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 - 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.

#3 - 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.

#4 - Simulators

Season 6 - Episode 24 - 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.

#5 - 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.

#6 - Dynamite

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

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

#7 - Earth Movers 2

Season 6 - Episode 27 - Aired 10/13/1999

#8 - 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

#9 - 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.

#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 - 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.

#12 - 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.

#13 - The Tool Bench: Power Tools

Season 6 - Episode 26 - 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.

#14 - 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.

#15 - The Big Dig

Season 6 - Episode 25 - 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.

#16 - 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.

#17 - 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.

#18 - 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.

#19 - Security Systems

Season 6 - Episode 32 - Aired 11/16/1999

Since civilization's earliest days, man has sought protection from those who would rob him of riches, knowledge, and even life. This is the story of the evolving systems designed to safeguard our most precious possessions, and of the enduring psychological war between protectors and thieves, each intent on outfoxing the other.

#20 - Forts

Season 6 - Episode 28 - 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.

#21 - Motorcycles

Season 6 - Episode 31 - 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!

#22 - Baseball Parks

Season 6 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/19/1999

Tracing the development of the ballpark. Visit some of baseball's greatest shrines, including Wrigley Field, Yankee Stadium and Camden Yards, and see how the years have changed the way they were conceived and built.

#23 - Battlefield Medicine

Season 6 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/30/1999

In this history of medicine under fire, we see how a small army of medics, nurses, surgeons, stretcher-bearers, and ambulance drivers, race to keep pace with the deadly advances of war.

#24 - History of Tall Buildings

Season 6 - Episode 3 - Aired 2/8/1999

The construction of skyscrapers is a triumph of engineering and capitalism. Climb to the top of the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, Sears Tower, and World Trade Center to see how ego, money, and technology joined to build the tallest of man-made structures.

#25 - Rescue Technology

Season 6 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/1/1999

Check out the latest advances in rescue technology, including a Searchcam system that locates buried victims, and the Jaws of Life that can extricate a person from a crushed car in seconds.