, but seven hours after the Twin Towers collapsed, it too is mysteriously reduced to a pile of rubble; a night of revelry in Boston turns the Cocoanut Grove nightclub into an inferno that kills over 400 people in 1942; and the science of demolition is put to the test and fails when a building in Rhode Island, the "Leaning Tower of Providence", stands its ground. ____________________________________________________ Thursday, October 20, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Apollo 13. The Apollo 13 mission was intended to be a "routine" trip to the moon. But when an oxygen tank exploded, the spacecraft was crippled and its 3-man crew placed in mortal danger. The Lunar Module, intended for deployment on the moon's surface, instead became a lifeboat. Scientists and engineers on earth fought a race against time to save the crew. We'll examine the mission, which nearly ended in tragedy, but instead was a resounding success, and in some ways became NASA's finest hour. 8-10pm -- Cannibals - Steeped in controversy, human cannibalism both fascinates and repulses. Many anthropologists argue that cannibalism is an instinctive part of human nature; that it was an institution in many ancient cultures; that people will turn to cannibalism without reservation in a survival situation; and that our very bones are imprinted with evidence that we are creatures who eat our own. Other experts vehemently disagree, questioning eyewitness accounts and taking issue with what archaeologists claim is hard scientific evidence. This 2-hour special gets to the heart of the debate by investigating both well-known and little-known scenarios in which humans may have resorted to eating other humans. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - The Butcher. In a carnivorous world, a butcher is a necessary link in the food chain, carving a carcass of unsavory flesh into mouthwatering cuts. We trace the grisly trade's evolution--from yesteryear's butcher-on-every-corner to today's industrial butcher working on a "disassembly" line. We tour the infamous remains of the Chicago Stockyards, where Upton Sinclair, Clarence Birdseye, and refrigeration changed butchering forever; witness high-speed butchering; and travel to a non-stop sausage factory. And if you're still squeamish, a USDA inspector offers the lowdown on HACCP--the country's new system of checks and balances on everything from quality grading to E. coli, Salmonella, and Mad Cow Disease. Finally, we visit the last bastion of old-school butchering--the rural custom butcher, who slaughters, eviscerates, skins, and cuts to his customer's wishes. ____________________________________________________ Friday, October 21, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 6-8pm -- Meteors: Fire in the Sky - Meteors, comets, and asteroids cross the solar system to offer clues about our planet and universe. Can they destroy civilizations? Did they wipe out the dinosaurs? Have they brought life to our planet? And when will the next one hit? Aided by elaborate animation and live-action footage, we learn what these mysterious space rocks really are and imagine what likely happened 65-million years ago, when an object plowed into the Yucatan Peninsula. We see how certain spectacular meteor falls advanced our understanding of what they are and the danger that they pose. We talk to leading experts--astronomers and geologists including David Levy and Carolyn Shoemaker, co-discoverers of the Shoemaker-Levy comet that fell into Jupiter in 1994. And we talk to NASA scientists about recent missions to asteroids and comets and speculate on ways to move Earth-threatening asteroids and comets out of our way. Because it isn't a question of if but when the next deadly impact will take place. 8-10:30pm -- The Siege (movie) After a special branch of the US military takes prisoner a suspected Muslim terrorist mastermind, New York City becomes the target of escalating attacks. Anthony Hubbard (Denzel Washington), the head of the FBI/NYPD Terrorism Task Force, teams up with CIA operative Elise Kraft (Annette Bening) to track the responsible organization. As bomb attacks rage, the federal government decides to send the army into the city streets, led by General Devereaux (Bruce Willis), and declares martial law. With Tony Shalhoub (1998) 10:30-11pm -- Mail Call - #83. At ease, Private! R. Lee Ermey is your commanding officer in this weekly series that answers viewers' questions about military methods and technology with practical demonstrations by military experts. Viewers go on the frontlines, to foreign lands, and into basic training as Lee demonstrates the hows and whys behind weaponry, military hardware, vehicles, and jargon. It's a glimpse of military life and history that civilians rarely see. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, October 22, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Extreme Aircraft. Join us for a supersonic look at some of the most cutting-edge aircraft ever developed--from the X-1 that first broke the sound barrier to the X-43 Scramjet that recently flew at Mach 7. These extreme aircraft have made their mark on aeronautical history, and sometimes on political history as well. The U-2 and SR-71 spy planes played a crucial role in the Cold War, and now Lockheed Martin's top-secret "Skunkworks" division is touting the new "air dominance" fighter plane-- the F/A-22 Raptor. 