A panoramic overview of the events and people that shaped six of the most important years in American history.
Social & External
The people behind it
Dick Cavett
Self - Host
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.
Out of the ashes of World War I, a new generation of titan rises…Pierre Du Pont, Walter Chrysler, J.P. Morgan Jr., Henry Ford, and William Boeing. Their fight to reach the top will transform America as they compete to dominate new industries—from the highways to the skyways. After years of fighting each other, and FDR, these rivals must unite during World War II to defeat a greater enemy and save the world.
What does the Ground Zero flag from 9/11 have in common with the original Wright Brothers flying machine patent? Both are historically important items for the United States… and both are missing. Best-selling author Brad Meltzer enlists America’s help to find these and other missing treasures.
Chronicles the lives of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, three members of the most prominent and influential family in American politics. It is the first time in a major documentary television series that their individual stories have been interwoven into a single narrative. This seven-part, fourteen hour film follows the Roosevelts for more than a century, from Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962.
Explores the transformative impact of Black migration on American culture and society. From the waves of Black Americans to the North—and back South—over the last century to the growing number of immigrants from Africa and the Caribbean today, movement is a defining feature of the Black experience.
The HISTORY® Channel continues to cement its place as the leader of premium presidential biographies with the premiere of the six-part television event “Thomas Jefferson”
Examines six moments when the collision and collusions of Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Madison and Burr left an indelible imprint on the nation.
In keeping with the original project, this series seeks to reframe the country's history by placing the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative.
A documentary series that examines controversial interpretations of American history and revisits widely debated historical events and narratives. Each episode explores topics related to politics, culture, and the way history has been presented over time.
From the 1920s through the 1960s, America transformed from a young country on the rise into a global superpower. Using digital colorization technology, we present these formative decades as few have seen them, revisiting 50 vibrant years of good times and great despair, technological triumphs and natural disasters, and global villains and national heroes.
Sex: The Revolution was a four-part 2008 American documentary miniseries that aired on VH1 and The Sundance Channel. It chronicled the rise of American interest in sexuality from the 1950s through the 1990s. The version shown on VH1 was pixelated to censor nudity including in discussions of censorship of nudity. VH1 Latin America aired the uncensored version.
Since its birth in 1865, in the wake of the American Civil War, the history of the Ku Klux Klan has been inseparable from that of the United States. The debates over slavery, the populism in the roaring twenties, the struggle for civil rights in the sixties, the rise of the far-right in the early 21st century; the Klan seems to have always embodied the dark side of the nation, with its gray areas and blind spots.
Everything you thought you knew about slavery is about to be challenged. Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery is the groundbreaking series that makes history by sharing it from a new perspective. Nearly ten years in the making, this landmark six-hour set exposes the truth through surprising revelations, dramatic recreations, rare archival photography and riveting first-person accounts.
HBO's eight-part monthly series recalls the places, the people and the events relevant to eight major strands in America's cultural and social fabric -- cowboys, radio, transportation, sex, journalism, sports, inventions and advertising -- via newsreel clips, period music, theatrical movie sequences, and on-location shootings. Host Dick Cavett steps in and out of historic scenes in this follow-up to his earlier HBO series entitled Time Was.
The history of the rise, rule and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the entire era it encompassed (1920-33). After nearly a century of activism, Prohibition was intended to improve the lives of all citizens by protecting individuals, families and society at large from the devastating effects of alcohol abuse; but paradoxically it made millions of people rethink their definition of morality.
Dramatic documentary about the birth of the American Republic and the struggle of a loosely connected group of states to become a nation.
Everyone knows the story of Paul Revere and his famous midnight ride to warn colonial forces of the British approach. But history books don't tell of the man who sent Revere on his mission: Joseph Warren, America's least remembered founding father. Uncover the forgotten history of Warren and stories of other unsung heroes in our fight for independence.
