The BEST episodes of History Channel Documentaries season 2008

#1 - Bible Battles

Season 2008 - Episode 3 - Aired 12/20/2008

A look at the christian bible through the eyes of a military historian.

#2 - Life After People

Season 2008 - Episode 31 - Aired 1/21/2008

If humans were suddenly to disappear, what would happen to our planet--the structures we’ve built, the everyday items we take for granted, animals domesticated and wild, plants, trees? What would become of the things that define our species and leave our mark on this Earth? Visit the ghostly villages surrounding Chernobyl (abandoned by humans after the 1986 nuclear disaster), travel to remote islands off the coast of Maine to search for abandoned towns that have vanished from view in only a few decades, then head beneath the streets of New York to see how subway tunnels may become watery canals. THE HISTORY CHANNEL takes you on an amazing visual journey in LIFE AFTER PEOPLE, a thought-provoking adventure that combines movie-quality visual effects with insights from experts in the fields of engineering, botany, ecology, biology, geology, climatology, and archeology to demonstrate how the very landscape of our planet will change in our absence.

#3 - The Crusades: Crescent & The Cross, Part 1

Season 2008 - Episode 46 - Aired 1/31/2008

The shadow of war between Christian and Muslim hangs over us today, but it is a war that began nearly a thousand years ago. By the close of the 11th century, Jerusalem had been in Muslim hands for over 400 years. In 1095 Pope Urban II launched an unprecedented military campaign to seize it back--a "Crusade" to purge the Holy Land of "the infidel". Over 60,000 Christian warriors would journey 3000 miles and for almost three years to reclaim the Holy City in the name of God. But their adversaries, the Turkish warlords of the Middle East would resist them every step of the way. In a series of epic battles and bloody massacres, tens of thousands would die as the crusaders inched ever closer towards Jerusalem.

#4 - The Dark Ages

Season 2008 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/1/2007

A look at European history after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. At its height in the second century A.D., the Roman Empire was the beacon of learning, trade, power and prosperity in the western world. But the once-powerful Rome--rotten to the core by the fifth century--lay open to barbarian warriors who came in wave after wave of invasion, slaughtering, stealing, and ultimately, settling. As chaos replaced culture, Europe was beset by famine, plague, persecutions, and a state of war that was so persistent it was only rarely interrupted by peace. THE DARK AGES profiles those who battled to shape the future, from the warlords whose armies threatened to case the demise of European society, like Alaric, Charles the Hammer, and Clovis; to the men and women who valiantly tended the flames of justice, knowledge, and innovation including Charlemagne, St. Benedict, Empress Theodora, and other brave souls who fought for peace and enlightenment. It was in the shadows of this turbulent millennium that the seeds of modern civilization were sown.

#5 - God vs Satan: The Final Battle

Season 2008 - Episode 19 - Aired 10/19/2008

Armageddon. It is a universal theme that has spanned centuries and cultures...and has, as some say, become increasingly more relevant today. Surprisingly, however, a final chapter of this apocalyptic end has received little examination: the actual final battle between God and Satan, good and evil. The Bible points to a battlefield at Meggido in present day Israel, with each side taking a series of steps that will lead up to, and unfold, during this actual battle. What will this battle look like? Where do the stories come from, and how have they differed throughout history, between religions? God vs. Satan: The Final Battle will take viewers on a tour of the final days, and moments, as envisioned by believers of the three Abrahamic religions.

#6 - Einstein

Season 2008 - Episode 26 - Aired 11/16/2008

Albert Einstein's revolutionary theory that turned the world upside down might have been dismissed but for a math mistake, a cloudy sky, and the start of World War I. This fascinating two-hour special tells the story of Einstein's little-known, 15-year struggle to prove one of his most radical theories -- a theory that upended Newton and three centuries of scientific thought and called into question the definitions of space and light and gravity -- the game-changing concept known as the Theory of General Relativity. Today, more than a century since the "Miracle Year" in which he published many of his breakthrough papers, Einstein's ideas remain a living, vibrant influence. They continue to push scientists farther, and deeper, into the universe than even he could have imagined.

#7 - All About Dung

Season 2008 - Episode 279 - Aired 6/30/2008

Join host Monty Halls as he takes viewers on an excremental safari to investigate the historical, medical, scientific and evolutionary importance of dung. Discover that through a 14,000-year-old human dung deposit it has been determined that humans inhabited North America 1300 years earlier than previously thought. Climb a 100-foot mountain of bat guano in Borneo that is teeming with insect life. Travel to India and view housewarming rituals using sacred cow dung as good luck. Finally Halls drinks coffee made from poop and investigates, through their large droppings, why mammoths might have disappeared.