8-11pm -- Reel To Real - Battle of the Bulge (movie) Epic story of the Nazi war machine's last desperate offensive. Henry Fonda, Robert Shaw, and Charles Bronson star. (1965) ____________________________________________________ Sunday, October 23, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Secret Superpower Aircraft - Quest for Vertical Take-Off. Military planners fear the runway's vulnerability to preemptive attack. Their solution? Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft able to launch without runways. The Cold War's onset led to Western Europe's need to defend from Soviet invasion and the Luftwaffe's rebirth; we revisit their WWII engineering breakthroughs. Next we turn to US efforts to build a VTOL aircraft--"Pogo" aircraft, the Ryan X-13 Vertijet, F-104, and Sikorsky S-57. Meanwhile, British designers develop the P.1127. NATO nearly adopts it as the European standard, but politics kill full deployment. Its technology ends up in the Harrier. We also examine Soviet VTOL design efforts and a look at the post-9/11 world. 8-9pm -- Secret Superpower Aircraft - Secret Superpower Bombers. An analysis of the awesome aircraft deployed by West and East to gain an edge in the high-stakes game of delivering total nuclear annihilation anywhere. We open with the first of many Soviet propaganda ploys. At a Moscow military air show Western guests are stunned by an overflight of massive Soviet M-4 "Bison" bombers. Though there were truly only 18 aircraft in prototype stage, the ruse of circling the same 18 planes worked. Western military raced to catch up. We review Soviet efforts to build a long-range bomber fleet and recall their successful reverse engineering of the US B-29. We move to the US program to develop long-range, nuclear bombers capable of extended flight for weeks or months and the quest for a perfect long-range bomber. We also look at the impressive bombing accuracy of the B-2 Stealth Bomber during the opening phases of the Iraq War. 9-10pm -- Secret Superpower Aircraft - Secret Superpower Fighters. We open with Moscow's 1952 revelation that its air defenses and fighter jets were outdated. Stalin's fury over the inability of MiG fighters to catch British reconnaissance aircraft leads to reorganization of air defenses and the MiG 21. Meanwhile, fighter defenses over the US are left to Korean War vintage F-86 Sabre jets. A new jet fighter, the F-103 Thunder Warrior, is developed, but military politics intervene, and it's cancelled. Next, we turn to the defense of long-range bombers whose deep penetration of Soviet air space was crucial. We also recall the story of one of the most remarkable fighters ever devised--the Canadian Avro Arrow--and the reason for its abrupt cancellation. We close with a look at the upcoming F-22, the first totally new fighter design in 20 years. 10-11:15pm -- Band of Brothers - Points. Major Winters (Damian Lewis) leads Easy Company into the Bavarian town of Berchtesgaden--once home to top Nazi officers--and receives orders to take the abandoned Eagle's Nest, Hitler's mountaintop fortress. As German officers hand over their weapons, soldiers raid wine cellars and snap up souvenirs. But their elation is short-lived--most of the division faces redeployment to the Pacific Theater. A closing vignette tells what happened to the men of Easy Company after they returned home. ____________________________________________________ Monday, October 24, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - D-Day Tech. By the spring of 1942, Hitler had made a fortress of Europe, and the Allies began to plan the biggest invasion in military history. The history-altering success of the D-Day Invasion depended on innovative engineering and technological advances. This is the story of those scientific and mechanical breakthroughs--the overwhelming array of landing craft, specialized weapons, and ingenious electronics--used to breach Fortress Europe on June 6, 1944. 8-9pm -- UFO Files - UFOs: Then and Now? Cause for Alarm. Studies some of the most disturbing UFO sightings, including: a 4-day extravaganza in 1952, when UFOs cruised the skies over the White House; sightings in 1967 near a secret US/Canadian submarine detection base; controversial events at the UK/US air base at Bentwaters, England; and the military's Test Area 51 in Nevada. 