The BEST episodes of History Channel Documentaries season 2011
Every episode of History Channel Documentaries season 2011, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of History Channel Documentaries season 2011!
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 - You Don't Know Dixie
Season 2011 - Episode 50 - Aired 8/17/2011
The idea that history is written by the victors is perhaps nowhere more true than in the aftermath of the American Civil War. The Union's defeat of the Confederacy brought the southern states back into the American fold, but in many ways, the two regions would remain divided, the North inheriting the credit for its impact on history. From the first permanent English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia, to the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, the South has shaped American culture and history. You Don't Know Dixie explores the pioneering spirit, self-reliance and grit that sets the South apart from the rest of the country. How did the South get its twang? Is the Southern accent really the nearest surviving relative of the American colonial accent? And what, exactly, are grits? HISTORY uncovers the South from the inside out, revealing fun facts and unique Southern flavor, with commentary from some of today's best known Southerners including Trace Adkins, Al Bell, Bobby Bowden, James Carville, Jeff Foxworthy, Ty Pennington, Ricky Skaggs, Herschel Walker, and Michael Waltrip.
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#2 - Journey To The Earths Core
Season 2011 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/23/2011
Humans have mapped every corner of the globe – from jungles and deserts to the depths of space. Yet we’ve gone only seven miles below the Earth’s surface – just one five hundredth of the way to the Core. The two-hour documentary JOURNEY TO THE EARTH’S CORE goes deeper: 4,000 miles down to the heart of our planet. Along the way, scientists, engineers, explorers and adventurers encounter an underground world where: strange life forms inhabit deadly environments over a mile down; trees force their way through 400 feet of rock to find water; 1500-foot tall skyscrapers are built on sand; mines are the size of cities; and prospectors give the Earth electric shocks to help find oil. It also a place where people run marathons, make parachute jumps and scuba divers edge their way to the base of the world’s deepest caves.
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#3 - Enola Gay: Rain of Ruin
Season 2011 - Episode 17 - Aired 8/6/1995
ENOLA GAY: RAIN OF RUIN puts you inside the cockpit of the historic B-29 Superfortress bomber whose devastating payload helped bring about the end of WWII. From the development of the atomic bomb to the horrific aftermath, highlights include dramatic footage taken by the crewmembers themselves.
#4 - History of the World in 2 Hours
Season 2011 - Episode 35 - Aired 10/6/2011
History of the World in 2 Hours gives viewers a rapid-fire history of our world, from the beginning of time as we know it to present day. History of the World in 2 Hours delves into the key turning points: the formation of earth, emergence of life, spread of man and the growth of civilization – and reveals their surprising connections to our world today.
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#5 - Siberian Apocalypse
Season 2011 - Episode 245 - Aired 10/18/2011
This astounding documentary delves into the mysteries of the Tunguska event – one of the largest cosmic disasters in the history of civilization. At 7.15 am, on 30th June 1908, a giant fireball, as bright the sun, exploded in the sky over Tunguska in central Siberia. Its force was equivalent to twenty million tonnes of TNT, and a thousand times greater than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. An estimated sixty million trees were felled over an area of over two thousand square kilometers - an area over half the size of Rhode Island. If the explosion had occurred over London or Paris, hundreds of thousands of people would have been killed. For almost one hundred years, the catastrophic cosmic impact of the century has remained a terrifying and hotly debated mystery. The first expedition to reach the site was led by Russian scientist L.A. Kullik in 1938. His team uncovered a colossal degree of devastation, but could find no obvious crater. Historians and scientists continue to speculate about what caused the apocalyptic fire in the sky, and why the elusive object failed to leave a crater. A huge number of theories and conspiracies surround the event. The suggested culprits vary from asteroids and comets to ball lightning, black holes and alien spaceships. Most scientists agree that such an event is likely to occur again. Next time, the human toll could be unimaginable. We reveal that NASA and other organisations are currently engaged in a desperate race against time to stop the next potential planet killer.
#6 - The Stoned Ages
Season 2011 - Episode 33 - Aired 9/22/2011
From the early cave dwellers who first stumbled upon psychedelic mushrooms to the over 6000-year-old tradition of opium cultivation in the East to a modern pharmaceutical industry with over 24,000 drugs on the market, drugs hav played a role in our lives since well before recorded human history. Explore the reasons we've used drugs through the ages, while considering the devastating consequences that accompany the choice to use certain drugs. This fascinating, fresh, and insightful documentary will ask the question: overall, have drugs done more to help us or hurt us? Host Dean Norris (Hank from Breaking Bad) will journey through the millennia and look in on the greatest civilizations in human history to discover if drugs helped these societies flourish or fail and whether drug use was holy or hedonistic, a savior or a curse?
