The BEST episodes of Modern Marvels season 9
Every episode of Modern Marvels season 9, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Modern Marvels season 9!
Celebrating ingenuity, invention and imagination brought to life on a grand scale, MODERN MARVELS tells the fascinating stories of the doers, dreamers and sometime-schemers who created everyday items, technological breakthroughs and man-made wonders.
#1 - Big Rigs of Combat: Tanks
Season 9 - Episode 18 - Aired 6/2/2002
The rousing story of the tank, from its primitive appearance in WWI to the high-tech world of modern tank warfare, with emphasis on the tank's Golden Age during WWII.
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#3 - Engines
Season 9 - Episode 31 - Aired 7/24/2002
The history of engines beginning with the steam engine through modern rotary and rocket engines are profiled.
#4 - Hangars
Season 9 - Episode 25 - Aired 6/25/2002
Come in for a smooth landing as we explore the history of hangars--stark, massive structures that house and protect flight vehicles.
#5 - Private Jets 1
Season 9 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/28/2002
From today's ultra chic, state-of-the-art private jets to Lockheed's 1957 Jetstar, this 2-part special investigates the history, the luxury, and technology of America's corporate jets. We meet a few of the men and women who pioneered them--Bill Lear, Clyde Cessna and his nephews, Walter and Olive Beech.
#6 - War Trains
Season 9 - Episode 35 - Aired 8/14/2002
A look at how the use of trains affected warfare in the 20th century.
#7 - Axes, Swords And Knives
Season 9 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/7/2002
Blade implements have been a part of civilized man's arsenal since the Paleolithic Age, when sharp tools were chipped off of flint or obsidian. But with the discovery of metallurgy, people were able to forge stronger, more versatile blade implements.
#8 - Gasoline
Season 9 - Episode 30 - Aired 7/23/2002
Traces the history and evolution of the world's most important fossil fuel. Without gasoline, modern life would grind to a halt. What it really is, how it is made, what all those different octane numbers really mean, and how researchers developed cleaner-burning gasoline.
#9 - The Internet: Behind The Web
Season 9 - Episode 41 - Aired 9/10/2002
Digging into how data packets move across a network. Compelling recollections and explanations from Internet pioneers going back to the '50s, when computers were the size of rooms and interconnecting them was only an interesting theory. The straight historical history on the birth and rise of the Internet.
#10 - Nordhausen
Season 9 - Episode 34 - Aired 8/13/2002
It was the world's largest underground factory--seven miles of tunnels built to manufacture Hitler's secret weapons, primarily the V-2 rocket. But Nordhausen kept more than one secret. Some of those associated with Nordhausen later helped take America to the moon.
#11 - The Tackle Box
Season 9 - Episode 21 - Aired 6/11/2002
Explore the wonderful world of rods, reels and optimism that is the fisherman's stock and trade. Visit the facilities that turn out carbon-fiber rods and the plugs, flies, leaders, floats and other accessories that anglers swear by.
#12 - The Manhattan Project
Season 9 - Episode 20 - Aired 6/4/2002
At 5:30 a.m., July 16, 1945, scientists and dignitaries awaited the detonation of the first atomic bomb in a desolate area of the New Mexico desert aptly known as "Jornada del Muerto" (Journey of Death). Los Alamos scientists and engineers relate their trials, triumphs, and dark doubts about building the ultimate weapon of war in the interest of peace.
#13 - The Strategic Air Command
Season 9 - Episode 29 - Aired 7/16/2002
With the ironic motto "Peace is our Profession", the Strategic Air Command was in charge of US nuclear forces from 1946 to 1992.
#14 - Beach Technology
Season 9 - Episode 27 - Aired 7/2/2002
Slap on your sun block and head to the ocean for a sizzling hour that explores the beach in a whole new way! We cover everything from Japan's Seagaia, the world's largest indoor beach, to boardwalks, dune buggies, surfboards, sunglasses, suntan lotion, wave pools, and more. We examine the development of each product and explain the technological advances that have been made over the years.
#15 - More Bond Gadgets
Season 9 - Episode 50 - Aired 12/2/2002
He's everyone's favorite spy, the man with a woman in every port and a gadget in every pocket! No villain is too strong, no situation too tough for His Majesty's Secret Agent, thanks to his wits, cunning, and the best toys on the silver screen. History Channel cameras travel from the Arizona desert to the British countryside to find the best Bond gadgets--including amazing footage from inside the cockpit of the world's smallest jet and rare home movies taken on the underwater set of Thunderball.
#16 - High Tech Sex
Season 9 - Episode 47 - Aired 10/30/2002
Join us for a walk on the wild side of the history of sexual enhancement and contraception--from Cleopatra's box of buzzing bees to 17th-century condoms to Internet sex and 21st-century holographic pornography! In an explicit exploration of the aphrodisiacs, drugs, contraceptives, toys, and cyber-tech innovations that have ushered in a brave new world of modern sexuality, we talk to sexologists and historians for ribald romp behind the bedroom's closed doors.
#17 - Train Wrecks
Season 9 - Episode 46 - Aired 10/28/2002
Throughout railroad history, disasters lay at the heart of progress, since expansion and profit proved the main goals of management. In 1875 alone, an average of 22 train accidents happened daily; in 1890, over 6,000 people were killed. We'll examine how safety, once a secondary consideration, became a primary goal.
#18 - Muscle Cars
Season 9 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/30/2002
Pop open the hood, check out the carbs, and hear the engines roar on a journey back to a time when gas was cheap, emission controls non-existent, and all that mattered was acceleration and speed as we go behind the scenes of the muscle-car wars.
#19 - Pickup Trucks
Season 9 - Episode 43 - Aired 9/18/2002
They have made the leap from humble farm vehicles to mainstays of the American road. PICKUP TRUCKS tells the complete story of these rolling icons of individuality and freedom.
#20 - The Autobahn
Season 9 - Episode 42 - Aired 9/17/2002
Buckle up for safety as we take you for the ride of your life when we explore the fascinating history and current reality of the world's fastest freeway. The number-one works project of the Third Reich, the Autobahn was known as Adolf Hitler's Road until Germany's defeat in WWII.
#21 - Siege Machines
Season 9 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/26/2002
A look at siege machines that convert energy into mechanical force to go over, under, or through fortified or fixed defenses too strong for conventional force. These engines range from man's first long-range missile weapon, the slingshot, to the laser cannons and satellite-destroying robots of the 21st century.
#22 - Bulletproof
Season 9 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/19/2002
From body armor to armored cars and trucks, we review the history of the race between the bullet and a successful way to stop it. We'll look at little-known advances like bulletproof layering hidden in walls, futuristic smart materials that "remember" how to stop a bullet, and a system that deploys a shield within milliseconds when it detects an oncoming round.
#23 - Private Jets 2
Season 9 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/28/2002
Learn what it takes to buy a previously-owned jet, and travel to Dallas to visit the Associated Air Center, a company that creates very high-end, lavish jet interiors. Also the latest in kit jets, and look into the new must-have of the super rich--personal jets the size of commercial airliners.
#24 - Drag Racing
Season 9 - Episode 17 - Aired 5/21/2002
Head to the drag strip and back in time for the complete story of these amazing machines.
#25 - Towing
Season 9 - Episode 32 - Aired 8/6/2002
Climb mountains, head to the highways and guide vessels to dock in this examination of the many aspects of towing. See how these sophisticated machines evolved from the earliest examples of their breed, which were cobbled together from spare parts.