A documentary account of the assault on Mt. Everest in 1963 by the men of the first American Mount Everest Expedition under the leadership of Norman Dyhrenfurth
Documents the experiences of British zoologist Jane Goodall, who spent five years studying chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe Stream Preserve. Discusses her belief that thorough understanding of chimpanzee behavior will lead man toward clearer understanding of himself.
Follows Captain Johnson and the crew of the Brigantine Yankee on a voyage around the world, showing how they cope with difficult sailing conditions, and picturing the people and color of the Pacific Islands which they visit.
Describes Project Conshelf-3 carried out by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, in which six trained divers lived in a steel sphere and worked on the ocean floor at a depth of more than 300 feet.
Dr. Leakey and his wife toiled for years to prove the theory that mankind first lived in Africa. He finally found the remains of a man many thousands of years older than any previously found.
Demonstrates how insects can be controlled to insure man's protection from illness. Shows how a bee tells other bees where to find flower nectar, and how winged termites are sent from the home colony to found new colonies.
Shows National Geographic Society photographer Wilber E. Garret and his family on a trip through Alaska.
Beginning in the Mediterranean and traveling an average of 25 miles a day, Captain and Mrs. Irving Johnson sail European rivers and canals through France, Germany, and Holland. The film shows maritime activities typical of each area in an unusual journey.
A study of the habits and habitat of the North American grizzly bear, using electronic equipment.
A worldwide survey of birds and their behaviour.
Takes a journey along the majestic Amazon River that dominates the land and its people, where life in the basin has become a strange mixture of the civilized and the underdeveloped.
A look into the lives of the intrepid Portuguese fishermen who reap their harvest of the sea in flat-bottomed dories, pitting their frail partnership against the unrelenting fury of the Arctic Sea.
Includes scenes of the national park system throughout the United States and the Virgin Islands, and discusses the contributions of the system to the country, to science, and to the people who use the land preserves.
Shows some of the characteristics of various reptiles and amphibians such as the Komodo dragon, Galapagos tortoises, and gigantic dinosaurs, which are shown through an animated diorama.
A documentary film on the people and modes of living in Australia's outback. Shows a sheep ranch, an isolated cattle ranch, and opal mines, where the workers escape the blistering heat by living and working underground.
Follows diver-explorer Stan Waterman and his family to the Polynesian Islands. Shows a community fish roundup, and examines the marine life of a coral reef.
Scans the world of animals and their interesting behavior.
A journey across vast Siberia, where modern cities and factories contrast with Yakut horsemen and nomadic reindeer herdsmen, and where the Trans-Siberian Railroad stretches to the Pacific.
Follows a family as they explore the Middle Fork Salmon and the Salmon Rivers of Idaho in rafts and kayaks, and as they travel through the Florida Everglades. Emphasizes the beauty of nature and importance of conservation.
Shows the struggle of the people of the Netherlands to claim land from the sea and hold back the water which constantly threatens their land. Discusses the engineering of the Delta project which came into being as a result of the 1953 flood.
Shows animals in zoos all over the world, presents the history of man's obsession with capturing and keeping animals, and discusses how the concerns of zoos have changed.
Surveys the history of Ethiopia through its peoples and customs. Shows remote peaks and desert lowlands, and includes commentary on the country's nomadic herdsmen, Falasha Jews, and the clifftop monastery at Debra Damo, which can be reached only by a leather rope.
A study of the wildlife abounding on the Mojave Desert and the people who frequent the area. Includes scenes of ghost mining towns and sand sailing on the El Mirage Lake.
A visit to Al Oeming's Game Farm, which includes some 2,400 animals and 1,500 acres of land outside Edmonton in the Canadian Province of Alberta.
Points out that man is learning that the similarity between monkeys and himself is not superficial. Explains that man is a primate, bound in evolution to monkeys and apes.
Shows members of the Tasaday tribe of Mindanao Island. Explains that they were a people unknown to the outside world until the arrival in 197l of the party of Manuel Elizalde, chief of the Philippine Presidential Arm for National Minorities.
Presents the Masai, warriors and herdsmen who share the Serengeti Plain in northern Tanzania with African animals. Shows how civilization is impinging on their ancient way of life and threatening the animals.
Presents a portrait of the people of Scandinavia as they live today. Shows how important the sea is to the livelihood of the people and how, generation after generation, the traditions are continued
Uses night-vision camera devices in presenting detailed studies of bats, owls, hyenas, and sightless cave-dwelling fish during their nighttime activities.
French volcanologist Haroun Tazieff conducts a tour of Mt. Etna in Sicily and Nyiragongo in Zaire during periods of eruption.