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#7 - Zombies: A Living History
Season 2011 - Episode 36 - Aired 10/24/2011
Most people believe zombies are a recent phenomenon that grew out of comic books, movies and TV The truth is very different. This two-hour special explores the real story of zombies beginning at the dawn of civilization and continuing right through to today. The first written reference to zombies can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, mankind’s oldest work of literature. A look at both the old and new testaments of The Bible reveal numerous stories of the undead. We’ll detail how Europe’s Black Plague became one of the most prolific periods for myths and legends about zombies. Find out why Viking legends believed zombies were nearly indestructible except by decapitation or immolation. Examine other zombie legends from around the world, including secret stories of China’s Terra Cotta Warriors and the voodoo rituals of Haiti. See how modern science added a whole new twist on zombies beginning with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Watch Now:Amazon#8 - Secret Access: UFOs on the Record
Season 2011 - Episode 26 - Aired 8/26/2011
From the prehistoric drawings through the Roswell incident reports of strange and unexplainable sightings in the skies have become part of an unofficial historic record. With the proliferation of video and photo technology in the modern era, reports of these events–along with visual evidence–have only increased. 95% of UFO sightings are false, resulting either from misidentification or deliberate hoaxes. But the other 5% cannot be dismissed. Based on the newly published book “UFO’s: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record,” this two-hour special explores sightings that are supported by numerous creditable sources, from Air Force and commercial pilots, FAA officials, investigators military Generals and NASA officials as well as hard data: photos, film, radar and audio recordings. This evidence presents a startling look at the very real possibility of alien visitation.
#9 - Rome's Lost Legion
Season 2011 - Episode 246 - Aired 3/17/2011
For 1,900 years the secret of Rome’s missing Ninth legion has been shrouded in mystery, its ultimate fate argued over by generations of historians. We reveal how the loss of the Ninth legion was a truly catastrophic event: the devastating news was suppressed by Hadrian to safeguard his reign in a classic conspiracy cover up. It was the first in a chain reaction of disasters which forced Rome to halt expansion and to create the only two massive frontier walls ever built in the Roman Empire.
#10 - Cocaine : History Between the Lines
Season 2011 - Episode 27 - Aired 8/31/2011
This two-hour special goes inside the history of the second most used illicit drug in America. The human appetite for this narcotic goes all the way back to 3000 B.C., when South Americans chewed coca leaves, thinking they were a gift from God. But it wasn't until 1855, when cocaine was first extracted from the coca leaf and used in powder form that its use spiked. Initially it was utilized as an anesthesia. Soon, famed psychologist Sigmund Freud touted it as an effective cure for depression and impotence. In 1886, John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, added it to his new soft drink: Coca Cola or Coke for short. In 1914, the drug was outlawed, but the damaged had been done. The 70's ushered in another boost in the drug's use, fueled in part by new drug cartels in South America. To combat cocaine's rise, the Reagan Administration started the War on Drugs in the 80's.
#11 - Targeting Bin Laden
Season 2011 - Episode 28 - Aired 9/6/2011
HISTORY's global television event tells the inside story of the operation to hunt and kill Osama bin Laden. From decision-making in the White House to the attack on the compound in Abbottabad, How We Got Bin Laden brings the most compelling story in recent history to life for the first time.
#12 - 101 Gadgets That Changed The World
Season 2011 - Episode 29 - Aired 6/15/2011
What is the most influential gadget in ever invented? Did you know that the transistor radio created rock and roll, or that the audiocassette overthrew the shah of Iran? From duct tape to the Swiss Army Knife, gadgets have transformed the way we live and have even changed history. In partnership with History, the editors of Popular Mechanics magazine have assembled a panel of the world's most renowned tech gurus to create a definitive list of 101 Gadgets that Have Changed the World. Explore the historically game-changing stories behind the gadgets we now take for granted--the combination lock, the zippo lighter, the gun silencer, the bra, and more--as we countdown to the single most influential gadget ever invented.
#13 - 9/11: The Days After
Season 2011 - Episode 30 - Aired 9/9/2011
HISTORY chronicles the days, weeks and decade after the worst terrorist attack in our history. Rarely seen and unexpected archival material from around the world is combined with natural sound to capture the themes and threads that continue to define life after 9/11.
#14 - Prophets of Doom
Season 2011 - Episode 31 - Aired 1/5/2011
Today's world has troubles unique to its time in history, from the global financial crisis to technological meltdowns to full-scale, computerized global war. HISTORY profiles three men "modern prophets" from different disciplines and with different theories who all believe America is on the decline, and will ultimately meet its end.
#15 - Scammed
Season 2011 - Episode 32 - Aired 9/14/2011
There are essentially five cons that are the basis for every swindle since the dawn of man; today's Nigerian email scam is nothing more than a derivation of a Spanish conquistador's bait-and-switch con that started more than 600 years ago. In Scammed, Paul Wilson, dubbed the "World's Greatest Con Man," and his team take a detailed look inside the complicated schemes and micro-cons that have plagued unsuspecting people for hundreds, even thousands of years, showing how many of these scams not only survived but evolved to be brutally effective with the help of modern technology. In each episode, Paul plays out long cons on designated marks so that he can help expose the cons, hustles and schemes that have victimized so many people, while teaching others how to avoid them. Though the tricks may be the same, the stakes are higher; nowadays more than money is on the line. Social security numbers, bank account information, and loads of private information are there for the taking... but only if you let a con man in.