#8 - Secret Access: Air Force One

Season 2008 - Episode 28 - Aired 8/25/2008

Go into the cockpit of Air Force One with Colonel Mark Tillman. Security it so strict that many top-level White House staffers are not allowed inside this specially modified Boeing 747. Inside the plane is a plethora of technology and security to keep the most powerful man in the world safe. The security on board is only the beginning on the President's Central African tour. At each of his six stops, special measures are taken. Each airport must be upgraded to meet safety specifications. Armored limousines and helicopters are airlifted in for additional transport. Secret Service marksmen stand at the ready at each engagement. Even the plane's fuel is tested and secured. Every stop must be a "zero-fail" operation, everything must be perfect. See all the details that must be checked to ensure the President's safety. Go inside compartments that are rarely seen by the public. Take a ride aboard Air Force One.

#9 - The Mexican-American War

Season 2008 - Episode 29 - Aired 9/15/2008

Examining the controversial war that resulted in the United States taking control of nearly half of Mexico's territory in fulfillment of President James K. Polk's desire to expand to the Pacific Ocean. Host: Oscar de la Hoya.

#10 - The Protestant Reformation

Season 2008 - Episode 30 - Aired 3/22/2008

Martin Luther triggers the Protestant movement, revolutionizing Christianity, spurring the development of modern nationalism and democracy, and shaping ways people worship today.

#11 - Expedition Alaska

Season 2008 - Episode 33 - Aired 4/20/2008

A team of scientists and wildlife filmmakers explore the Alaskan landscape.

#12 - Crucifixion

Season 2008 - Episode 34 - Aired 3/23/2008

A history of crucifixion focuses on the death of Jesus; explores the first known records of executions; and examines how people die and what eventually ends their lives during the agonizing process. Included: experiments by forensics experts using physical evidence from a crucifixion; and on-location footage from the Middle East.

#13 - Primal Fear

Season 2008 - Episode 35 - Aired 10/27/2008

PRIMAL FEAR goes beyond the innate terror associated with our deepest fears to examine the history, psychology, and science behind what scares us most. Each fear--being buried alive under six feet of suffocating dirt, the strike of a lethal snake, terrorist attacks that can occur at any time--will be explored by looking at its history, the science behind it, and contemporary survivor stories that relate what a near-death experience was like. Examine the roots of each fear, when the fear flourished, how the fear has changed over time, and how many of these fears have been manipulated to create mass hysteria. Listen in as science experts, supported by CGI, show how the instinctual response to danger of fight or flight has been essential to survival throughout history, describe the physiological cause of death on those who didn t make it, and explore the influence of these fears on pop culture and the human condition.

#14 - A Global Warning

Season 2008 - Episode 36 - Aired 4/15/2008

The litany of disasters reads like the Apocalypse: melted ice caps, submerged coastal cities, prairies turned to deserts. Mass extinctions. This worst case scenario is not merely a prophecy or work of fiction. It is a very real possibility that may loom in our not too distant future. But how likely is this outcome, what will bring it about and can it be avoided? To answer these imperative questions, THE HISTORY CHANNEL® applies its renowned expertise and authority to the issue of global warming in this very special feature-length documentary. A GLOBAL WARNING? spans the globe — fourteen extreme locations in all — to survey the frontline of scientific research and climatic impact. Meet with scientists unearthing evidence of our planet’s ancient weather history — crocodiles may have once roamed the Arctic! — and with experts analyzing humanity’s ever-expanding footprint. Understand, with the help of exacting animations, how sun activity, volcanic eruptions, meteor impacts, and even continental drift have made huge differences in the earth's weather systems.

#15 - Human Experimentation

Season 2008 - Episode 37 - Aired 8/26/2008

Since 1945, hundreds of thousands of military personnel became human guinea pigs in experiments and intentional exposures conducted by the U.S. government--often without their knowledge or consent. Aided by recently declassified documents, we reveal the truth about human experimentation, once hidden as a threat to "National Security."