Features residents of the American West and some of their activities, including views of cattle-driving, deep-rock mining, rodeo competition, and Indian celebrations.
Follow a wheeled, sailing yacht race across the Sahara from Tindouf, an Algerian oasis, to Mauritania's west coast.
Shows students of the Colorado Outward Bound School as they confront themselves and some of nature's greatest challenges. Features their climb of Santa Rosa Peak in the Peruvian Andes.
Tells how lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars, and other big cats are endangered by man's encroachment upon their habitats in jungles, plains, and mountains. Shows the adjustment of two Siberian tiger cubs to life in a Swedish animal park.
Follows a visit made by filmmaker-anthropologist John Marshall to Bushmen of the Kalahari. Shows how they are adapting to cultural change, becoming herdsmen on reservations after centuries of being unrestricted hunters and food gatherers.
Depicts the structure and functions of the human body, both internally and externally, using new techniques of medicine and photography.
Takes a look at the traditional British heritage of the sea as reflected in the lives of the country's people. Shows the lives and work of fishermen in the Hebrides, the day-to-day activities of an apprentice lighterman on the Thames, and the traditions of the feudal ruler of the Isle of Sark.
Examines efforts of Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas-Brindamour to discover new facts about the life and behavior of gorillas and orangutans.
Explores how animals such as the coyote, rattlesnake, and wild mustang are feared and hunted by some, loved and protected by others. Shows the struggle of these animals to survive.
Mel Fisher and his crew are pictured off the Florida Keys searching for millions in gold and silver that sank when a hurricane seized a Spanish galleon, the Atocha, in 1622.
Tells the story of 17 men who sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti on the Hokule'a, a 60-foot, double-hulled canoe built aroung ancient eastern Polynesian designs.
Shows how various tribes of North American Indians are taking new pride in their ancient ways and examines some of the problems they encounter.
Describes the heartland of the Soviet Union and visits the villages and cities along the banks of the Volga River.
Follows four adventurers as they travel through the frozen reaches of Canada and Alaska, along the Yukon River and into the Arctic Circle, covering 1,800 miles on foot, skis, log raft, and dogsled.
A documentary on the life and career of anthropologist Louis Leakey.
“The Great Whales” features the leviathans in captivity, roaming the Pacific, and being hunted. Included: the birth of a killer whale at California's Marineland; the commercial slaughter of whales in the 19th and 20th centuries; and footage of 'singing' humpbacks off Maui.
Explore the living sands of Namib, a remote coastal desert on the southwestern edge of Africa. Learn about the amazing survival techniques of the geckos, baboons and plants born in this forbidding desert, where years pass without rainfall on the scorching sands.
Explains how gold is mined and how it affects our daily lives.
National Geographic travels to the city of Hong Kong for an intimate visit with a boat family who has made their home on the waters for more than 100 years. Like many families, they are suspended between the modern world and ancient Chinese customs.
Shows how drought and poachers have forced the elephants of east Africa to migrate to new areas where they have come into direct conflict with man.
Follows explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew as they sail their bardi reed boat, The Tigris, over routes believed to have been followed by Sumerian traders 5,000 years ago. Examines Heyerdahl's motivation for risking his life in the search for knowledge and adventure.
A documentary following a team of biologists and geologists 1 1/2 miles below the ocean surface where they discover worlds of life around thermal vents which are supported by bacteria that convert chemicals into organic matter. This landmark dive confirmed aspects of the theory of plate tectonics and yielded important biological discoveries
This program explores manic-depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, alcoholism, and other mood disorders whose victims show a lack of control over their behavior and lives. The program examines the neuro-chemical and genetic components of these disorders and shows some of the latest physiological, neurological and biomedical research into the mysteries of the brain and the mind.
Each moment events take place that the human eye cannot perceive because these occurrences are too small, too large, too fast, too slow, or beyond the spectrum of visible light. Entire worlds might escape our inspection if it were not for some extraordinary photographic techniques, sophisticated cameras, and imaging devices. The Invisible World will captivate you with the sight of water crystallizing into ice; a single atom's movement within solid matter; a bullet speeding towards its target—and will forever alter your understanding and perception of the world.
A look at the past, when great ocean liners such as the Queen Mary and the Normandie ruled the Atlantic, setting standards of taste, luxury and efficiency in travel.
Filmed at Namibia's Etosha National Park this video takes a look at a wide selection of wildlife, including zebras, cheetahs, wildebeest, lions and elephants.
Records the wildlife in Etosha, a preserve surrounding a huge dry lake bed in the southwest African country of Namibia. Presents nature's interplay of life and death as it happens.
