The History Channel

Rich in legends and folklore visit the city of Bucharest, Romania and learn about its most famous citizen, Vlad the Impaler, more commonly known as Dracula. Travel underground to separate the myth from reality as secret prisons, caves and dungeons are revealed. Only through the bleak subterranean stretches can one come face-to-face with the Impaler and the truth about this infamous Romanian ruler. Join host Don Wildman as he braves eerie tombs and clandestine tunnels to discover the "Son of the Devil."

For centuries, tales of monsters have piqued our curiosity. Legendary beasts from folklore, literature and film have captivated audiences around the world. But some say monsters are not confined to just our imaginations. Stories of the Abominable Snowman, Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster have triggered worldwide investigations...and continue to enthrall believers and skeptics alike.

Area 51 is considered the ultimate top secret facility, one that UFO investigators believe houses an extraterrestrial secret. But is there an even more secretive facility? In Dugway, UT, there is a remote testing facility sometimes referred to as Area 52. UFO watchers in this part of Utah have witnessed strange phenomena at this military site for over 10 years, leading to speculation that much of Area 51's secretive work is now conducted at Area 52. The team examines video of bizarre beams of light seen shooting up from the area, meets with an astrophysicist who has charted mysterious cosmic rays operating out of Dugway, and analyzes photos that suggest something very strange is taking place.

Two men sharing startling visions of the future possess distinctly different backgrounds: Michel de Nostradamus was a French apothecary and healer in the 16th century; he would become the most famous seer in history. His 21st century counterpart is Dr. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, a renowned political scientist who teaches game theory at New York University and Stanford. While Nostradamus looked to the stars and mysticism to divine his apocalyptic revelations, Dr. Bueno de Mesquita relies on the most omnipotent tool ever designed by man to predict future events: the computer. This special explores not only the commonalities of these men's visions about World War III, famine and the coming of the Anti-Christ, but it also traces the evolution from mysticism to hard math, and determines whether science has always existed in prophecy, manifesting itself in different forms through the ages.

In 1943, a warship was rendered invisible in the Philadelphia Naval Yard, then teleported instantly to Norfolk, Virginia and back. But this technological breakthrough was achieved at such horrific human cost--crewmen missing or gone insane, dead sailors fused into bulkheads--that authorities deep-sixed the experiment. Or so goes the legend that still flourishes. We examine this tallest of seaman's tales and learn how real anti-submarine technology led to talk of disappearing ships.

During Mardi Gras, New Orleans sets records for alcohol consumption; but there's another form of "spirit" for which the "Big Easy" is also famous. Meet a Voodoo Queen said to lurk the grounds of a gothic graveyard; the ghosts of two poisoned children who play in Myrtles Plantation; and a family of phantoms backstage at Le Petit Theatre.

The Book of Revelation, the most terrifying and controversial book of the Bible, was written by an exiled prophet almost two thousand years ago. The final chapters of the New Testament describe mankind's violent end of days--a seven-year period of unparalleled death and destruction. Jesus breaks seven seals that unleash three waves of devastation--natural and man-made, from the sky and from deep within the earth. The Antichrist will rise. Pestilence, famine, war, and natural disasters will purge humanity before Jesus returns for the final battle between good and evil. But who is the Antichrist? Who will survive God's wrath? And when will this apocalypse happen?

Dawn, June 6, 1944. The largest invasion in history is underway. Four miles to the west of the Allied landings at Omaha Beach, a flotilla of landing craft head towards Hitler's "Atlantic Wall" defenses. They are carrying just 200 men of a newly trained elite force--the United States Rangers. Their objective is the vital German coastal defense gun battery on a headland known as the Pointe du Hoc. Climbing the 90 foot cliffs under a storm of German bullets and grenades, the Rangers find that the German guns are not where they should be. What follows is a desperate game of cat and mouse, as the Rangers attempt to hunt down the guns. The story of their mission is remembered now as one of the most extraordinary aspects of the D-Day landings.