This five-part series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, international relations, and cultural innovation. It is a timely, clear-eyed look at the vital role that Asian Americans have played in defining who we are as a nation. Their stories are a celebration of the grit and resilience of a people that reflects the experience of all Americans.
Explore how the United States expanded from a fragile experiment along the Atlantic coast into a nation spanning an entire continent, revealing extraordinary sacrifices and untold personal accounts that dramatically reframe the story.
Infographics and archival footage deliver bite-size history lessons on scientific breakthroughs, social movements and world-changing discoveries.
An in-depth look at the history and pop cultural significance of horror films.
Explores WWII from Germany's invasion of Poland through the atomic age, examining pivotal battles, wartime leaders like Churchill and Roosevelt, and the human cost of total war.
Don Wildman unearths relics from the world's greatest institutions to reveal secrets from the past. He examines each artifact to illuminate history's most incredible triumphs, sensational crimes and bizarre encounters.
An insider's look at the engineering and scientific miracles behind the things that form the modern world.
American Masters is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and others who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the United States.
MegaStructures is a documentary television series appearing on the National Geographic Channel in the United States and the United Kingdom, Channel 5 in the United Kingdom, France 5 in France, and 7mate in Australia. Each episode is an educational look of varying depth into the construction, operation, and staffing of various structures or construction projects, but not ordinary construction products. Generally containing interviews with designers and project managers, it presents the problems of construction and the methodology or techniques used to overcome obstacles. In some cases this involved the development of new materials or products that are now in general use within the construction industry. MegaStructures focuses on constructions that are extreme; in the sense that they are the biggest, tallest, longest, or deepest in the world. Alternatively, a project may appear if it had an element of novelty or are a world first. This type of project is known as a Megaproject.
Learn how popular Disney attractions and destinations came to be, how they have changed over time, and how fans continue to obsess over them.
A series of standalone documentaries powered by the unparalleled journalism and insight of The New York Times, bringing viewers close to the essential stories of our time.
This trophy-packed, insider-fuelled documentary charts José Mourinho's iconic rise as one of the world's top footballing managers of the most elite clubs.
Motoring programme featuring reviews of and reports about cars of all types.
Have you ever wondered how the products you use every day are made? How It's Made leads you through the process of how everyday products, such as apple juice, skateboards, engines, contact lenses, and many more objects are manufactured.
A worldwide guided tour of the greatest movies ever made and the story of international cinema through the history of cinematic innovation.
Explore American cinema through the decades and the cultural, societal and political shifts that framed its evolution.
Biography is a documentary television series. It was originally a half-hour filmed series produced for CBS by David Wolper from 1961 to 1964 and hosted by Mike Wallace. The A&E Network later re-ran it and has produced new episodes since 1987. The older version featured historical figures such as Helen Keller and Mark Twain, or long-dead entertainment figures such as Will Rogers or John Barrymore. The A&E series has placed the emphasis on such people as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Plácido Domingo, Freddie Mercury, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Eric Clapton, Pope John Paul II, Gene Tierney, Selena, Diego Rivera, Mao Zedong and Queen Elizabeth II, and fictional characters like The Phantom, Superman, Hamlet, Betty Boop, and Santa Claus. The program ended up profiling enough figures that in 1999, A&E spun it off into an entire network, The Biography Channel.
Come one, come all to The Circus. This real-time documentary series pulls back the curtain on the current political stories, revealing the intense, inspiring and infuriating stories behind the headlines. Key characters and events are presented in real time, as they are happening.
In a tumultuous era, 1971 was a year of musical innovation and rebirth fueled by the political and cultural upheaval of the time. Stars reached new heights, fresh talent exploded onto the scene, and boundaries expanded like never before.
This docuseries takes an unprecedented look at the enduring and influential legacy of DC, allowing fans to rediscover the universe of characters, as well as the iconic comic book company’s origins, its evolution and its nearly nine-decade cultural impact across every artistic medium.
Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third. BBC Three also broadcast a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays and Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons.