The BEST episodes of History Channel Documentaries season 2006

#1 - American Vesuvius

Season 2006 - Episode 16 - Aired 9/10/2006

On August 25th, 79 AD, the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were flash-frozen in time when Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying all life in its path. Noted paleontologist, archaeologist, and forensic physicist Charles Pellegrino is the author of Ghosts of Vesuvius, a fascinating look at this ancient volcanic eruption. In AMERICAN VESUVIUS, Pellegrino uses the emerging science of forensic archaeology to decipher clues and gather evidence that helps him reconstruct the final moments of the victims. Using the same forensic techniques, Pellegrino undertakes an investigation of the ruins of the World Trade Center. By processing evidence and interviewing witnesses, he illustrates dramatic physical parallels between Vesuvius's eruption and the collapse of the Twin Towers. His scientific exploration results in an array of startling connections between the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum and the man-made devastation at Ground Zero.

#2 - The Miracle of Stairway B

Season 2006 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/14/2006

It is perhaps the single most amazing story of 9/11--the story of how 12 firefighters, three office workers, and a Port Authority cop lived through the devastating collapse of the North Tower, survived for hours under half-a-million tons of debris and were rescued when all hope seemed lost. We reveal the chain of uncanny coincidences and bizarre events that enabled these individuals to stay alive when so many were dying all around them. We tell their interlocking stories from the time they woke on 9/11, to the moment they were finally reunited with their families. In doing so, we also tell the bigger story of the heroic efforts of the firefighters to save lives--and of the 2,700 men and women who never made it home.

#3 - The Bielski Brothers: Jerusalem in the Woods

Season 2006 - Episode 259 - Aired 5/11/1994

Documentary on the Bielski Brothers who battled the Germans in Occupied Poland during WWII

#4 - Fear Files: Zombies

Season 2006 - Episode 258 - Aired 10/24/2006

A documentary on the history and legend of zombies featuring writers, actors, and historians interviewed on the subject, as well as the effect of zombies on films and pop culture.

#5 - Home for the Holidays: History of Thanksgiving

Season 2006 - Episode 33 - Aired 11/19/2006

From the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, Lincoln's 1863 declaration naming it a national holiday, to turkey, Macy's parade, and football, share the abundant feast of Thanksgiving history.

#6 - Heaven: Beyond the Grave

Season 2006 - Episode 30 - Aired 4/10/2006

Heaven has influenced politics, decided the course of nations, become the obsession of learned scholars, and inspired countless works of art. Most of all, the promise of heaven has determined how people have lived their lives...and how they've died. Through interviews with religious scholars and leaders, we explore the concept of heaven and its rich history. We trace the evolution of the idea of an afterlife--from ancient Egypt, through Renaissance writers and artists whose work it inspired, to the uniquely American vision that traveled across the sea on the Mayflower--and explore other religious views of heaven. Our experts also tackle the difficult subject: Can only those who accept Jesus Christ be admitted to heaven? What of the virtuous of other religions? Will they be excluded because they aren't Christian? Our experts discuss this delicate question, reflecting on the idea that perhaps a heaven as we know it waits for each of us on the other side of death.

#7 - Last Days on Earth

Season 2006 - Episode 29 - Aired 8/30/2006

How smart are we as a civilization? Smart enough to control our own destiny and avoid the cataclysms that could end life as we know it? Using state-of-the-art computer-generated graphics and interviews with the world’s top scientists, Last Days on Earth takes viewers inside seven of the deadliest threats to humanity. Some have the power to render us extinct, others can destroy the planet; all could entail the end of our civilization. How likely are they to occur, what exactly would happen if they did, and could we survive? Last Days on Earth goes beyond science fiction to science fact, as it takes viewers on a roller-coaster ride through black holes, intelligent robots, asteroid strikes and deadly plagues. Viewers will journey from the outer reaches of the universe to the inner world of DNA.

