The BEST History shows of all time
Every History show, ranked
We've compiled the average episode rating for every History show to compile this list of best shows!
#1 - Modern Marvels
Celebrating ingenuity, invention and imagination brought to life on a grand scale, MODERN MARVELS tells the fascinating stories of the doers, dreamers and sometime-schemers who created everyday items, technological breakthroughs and man-made wonders.
View Episode Rankings#2 - Engineering an Empire
In an era long passed, mighty empires were forged from nothing and rose to the heights of power. Join host Peter Weller, an actor and a professor at Syracuse University as he travels the world to show the engineering feats that gave rise to some of the greatest civilizations known to man. From Rome to the Pharaohs' Egypt, from Greece to Carthage, from the Aztecs to the Maya and more, this new program from the History Channel uses computer graphics to explore the architectural, political and cultural glory of the world's greatest empires.
View Episode Rankings#3 - WWII in HD
WWII in HD is the first-ever World War II documentary presented in full, immersive HD color. Culled from thousands of hours of lost and rare color archival footage gathered from a worldwide search through basements and archives, WWII in HD will change the way the world sees this defining conflict. Using footage never before seen by most Americans--converted to HD for unprecedented clarity--viewers will experience the war as if they were actually there, surrounded by the real sights and sounds of the battlefields. Along the way they'll meet a diverse group of soldiers whose wartime diaries and journals show in visceral detail what the war was really like. This visually astonishing landmark series presents the story of World War II through the eyes of 12 Americans who experienced the war firsthand. Viewers will hear the story of Army nurse June Wandrey, who served from the beginning of the war in North Africa to the liberation of the camps in Germany. They will meet Shelby Westbrook, a young African American from Toledo, who became a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen; Jimmie Kanaya, the son of Japanese immigrants, who served in the U.S. Army and was imprisoned in Europe; and Jack Werner, a Jewish émigré who escaped from Austria before the war and wound up fighting not against Hitler and the hated Nazis, but in the Pacific Theater.
View Episode Rankings#4 - Dogfights
Using modern computer animation, great aerial and modern naval battles are recreated. In the process, you get to learn about the history of military aviation technology and the tactics developed to use them to their best advantage.
View Episode Rankings#5 - Vietnam in HD
It's not the war you know. It's the war they fought. Two years after the release of its landmark Emmy-winning series WWII in HD, HISTORY shifts its focus to a new generation and one of the most controversial chapters in American history, the Vietnam War. Vietnam in HD will immerse viewers in the sights, the sounds and the stories of the Vietnam War as it has never before been seen. Thousands of hours of uncensored footage--much of it shot by soldiers in action--will detail every critical chapter of the conflict. The war will unfold onscreen through the gripping firsthand accounts of 13 brave men and women who were forever changed by their experience in Vietnam. This six-hour series is narrated by Golden Globe Award winner Michael C. Hall and voiced by some of Hollywood’s top talents.
View Episode Rankings#6 - The Universe
Explores many scientific questions and topics about the universe (Big Bang, the Sun, the planets, black holes, other galaxies, astrobiology etc.) through latest CGI, data and interviews with scientists. From the planets to the stars and out to the edge of the unknown, history and science collide in a wondrous yet deadly adventure through space and time.
View Episode Rankings#7 - Human Weapon
The ultimate search of a Human Weapon, each episode charts an expedition through foreign continents, famous cities, exotic villages, back alleys and lush landscapes with hosts Jason Chambers – mixed-martial-artist and professional fighter – and Bill Duff – former professional football player and wrestler, who will learn how each individual location gave birth to its distinct form of combat and will study their form of martial art.
View Episode Rankings#8 - Battles BC
Using a graphic style similar to 300, the contemporary novel that became a Hollywood blockbuster, Battles BC shows how leaders from the ancient world fared in some of the greatest conflicts in history, exposing the truths and myths behind the legendary feats of the epic heroes and villains who didn t just wage war, but invented it.
View Episode Rankings#9 - Ice Pilots NWT
This documentary series follows the pilots of the Yellowknife-based Buffalo Airways, which still flies Second World War airplanes to transport people around Northern Canada.