9-10pm -- Decoding The Past - Presidential Prophecies. It's a little-known, but fascinating aspect of the Presidency. Throughout history, numerous Presidents have claimed to prophesy through visions. In 1778, George Washington claimed that an apparition of a woman appeared to him one evening and foretold of the birth, progress, and future of the United States. While in office, both Ronald Reagan and Woodrow Wilson consulted psychics who predicted their deaths. Franklin Delano Roosevelt consulted a psychic in the last years of his Presidency about world relations, post WWII. Perhaps the most well-known Presidential prophecies concern Abraham Lincoln, who participated in séances and experienced visions--including an incident that predicted his assassination. Join us for a Presidential peek at the past. 10-11pm -- Digging for the Truth - The Holy Grail. For all its fame, the Holy Grail remains shrouded in mystery. What exactly was it? Could it have survived to this day? Why has it inspired so many treasure seekers? To Christians, it is the holiest of objects, the cup from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, also believed to be the chalice that Joseph of Arimathea used to catch Christ's blood as he died on the cross. Though now thought of as a goblet, the actual word "grail" comes to us from the Latin word gradalis--a flat dish or shallow vessel brought to the table during various courses of a meal. The story itself did not originate until medieval times, when it helped inflame the Crusaders' quest. Host and adventurer Josh Bernstein follows the Grail's trail from Holy Land to medieval French castles to a dark chapter in the Nazi saga, when Hitler financed a search for the Grail to unite a secret society of knights. On the way, Josh learns its true meaning and power. ____________________________________________________ Tuesday, October 25, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 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 -- Monsters - One of our most popular series, History's Mysteries explores the stories, events, legends, and myths that captivate the imagination and ignite fierce debate. In this special, we take a look at various historical monsters pulled from five of our most popular shows: The Abominable Snowman, Bigfoot & Other Monsters, Legends of the Werewolves, The Loch Ness Monster, and The Real Dracula. 9-10pm -- Mysteries on the High Seas - Sailing, sailing over the bounding main! Join us for a salty voyage through various stories extracted from our highly-rated series History's Mysteries. Watery legends we wade through come from The Mysteries of Devil's Triangle, Monsters of the Sea, Ghost Ships, Shark Attack 1916, and Alaska's Bermuda Triangle. 10-11pm -- Man, Moment, Machine - Dam Buster: WWII's Bouncing Bomb. It's 1943 and the war is not going well for the Allies. With the Nazis in firm control of Europe and the coastline, the enemy is only approachable by air. Engineer Barnes Wallis thinks he can turn the war around. His idea--wipe out the heart of the Nazi industrial machine by destroying Germany's great dams. His machine--a bouncing bomb--an innovative blend of simple physics and precision flying. It's an idea so simple, yet so far-fetched that only a man supremely confident in his own talent could persuade the Royal Air Force to use it. On May 16, 1943, 19 bomber crews embark on one of the riskiest missions of WWII. Their planes fly under cover of darkness 100 feet off the ground, across the English Channel, over Holland, and into the heart of Germany. If they make it, they'll take out Nazi industry by destroying Germany's dams. ____________________________________________________ Wednesday, October 26, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - The Basement. Venture down that creaky staircase to explore the most misunderstood room in the house! From Pompeii to Pittsburgh, the dark, cool, and forlorn spaces beneath our living quarters have always contained things that helped us live comfortably. Ancient Hittites, Phrygians, and Persians carved subterranean rooms for food, water, and wine storage, and for shelter from weather and marauders. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a basement greatly increased a house's value. Ruins of homes at Pompeii reveal the importance of basements in providing both heat and storage for rich Roman families. Renaissance architects placed kitchens, servant quarters, and laundry rooms there, hidden from the eyes of their aristocratic patrons! Colonial Americans expanded the practice, and by the 20th century, the basement was a routine feature. Come along as we demystify this domestic underworld, which turns out to be an area of innovation, imagination, and creativity. 8-9pm -- Miracles, Mystics, & Prophecies - Journey to the mystical world as we explore events that captivate the imagination and ignite debate. The stories in this mysterious hour are pulled from episodes of our popular series History's Mysteries, including Prophecies of the Past, America's Psychic Past, Fatima Secrets Unveiled, and Rasputin. 9-10pm -- Mysteries of the Bible - Have faith! In this hour, we examine biblical enigmas that have ignited debate between believers and non-believers for eons. In this hour, we cull stories from episodes of our highly-rated series History's Mysteries, including The Shroud of Turin, Sodom & Gomorrah, The Hunt for Noah's Ark, and Predicting Armageddon. 