The History Channel

Our in-depth history of Hades begins with the story of a negative near-death experience, in which a man thinks he went to Hell after being declared clinically dead and before resuscitation. Following Lucifer's trail from cave paintings in France circa 6,000 BC to current portrayals in popular culture, our 2-hour exploration shows how Hell and the Devil remain powerful forces--at a church in Texas, where souls are delivered from Satan's grip; in talks with a survivor of the 1980s recovered memory craze, who "recalled" attending Witches' Sabbaths that practiced cannibalism; and at the modern Church of Satan. We review literary landmarks that expanded our ideas of the Underworld, from Dante's Inferno and Milton's Paradise Lost to Mark Twain's anti-hero, and trace development of Christian, Moslem, Jewish, and Buddhist conceptions of the afterlife.

Join an expedition into the wilderness of South America on the hunt for a monster-sized predatory spider. In the forests of Venezuela there are reports of spiders big enough to hunt and eat a small dog, and villagers build their huts in such a way as to keep giant spiders out. In 2006 an American soldier in Iraq was photographed with what appeared to be a three foot long arachnid. Watch as experts investigate the validity of these and other strange sightings, and examine man's fear of spiders.

Prepare for an exercise in imagination. Suppose that an alien spacecraft crashed in the desert and we humans recovered it. What could we learn from its engineers? Using data gleaned from years of UFO sightings, we recreate a typical ship using cutting-edge animation, discover why aliens choose the craft shapes they do, learn how they overcome the effects of Earth's atmosphere, defy gravity, cancel inertia, and travel faster than the speed of light! Our experts--reverse engineers--show us what's "under the hood" of alien craft. We explore the technology that makes other-world visitations possible, what distance-shrinking device or wormhole excavator permits ships to travel space's expanse in minutes, and how the semi-transparent spacecraft skin functions. At first inspection, the technology seems crazy, but according to our experts, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility.

From the late 1800s to the mid-20th century, a stream of immigrants crowded into New York's downtown slums. Though today, the area once known as the Five Points houses a federal court, this cradle of crime gave birth to the American gang and nurtured Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky.

13,000 years ago, a large comet exploded over eastern Canada unleashing a mass of burning fragments that ignited a mega storm of fire spreading for thousands of miles. Nearly every living thing on the North American continent was destroyed, including an ancient civilization known as the Clovis. 3-D computer animations will recreate this storm and offer an idea of the level of destruction a similar comet explosion would cause today.

In 1947, ancient scrolls were discovered in desert caves near the Dead Sea. One of the texts, now called the War Scroll, spells out in chilling detail a future apocalyptic war that will end the world. Are modern events fulfilling the prophecy of The War Scroll? In fear of imminent death, the Qumran settlers hid the War Scroll along with other records of the Hebrew Bible. Soon afterward, they disappeared into the dust of history, leaving a grim prophecy of doom. Now, researchers explore the writings in the War Scroll and search our world for clues that the apocalypse foretold may be approaching. Visit the Dead Sea ruins--where it all began--to examine the cultural and spiritual conflicts in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were born. Experts point to an amazing coincidence of events that occurred then and that are happening now. Could ancient horrors herald a warning of terror today that could lead to our annihilation?

In 1944 the Ardennes region of Belgium is the frontier between Nazi Germany and the Allies. After six months of hard but successful fighting, Allied troops have taken up winter quarters ready for the expected invasion of Germany in spring 1945. Then on December 16th a quarter of a million German troops launch a shattering offensive through the Ardennes. Allied troops are taken completely off guard. They had thought the war was almost over. Now they are engulfed in a great land battle. At first, Hitler's Ardennes Offensive is successful, but nearly two months of fighting left the German Army in ruins. Scientists and historians investigate why did the battle of the Bulge ended in total defeat for Germany.

Newly declassified documents are providing the opportunity for a deeper investigation into whether governments around the world are engaged in a cover-up of UFO research. MysteryQuest's expedition and science teams travel to locations in the Nevada desert and in Utah to investigate. Using state of the art technology they investigate these covert US government sites looking for clues about what the government may know. And they experience just how much the government wants to keep its secrets when military helicopters and a fighter jet shadow the team on their trek near the base.

For years, people have claimed to have had direct, personal contact with an alien. In this episode of our series, the team tracks down several people who claim to have had such contact. They'll also work along side medical and scientific professionals to try and discover what, if anything, really happed to these people.

The Abominable Snowman is among the most frightening and notorious monsters in history. This ferocious nocturnal creature is said to attack people and slaughter their animals. Witnesses report sightings of a strange, hair-covered beast and claim to have heard blood-curdling screams. Evidence amassed over the last century may point to a startling conclusion: that something real and unknown stalks the desolate mountains of the Far East. Scientists and experts will examine the clues while the MonsterQuest team will undertake their most dangerous expedition to date with an epic ascent onto the snowy peaks where recent evidence of the beast was found.

19th-century explorers in the American southwest encountered the ruins of a vanished civilization that spread across Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Why were these spectacular cities abandoned? Where had the inhabitants gone? Modern anthropologists hint at a disturbing past in contrast with earlier peaceful perceptions.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Biblical brothers' bonds are broken by murder in Eden in one of the most chilling accounts in the Old Testament. Journey back to the Land of Nod, where the guilt-ridden fugitive was banished, and find out how Cain lived out his days.

From the late 1800s to the mid-20th century, a stream of immigrants crowded into New York's downtown slums. Though today, the area once known as the Five Points houses a federal court, this cradle of crime gave birth to the American gang and nurtured Al Capone, Lucky Luciano, and Meyer Lansky.

13,000 years ago, a large comet exploded over eastern Canada unleashing a mass of burning fragments that ignited a mega storm of fire spreading for thousands of miles. Nearly every living thing on the North American continent was destroyed, including an ancient civilization known as the Clovis. 3-D computer animations will recreate this storm and offer an idea of the level of destruction a similar comet explosion would cause today.

In 1947, ancient scrolls were discovered in desert caves near the Dead Sea. One of the texts, now called the War Scroll, spells out in chilling detail a future apocalyptic war that will end the world. Are modern events fulfilling the prophecy of The War Scroll? In fear of imminent death, the Qumran settlers hid the War Scroll along with other records of the Hebrew Bible. Soon afterward, they disappeared into the dust of history, leaving a grim prophecy of doom. Now, researchers explore the writings in the War Scroll and search our world for clues that the apocalypse foretold may be approaching. Visit the Dead Sea ruins--where it all began--to examine the cultural and spiritual conflicts in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were born. Experts point to an amazing coincidence of events that occurred then and that are happening now. Could ancient horrors herald a warning of terror today that could lead to our annihilation?