View Episode Rankings#10 - Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy
Larry the Cable Guy believes the United States of America is the greatest country on the face of the earth and he's out to prove it. In this new series, Larry crisscrosses the nation, going totally off the beaten path to find the people, places and things that define this nation's unique history. From panning for gold in the hills of California to leading a cavalry charge in a Civil War reenactment in Virginia, Larry gives history a fun, down-home twist in the new one-hour series Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy. Each episode uncovers surprising information about America's history from the story of how moonshine-making during Prohibition gave rise to one of America's most celebrated past times - NASCAR racing - to the history of etiquette from Emily Post's heirs in Vermont, complete with a lesson in good manners.
View Episode Rankings#11 - Great Minds with Dan Harmon
Great Minds hosted by Dan Harmon, who “invests in a time machine and is subsequently visited by history’s greatest minds. He then discusses their lives and brings them out into the modern world.” A ton of funny people are slated to show up as different historical figures throughout the series: Jack Black, Nick Kroll, Sarah Silverman, Paul F. Tompkins, Robert Smigel, Kristen Schaal, Jason Sudeikis, Dana Carvey, Aubrey Plaza, Scott Adsit, Andy Dick, Ron Funches and Thomas Middleditch.
View Episode Rankings#12 - Gangland Undercover
This drama series is a fictionalized retelling of the story of meth dealer-turned-ATF informant Charles Falco, who spent three years inside one of America's most dangerous motorcycle gangs, the Vagos. Although Falco originally took on the assignment to avoid spending 20 years in prison on drug charges, it eventually evolved into a quest for justice for him. ``Gangland Undercover'' documents the lives of outlaw bikers, who live in a world in which respect is earned through fear. The series is based on Falco's memoir, ``Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws,'' and documented historical research of gang rivalries.
View Episode Rankings#13 - In Search of...
Leonard Nimoy hosts this documentary television show devoted to mysterious phenomena, legends, conspiracy theories, as well as other curiosities and intrigues.
View Episode Rankings#14 - Doomsday: 10 Ways the World Will End
A look ahead at the cataclysmic events that could extinguish the human race.
View Episode Rankings#15 - Mountain Men
Most people enjoy the modern technologies and conveniences of today -- smartphones, tablets, cable and satellite TV among them -- but there are people who choose to live off the grid and in the unspoiled wilderness, where dangers like mudslides, falling trees and bears are all parts of life. ``Mountain Men'' profiles three such people. Eustace Conway, who has lived at the western edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina for more than 25 years, teaches interns about the old ways of living with nature. Tom Oar needs an entire year to prepare for the seven-month-long winter on Montana's Yaak River. In Alaska, Marty Meierotto must gather enough wood to survive, in complete isolation, winters that can have temperatures drop to as low as 60 degrees below zero. It's not an easy life but for these mountain men, it's life as they know it.
View Episode Rankings#16 - American Restoration
AMERICAN RESTORATION features Rick Dale and his crew of loose screws at Rick's Restorations in Las Vegas, Nevada, as they take rusty, beat-up items and restore them to their original glory. Whether it's a giant gas pump from the 1940s or a Hopalong Cassidy bicycle from the 1950s, every restoration is a high-stakes business project where worthless rust is transformed into a valuable collectible. However, these restorations aren't easy. Every project presents unique challenges for Rick and his team, who develop inventive processes to finish each job flawlessly and on time. From old gas carts to timeless slot machines, the items Rick restores are part of the fabric that makes up American culture. Things just aren't made like they used to be, but at Rick's Restorations, old becomes new again.
View Episode Rankings#17 - MonsterQuest
From Bigfoot to Swamp Beast, Monster Quest reveals the truth of legendary monster sightings around the world. Deploying the latest in hi-tech equipment, each episode scientifically examines the best evidence available, from pictures and video, to hair and bones, as well as the eyewitness accounts themselves. From pilots to policemen to ship captains, a number of seemingly credible people have seen things they can't explain. One part history, one part science and one part monsters, Monster Quest discovers the truth behind these legendary monsters.
