Around the world and across the eons, gold stands as a symbol of power, wealth, and love. The quest for the yellow metal took men across oceans, into the depths of the Alaskan winter, and miles beneath South African earth. This is the story of the hunters of the precious metal and their methods for extracting it.

Where in Washington D.C. is the nation's most incredible treasure chest? It's a library unlike any other in the world--the U.S. Library of Congress. Explode the myth that this 200-year-old institution is simply "where members of Congress borrow books." Viewers are taken beyond the magnificent Jefferson Building Great Hall into the secret vaults where more than 600 miles of shelves hold 130 million items, many of them priceless treasures--from George Washington's hand-written diaries to Galileo's first images of the moon to the original camera film of the movie Frankenstein. See how a staff of 4,000 catalogues protects and preserves these treasures and distributes them globally via a new World Digital Library.

Blackbeard. Anne Bonny. Henry Jennings. Calico Jack. Henry Morgan. Black Bart Roberts. During the mid to late 17th and early 18th centuries, they were feared criminals. The Caribbean was their domain, the parade of treasure and cargo to Europe their target. The origins of Caribbean piracy began when Columbus made landfall in the Bahamas. Two years later, the Pope granted Spain the exclusive right to the Caribbean and most of the New World. The Spanish reaped an immense fortune in gold and silver, but with a price. England, France, and Holland all desired a portion of this wealth and each established Caribbean bases and used privateers--private sailors fighting for profit--to protect their interests and steal Spanish treasure. The line between privateering and piracy became blurred. We'll examine this Golden Age of Piracy and the true stories of the infamous pirates, how they operated, and their successes and failures in this dark and deadly profession.

Best-selling author Brad Meltzer and his team thought they knew what the Statue of Liberty stood for. But now they learn that America's most powerful icon of freedom might actually be loaded with secret symbols put there by a sinister group bent on world domination. They investigate claims that the Illuminati, a secret European society loosely affiliated with the freemasons, turned every inch of the statue into a coded message, from the torch Liberty holds high, to the rays emanating from the crown, even to the precise height of the statue itself. Things get even stranger when a highly regarded numerologist shows the team why he believes the statue is really a monument to the all-powerful number 7. As they evaluate these unsettling claims, Brad and the team are forced to reconsider whether one of America's most enduring symbols is really who she appears to be.

For nearly two centuries, the Knights Templar were the medieval world's most powerful order, a fearsome and unstoppable Crusader militia. Then came accusations of unspeakable crimes. Who were the Templars, really? How did they become so powerful, so fast, and why did they fall just as quickly? Evidence hints that the Templars excavated under Jerusalem's Temple of Solomon. What did they find there? Was it, as The Da Vinci Code suggests, the true identity of the Holy Grail--the bloodline of Christ? Or an unimaginable treasure, documented in the Dead Sea Scrolls, buried 1,000 years before Christ's birth? We explore the Templar's origin, how they lived, trained, fought and became a medieval world power, and the suspicious circumstances behind their sudden downfall. Plus, we reveal why these warriors, dead for seven centuries, and their treasure still populate Hollywood blockbusters. Narrated by Ed Herrmann and featuring preeminent Templar authors.

During the heyday of piracy, fearsome buccaneers sailed the Caribbean in search of booty. Fortresses are raided, swords are drawn and galleons clash in an incredible story of glittering treasure and swashbuckling adventures. From the icy docks of Bristol to the tropical paradise of the Caribbean, discover the incredible world of the buccaneers. Follow a team of historical detectives who use evidence from recent excavations, scientific studies and historical documents to piece together clues as to what the pirate world looked like.

On April 19, 1897, the Dallas Morning News reported a mysterious airship had crashed into a windmill in the nearby town of Aurora, Texas. Townspeople were said to have found an alien body and buried it in the local graveyard; the crash debris was dumped into a local well. More than 40 years later, the ranch owners were reporting skin lesions and crippling rheumatoid arthritis, which they attributed to tainted well water. The well was sealed over and forgotten. Now, more than a century after the event, the team will reopen the well, and search for the legendary grave, as they attempt to solve one of the earliest UFO cases ever recorded.

If ancient aliens visited Earth, who were they, and where did they come from? Possible historic evidence and beliefs are examined around the world. The Dogon people possess knowledge of a galaxy they claim was given to them by a star god named Amma. The Hopi and Zuni people celebrate Kachinas, gods from the sky, whose headdresses and costumes appear to resemble modern helmets and protective clothing. Halfway around the world, Chinese legends tell of the Han leader, Huangdi, arriving on Earth on a flying, yellow dragon. Was this dragon more likely a spacecraft? Ancient astronaut theorists believe that these are far from chance encounters and that extraterrestrials not only interacted with us, but changed the course of human history.

Reveals for the first time the cockpit and control tower audio recordings of pilot and astronaut confrontations and sightings of unidentified flying objects high in our skies. From a detailed account of one of the very the first reported pilot case, the Arnold case in 1947, to recent recordings over New England and Texas, to NASA recordings and video from 2005, this special features interviews with pilots, witness and experts, including UCLA's Joseph Nagy, actor Ed Asner, and pilot/UFO researcher Don Berliner.

Exploration of the mountain fortress where over 900 Jews made a last stand against Rome in 73 AD. Examines if they committed suicide, and focuses on the lone survivor of the Roman onslaught who lived to tell his story.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

Informational programming.

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.

The story of the discovery and loss of one of the most valuable treasures known to man--Afghanistan's Bactrian Gold that dates back 2,000 years to the Kingdom of Bactria, conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BC. In 1978, a team of Russian and Afghan archaeologists unearthed the Bactrian Gold. As Afghanistan fell into a downward spiral of destruction, warring factions fought to possess the treasure. Amidst the chaos, one man had the forethought to stash the gold for safekeeping...in a secret vault that could only be opened with simultaneous application of seven keys, each sent to separate corners of the world. However, after 23 years of warfare, experts began to worry that the gold wasn't safe. And then the Taliban regime began a barbaric hunt to wipe-out all cultural artifacts of its kind, including demolition of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan. In the end, the US-led war on terror brought resolution to the mystery, one that serves as a symbol of hope for the war-stricken nation.

The Tanakh of the Jews is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible, equivalent to the Old Testament to Christians. Within the 24 books of the Tanakh (or Mikra as it was called during the period of its recording) are astounding predictions of the future. Many of the prophets who authored or appeared in the scriptures prophesied about the fate of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. We'll examine the prophecies and chronicle the birth, death, recent resurrection, and possible future of Israel. Supported by archival footage and dramatic recreations, on-camera experts representing the three major religions, and secular perspectives, we explore the most significant of these ancient prophecies. Are the prophecies real? Are they unfolding before our eyes? Who believes, who doesn't, and why?