#16 - Viking Voyage

Season 2008 - Episode 38 - Aired 9/3/2008

In 2007 a crew of 65 brave men and women set sail on a journey from Roskilde back to Dublin in a 30m (100ft) Viking longship named "Havhingsten fra Glendalough" ("Sea Stallion from Glendalough"), a Danish reconstruction of the Skuldelev 2 ship on display in the Roskilde Viking Ship Museum and originally built around 1040 near Dublin. Follow this amazing journey of experimental maritime archaeology.

#17 - How Life Began

Season 2008 - Episode 39 - Aired 6/21/2008

Was life triggered by some event, like lightning hitting a pond full of amino acids? Earth was teeming with life billions of years before the dinosaurs existed. Single-celled organisms inundated the oceans, and the soil swarmed with living creatures. Where did it all come from and how do you go from a single-celled organism to a trillion-celled organism like Man? Cutting-edge science is testing out answers about life's origins and how life can be created on new worlds--or even our own.

#18 - The Samurai: Masters of Sword and Bow

Season 2008 - Episode 23 - Aired 8/1/2008

They were the knights of medieval Japan, an elite warrior class that held the reins of power and the fascination of the people for more than 700 years. Masters of sword and bow, driven by an unforgiving code of ethics, they proved ferocious in combat. They beat back foreign invaders and fought each other for land, status, honor and glory.THE SAMURAI explores the extraordinary legacy of martial artistry, ceremony, self-discipline and tenacity in battle that reaches to this day. Modern-day samurai explain the ways of life in the Bushido, while scholars detail the pivotal events in their centuries-long history. From the heyday of the Heian Period (794-1185) to the inevitable decline that followed the opening of Japan in 1853, this is the definitive study of some of world's most famous fighters.

#19 - Alexander Graham Bell & the Telephone (History Channel)

Season 2008 - Episode 41 - Aired 1/15/2008

March 1876: Alexander Graham Bell struggles with an invention that may change the world. Early nineteenth century America is experiencing an explosive growth and expansion across a vast landscape. A technology is needed to meet the communication needs for this new nation, and Bell is convinced that he can transmit speech over great distances. Early telegraphs can only transmit one message over one wire at one time, and the message must be coded and decoded one letter at a time. Bell begins work on a multiple telegraph, but his genius will lead to a different revolutionary device that will carry thousands of simultaneous messages and shape the future--the telephone.

#20 - Quest for the Lost Ark

Season 2008 - Episode 42 - Aired 3/14/2008

#21 - What Went Down: The Alamo

Season 2008 - Episode 43 - Aired 10/10/2009

Experience what it would have been like to be present at history's most world-changing moments in What Went Down, the gripping series from HISTORY that serves as an HD time machine to the past. From the showdown at the Alamo to the cockpit of a Japanese plane at Pearl Harbor, What Went Down brings crucial historical events vividly to life. With the help of top CGI artists and on-location experts, each detail of these earth-shaking moments is meticulously investigated and researched, allowing viewers to see history from firsthand angles and points of view, as if they were there themselves. Watch as Bill Chemerka, founder of the Alamo Historical Society, helps a production team re-create a view from above that would have been impossible to see in 1836, and follow Dr. Donald Goldstein on a site survey in Pearl Harbor to see the lucky shot that sunk the USS Arizona battleship on December 7th, 1941. Witness these crucial periods in history as never before what they looked like, what they sounded like what went down

#22 - Mountbatten: Death of a Royal

Season 2008 - Episode 276 - Aired 8/27/2008

#23 - In the World of Jack the Ripper

Season 2008 - Episode 277 - Aired 10/10/2018

Go beyond the mystery and discover the first serial killer to reveal the dark underbelly of London's Victorian East End. Investigate one of the most talked about criminals of all time--Jack the Ripper. Take a walk down the streets that Jack once stalked and visit the pubs and brothels his victims frequented. Computer graphics and expert examination will help to recreate life as seen through the eyes of one of the most infamous and blood thirsty murderers in recorded history.

#24 - Prehistoric Monsters Revealed

Season 2008 - Episode 278 - Aired 7/28/2008

While presenting various lesser-known prehistoric giant creatures, various paleontologists explain how fossil analysis works and how they can deduce characteristics, behavior and look of these long extinct animals.

#25 - The Family That Defied Hitler

Season 2008 - Episode 273 - Aired 9/6/2008

In 1939 there were more than 3 million Jews in Poland, shockingly only two families are known to have survived the Holocaust intact. This is the story of one of them.