Profiles nine artisans and performing artists who are recognized by law as "holders of important intangible cultural properties" and are charged with publicly exhibiting their works and teaching their artistry to apprentices. Pays visits to a potter, a doll sculptor, a puppeteer, a papermaker, a koto musician, a swordmaker, a textile weaver and a dyer, a kabuki theater actor, and a bellmaker.
Presents both sides of the ongoing debate between conservationists and environmentalists over the use of the national parks. Visits to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon point out the dilemma as attorney Eric Julber and professor of history and environmental studies, Roderick Nash, debate the issue.
Calls attention to the plight of the gorilla, which is on the verge of extinction. Profiles a zookeeper, a research scientist, a research psychologist, a writer-photographer, and a husband and wife team working on the mountain gorilla project. Film footage demonstrates the animals' intelligence, humanlike qualities, and the effects of their exploitation by humans.
One of the most famous programs from the National Geographic Society, "The Sharks" takes you on a special expedition to study these fish of fearful legend and challenge the myths surrounding them. Journey below the ocean's surface in a specially-designed cage to observe sharks at close range. Meet Ron and Valerie Taylor as they experiment with a stainless steel suit which enables her to survive a shark attack.
Take a spectacular journey to walk among the ancient ruins of one of history's great civilizations. Through the centuries, the ancient Egyptians created and constructed the most glorious monuments the world has ever seen. Explore the great temples of Luxor and Karnak. Cross the Nile to the Land of the Dead and enter the elaborately decorated tombs where the kings and queens are buried. Join Egyptologists as they unravel and interpret the riddles of Egypt's intriguing past.
Shows how the residents of the town of Churchill, in the Canadian province of Manitoba, learn to coexist with the polar bears as the animals migrate each year through their town.
A documentary that deals with the history of England as seen through institutions and homes located near the Thames River. Also deals with the river itself and its recovery from excessive pollution.
The tropical rain forests of the world are home to nearly half the animal species on earth - an estimated five million different life forms. More than 100 inches of rainfall each year sustain this lush environment, where some of the most fascinating examples of natural adaptation can be found. Journey to the dense rain forests of Costa Rica and watch as leaf-cutting ants carry sections of leaves many times their weight to underground fungus gardens, a basilisk lizard walks on water, and howler monkeys bask in the sun. Fascinating and thought-provoking, this film is an eloquent warning of the natural wonders we stand to lose on a world scale if human encroachment of the world's rain forests continues.
Shows animals found only in Australia, such as the kangaroo, wallaby, koala, the flying possum, the platypus, and an array of lizards and frogs. Describes the unique features of these animals and the efforts of scientists and conservationists to preserve them.
Details the efforts made in the early 80's to reintroduce interest and knowledge of the giant panda. Beginning with a history of the animal and the first attempts to bring pandas to the West, and the eventual decision of the Chinese government to cease export of pandas, moves into an examination of more recent efforts both in China and abroad to scientifically analyze and promote continued survival of pandas. Culminates with the development and successful breeding attempts of the National Zoo's panda program.
National Geographic cameras travel to Iceland, Africa, Japan, California, and Greece to record how the huge plates of the earth's crust crash together, pull apart, and override each other causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Follow scientists around the world as they search for clues to the causes of these powerful geologic events.
Documents Jane Goodall's twenty-two year field research on the wild chimpanzees of East Africa. Shows the Chimpanzees' nomadic behavior, their family structure, and their ability to hunt and make and use tools. Also looks at discoveries of warfare and cannibalism.
Once thundering trains bridged all the world's continents, helping to settle new lands and unite distant cultures. In "Love those Trains", you'll celebrate their majesty past and present, even taking a first-class seat aboard the Orient Express!
More than 30 years after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first men to conquer Mount Everest, they returned to Everest to celebrate their historic ascent.
Tells how the United States and Canada cooperate to ensure a future for the endangered whooping crane. Follows the birds' perilous migratory path and shows the efforts made by governments and individual conservationists to increase the whooping crane population.
Filmed in India, this film gives an intimate portrait of the tiger - showing it stalking and catching a deer, confronting crocodiles, and a female tiger nursing her young cubs.
Documents the diverse experiences of four Americans who were allowed to work or study in China after the 1972 resumption of diplomacy between the United States and China. Illuminates aspects of Chinese life just beginning to be sampled by outsiders.
Focuses on the horses of Ireland and their role in the history, tradition, and business of the Irish people. Shows the people who ride, tame, train, and breed these horses, for pleasure as well as for work. Accompanied by Irish folk tunes.
Presents a survey of current trends in computers and robotics and profiles a number of researchers and their experimental programs. Discusses various computer applications in such areas as schools, factories, the home, and the space program.
Secrets of the Titanic is a documentary, made and filmed over 1985, 1986, and 1987. