The BEST episodes of Modern Marvels season 7

#1 - Engineering Disasters 3

Season 7 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/16/2001

When design flaws fell projects, the cost is often exacted in lives. Why did the Tower of Pisa begin to lean by as much as 17 feet; what caused the first nuclear accident in 1961; what killed three Soyuz 11 cosmonauts aboard the world's first orbiting space station; how did a winter storm destroy the Air Force's Texas Tower Radar Station; and what errors led to NASA's loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars Polar Lander?

#2 - Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel

Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/7/2001

Named one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern age, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel connects Virginia proper with its easternmost landmass. Stretching 17 miles across the historic Chesapeake Bay, the structure represents a man-made boundary between the Bay and the Atlantic.

#3 - Then And Now: Airships

Season 7 - Episode 14 - Aired 3/17/2001

#4 - Apollo 13

Season 7 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/22/2001

When an oxygen tank exploded in the command module of Apollo 13, the prospects for the three astronauts aboard were exceedingly grim. But they defied the odds.

#5 - The Colosseum

Season 7 - Episode 32 - Aired 6/11/2001

Nothing symbolizes the Roman Empire at its height or Rome in magnificent ruins more than the Colosseum. Built in 70 AD, it seated 80,000 people, boasted a retractable roof, underground staging devices, marble seating, and lavish decorations. It still serves as the prototype for the modern stadium.

#6 - Battle Gear

Season 7 - Episode 33 - Aired 6/19/2001

From battle armor to bubble gum, you might be surprised by what soldiers have carried into battle--and what they'll carry in future wars.

#7 - Monster Trucks

Season 7 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/12/2001

Ride shotgun in our rollicking history of the Monster Truck, and meet the father of the mythic beast, Bob Chandler, whose Bigfoot gave birth to the sport in a cornfield years ago.

#8 - Codes

Season 7 - Episode 26 - Aired 5/21/2001

As the social life of a community increases in complexity, the demands for private communication between two or more people inevitably lead to cryptology. Explore the rich history of communicating with secret symbols--from Egyptian hieroglyphics to Caesar's encrypted directives, from WWI and WWII codebreakers to cyberspace.

#9 - Cattle Ranches

Season 7 - Episode 37 - Aired 7/24/2001

We review the history of cattle ranching. We'll ride herd with modern cowboys as they twirl ropes and brand calves, and look to the cattle ranch of the future, where cloning will produce the ideal meat-producing steer with a consistently juicy, low-fat carcass.

#10 - How Did They Build That?: Concrete

Season 7 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/11/2001

#11 - The Pentagon

Season 7 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/27/2001

The Pentagon…The name alone conjures up an imposing image of American power and prestige. As the largest office building in the world, it serves as the headquarters of the nation’s armed forces.

#12 - Saloons

Season 7 - Episode 38 - Aired 7/25/2001

From a ladle and tin cup in an 1850s mining camp and Civil War tent saloons to Prohibition-era speakeasies, we investigate the history of the American saloon.

#13 - Survival Tech

Season 7 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/29/2001

In an historic survey of man's adaptation to killer environmental conditions, we travel to the desert, the Arctic, the sea, jungle, and space, charting the body's physiological responses to extreme circumstances such as frostbite, heatstroke, and hypothermia.

#14 - Home Tech

Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/3/2001

From the outhouse to the smart house, our lives have improved drastically in the last 150 years. Convenience and comfort have always been considerations in home design.

#15 - Proving Grounds

Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/8/2001

Where can you fire a missile without scaring the neighbors? Or lift millions of pounds in pursuit of a couple of ounces of gold? On a proving ground, of course, where performance is the only thing that matters.

#16 - International Airports 2

Season 7 - Episode 25 - Aired 5/14/2001

The developments and technology of international airports' construction and operation.

#17 - Computers

Season 7 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/11/2001

The development of computers from Charles Babbage's mechanical computers first used in the 1890 U. S. Census, to the computers developed during WW2 to break the German Enigma code--from transistor computers, integrated circuits and microcomputers used for the space race to the moon, to networked computers sharing data around the globe.

#18 - Lighthouses

Season 7 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/19/2001

From the earliest known lighthouses, such as the Pharos of Alexandria, to modern-day automated buoys and solar-powered lantern rooms, this history of lighthouses is rich with personal stories of lighthouse keepers, daring construction efforts, and ingenious optical discoveries.

#19 - Garage Gadgets

Season 7 - Episode 12 - Aired 2/12/2001

From lawn care products to snow removal and outdoor cooking, the garage gadgets for do-it-yourselfers have evolved over the decades to meet the ever-changing challenges of maintaining a home.

#20 - Hardware Stores

Season 7 - Episode 35 - Aired 6/25/2001

Join us for a nuts-and-bolts look at the history and evolution of those places that hold our world together. From the local blacksmith to Home Depot, it's the story of nails, screws, mollybolts, duct tape, and superglue.

#21 - Cemeteries

Season 7 - Episode 58 - Aired 10/30/2001

A look at dealing with the dead throughout the centuries, and at today's $20-billion funeral industry. Any way you look at it, it's a healthy business, with new generations of customers year after year.

#22 - Tunnels of Vietnam

Season 7 - Episode 28 - Aired 11/13/2002

Tunnels of Vietnam

#23 - Work Clothes

Season 7 - Episode 55 - Aired 10/17/2001

From the riveted blue jeans of the old ’49ers working the gold mines of California to the million-dollar suits astronauts wear in outer space, we see how “dressing for success” often means being able to get the job done. With the right work clothes, people have been able to go anywhere and do any job.

#24 - More Gadgets

Season 7 - Episode 36 - Aired 6/27/2001

A salute to the tools and toys that have stood the test of time--from the Zippo lighter to the Palm Pilot. As we focus on the technology behind familiar gadgets, we see the subtle ways they have changed our lives.

#25 - Bunkers

Season 7 - Episode 56 - Aired 10/23/2001

From the earliest bunkers of WWI through the ultra-futuristic ones of tomorrow's wars, we trace the story of defensive fortifications. In the constant struggle to hold off ever more potent forms of attack, bunkers function in a variety of forms.