#16 - Sniper: Bulletproof
Season 2011 - Episode 37 - Aired 10/18/2011
Sniper: Bulletproof deconstructs and analyzes the little known sniper events that have occurred when no other course of action was possible. The people who planned the takedowns, or pulled the trigger, share their techniques and bring to light the many factors that had to be considered in each mission: terrain, wind speed, temperature, elevation changes... all are critical to taking out targets considered bulletproof. A sniper has one chance, one breath, to rise to the occasion and save the day... if they miss, there may never be another opportunity. As these never told before stories unfold, the viewer also learns about the high tech gear each sniper carries on their classified missions.
#17 - Pearl Harbor: 24 Hours After
Season 2011 - Episode 39 - Aired 12/1/2011
Pearl Harbor: 24 Hours After examines the pivotal events that occurred after President Roosevelt received the call that Pearl Harbor had been attacked on 7 December 1941. Author Steve Gillon (The Kennedy Assassination: 24 Hours After) has unearthed new evidence from the FDR Library that reveals the true panic that gripped the White House and shook the nation. This special features new, rarely-seen footage, including film the Japanese had taken of the attack. Pearl Harbor: 24 Hours After reveals the untold story behind the United States’ reaction to the date which will live in infamy.
#18 - The Epic History of Everyday Things
Season 2011 - Episode 40 - Aired 11/29/2011
Common daily activities and things are explored, including brushing teeth; riding an elevator; or riding a bus.
#19 - Civilization Lost
Season 2011 - Episode 43 - Aired 12/11/2011
Around the world, archaeologists are uncovering artifacts that suggest the existence of previously unknown ancient civilizations, much like the mythical city of Atlantis. There is a growing belief among certain scientists and archaeologists that tens of thousands of years ago, before the rise of today's man, sophisticated human societies populated large cities that possibly featured mechanized transportation, electricity, and advanced weapons systems. Proponents of this theory believe that these civilizations were wiped off the planet and that the evidence now lies buried miles beneath the Earth's surface. This two-hour special will investigate these beliefs and uncover the truth about people who lived before the beginning of recorded time.
#20 - Darwin's Lost Paradise
Season 2011 - Episode 45 - Aired 2/15/2011
Charles Darwin is the author of the theory of evolution, an idea that shook the world in the 19th century and reverberates to this day. In his great work, “The Origin of Species”, he proposed that we are all descended from a common ancestor. It is the basis of modern biology and our understanding of Nature. Many of the observations which brought Darwin to this conclusion were made during his long voyage onboard the Beagle, a British ship which took him around the world in a voyage which lasted from 1831 to 1836. Darwin embarked on this voyage as a Christian. The great variety and complexity of the natural world which he encountered on the voyage caused him to question the validity of the established order which he had been taught.
#21 - Kolmanskop: A Diamond Ghost Town In Namibia
Season 2011 - Episode 46 - Aired 10/31/2014
With diamonds the German colonized town Coleman’s Hill in Namibia became the richest town of Africa in the beginning of the 20th century. The pioneers and diamond hunters are long gone today and the former boomtown has become a ghost town. Slowly the desert returns with its fascinating flora and fauna of the succulent Karoo, the most species-rich desert of the world. The picturesque houses disappear in the sand, nature slowly erases the traces of civilization and attracts new adventurers: Photographers, tourists and resourceful tour operators.
#22 - Trotzki, The Revolutionary
Season 2011 - Episode 47 - Aired 11/7/2011
The hero of the Russian Revolution was revered like a saint, for years. For him, the October Revolution and the Civil War were merely steps on the way to his true purpose: the world revolution.
#23 - Proving God
Season 2011 - Episode 48 - Aired 12/13/2011
For centuries, science and faith have been polarized on some of the most fundamental questions in the universe, sometimes with deadly consequences. But as mankind seeks to answer the ultimate question – whether God exists – religion and science have joined in an unlikely alliance. Can new scientific discoveries and digital age technology reveal tangible proof of God? From the far reaches of the cosmos to the inner working of the human mind, scientists and believers around the world are using science to open new frontiers in this ultimate quest.
#24 - Inside The Holocaust
Season 2011 - Episode 49 - Aired 4/25/2011
A two-hour portrait of the evolution of the Holocaust--from the early days of persecution in Nazi Germany to the final days of wanton annihilation. This special travels through the archives of Eastern Europe, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D. C., and the restoration labs of Yad Vashem in Israel tell the story of persecution, theft and murder through artifacts, rarely seen photographs and motion picture footage. Experts from across the globe illuminate what it took to systematcially implement the destruction of millions of people.
#25 - Reagan
Season 2011 - Episode 118 - Aired 2/7/2011
As we approach what would have been President Ronald Reagan's 100th birthday in 2011, some say the totality of the man is still eclipsed by the myth. Some call him a hero, and others an empty suit, one thing is for certain - President Reagan made history. But what made him?