10-11pm -- Modern Marvels - Commercial Fishing. Battered and fried or simply raw--seafood is a popular dish, no matter how you serve it. Americans consume more than 5-billion pounds yearly, an order that takes more than a fishing rod to fill and worries conservationists. We follow the fish, the fishermen, and the science trying to preserve fisheries for future generations--from ancient ships on the Nile to a modern technologically sophisticated factory trawler on the Bering Sea to the University of New Hampshire's open-ocean aquaculture research project. And we witness a wide variety of fishing methods--from gillnetting and longlining to lobster trapping. Hop aboard and sail through time and around the globe as we explore the harsh conditions of life at sea and experience firsthand one of history's deadliest jobs. Brace yourself and feel the ice-cold, salt spray on your face as we explore commercial fishing! ____________________________________________________ Thursday, October 27, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Bathroom Tech. From tub to toilet to toothpaste, here's everything you ever wanted to know about the most used and least discussed room in the house. From the first home bathrooms in ancient India, Roman latrines, and bizarre Victorian-era bath contraptions, to modern luxurious master bathroom suites, we trace the history of bathing, showering, and oral hygiene. And we reveal the messy truth about what was used before toilet paper--brainchild of the Scott Brothers of Philadelphia--and why astronauts wear diapers. 8-9pm -- Out of This World - We investigate man's fascination with alien visitors and life on other planets, pulling stories from some of our most popular episodes of History's Mysteries, including: Asteroid!, Roswell: Secrets Unveiled, The Search for Life on Mars, and Secret UFO Files. 9-10pm -- Cover Up? - Ever wonder what goes on behind closed doors? In an hour that pulls segments from episodes of our popular series History's Mysteries, we examine stories from episodes including Area 51: Beyond Top Secret, Jack Ruby on Trial, Death of Marilyn Monroe, and A Question of Conspiracy: The RFK Murder. 10-11pm -- Conspiracy? - TWA Flight 800. On July 17, 1996, at 8:31 pm/et, TWA Flight 800 exploded midair and fell into the Atlantic. All 230 onboard perished. Federal investigators meticulously reconstructed the aircraft, looking for any evidence of terrorism and found none. They concluded that a malfunction in the center fuel tank caused the explosion. But this official conclusion has never satisfied a coterie of independent investigators and conspiracy theorists. We weigh existing evidence against various theories to let you decide. ____________________________________________________ Friday, October 28, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - Plumbing: The Arteries of Civilization. Each day, billions of gallons of water flow through cities into homes and back out again in a confusing mess of pipes, pumps, and fixtures. The history of plumbing is a tale crucial to our survival--supplying ourselves with fresh water and disposing of human waste. From ancient solutions to the future, we'll plumb plumbing's depths. 8-9pm -- Lost Worlds - Vanished peoples...one-breasted, female warriors...civilizations recorded in stone... We'll examine legends and myths that captivate the imagination, with stories coming from popular episodes of our highly-regarded series, History's Mysteries, including: Lost City of Atlantis, Amazon Women, Enduring Mystery of Stonehenge, Japan's Mysterious Pyramids, and Mysteries of Easter Island. 9-10pm -- Strange Behavior - No controversy is overlooked, no theory disregarded as we examine strange behavior around the world. Stories are culled from episodes of our popular series History's Mysteries, including Most Ancient Taboo: Cannibalism, Cults, Getting High: The History of LSD, and Body Snatchers. 10-10:30pm -- Mail Call - #84. No episode description available. 10:30-11pm -- Mail Call - M-16/Viet Cong Booby Traps/Ravens/Wild Weasels/River Patrol Boats/Green Beret: #30. Why did the military replace the M-14 rifle with the M-16 during Vietnam? What kind of booby traps did the Viet Cong use? Who were the super-secret Ravens? What did the Wild Weasels do during the Vietnam War? What types of missions did river patrol boats take care of in Vietnam? How did the Green Berets get their name? In an episode devoted to the Vietnam War, R. Lee Ermey answers viewers' questions on military technology with practical demonstrations by military experts in the field. ____________________________________________________ Saturday, October 29, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Modern Marvels - The Butcher. In a carnivorous world, a butcher is a necessary link in the food chain, carving a carcass of unsavory flesh into mouthwatering cuts. We trace the grisly trade's evolution--from yesteryear's butcher-on-every-corner to today's industrial butcher working on a "disassembly" line. We tour the infamous remains of the Chicago Stockyards, where Upton Sinclair, Clarence Birdseye, and refrigeration changed butchering forever; witness high-speed butchering; and travel to a non-stop sausage factory. And if you're still squeamish, a USDA inspector offers the lowdown on HACCP--the country's new system of checks and balances on everything from quality grading to E. coli, Salmonella, and Mad Cow Disease. Finally, we visit the last bastion of old-school butchering--the rural custom butcher, who slaughters, eviscerates, skins, and cuts to his customer's wishes. 