The BEST episodes of History Channel Documentaries season 2010
Every episode of History Channel Documentaries season 2010, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of History Channel Documentaries season 2010!
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.
#1 - Most Extreme Airports
Season 2010 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/20/2010
The infrastructures of 50-year-old airports are examined for their difficulties in keeping pace with the demands of heavy, modern traffic, as the aging airports must face issues stemming from layout, geography and much more
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#2 - The Real Story of Christmas
Season 2010 - Episode 28 - Aired 12/1/2010
Did you know that the quaint custom of Christmas caroling actually began with drunk and rowdy revelers threatening people door to door looking for food and liquor? Early versions of the heartwarming legend of Santa Claus described him as a horrible devil named Krampus who beat and kidnapped naughty children. In America during the 17th and 18th Centuries, celebrating Christmas was against the law! There's a lot to tell about the history of Christmas, and a lot you may not know. Along the way, meet Ebenezer Scrooge and George Bailey, The Grinch and Rudolph, and learn the true origins of our Christmas traditions. So grab some eggnog and a slice of fruitcake as HISTORY unwraps THE REAL STORY OF CHRISTMAS.
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#3 - Marijuana: A Chronic History
Season 2010 - Episode 27 - Aired 11/4/2010
The fight against drug use in America has been going on since the turn of the last century but the term "War on Drugs" only became part of our national dialogue in 1970 when it was first used by President Richard Nixon. The President later formed the DEA and started a push to outlaw drugs of all kinds. Among the most discussed drugs in this war is Marijuana. This special will look at the storied and strange history of Marijuana in America.
Watch Now:Amazon#4 - Countdown To Ground Zero
Season 2010 - Episode 51 - Aired 4/7/2010
A gripping, dramatic look, with the most recently released materials, at the extraordinary events of September 11th, 2001...not just this infamous day in history, but also how this day came to be through the dramatic stories of people whose lives converge at a moment when history turns. We'll recount the story of Al Qaeda's agents as they plan and execute the deadliest strike on the US since Pearl Harbor. It's also the story of the men and women who were attacked in the World Trade Center, and of the heroic rescuers who risked everything to save those trapped inside the doomed Twin Towers.
#5 - The President's Book of Secrets
Season 2010 - Episode 29 - Aired 12/1/2010
Moments after the President of the United States is sworn into office he gains access to "The Nuclear Football," a briefcase that contains the most volatile top-secret information in the world--America's nuclear launch codes. The Football is a high profile national secret, but it's only one of many pieces in the classified arsenal at the President's disposal once he assumes the role of Commander in Chief. Journey inside White House history to unveil staggering information about secrets known only to the President, from top-secret intelligence and classified events to covert codes and future technologies. Features exclusive interviews with Washington insiders, including former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former Director of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino and Presidential daughter Susan Ford who reveal what it is like to live and work in the White House. Presidential secrets investigated in The President's Book of Secrets include: What secrets does an outgoing President share with the President-elect during their first private meeting? When does the incoming President gain access to vital national secrets and receive the codes to the nuclear arsenal? Is there a “Keeper of the Secrets” who tells the President everything? What information is so highly classified that even the President’s security clearance is not enough to gain access? The President's Book of Secrets features exclusive interviews with Washington insiders, including former CIA Director Michael Hayden, former Director of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, former Vice President Dan Quayle, former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino and Presidential daughter Susan Ford who reveal what it is like to live and work in the White House. Additionally, Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, journalists Dan Rather and Jonathan Alter and other experts share what they know about the secret world of the Presidenc
Watch Now:Amazon#6 - Third Reich: The Fall
Season 2010 - Episode 38 - Aired 12/16/2010
How did the Germans experience the Allied victory in WWII? Rarely-and never-before-seen amateur films recount the catastrophic downfall of the Third Reich through the eyes of the people who lived it: the Germans themselves.
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#7 - Time Machine: Hotel Ground Zero
Season 2010 - Episode 35 - Aired 9/11/2010
There is an untold story from 9/11 - the incredible tale of the 940 tourists, visitors and staff in the Marriott WTC Hotel, located beneath and between the Twin Towers, who found themselves at the epicenter of a terrifying disaster. Despite jet engines and burning debris raining down on the building, somehow almost all of the hotel guests escaped. Of those who were still trapped inside, 14 miraculously survived the towers' devastating collapse. HOTEL GROUND ZERO tells the remarkable story of their escape, and the courage and heroism of the victims and their rescuers.
