The History Channel

In America's orchards and farm fields, the constant struggle between hand labor and mechanization has produced dozens of efficient and sometimes bizarre harvesting methods. We'll learn the secrets of the orchard manager and his ladder crew as they check fruit pressures and barometric readings. We'll visit California's largest fruit packing house and try to keep up with 10-fruit-per-second conveyors. Then we're off to the corn fields of Nebraska and the cranberry marshes of central Wisconsin. Finally, we'll go underground to the world's largest mushroom farm where the harvest takes place in limestone caverns that run some 150 miles. From fruit tree picking platforms to cranberry beaters and corn pickers, we constantly strive to speed the harvest.

It's all around us--so much a part of our lives that we forget it's there. But try to survive a single day without packaging. This episode reveals the astounding technology and ingenuity required to create our packaged world. At a Michigan company that designs water bottles, we'll show you how engineers find their inspiration from a bell pepper. In New Jersey, the makers of bubble Wrap clue you in on their manufacturing secrets. In Texas, workers conquer the challenge of packaging the world's largest crane. And you'll also see how America's military goods and supplies are packaged and shipped by the United States Transportation Command. Other stories include a new easy to open package that's the cure for "wrap rage"--and how NASA engineers packed a fragile humanoid robot for a trip into orbit.

Our 49th state is one tough terrain. In the air, on the ground--and deep beneath it--survival here requires an amazing array of technological innovations. From buildings to highways, brutal winters to bug-infested summers, this unforgiving landscape demands creative work-arounds. And then there's the constant threat of natural disasters...tsunami, anyone?

160 million Americans visit a convenience store every day. Why? Because it's fast. But what you probably didn't know is how every detail of its design has been engineered to work that way. Step inside one of the busiest 7-11's in America and find out what makes it tick. And go behind the scenes to see how favorite innovations--like slurpees, turbo ovens, and beef jerky--are made. The science of convenience will amaze you!

Fertilizer--without it two thirds of the world would starve. It makes our lawns grow greener and our crops grow taller. Take a tour of the places where the essential nutrients that feed the soil are harnessed. Dig deep in a phosphate mine, sniff around a sewage treatment plant and get dirty in a trough teeming with seven million worms. Finally, learn about a war that was fought over the control of bat poop!

In America's orchards and farm fields, the constant struggle between hand labor and mechanization has produced dozens of efficient and sometimes bizarre harvesting methods. We'll learn the secrets of the orchard manager and his ladder crew as they check fruit pressures and barometric readings. We'll visit California's largest fruit packing house and try to keep up with 10-fruit-per-second conveyors. Then we're off to the corn fields of Nebraska and the cranberry marshes of central Wisconsin. Finally, we'll go underground to the world's largest mushroom farm where the harvest takes place in limestone caverns that run some 150 miles. From fruit tree picking platforms to cranberry beaters and corn pickers, we constantly strive to speed the harvest.

Dig deep into the workings, history, and technology of the superstar tools that enable us to burrow beneath the earth. Tunnels--underground, through mountains, beneath oceans and rivers--are among engineering's great achievements. Workers must create a seamless and waterproof space where only unforgiving rock existed before. We'll visit one of America's biggest tunnel projects, Atlanta's CSO (Combined Sewage Overflow). To help manage waste water during torrential rains, two four and a half mile long tunnels are being constructed under the city to channel storm water overflow to a pumping station. We'll watch the action of the five superstar tools of tunnel construction--the rock drill, explosives, the tunnel boring machine, the gas detector, and the shotcrete gun. What began as backbreaking labor with a simple hammer and chisel is today a state-of-the-art hi-tech industry thanks to the ever-improving technology of these five essential tools.

A modern-day aircraft carrier is like a floating city: with 5,000 crewmembers, 80 aircraft, and a four-and-a-half acre big flight deck. It's nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall, and has its very own 20-story skyscraper balanced on top of it. Constructing one of these is as much a marvel as the ship itself. We take viewers to the Newport News Shipyard in Virginia, where the George H. W. Bush--the latest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier--is inching closer to completion. Gone are the hammers, nails, and even rivets of the old shipyards, replaced with plasma, lasers, and robots that are pressed into service building the largest warship afloat. We go deep inside the guts of this warship-in-the-making to get up close to the tools that rule the shipbuilding world: the plasma beveling cutter, robotic welder, shafting lathe, laser tracker, and pneumatic drill.

Building a bridge requires utilizing the same materials and manpower as any mega-construction project. But you also have to do it on water! We'll travel to the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge that connects Virginia to Maryland across the Potomac River to see how it's done. And it certainly fits the bill as a mega-bridge: to accommodate 300,000 vehicles a day, this bridge will have 12 lanes of traffic covering a total surface area as big as 25 football fields. In all, it'll take more than 45 million pounds of steel, 1,200 workers, and eight years to build this bridge. To get a tool's-eye view of just how a mega-bridge like this gets built, we're focusing on these kings of construction: the clamshell dredge, the pile driver, the concrete truck, steel cable, and the submerged arc welder.