#8 - Violent Earth: Katrina: Send In The Guard

Season 2006 - Episode 31 - Aired 10/3/2006

#9 - Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Tree

Season 2006 - Episode 254 - Aired 10/29/2006

When a team of Dracula hunters, notably members of a family linked to the real-life Prince Vlad Dracul, tries to unearth the truth about the tyrant, they are haunted by mystifying events, misfortune, and tragedy 500 years after the 15th-century prince died.

#10 - Inside The Volcano

Season 2006 - Episode 253 - Aired 12/1/2006

Travel around the globe, and below its surface, to plumb the mysteries of the always-fascinating volcano. From gorgeous, pyrotechnic lava floes on Hawaii to awe-inspiring mushroom-clouds, humans cannot help but be fascinated by the earth-shaking grandeur of volcanoes. For four billion years, volcanoes have impacted life on earth. Empires have been destroyed, civilizations decimated – not to mention the possible extinction of dinosaurs and spurring of Ice Ages. And, like tuning a car engine by measuring its emissions, we can learn how our planet works by measuring the elements emitted from its diabolical vents.

#11 - True Caribbean Pirates

Season 2006 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/1/2006

Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, Ann Bonny and Black Bart Roberts. Larger than life, more dangerous than legend - pirates and buccaneers set sail for plunder. Shot in high definition - True Caribbean Pirates recreates the rise of piracy in the Caribbean and its climactic, inevitable downfall.

#12 - 1916 Total War - The Battle of Verdun

Season 2006 - Episode 26 - Aired 7/1/2006

Major General Julian Thompson, commander of land forces during the Falklands war, brings his years of soldiering experience to bear on this extraordinary battle. The battle of Verdun was one of the longest and one of the bloodiest engagements of World War I. Two million men were involved in the struggle. It began on February 21st 1916, when the Germans, commanded by Crown Prince Frederick William, launched a massive offensive against Verdun, an awkward salient in the French line.The outlying forts of Douaumont and Hardaumont soon fell, but the French rallied under General Pétain and resistance stiffened. A British offensive on the Somme relieved the pressure on Verdun in July, 1916, and by December the French had recovered most of the ground lost. The intention of the Germans had been a battle of attrition in which they hoped to bleed the French army white. In the end, they sustained almost as many casualties as the French; an estimated 328,000 to the French 348,000.

#13 - Heroes Under Fire: Shadow Warriors

Season 2006 - Episode 252 - Aired 3/10/2006

Afghanistan, 1981. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, threatening to expand its huge hold of territory and edge closer to the rich oilfields of the Middle East. President Reagan decided to send CIA officers in to train Afghan rebels to fight against the Soviets. But he didn't want to tip America's hand, so he sent in a small team of undercover officers from the CIA's Islamabad station in Pakistan. Working in dark alleys and traveling on Pakistani military helicopters, Milt Bearden and his team of CIA officers gradually built a network to funnel arms and cash into Afghanistan and train the rebels to fight. Dodging bullets and risking their lives, the CIA officers became secret warriors fighting America's last battle of the Cold War.

#14 - Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces

Season 2006 - Episode 24 - Aired 2/26/2006

Titanic's Final Moments: Missing Pieces has made international headlines announcing their location of two new pieces of the legendary ship at 12,400 ft below the Atlantic, These pieces shed new light on the World's most famous ship wreck.

#15 - Mount Vesuvius: The Fury Within

Season 2006 - Episode 251 - Aired 10/30/2006

Rising 4,000 feet above Italy's Campania region, Mount Vesuvius is one of the world's most active volcanoes, unleashing its lethal fire time and again. We examine the 79 A.D. eruption that destroyed the city of Pompeii, sealing the volcano's place in history; a 1631 eruption, at the height of the Black Plague, when the fiery mountain killed around 18,000; and a 1944 eruption that killed 26 as WWII raged across Southern Italy. Is Vesuvius in a resting period or gearing up for another explosion?