View Episode Rankings#18 - Gangland
This new series tells the insider story of some of America's most notorious street gangs. We learn how they've shaped their times and affected the neighborhoods that they controlled. From the destruction wrought by the heroin kingpins in Harlem of the 1970's to today's most dangerous gang MS-13, which has spread out from the inner city to infect unexpected turf - suburban communities, gangs have a rich yet deadly history. They usually start out as a form of protection for their members and the community but then, grow predatory as they feed on the very people that they purport to defend. With exclusive interviews and rarely seen footage, this is a raw look at life inside these gangs - from those who live it and the agencies that are working to stop them
View Episode Rankings#19 - America: the Story of Us
The history of how the United States was invented, looking at the moments where Americans harnessed technology to advance human progress -- from the rigors of linking the continent by transcontinental railroad to triumphing over vertical space through the construction of steel-structured buildings.
View Episode Rankings#20 - Alone
Alone puts survivalists by themselves in the wilderness, without camera crews, support teams, or producers – on a single mission to stay alive for as long as possible. The last person standing will win $500,000.
View Episode Rankings#21 - Ax Men
The History Channel presents the first non-fiction show about the lives of the Pacific Northwest timber cutters and the dangers they face. From the same team responsible for Ice Road Truckers, this new series will take a look at the legacy of the pioneers who laid the foundations for future generations of loggers.
View Episode Rankings#22 - The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones
The boyhood adventures of the greatest action hero of all time: Indiana Jones. Young Indy travels the world, meeting some of the greatest figures of the early 20th century, and participating in the events that helped shape history.
View Episode Rankings#23 - History Channel Documentaries
The History Channel is a satellite and cable TV channel, devoted mainly to historical events and persons. Programming covers a wide array of periods and topics, while similar topics are often organized into themed weeks or daily marathons. Subjects include military history, medieval history, the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, modern engineering, and historical biographies.
View Episode Rankings#24 - Pawn Stars
Long before banks, ATMs and check-cashing services, there were pawn shops. Pawning was the leading form of consumer credit in the United States until the 1950s, and pawn shops are still helping everyday people make ends meet. “Pawn Stars” takes you inside the colorful world of the pawn business. At the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop on the outskirts of Las Vegas, three generations of the Harrison family — grandfather Richard, son Rick and grandson Corey — jointly run the family business, and there’s clashing and camaraderie every step of the way. The three men use their sharp eyes and skills to assess the value of items from the commonplace to the truly historic, including a 16th-century samurai sword, a Super Bowl ring, a Picasso painting and a 17th-century stay of execution. It’s up to them to determine what’s real and what’s fake, as they reveal the often surprising answer to the questions on everyone’s mind, “What’s the story behind it?” and “What’s it worth?”
View Episode Rankings#25 - Life After People
What would happen to planet earth if the human race were to suddenly disappear forever? Would ecosystems thrive? What remnants of our industrialized world would survive? What would crumble fastest? From the ruins of ancient civilizations to present day cities devastated by natural disasters, history gives us clues to these questions and many more in the visually stunning and thought-provoking special "Life After People."
View Episode Rankings#26 - Swamp People
Deep in the heart of Louisiana lies America's largest swamp–a million miles of inhospitable bayous, marshes and wetlands where nature rules and humans struggle to tame it. Many of its inhabitants are the hardened descendants of French refugees who were forced out of Canada in the 18th century and settled in this harsh yet majestic environment. Today, these people are known as the Cajuns, a group renowned throughout the world for their flavorful cuisine, distinctive music and vibrant culture. Resilient, self-reliant and fiercely independent, the Cajuns of the Atchafalaya Swamp still carry on many of their ancestors' trades and traditions.
View Episode Rankings#27 - Project Blue Book
A tough US Air Force officer and a skeptical scientist investigate UFO and alien conspiracies as Cold War paranoia spreads.