#8 - Jefferson
Season 2010 - Episode 36 - Aired 8/24/2010
Thomas Jefferson is the most researched, most written about, most referenced, and most quoted of our Founding Fathers. And yet, somehow, he remains the most stubbornly inscrutable. His life is a seemingly impenetrable thicket of contradictions: he enshrined the words “All Men are Created Equal,” and yet was a lifelong slave-owner; he was simultaneously a “man of the people” and the personification of the Virginia aristocrat; he was a die-hard American revolutionary who was also a dedicated lover of European culture and art; he advocated ruthless fiscal responsibility as president, yet his own finances were mired in debt.
#9 - I Am Alive: Surviving the Andes Plane Crash
Season 2010 - Episode 37 - Aired 10/20/2010
Recounting the tragedy of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 from the perspective of survivor Nando Parrado.Features reenactments of the 1972 crash and the 72-day struggle for survival that followed, including details of the 37-mile trek out of the mountains by Parrado and fellow survivor Roberto Canessa.
#10 - Third Reich: The Rise
Season 2010 - Episode 30 - Aired 12/14/2010
For the second half of the twentieth century, the Third Reich has been deliberated and dissected. Now, as the “Greatest Generation” fades into history, the image of 40,000 uniformed Nazis goose-stepping in perfect synchronization represents all most Americans know about history’s most dangerously successful totalitarian government. Dig deep beneath the surface of our collective understanding of the Third Reich as HISTORY unearths what we don’t know about the individuals who comprised one of the most fascinating and complex regimes of recent history. THIRD REICH: THE RISE AND FALL uncovers familiar anecdotes and fascinating details about the people who comprised the Nazi Party, and raids the treasure trove of archives the Nazis left behind, including rarely seen German newsreel recordings along with other unique footage carried home by Russian troops.
#11 - Maya: Rivals In The Jungle
Season 2010 - Episode 39 - Aired 11/5/2010
From the 1860s to the 1880s two explorers - the German Teobert Maler and the American Edward Thompson - competed in a bitter rivalry to find and photograph lost Mayan cities, deep in the Mexican and Guatemalan jungles. Maler was the superior scientist and photographer, but Thompson had a flair for adventure and self-promotion - and a way of keeping his discoveries out of government hands. Between them, they rediscovered a wonderful lost civilization, whose language and architecture still challenges today's hi-tech archaeologists. Teobert Maler died embittered and almost forgotten; but his photographs are still treasured as the first and best records of Mayan cities before they were overrun by tourists from the developed world.
#12 - Mein Germany
Season 2010 - Episode 42 - Aired 3/3/2010
On this documentary, Gene Mater and other winning soldiers recount their experiences on Germany. They describe us the miseries of the post-war, the black marketing and the search for hidden nazis.
#13 - The Real Face Of Jesus
Season 2010 - Episode 43 - Aired 5/3/2010
The Real Face of Jesus? follows a team of graphic experts as they use 3D technology to bring a holy relic known as the Shroud of Turin to life. Here, computer graphics artist Ray Downing consults with John Jackson of Colorado's Turin Shroud Center.
#14 - The Real Story of Thanksgiving
Season 2010 - Episode 44 - Aired 11/22/2010
The story of Thanksgiving, with its costumed Pilgrims, turkeys and pumpkin pie, zigzags through American history with some surprising twists. At the iconic Thanksgiving feast of 1621– no pumpkin pie or cranberry sauce was served, and that event was wiped from the history books for 200 years! In the 19th Century, some southern states thought Thanksgiving was an abolitionist plot and refused to celebrate it. Thanksgiving didn’t become an annual national holiday until World War II! What started as a somber Puritan day of prayer is now about football and food. How did we get there?
#15 - Cutty Sark - Out of the Ashes
Season 2010 - Episode 45 - Aired 7/17/2015
On the 140th anniversary of the Cutty Sark’s maiden voyage, and for the first time on television, Ben Fogle presents the full story of this world-famous ship and the dramatic bid to save her. Many believed the infamous fire of May 2007 spelled doom for the Cutty Sark, but using exclusive access, this programme explains the true context and consequence of that disaster. The History Channel tells the dramatic story of her working life - a tale that includes record-breaking voyages to the far side of the world, mutinies, suicide, and murder.