Bridges move people and cargo daily, but what happens when the bridge itself needs to be moved? In this episode, we see how two very different bridges are moved--using two very different methods. In Missouri, local bridge preservationists attempt to transport a 137-ton railroad bridge right through the heart of downtown Kansas City. And in Iowa, the National Guard rallies to save a 129-year-old bridge using one of the most modern mega-moving tools available: a Chinook Helicopter. Will our Mega Movers succeed in preserving these beloved bridges for future pedestrians to use?

The myth of ancient Greece's most feared god, and those mortals who tried to cross his path. This episode takes us behind the veil of the ancient Greek belief in life after death. It is a chilling collection of tales about the god Hades and the underworld bearing his name, with eerie links to real world curses, ghosts, and secret cults.

The epic tragedy of Medusa, the most infamous female fiend in Greek mythology, whose look turned every living thing to stone. But what is the true story behind the myth? Find out this evil Gorgon's real world connection to human corpses, and learn what clues the night sky holds about the origins of the tale of Medusa.

In Greek mythology, ancient Greece's most powerful god wages an epic struggle against his father for control of the universe. It's the ultimate power struggle as the Olympians challenge the Titans in mythology's greatest showdown. This is a pivotal battle that experts believe may have been ancient code for a real world event--one of the greatest natural disasters the Earth ever experienced.

A half-bull, half-man freak of nature, the Minotaur is one of mythology's most terrifying monsters. A bizarre tale of bestiality, human sacrifice, and war, the myth of the Minotaur endures as a symbol of the beast inside all men. But archeological research has uncovered clues suggesting the Minotaur and its terrifying labyrinth were more than just symbols. They may have been inspired by a real place that still exists to this day.

A modern day Green Beret (Terry Schappert) tests the legendary weapons and strategies of the English Knights, leading to the ultimate battle that destroyed the code of chivalry. Outnumbered English knights and archers, led by King Henry V, slaughter French knights at Agincourt.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

To the United States and the Soviet Union, Afghanistan was always a pawn in a much bigger game. First the Soviets bought them off and then the US sent in arms. The Russians sent in troops and we sent in the CIA to train the Mujahedin to kill Russians. But then came the Taliban and the pawns started moving on their own... We'll mine the guarded vaults and archives around the world to reveal the untold story of how the pieces turned on the players and the jihad came to Kabul and the streets of New York.

Dig deep into the workings, history, and technology of the superstar tools that enable us to burrow beneath the earth. Tunnels--underground, through mountains, beneath oceans and rivers--are among engineering's great achievements. Workers must create a seamless and waterproof space where only unforgiving rock existed before. We'll visit one of America's biggest tunnel projects, Atlanta's CSO (Combined Sewage Overflow). To help manage waste water during torrential rains, two four and a half mile long tunnels are being constructed under the city to channel storm water overflow to a pumping station. We'll watch the action of the five superstar tools of tunnel construction--the rock drill, explosives, the tunnel boring machine, the gas detector, and the shotcrete gun. What began as backbreaking labor with a simple hammer and chisel is today a state-of-the-art hi-tech industry thanks to the ever-improving technology of these five essential tools.

A modern-day aircraft carrier is like a floating city: with 5,000 crewmembers, 80 aircraft, and a four-and-a-half acre big flight deck. It's nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall, and has its very own 20-story skyscraper balanced on top of it. Constructing one of these is as much a marvel as the ship itself. We take viewers to the Newport News Shipyard in Virginia, where the George H. W. Bush--the latest Nimitz-class aircraft carrier--is inching closer to completion. Gone are the hammers, nails, and even rivets of the old shipyards, replaced with plasma, lasers, and robots that are pressed into service building the largest warship afloat. We go deep inside the guts of this warship-in-the-making to get up close to the tools that rule the shipbuilding world: the plasma beveling cutter, robotic welder, shafting lathe, laser tracker, and pneumatic drill.

Building a bridge requires utilizing the same materials and manpower as any mega-construction project. But you also have to do it on water! We'll travel to the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge that connects Virginia to Maryland across the Potomac River to see how it's done. And it certainly fits the bill as a mega-bridge: to accommodate 300,000 vehicles a day, this bridge will have 12 lanes of traffic covering a total surface area as big as 25 football fields. In all, it'll take more than 45 million pounds of steel, 1,200 workers, and eight years to build this bridge. To get a tool's-eye view of just how a mega-bridge like this gets built, we're focusing on these kings of construction: the clamshell dredge, the pile driver, the concrete truck, steel cable, and the submerged arc welder.