#16 - How William Shatner Changed the World

Season 2006 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/12/2006

You've got a cell phone at one ear, an iPod at the other. You know that Blackberry is now a verb and Spam is not only canned meat. But just how did we get here? Blame William Shatner--yes, that William Shatner--Captain Kirk. We'll boldly go where few have gone before to reveal how scientists, inspired by he series, would revolutionize medicine and are surpassing the far-out vision of the future foreshadowed in Star Trek in the 1960s. From cell phones to computers to even leading-edge medical advancements, this 2-hour special explores how those sci-fi inventions have now permeated everyday life as we know it. Hosted and narrated by Shatner and based on his book, I'm Working on That, we'll meet the brightest minds of Silicon Valley and the Trek-inspired inventions that have help change the world. In his current TV-series, Shatner's cell-phone has a familiar sound when he opens it as a nod to Star Trek.

#17 - The Real Tomb Hunters: Snakes, Curses, and Booby Traps

Season 2006 - Episode 19 - Aired 1/29/2006

Fighting Nazis; grabbing golden treasure; fleeing angry natives; dodging pitfalls in a booby-trapped temple--we all know how fictional explorers and archaeologists spend their days. But does real life compare? We follow some of the most daring archaeologists and take on the dangers they face--Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass steps into a booby-trapped tomb; American Arthur Demarest fights looters in the jungles of Cancuen; and in Chiapas, angry villagers kidnap Australian-born Peter Mathews. We also examine stories of past explorers who helped shape the "Indiana Jones" stereotype--paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews battled venomous snakes and Mongol bandits in the Gobi Desert; John Pendlebury, the British archaeologist, fought Nazis on Crete; and Sylvanus Morely, who was the first American archaeologist/spy. There are no special effects, no stuntmen, and no retakes...and for these eal-life archaeologists, no guarantee they'll survive for a sequel.

#18 - The Plot to Kill Jesse James

Season 2006 - Episode 18 - Aired 12/29/2006

This one-hour special tells the story of Robert Ford, the man who joined James's gang only to become resentful of the legendary outlaw and hatch a plan to kill him. With expert interviews, archival materials, dramatic re-enactments, and eyewitness accounts, this program brings to life the man, motives, and means focused on doing away with the "fastest gun in the West."

#19 - Leonardo da Vinci and the Code He Lived By

Season 2006 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/31/2006

The "code" referred to in the History Channel's Da Vinci and the Code He Lived By has nothing to do with theories about the High Renaissance master's involvement with secret societies (as explored in Dan Brown's bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code). Instead, it refers to Da Vinci's implacable work ethic, his insatiable curiosity and the talent and discipline required to keep his busy mind satisfied.

#20 - Washington the Warrior

Season 2006 - Episode 13 - Aired 8/29/2006

As one of the nation's most recognizable faces, he appears in every American history textbook and graces the dollar bill. Yet although he acts as the iconic figurehead of America, little is known about the man behind the myth. Before George Washington became America's first president and an enduring national symbol, he was a soldier. In this landmark release, THE HISTORY CHANNEL® presents an intimate chronicle of Washington's little-known military life. Follow him from his first officer's commission in the Virginia militia through the difficult lessons of his youth and his 17-year retirement. Witness his reemergence as the soul of the American Revolution and see how he transformed a ragtag band of men into an army that could battle--and beat--the greatest military in the world. Featuring stunning location footage, gripping re-enactments, and candid interviews with historical and military experts, WASHINGTON THE WARRIOR narrates one man's epic journey to greatness--and the birth of a nation.

#21 - Warrior Queen Boudica

Season 2006 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/10/2006

Leader of the Iceni tribe in modern day Great Britain, hear the story of a wife, mother, and queen that challenged the Roman army, Boudicca. Sift through history and mythology for the real story of the legendary uprising that pitted a small band of warrior How did a small island defy the might of the Roman army? Discover the motivations for Boudicca's revolt. See new evidence and hear new theories about her historic uprising. Her story exists in ancient Roman history and Celtic myth. She was a wife, mother, and queen who dared to challenge one of the greatest empires in human history. She is Boudicca. Boudicca's story has been repeated for nearly two thousand years. Pitting herself against the Roman army, she dared to break her Iceni tribe's peace with the empire. Leading a band of warriors against this massive force, she razed London to the ground. Her actions kept her island removed from mainstream Europe for years. Scholars and archaeologists sift through new discoveries and theories about this warrior queen. New evidence has come to light about the life and exploits of this extraordinary woman. Hear her story and find out which parts are fact or fiction. Was she motivated by revenge? How did she manage to stave off Roman retaliation? Why is this case unique in world history? Hear the answers to these questions and more in WARRIOR QUEEN BOUDICCA.