#16 - The Real Story of Halloween
Season 2010 - Episode 46 - Aired 10/26/2010
Evolving from the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain, modern Halloween has become less about literal ghosts and ghouls and more about costumes and candy. The Celts used the day to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, and also believed that this transition between the seasons was a bridge to the world of the dead. Over the millennia the holiday transitioned from a somber pagan ritual to a day of merriment, costumes, parades and sweet treats for children and adults.
#17 - The Roar of the Kittyhawk
Season 2010 - Episode 49 - Aired 9/1/2010
To commemorate ‘The Battle for Australia Day’, The History Channel will broadcast the world premiere of The Roar of the Kittyhawk. Produced by historian, writer and filmmaker Will Davies, The Roar of the Kittyhawk takes an in-depth look at the brave Australian pilots that flew the Kittyhawks of the 75 and 76 squadron RAAF, successfully defending the shores of Kokoda in 1942. The gripping one-hour documentary is told through the life of one of the pilots, squadron leader B.A. ‘Mick’ Grace. Grace was also the son and heir to the Grace Bros fortune, an international rugby player who played for the Wallabies in 1934 and a recipient of the prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross award. In mid 1942, the situation in the Pacific was getting desperate for the Australians – Singapore had fallen and a whole Australian Division had gone into captivity. Britain was on its knees and little help could be expected from the Mother country. The Japanese had landed on the northern coast of New Guinea and were pushing south to Kokoda. But it was here that the tide turned. The young Australian pilots in their Kittyhawks decimated the Japanese landing barges and their supply dumps and the ground troop fought off determined Japanese charges. Featuring extensive interviews with WWII pilots, many who have since passed away since the making of the film, The Roar of the Kittyhawkpays homage to the efforts of the Kittyhawk heroes – and the crucial role they played in breaking the Japanese army. The Battle for Australia Day was proclaimed a National Day by the Federal Government in 2008 and commemorates the service and sacrifice of all those who served in defence of Australia in 1942 and 1943, when Australia faced the gravest threats following the Fall of Singapore.
#18 - Samurai: Miyamoto Musashi
Season 2010 - Episode 50 - Aired 1/11/2010
Mark Ducascos journeys to Japan to learn what it means to be a samurai and to learn about the most popular, and much mythicized, samurai of all time Miyamoto Musashi.
#19 - The Unholy Battle for Rome
Season 2010 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/20/2010
In September 1943, the German army marched into Rome, beginning a 9-month battle for control of the “Eternal City”. It was the Allied aim to preserve the Holy City’s sacred institutions and treasures. So the staggering human cost before the city’s military conquest is nearly incomprehensible.
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#20 - How the States Got Their Shapes
Season 2010 - Episode 10 - Aired 4/6/2010
We are so familiar with the map of United States, but do we know why our states look the way they do? Every shape on the map tells a great story about our past. Why is California bent? To cling on to gold. Why does Oklahoma have a panhandle? Because of shifting borders for slavery. Why does Missouri have a boot? Because of a massive earthquake. This special examines how every state is a puzzle piece ultimately revealing the unique geography, political and social history of America
Watch Now:Amazon#21 - Seven Signs of the Apocalypse
Season 2010 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/26/2010
Religious. The Seven Signs prophecy predicting Armageddon appears on a Greek island in 100 A.D. and keeps a powerful hold on the imagination two millennia later
Watch Now:Amazon#22 - The Ten Commandments
Season 2010 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/26/2010
Religious. Some scholars believe the Commandments had different meanings in early times.
Watch Now:Amazon#23 - After Armageddon
Season 2010 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/2/2010
What have past acts of destruction taught us about what will happen to mankind after the apocalypse? Is it inevitable that disaster will someday strike America on an unprecedented level? How has history prepared us? History's most dramatic events--Hiroshima, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and others--are examined and analyzed with hard data gathered from their massive aftereffects. The disappearance of water and food supplies, the effects of deteriorated sanitation and health care on the remaining population, and the increased use of violence as a means of survival--all illustrate how societies have responded and survived.
Watch Now:Amazon#24 - Comets: Prophets of Doom
Season 2010 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/3/2010
Mysteries surround comets; predicting the future; the creation of the universe.
Watch Now:Amazon#25 - Earth 2100
Season 2010 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/2/2010
U.S. experts model a scenario of the next century and predict a 'perfect storm' of catastrophes.
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