View Episode Rankings#28 - Barbarians Rising
It is inevitable that empires will fall, but not that they will rise. Rome is ambitious, wealthy and ruthless as it grows into the most powerful empire the world had ever known. But to achieve total domination, it blankets the ancient world in blood and tyranny, igniting the barbarian rebellions that will ultimately lead to its downfall. This is not a story about the glory of Rome. It’s the story of the people who rise to fight for freedom against a cruel and violent force bent on their destruction. As Rome grows stronger, the barbarians are taxed, enslaved, slaughtered, displaced and robbed of their cultures. But set against seemingly overwhelming odds, they never surrender; evolving and innovating new ways to fight against an organized and determined enemy. This is a clash of titans fought over centuries. Barbarians Rising tells the epic saga of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire from the perspective of the barbarian leaders who brought it down; a high-impact, visceral journey into the heart of their rebellions against absolute power. The Roman Empire called them “barbarians” – tribes beyond the fringe of civilization that live a primitive, savage existence. But they are also some of the fiercest warriors in history – men and women who rose up to resist so that they might live free, or die. The four-part docu-drama reveals the true story of the 700-year battle for supremacy, a fight for freedom that would shape the world to come. Featuring fully dramatized portrayals of icons including Hannibal, Spartacus, Arminius, Boudica and Attila alongside an eclectic group of experts and contributors, Barbarians Rising reveals the true history behind the legends. The Series has been broadcasted as 4 or 8 episodes. Use Season 1 for 4 episodes, and Season 2016 for 8 episodes.
View Episode Rankings#29 - The Curse of Civil War Gold
Treasure hunters Rick and Marty Lagina, the stars of History's "The Curse of Oak Island," learn of a new mystery that may even rival Oak Island's. Michigan native Kevin Dykstra is obsessed with a deathbed confession made by a lighthouse keeper in the 1890s about a national treasure dating back to the Civil War. The story goes that Union soldiers tracked down Confederate president Jefferson Davis in 1865 and confiscated his gold. The stolen loot was smuggled north some years later but ended up in Lake Michigan, where Dykstra believes it still remains. His quest to prove it ultimately takes him and his team to the bottom of Lake Michigan.
View Episode Rankings#30 - Ancient Aliens
Explores the controversial theory that extraterrestrials have visited Earth for millions of years. From the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt, from early cave drawings to continued mass sightings in the US, each episode gives historic depth to the questions, speculations, provocative controversies, first-hand accounts and grounded theories surrounding this age old debate. Did intelligent beings from outer space visit Earth thousands of years ago?
View Episode Rankings#31 - Forged in Fire
Forged in Fire features world-class bladesmiths competing against each other to create some of the most iconic edged weapons from history. In each episode, four of the best bladesmiths in the country will come together to put both their skills and reputations on the line. Whether they are making a Japanese katana, a medieval broadsword, or an ancient throwing blade like the chakram, the weapons they forge will be fully functional and lethal works of art and war. The unique histories contained within each weapon will be creatively told during the forging process and the final weapons themselves will be assessed and ruthlessly tested by our panel of expert judges. These dynamic and explosive tests will be individually designed to push the weapons to their absolute limit. One by one, the bladesmiths will be eliminated until only one remains to be crowned the champion.
View Episode Rankings#32 - Brad Meltzer's Decoded
What if the history you knew was only half the story? Brad Meltzer's Decoded investigates the other half: the secret history of the symbols and codes that surround us everyday. Best-selling author Brad Meltzer has been writing novels for more than a decade. He has studied and written about some of the most revered institutions and documents in human history, including the U.S. Supreme Court, the Presidency, the Secret Service, Wall Street and the Bible. Brad has assembled a team to investigate the countless clues and theories uncovered through his years of research, but unexplored until now. From the dollar bill to the first Presidential Codes, the hidden messages of the Statue of Liberty and the ciphers protecting the location of lost Confederate gold, the team uncovers the truth behind history's most provocative secrets.
View Episode Rankings#33 - Join or Die with Craig Ferguson
Join or Die with Craig Ferguson features the comedian debating provocative and timely topics in his unorthodox and iconoclastic manner. Each episode features a panel of guests which will include celebrities, comedians and experts, as well as the American public through social media. Topics will include: biggest presidential campaign flop, greatest founding father and which invention was history's greatest game-changer.
View Episode Rankings#34 - The Food That Built America
For generations of Americans, food titans like Henry Heinz, Milton Hershey, John and Will Kellogg, C.W. Post and the McDonald brothers have literally been household names, but you don't know their stories. Before they were brand names, they were brilliant, sometimes ruthless, visionaries who revolutionized food and changed the landscape of America forever. This series event will tell the fascinating stories of the people behind the food that built America – those who used brains, muscle, blood, sweat and tears to get to America's heart through its stomach, and along the way built cities, invented new technologies and helped win wars.
