The BEST episodes of Modern Marvels season 6

#1 - Hoover Dam

Season 6 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/12/1999

Venture into the Southwestern Desert for the complete story of one of the seven engineering wonders of the world -- Hoover Dam. From the blueprints to reality, this is the story of the ingenuity and manpower that literally moved a river and sculpted a mountain of concrete.

#2 - The Tool Bench: Power Tools

Season 6 - Episode 27 - Aired 10/11/1999

The history of civilization could easily be measured in terms of our ability to make, use, and improve tools. We'll examine today's power tool industry, which is booming thanks to more powerful, lighter, and quieter cordless tools.

#3 - Parachutes

Season 6 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/23/1999

The history of parachutes and how there development has impacted the fields of war, firefighting, recreation, and space exploration.

#4 - Crash Testing

Season 6 - Episode 20 - Aired 8/9/1999

Delve into the secretive, but hugely important, multi-billion-dollar industry of product testing where wrinkles get ironed out and goods are stripped of the marketing and hype to see if they actually work.

#5 - The Atlantic Wall

Season 6 - Episode 24 - Aired 9/13/1999

Overview of the Nazi Fortifications along the Atlantic Seaboard from Belgium to Spain. Coastal Defense of WW2 Nazi efforts to prevent Allied Forces from gaining foothold into France. War Time Film Footage of "D" Day Invasion.

#6 - Shotguns

Season 6 - Episode 13 - Aired 5/23/1999

The first specialized gun, the British upper-class used it to shoot birds and small game for sport. The shotgun took on a variety of roles, used by hunter and warrior alike.

#7 - Dynamite

Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 6/21/1999

Dynamite blasts out the natural resources that have built our modern world.

#8 - Spy Technology

Season 6 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/15/1999

Tracing the evolution of the tools of espionage over the past century, from drop boxes and rudimentary codes to the tiny, high-tech devices that are already far more prevalent than most people imagine.

#9 - Bombs

Season 6 - Episode 11 - Aired 5/13/1999

One of the most feared and powerful weapons in any nation's arsenal. From the use of diseased carcasses flung over castle walls to Greek Fire to today's smart bombs, we review the evolution of bombs.

#10 - Scuba Diving & Underwater Breathing

Season 6 - Episode 14 - Aired 5/25/1999

Dive with the best as we test scuba diving’s past, and look to a future of mechanical gills.

#11 - The Tool Bench: Hand Tools

Season 6 - Episode 34 - Aired 11/23/1999

Well over 2-million years before modern man evolved, his primitive ancestors were making tools. The ability to extend the hand and strengthen the arm is considered one of the keys to human evolution. Join us as we nail down the history of hand tools, and look at a new generation of computer-designed, high-tech hand tools.

#12 - Motorcycles

Season 6 - Episode 32 - Aired 11/15/1999

Fast and powerful, they come in a hundred shapes and a thousand colors. To some, motorcycles symbolize freedom; to others, they simply stand for trouble! We race back in time and see how, for over a hundred years, motorcycles have tantalized riders with a promise of unparalleled speed and endless adventure!

#13 - Salt Mines

Season 6 - Episode 12 - Aired 5/19/1999

Discover more about this priceless commodity essential to our very survival. It has over 14,000 uses from de-icing our roads to softening our water.

#14 - Offshore Oil Drilling

Season 6 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/6/1999

Drilling offshore is to drilling onshore what Ginger Rodgers was to Fred Astaire, she did everything he did except she did it backwards and in high heels. Offshore drilling is one of the greaest technological dances mankind has ever attempted

#15 - Earth Movers 2

Season 6 - Episode 28 - Aired 10/13/1999

#16 - Fireworks

Season 6 - Episode 23 - Aired 9/6/1999

Since the invention of gunpowder, fireworks have thrilled audiences around the world. We'll review highlights of fireworks exhibitions throughout history, and go behind the scenes to explore how science and art mingle in this unique, ancient craft.

#17 - The Big Dig

Season 6 - Episode 26 - Aired 10/4/1999

An on-site report on the Massachusetts Central Artery-Third Harbor Tunnel project, an $11.6-billion undertaking to replace Boston's highways with roadways that run underground and beneath the waterways. The hour includes a look at funding controversies and new construction technologies utilized.

#18 - More Engineering Disasters

Season 6 - Episode 35 - Aired 11/29/1999

Throughout history the same builders and engineers that paved man's path out of the caves and into the modern world also caused some of mankind's worst disasters. Often a huge calamity is traced back to a tiny cause, insignificant in itself, but triggering a domino effect. We'll revisit notable disasters and search for probable causes.

#19 - Airships

Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/1999

They are among the most romantic machines ever built, enormous craft held aloft by lighter-than-air gas trapped beneath their vast skins. In the 20th century, they have played a vital role in war, transportation and commerce and been involved in one of the most famous tragedies of all time.

#20 - Simulators

Season 6 - Episode 25 - Aired 9/27/1999

Simulators have made training for many professions far safer, more effective and less expensive than it would be if the students were in command of the real thing. They have developed into extraordinarily sophisticated devices that can emulate entire tank battles, the passage of supertankers through narrow, storm-tossed straits and landing jet airliners in dangerous conditions.

#21 - Newspapers

Season 6 - Episode 22 - Aired 8/31/1999

Since the 15th century, man has sated his hunger for information with newspapers. The growing influence of the computer age and the widespread availability of instant information may eventually render the newspaper obsolete.

#22 - The NYC Subway

Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/6/1999

New York subway system's riders, workers and street performers make it a microcosm of city life.

#23 - Jet Engines

Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 5/3/1999

Strap on a parachute and soar through the saga of jet propulsion, which radically transformed our world since inception in WWII.

#24 - Map Making

Season 6 - Episode 8 - Aired 4/8/1999

Charting the history of cartography--from ancient Marshall Islands' stick maps to the New York City Police Department's computerized super-map. Some are works of art, others vital tools for law enforcement, space exploration, and agriculture.

#25 - Forts

Season 6 - Episode 29 - Aired 10/18/1999

Fortification evolved along with man's need to defend his territory from attack. From hills surrounded by fences to walled cities to impenetrable castles, these strongholds of the past echo the history of battles for territorial control. Join us as we learn how, as weaponry grew in sophistication, those walls came tumbling down.