The History Channel

Each year in the U.S., 280 million hens lay 80 billion eggs, one of the world's most affordable sources of protein. We'll chart the "journey of the egg" from henhouse to breakfast table...from massive traditional Iowa farms, where millions of eggs move from hens to delivery trucks without being touched by human hands...to "cage-free" and "pasture raised" farms where chickens have more room to roam but consumers pay the price. Find out what labels like "Grade A, Organic" and "Omega-3 Enhanced" really mean. See how powdered eggs get made and what happens to the billions of whites and yolks that go their separate ways. Try the world's largest omelet, made from an ostrich egg, the equivalent of 24 chicken eggs. How about some pickled eggs or "century" duck eggs? And prepare to be awed by the "Michelangelo" of the egg-shell world as he sculpts egg shells less than 1/32 inch thick into jaw-dropping works of art.

From cheddar to brie, Parmesan to blue, take a look at both ancient techniques and new technologies behind some of the world's most popular cheeses. Visit the cow pastures of Wisconsin to the giant cheese factories of California to discover how cheese is made. Travel through history from the Roman Empire's diversity of cheeses to the 19th Century birth of industrial cheese. And yes, we'll answer that eternal question, "Why does Swiss cheese have holes?"

You can fry it up, eat it for breakfast, or quaff it down on a hot summer day. It's the world's most versatile grain: RICE. At last count, there were over 140,000 types--white, brown, long-grain, wild, short-grain, jasmine, Arborio, Basmati, black Thai, sweet, sticky--enough to satisfy any discerning palette. From the mountaintops of Nepal to the fertile fields of California and Arkansas, we'll find out everything there is to know about growing, harvesting and milling this tiny, life saving fare. We'll travel to restaurants and distilleries to experience the delicious creations talented masters whip up. It comes in all the colors of the rainbow, served up everyday in countless dishes. It even brews into alcoholic drinks--sake and beer. We'll also go inside the factories that make Rice Cakes and Rice Krispie Treats to discover how they use RICE to make their "snackable" delights.

It was the largest manhunt in history--ten thousand federal troops, detectives and police hunted those responsible for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The conspiracy was vast--an effort to decapitate the United States government at the end of the Civil War. The manhunt was intense--ending 12 days later in a fiery showdown with the man who pulled the trigger--John Wilkes Booth.

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 Matyiko brothers are a legendary Mega Mover family. Their company Expert House Movers entered the record books when they moved the historic Gem Theatre in Detroit, Schubert Theatre in Minneapolis, and the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. In this episode the brothers battle time and the elements. In Massachusetts, the clock is ticking to move a 900-ton brick building to its new location. Any delays will cost the veteran house movers thousands of dollars. And in North Carolina, three vacation houses must make a perilous journey across eight miles of open beach to reach their new home. Will the homes arrive safely? Or, will the treacherous waters of the Outer Banks claim yet another victim?

How do you move a 180 foot railroad bridge? An 8 story lighthouse? A 500 ton oil rig? Or an entire beach all in one week? This two-part compilation of last season's Mega Movers highlights the travels and travails of relocating the biggest, heaviest and least mobile structures imaginable. You'll see all the crucial steps from planning to placement as highly skilled movers tackle the impossible knowing that an inch miscalculation here or there can mean the difference between a successful move and disaster. Will these mega structures find their way safely to a new home or will they disintegrate and be lost for all eternity?

Food Trucks are hitting the big time--across much of America, they're changing the way we eat. From humble beginnings as chuck wagons and hot dog carts, they've taken off as ethnic eateries, gourmet specialists, and even high-tech mega trucks that serve thousands at disaster scenes. Not surprisingly, it takes some pretty sophisticated engineering to make it all work--and turn a truck into a kitchen on wheels.

Superhuman strength... Supernatural powers... And the awesome ability to fly. Throughout history, mankind has told incredible tales of gods with extraordinary powers. But are these accounts merely tall tales, or could they be based on factual events? If mythical gods really did exist, were they, as ancient astronaut theorists believe, extraterrestrial beings? And could this help to explain the enduring popularity of gods, titans and other so-called "super-heroes"?

Egyptian hieroglyphs depict the use of light bulbs in tombs and secret chambers. And batteries may have been discovered among artifacts from Mesopotamia. Did the Ancients understand electricity, and if so, how did they discover this technology? Might they have had help from extraterrestrials?

Scott Wolter investigates the mysterious disappearance of vast amounts of copper from Lake Superior. Through scientific testing a connection is made to a pre-historic civilization and the Bronze Age.

Scott Wolter investigates a burial site in the mountains of Arizona, only to discover it may belong to a medieval Englishman.

Take a journey to the Far East, to the remote Chinese province of Hubai to discover what locals have dubbed the "Wild-Man." Witnesses have reported seeing a creature that is covered in reddish-brown hair, walks on two legs and is anywhere from five to seven-feet tall. Chinese authorities have collected over one hundred samples of unidentified hairs from the alleged monster and claim that it is just a matter of time before they capture this "Wild-Man." Join an international team of experts in a search for answers.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

First we watch restoration on one of the greatest monuments to the dead ever created, Queen Hatshepsut's exquisite Deir el Bahari, and her Red Chapel, a smaller temple near Karnak. Then, our host Peter Woodward leads us into the inner sanctuaries of the Great Temple of Karnak to explain the sacred duties of the temple priests, and epigrapher William Murnane shows how the art and decoration contributed to the temple's holy power and political prestige.

Join us on an historical mystery tour back to Egypt's New Kingdom and the era of Ramesses the Great to solve the puzzle of his missing children. We learn of his dedication to his family at his funerary temple, the magnificent Ramesseum, where we see how he depicted his children on various temple walls and reliefs. Then, Dr. Kent Weeks takes us through the mysterious and long-forgotten KV5, the tomb of several of Ramesses' sons, which proves to be ancient Egypt's greatest family mausoleum.

Today's modern armies employ missiles, machine guns, smart weapons and clever strategies to use on the battlefield. These weapons may seem like cutting edge technology, but the ancient Chinese invented these weapons--in some cases thousands of years ago. Host Michael Guillen will demonstrate how the ancient Chinese repeating crossbow was a clear precursor to the machine gun and we'll see how, more than a thousand years earlier, the Chinese invented a weapon that rivaled the European cannon. Explore how ancient Chinese armies developed battlefield strategies that shape how we go to war today.

Iconic structures are apparent: the Empire State Building, St. Louis Arch, Space Needle, and Statue of Liberty. But their roots go back over 5,000 years to ancient Egypt. Entry to a glorious afterlife and worship of the gods led Egyptians to build some of the world's most impressive structures. We travel to Egypt to see how such monumental masterpieces as the Great Pyramid, Library at Alexander, Temple of Karnak, Sphinx, and the obelisks were built using only primitive tools and brute labor. Host Michael Guillen demonstrates how ancient Egyptians might have leveled 13 acres of ground to within two inches before building the pyramids. He offers an explanation as to how a 100-foot long obelisk made of a single slab of granite was raised. And he commissions an engineering study to determine what the Great Pyramid would cost to build today.