View Episode Rankings#35 - UFO Hunters
The team's access to UFO evidence is unparalleled and their expertise allows them to quickly identify bogus claims of UFOs. Together, they use eyewitness accounts, scientific experimentation, documents recently released through the Freedom of Information Act and footage that has never been seen before on television to piece together compelling — and at times chilling — evidence of UFO phenomena. Join UFO Hunters Bill Birnes, Pat Uskert, Dr. Ted Acworth, and Jeff Tomlinson as they separate fact from fallacy.
View Episode Rankings#36 - Hatfields & McCoys
A clash of clans that evoked great passion, vengeance, courage, sacrifice, crimes and accusations, which changed the families and the history of the region forever. The Hatfield-McCoy saga begins with 'Devil' Anse Hatfield and Randall McCoy. Close friends and comrades until near the end of the Civil War, they return to their neighboring homes - Hatfield in West Virginia, McCoy just across the Tug River border in Kentucky - to increasing tensions, misunderstandings and resentments that soon explode into all-out warfare between the families. As hostilities grow, friends, neighbors and outside forces join the fight, bringing the two states to the brink of another Civil War.
View Episode Rankings#37 - Ice Road Truckers
Take a trip to Yellowknife, Canada to experience one of the most dangerous careers around. In unfathomably cold conditions, truck drivers haul equipment and supplies to miners in the Canadian tundra in the dead of winter on a 350-mile highway of ice.
View Episode Rankings#38 - Kings of Pain
A wildlife biologist and professional animal handler get bitten and stung by some of the most dangerous animals and vicious stinging insects in the world in an attempt to create a complete and comprehensive pain index that will ultimately help save lives.
View Episode Rankings#39 - SIX
Navy SEAL Team Six attempt to eliminate a Taliban leader in Afghanistan when they discover an American citizen working with the enemy.
View Episode Rankings#41 - Roots (2016)
An adaptation of Alex Haley's "Roots", telling the story of an African slave who was sold to America, and his descendants.
View Episode Rankings#42 - Stan Lee's Superhumans
Throughout history, the forces of evolution and genetic mutation have endowed humans with astonishing new abilities and features. It's a process that continues to this day, and nowhere is it more evident than in the fascinating world of Stan Lee's "Superhumans." Co-hosted by Stan Lee, the legendary creator of the X-Men, the series scours the globe for the real-life counterparts of Lee's characters–people with unique genetic traits that translate into remarkable powers. These include a man whose body is powerfully magnetic, another who can withstand deadly levels of cold and yet another whose brain performs complex calculations at staggering speeds. In each episode, these "superhumans" undergo tests that may help explain their amazing gifts, while viewers discover the long history of people with extraordinary powers. Daniel Browning Smith, who's been dubbed the most flexible man in the world, hosts this thrilling journey into the farthest reaches of humankind
View Episode Rankings#43 - Hunting Hitler
According to documents that were declassified by the FBI in 2014, Adolf Hitler may have survived World War II and fled to South America following the fall of Nazi Germany. In this series a team of investigators -- led by 21-year CIA veteran Bob Baer and war crimes investigator John Cencich -- undertakes a definitive search with the goal of finding out whether the notorious dictator actually survived the war and pulled off one of history's greatest disappearing acts. The team uncovers a mysterious Nazi lair in the Argentinean jungle and searches for evidence of a missing U-boat that may have transported Hitler out of Europe as Germany collapsed.
View Episode Rankings#44 - Battle 360
The USS Enterprise held a pivotal place on the turbulent seas of war, engaging in some of the fiercest, multi-front battles ever witnessed in modern combat. This series will follow the Enterprise and its men from the start of the war through to the last battle. As the war went on, the ship changed, the men changed, and the battles were never the same.
View Episode Rankings#45 - The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer
Premiering on Tuesday, November 14 at 10PM ET/PT, this five-part limited series, features a team of top investigators and code-breakers, working in tandem with a super-computer, known as CARMEL, the first of its kind programmed to think like a killer. This team believes they may have broken a significant portion of the diabolically complicated code, Z340, and have been granted unprecedented access to police files, new witnesses, new clues, and the cooperation of representatives of the CIA and FBI.