8-9pm -- 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! 9-10pm -- Monsters - See description above on Tuesday, Oct. 25. 10-12am -- The True Story of Hannibal - 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 Pyrénées and Rhône 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. ____________________________________________________ Sunday, October 30, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 7-8pm -- Tsunami 2004: Waves of Death - The 2004 Tsunami, centered in the Indian Ocean, was caused by a 9.3 earthquake--the second strongest quake on record. Join us for a minute-by-minute look at nature's fury at its worst, when the tsunami kills more than 200,000 people in 14 countries. In this special, we examine the tsunami as it moves from coast to coast through the eyes of people who lived through it and scientists now studying its path of devastation. Drawing on the extraordinary volume of amateur video that recorded the disaster, we take viewers inside the world's deadliest tsunami. 8-10pm -- The Plague - It began like the common cold. Then fever, baseball-sized black swellings on the neck, coughing of blood. Few lived more than two days. The year--1437. It was history's worst biological disaster and almost half of Europe's population died within three years. Visit the plague ships' rat-infested holds, witness the terror that swept through the towns, and walk with the religious flagellants. Follow a princess as she travels into the center of the plague, a doctor who struggles to understand what is happening, and a Jewish merchant caught up in violent attacks. Hear the actual words of the victims, taken from diaries and journals. From the Pope's palace to the humble huts of medieval peasants, watch as people live and die in the unforgiving grip of fear and death, and wonder how we would act if such a terrible event happened today. 10-11:25pm -- Band of Brothers - Currahee. They were ordinary men, swept up in the most extraordinary conflict in history. With the eyes of the world upon them, they found their greatest source of strength in each other. From Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, this is the story of Easy Company--an elite team of US paratroopers whose WWII exploits are as incredible as they are true. Part 1 begins on June 4, 1944, in England, as Lts. Richard Winters (Damian Lewis) and Lewis Nixon (Ron Livingston) reflect on the past that led them to D-Day. ____________________________________________________ Monday, October 31, 2005 ____________________________________________________ 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! John Carpenter movies scheduled inc. Halloween 8-10pm -- Houdini: Unlocking the Mystery - In one of magic history's rarest events, a private collector auctioned off the largest collection of personally-owned Harry Houdini artifacts and memorabilia, providing an unprecedented peek behind the curtain at the world's great showman and magician. In a 2-hour special, hosted by renowned magician Lance Burton, we explore the life and magic of the great escape artist through his most prized possessions: the Chinese Water Torture Cell, the Milkcan, his straitjackets and handcuffs, and lockpicks that were "key" to his handcuff escapes, revealed to the public for the first time. We also unlock secrets of the man--brash showman, fierce competitor, loyal son and husband. With expert commentary, including a great-nephew and the last surviving member of his magic troop. 10-11pm -- UFO Files - Russian Roswell. Welcome to the remote, top-secret military base Kapustin Yar, the Soviet "Area 51"--where the wreckage from no fewer than eight UFO crash incidents and their occupants were transported and studied between 1945 and `91. We expose this never-before-seen installation through interviews, on-camera tours, dramatic reenactments, and extensive recreations. We also explore the many Russian UFO crashes over the decades and show the ways in which Soviet UFO research scientists at Kapustin Yar used and processed the wreckage...and the alien bodies. Join us as we investigate the facts and myths surrounding Kapustin Yar, as well as the many UFO crashes that still circulate in the lore and consciousness of the Russian people.
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)
Wild West Tech hosted by David Carradine on the History Channel, some episodes narrated by Keith Carradine
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* Congressman Gary Condit (D), who reportedly told police he'd had an affair with Levy, is no longer considered to be a suspect in the case. Condit lost his bid for re-election in the Democratic Primary of 2002.
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"What's the difference between a Nazi and a dog? A Nazi raises his arm" - Victor Borge
