History Made Every Day™

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Modern Marvels : Axes Aired on Monday October 19 12:00 PM

The axe is one of the world's oldest, most dangerous and efficient cutting tools. Watch as competitive lumberjacks and Jills chop through 12-inch logs in a matter of seconds. Visit one of the nation's largest axe manufacturers to see hot metal forged into a modern axe. Take a swing with a Vikings' battleaxe and then see which knight would win in a fight of sword versus axe. Learn why the Native American tomahawk is making a comeback as a modern tactical weapon. Finally, see how the classic fireman's axe has evolved into a trailer full of high tech rescue tools.

Modern Marvels : Dangerous Cargo. Aired on Monday October 19 01:00 PM

Toxic traffic is everywhere! An average of 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials hit our highways and railways daily. From Wild West wooden crates filled with explosives to HAZMAT containers of nuclear waste, we shadow dangerous cargo. We ride shotgun on a hazardous material shipment that's tracked by satellites; hunt down the hush-hush "ghost fleet"--trucks carrying classified government materials; and board a Con-Air flight moving another kind of nasty stuff--dangerous felons!

Modern Marvels : Axes Aired on Monday October 19 06:00 PM

The axe is one of the world's oldest, most dangerous and efficient cutting tools. Watch as competitive lumberjacks and Jills chop through 12-inch logs in a matter of seconds. Visit one of the nation's largest axe manufacturers to see hot metal forged into a modern axe. Take a swing with a Vikings' battleaxe and then see which knight would win in a fight of sword versus axe. Learn why the Native American tomahawk is making a comeback as a modern tactical weapon. Finally, see how the classic fireman's axe has evolved into a trailer full of high tech rescue tools.

Modern Marvels : Dangerous Cargo. Aired on Monday October 19 07:00 PM

Toxic traffic is everywhere! An average of 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials hit our highways and railways daily. From Wild West wooden crates filled with explosives to HAZMAT containers of nuclear waste, we shadow dangerous cargo. We ride shotgun on a hazardous material shipment that's tracked by satellites; hunt down the hush-hush "ghost fleet"--trucks carrying classified government materials; and board a Con-Air flight moving another kind of nasty stuff--dangerous felons!

Modern Marvels : Water. Aired on Monday October 19 08:00 PM

It's nature's precious elixir--so powerful it can carve our landscape, yet so nurturing it can spawn life and support its intricate matrix. And it's the only substance on Earth that can exist in three separate forms at the same temperature--liquid, solid, and gas. We take it for granted, yet compared to other natural compounds, it's a genuine oddity. We'll paint a vivid portrait of this common entity that's anything but as we explore water's multidimensional character--from its place in the $10-billion bottled water industry to its critical role in a Canadian nuclear reactor. We watch it flow from huge irrigation machines that have revolutionized American agriculture, blast 200 miles into space from a newly discovered geyser on one of Saturn's moons (via computer animation), coaxed from the clouds by chemical injection, captured by innovative "fog-catchers", and cascade with artistic flair from compressed air jets at the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Modern Marvels : Water. Aired on Tuesday October 20 12:00 AM

It's nature's precious elixir--so powerful it can carve our landscape, yet so nurturing it can spawn life and support its intricate matrix. And it's the only substance on Earth that can exist in three separate forms at the same temperature--liquid, solid, and gas. We take it for granted, yet compared to other natural compounds, it's a genuine oddity. We'll paint a vivid portrait of this common entity that's anything but as we explore water's multidimensional character--from its place in the $10-billion bottled water industry to its critical role in a Canadian nuclear reactor. We watch it flow from huge irrigation machines that have revolutionized American agriculture, blast 200 miles into space from a newly discovered geyser on one of Saturn's moons (via computer animation), coaxed from the clouds by chemical injection, captured by innovative "fog-catchers", and cascade with artistic flair from compressed air jets at the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Modern Marvels : Hangars. Aired on Tuesday October 20 01:00 PM

Come in for a smooth landing as we explore the history of hangars--stark, massive structures that house and protect flight vehicles. We visit the first hangar, built on a German lake; Boeing's Delta 4 rocket hangar; Hangar Number One in Lakehurst, New Jersey, that housed all US airships built in the 1920s and '30s; and the Space Shuttle's hangar--as big as four skyscrapers! Back in Germany, Cargolifter's mammoth hangar, large enough to enclose the Superdome, signals the rebirth of an industry.