View Episode Rankings#46 - Counting Cars
When Rick Harrison and the rest of the "Pawn Stars" gang need to restore a vehicle they're buying, they turn to Danny "The Count" Koker, who runs Las Vegas auto shop Count's Kustoms. The Count now gets his own half-hour show (one hour beginning season 8) that showcases his ability to restore and customize classic rides. When he sees a vehicle he wants, whether it's at an auto auction or at a roadside diner, Koker does all he can to acquire it. When successful, he and his team then work to restore and modify the cars and motorcycles in order to quickly flip them for a profit. From classic cars like Thunderbirds and Corvettes to sidecar motorcycles and everything in between, if it has wheels the Count's Kustoms team can make it look spectacular.
View Episode Rankings#47 - The Men Who Built America
John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and J.P. Morgan rose from obscurity and in the process built modern America. Their names hang on street signs, are etched into buildings and are a part of the fabric of history. These men created the American Dream and were the engine of capitalism as they transformed everything they touched in building the oil, rail, steel, shipping, automobile and finance industries. Their paths crossed repeatedly as they elected presidents, set economic policies and influenced major events of the 50 most formative years this country has ever known. From the Civil War to the Great Depression and World War I, they led the way. Using state of the art computer generated imagery that incorporates 12 million historical negatives, many made available for the first time by the Library of Congress, this series will bring back to life the world they knew and the one they created. The event series will show how these men took a failed experiment in democracy and created the greatest superpower the world has ever seen. We see how their historic achievements came to create the America of today.
View Episode Rankings#48 - How the Earth Was Made
There's a lot of information in How the Earth Was Made, but perhaps the most interesting relates to time. Quite often, the numbers are so staggering that scientists refer to it as "deep time," an appropriate term when one grapples with the notion that our planet is 4.5 billion years old, or that the oceans were formed by rainfall that lasted literally millions of years, or that 700 million years ago, Earth was completely covered by ice that was a mile thick, with surface temperatures reaching minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit. On the other end of the scale are numbers that seem surprisingly small: for instance, it wasn't until 220 years ago that the accepted church doctrine regarding the planet's age (no more than 6000 years, according to the Bible) was seriously challenged and that the key to its past was found in rocks, not scripture, while the discovery that dinosaurs once ruled the Earth came considerably later than that. Using a combination of computer graphics and animation, various drawings and diagrams, photos, location footage, and expert commentary, this fascinating, 94-minute History Channel production takes us from the very beginning, when the planet was formed by meteors colliding in space, through numerous major events (including the appearance of water, granite, and oxygen) and mind-boggling catastrophes (such as mass extinctions caused by volcanic eruptions or the enormous meteor that wiped out 75% of all living things, including the dinosaurs, some 65 million years ago), right up to the present; there's even a glimpse into the future, when Earth will likely end up as barren and lifeless as Mars (no need to hit the panic button yet, though--a few billion more years will pass before that happens). Bonus features include additional scenes and a documentary entitled "Inside the Volcano." --Sam Graham
View Episode Rankings#49 - Cities of the Underworld
Right beneath our feet, there are cities hidden by time that may hold clues that could rewrite history. In “Cities of the Underworld,” Don Wildman travels to the farthest and deepest reaches of the globe, using cutting-edge technology to explore mysteries buried deep underground. Across the season, Don will follow in the footsteps of treasure hunters to search for a lost Aztec colony, travel to Croatia to learn about the lost history of a little known pirate queen who supposedly ruled her empire from a muddy cave, and explore tunnels below the city of Los Angeles that may hold the clues to solving one of the most infamous cold cases in American history.
View Episode Rankings#50 - Top Shot
Sixteen skilled marksmen compete for the title and a $100,000 prize package in this first-ever competition series from History. Each week one contestant is eliminated as they face both individual and team challenges that involve not only modern-day firearms but muzzle-loading muskets, throwing knives and slingshots. Special high-speed, high-definition cameras capture the action for a slow-motion replay.
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