#22 - The Sahara

Season 2006 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/17/2006

A certain mystique lingers in its very name. It's a haunting and hostile arena with a past as captivating as its landscape. In this desert blanketing 11 nations in Northern Africa, nature has crafted a world of mesmerizing desolation and across its scorching sands humanity has dared to carve history. Our cameras explore a land of mirage and myth--from a mountain fortress of ancient freedom fighters to a vast stadium filled with gladiators' gore to the vibrant chaos of a camel auction to the fabled metropolis of Timbuktu. Historians chronicle how a devastating climate change turned a lush savanna into the world's harshest desert. The Sahara...sinister and seductive, mythic and mysterious...as tantalizing and elusive as a mirage.

#23 - Warrior Empire - The Mughals

Season 2006 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/12/2006

a/k/a Warrior Empire: The Mughals of India WARRIOR EMPIRE: THE MUGHALS is a sweeping in-depth portrait of India's most colorful violent and majestic era. From 1526 to 1858 this dynasty of nomadic warriors indulged their appetite for territorial expansion spreading their rule throughout the Indian subcontinent. Though they conquered their kingdom with crushing brutality the Mughals were also brilliant technological innovators and masters of art and architecture. This program offers lush detailed images of Mughal accomplishments such as the glorious Taj Mahal palaces forts water systems elaborate gardens and richly crafted artwork. Step-by-step scientific recreations of advanced Mughal metallurgy and weaponry show the meticulous production of chain mail armor for a battalion of elephants lethally flexible composite bows rocketry and swordsmith techniques passed down through the generations and still alive today. Join us for an enthralling history of the inventive warfare material excess architectural marvels and cultural flowering that shaped modern India. DVD Features: Interactive Menus; Scene Selection They paired military prowess and rapacity with a discerning eye for beauty and appreciation of culture. In three centuries, the nomadic Mughals created a vast empire that dominated South Asia, covering most of modern India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. WARRIOR EMPIRE rides with the Mughal forces, showing how they revolutionized warfare with such innovations as composite bows, matchlock guns, rocketry, chain mail, and cannons. Masters of intimidation, they deployed war elephants to demoralize their opponents, while skilled archers on horseback formed the core of devastating strike forces. But the Mughals also built some of the most enduring architecture in South Asia, including palaces, forts, water systems, gardens, and the Taj Mahal--a tomb that took 22 years to construct. Join us for a sweeping history of the military ambition, innovative weapons and strategies

#24 - Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower

Season 2006 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/19/2006

The Pilgrims' 1620 voyage from England to America aboard The Mayflower, their establishment of the Plymouth Colony and their relationship with the Wampanoag Indians are chronicled in a docudrama that relies heavily on William Bradford's eyewitness account documented in “Of Plymouth Plantation.”

#25 - Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War

Season 2006 - Episode 14 - Aired 12/1/2006

Despite common belief, the Civil War does not end in 1865, and the blood of many Americans, mostly blacks, continues to flow freely. It is a period known as "Reconstruction," a time many consider to be the darkest in American History. America is supposed to be reuniting, healing its wounds, and moving past civil discord. But by examining what is really going on in the post-Civil War South, one can see snapshots of a larger, more menacing picture, a picture shadowed by murder, terrorism, and chaos as "free" black men and women remain enslaved by a South that does not completely surrender. Insurgencies led by disgruntled ex-Confederate soldiers rip through nearly every southern state. America's first terrorist group, the Ku Klux Klan is formed in Tennessee and uses scare tactics and murder to keep blacks down