Gravity is the most powerful and exacting force in the universe. It is pervasive and penetrating. Gravity binds us together, its reach hangs stars in the sky and its grip crushes light. Gravity holds planets together, and leashes them to their suns. Without gravity, stars, comets, moons, nebulae, and even the Earth itself would not exist. Explore how science and humanity discovered, overcame and utilized gravity. Learn what it takes to propel objects into the heavens, to ride a wave or to ski down a slope. Take a front row seat as an astronaut subjects himself to the weightless wonders of the specially modified aircraft used to train astronauts known as the "Vomit Comet."

They are the one-stop-shopping places for learning all about the nature and variety of stars in the Universe. They're unique, because in clusters, all the stars were born at about the same time, from the same material and all are at the same approximate distance from Earth. This means we can be sure that any differences among them are due to their true natures and not distorted by different distances from Earth and other factors. In this episode, two kinds of star clusters in the galaxy are explored. "Open Clusters" are young, live in the spiral arms of the galaxy and give us insight into the birth and formation of stars. "Globular Clusters" are old, live in the outskirts of the galaxy and could be nearly as old as the Universe itself. In addition, explore Galaxy clusters to reveal the large-scale structure of the Universe, which is expanding so fast that eventually all other galaxies, except for our own, will literally disappear from our sight.

The planets of our solar system have experienced epic catastrophes throughout their long history, both raining down from outside and bubbling up from within. We'll voyage back in time to investigate the violent events that profoundly shaped the planets, including earth itself. We'll witness stunning revelations about what transformed Mars into a barren, hostile desert...The disaster that changed Venus from temperate to hellish...The impact that blew away Mercury's mantle, turning it into a planetary core...A colossal disturbance that rearranged the orbits of the gas giants...Titanic impacts on Jupiter...And how a lost moon may finally explain Saturn's rings.

Asteroids, comets, gamma ray bursts and the sun all combine to make the Earth a dangerous place to live. NASA's top brass and other scientists are arming themselves with the latest technology to pre-empt an apocalyptic attack. Watch and investigate bizarre, and terrifying apocalyptic scenarios and the ways that scientists are racing against the clock to develop technology to defend our planet.

Tunneled into the bowels of ancient Rome is a dank labyrinth of beautifully decorated burial chambers and vaults where religious outcasts--pagans, Jews, and Christians--secretly preserved forbidden rituals for fear of persecution. Delve beneath Rome's heights to uncover the secrets of her catacombs and eternal residents.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Story of the search for the mountain where Moses spoke to God and received the Ten Commandments. Explores the possibility that the site could be at St. Catherine's monastery.

In 1943, a warship was rendered invisible in the Philadelphia Naval Yard, then teleported instantly to Norfolk, Virginia and back. But this technological breakthrough was achieved at such horrific human cost--crewmen missing or gone insane, dead sailors fused into bulkheads--that authorities deep-sixed the experiment. Or so goes the legend that still flourishes. We examine this tallest of seaman's tales and learn how real anti-submarine technology led to talk of disappearing ships.

During Mardi Gras, New Orleans sets records for alcohol consumption; but there's another form of "spirit" for which the "Big Easy" is also famous. Meet a Voodoo Queen said to lurk the grounds of a gothic graveyard; the ghosts of two poisoned children who play in Myrtles Plantation; and a family of phantoms backstage at Le Petit Theatre.

The Book of Revelation, the most terrifying and controversial book of the Bible, was written by an exiled prophet almost two thousand years ago. The final chapters of the New Testament describe mankind's violent end of days--a seven-year period of unparalleled death and destruction. Jesus breaks seven seals that unleash three waves of devastation--natural and man-made, from the sky and from deep within the earth. The Antichrist will rise. Pestilence, famine, war, and natural disasters will purge humanity before Jesus returns for the final battle between good and evil. But who is the Antichrist? Who will survive God's wrath? And when will this apocalypse happen?