The History Channel

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?

A documentary about the training, battles, and lives of the Tuskegee Airmen. Narrated by Cuba Gooding, Jr., this special includes original wartime footage and is interspersed with the words of living Tuskegee Airmen.

The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a turning point for the Civil Rights movement and a clarion call for the nation. For a moment it seemed the long march towards social justice would die with its leader, but national support for the burgeoning Civil Rights movement was too powerful to fell, and instead of collapsing with the tragedy of Dr. King's death, it found new life in his legacy. Our resident historian Steve Gillon tells the stories of the unforgettable events that defined the Baby Boomer generation and changed the world.

The deadliest natural weapon employed in the animal kingdom, venom has independently evolved in creatures as diverse as jellyfish, insects, snakes, and even mammals. Scientists from around the globe show how evolution adapted venom to fit the needs of the animals who wield it. Injecting venom into samples of his blood, Australia's Bryan Fry demonstrates how the world's deadliest snake, the inland taipan, has converted the building blocks of its body into lethal toxins. Toto Olivera will introduce us to the cone snail, pound-for-pound the most toxic creature in the world, able to continually update its chemical cocktails with the help of the world's fastest-evolving genes, guaranteeing the creatures stay one step ahead of their prey.

Living organisms have entered into a battle for survival for hundreds of millions of years and the pressure to survive has resulted in ever changing shapes. From the hammerhead shark to the platypus, new and sometimes extreme shapes can mean survival for certain species. But, as nature has proven, sometimes the most basic shapes on earth have the staying power of survival. This episode will explore the evolution of animal shape and how the slightest alteration of a leg or a head can mean the difference between life and extinction.

The crushing weight of water generates the Underwater Universe's ultimate weapon: Pressure. It has banished humans from much of the world's oceans, only a handful have defied it head on and survived. The deeper man goes, the greater the power of water. The bends, exploding lungs, oxygen toxicity, nitrogen narcosis, and imploding submersibles... Is it possible for anything to survive the deepest place on earth some seven miles down? Answers will surprise. Plunge through five ocean zones, each deadlier than the last, to uncover the mysteries of "Fatal Pressure."

The pull of the moon and spin of the earth generates mighty forces in the oceans that sweep relentlessly around the planet. Four of the Underwater Universe's most powerful tides and currents pose the greatest potential threat to mankind: the Gulf Stream, the extreme tides of England's Morecambe Bay, the killer rip currents of Kauai and finally--biggest of all, one that helped wipe out over 80 percent of all species some 251 million years ago, the Great Ocean Conveyor. How did an ocean current trigger the planet's most devastating mass extinction event? And could it happen again?

The existence and location of the Ark of the Covenant has remained one of the most enduring mysteries in archaeology. Professor Tudor Parfitt from London's School of Oriental and African Studies will reveal where he believes the Ark is. Parfitt is well-known for discovering that the Lemba tribe in Zimbabwe is one of the lost tribes of Israel. Follow this global quest-detective as he decodes ancient texts and pieces together clues. Ultimately he builds a picture of what he thinks the Ark looks like and where it is. The journey takes viewers through Israelite wars, Philistine shrines, Solomon's Temple and Africa to the final, critical clue which led Parfitt to its current location.

A controversial scientific theory states that gigantic eruptions of methane gas from deep in the ocean have occurred regularly throughout history. Although a global-scale methane eruption today is highly unlikely, there may be stagnant, oxygen-poor basins in the ocean where methane might accumulate. Even a small explosion could cause a catastrophe. Imagine what would happen if such an event occurred in the mid-Pacific. Tsunamis would be generated in continuous waves, striking Hawaii and the entire West Coast. Coastal areas would be flooded for miles inland. Methane/water clouds would auto-ignite and the massive fires could cause widespread destruction. Consequences could be global. Whatever humanity survives would be thrown into a Dark Age.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

In the face of bigotry and ignorance, the Tuskegee Airmen, an all-black fighter squadron, shattered racist stereotypes. Their exploits became the stuff of legend. Watch as pilots Wendell Pruitt and Lee Archer, the Gruesome Twosome; score their highest victory in a single day over the skies of the Po river valley in Northern Italy. Then pilot Charles Mc Gee knocks down an Fw190 near Pardubice, Czechoslovakia. Finally pilot Roscoe Brown and the Tuskegee Airmen take down three Me262 jet fighters in a wild engagement just south of Berlin. First-hand accounts, rare archival footage and original shooting supplement the remarkable computer graphics.

A documentary about the training, battles, and lives of the Tuskegee Airmen. Narrated by Cuba Gooding, Jr., this special includes original wartime footage and is interspersed with the words of living Tuskegee Airmen.

The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a turning point for the Civil Rights movement and a clarion call for the nation. For a moment it seemed the long march towards social justice would die with its leader, but national support for the burgeoning Civil Rights movement was too powerful to fell, and instead of collapsing with the tragedy of Dr. King's death, it found new life in his legacy. Our resident historian Steve Gillon tells the stories of the unforgettable events that defined the Baby Boomer generation and changed the world.

The deadliest natural weapon employed in the animal kingdom, venom has independently evolved in creatures as diverse as jellyfish, insects, snakes, and even mammals. Scientists from around the globe show how evolution adapted venom to fit the needs of the animals who wield it. Injecting venom into samples of his blood, Australia's Bryan Fry demonstrates how the world's deadliest snake, the inland taipan, has converted the building blocks of its body into lethal toxins. Toto Olivera will introduce us to the cone snail, pound-for-pound the most toxic creature in the world, able to continually update its chemical cocktails with the help of the world's fastest-evolving genes, guaranteeing the creatures stay one step ahead of their prey.

Living organisms have entered into a battle for survival for hundreds of millions of years and the pressure to survive has resulted in ever changing shapes. From the hammerhead shark to the platypus, new and sometimes extreme shapes can mean survival for certain species. But, as nature has proven, sometimes the most basic shapes on earth have the staying power of survival. This episode will explore the evolution of animal shape and how the slightest alteration of a leg or a head can mean the difference between life and extinction.

The crushing weight of water generates the Underwater Universe's ultimate weapon: Pressure. It has banished humans from much of the world's oceans, only a handful have defied it head on and survived. The deeper man goes, the greater the power of water. The bends, exploding lungs, oxygen toxicity, nitrogen narcosis, and imploding submersibles... Is it possible for anything to survive the deepest place on earth some seven miles down? Answers will surprise. Plunge through five ocean zones, each deadlier than the last, to uncover the mysteries of "Fatal Pressure."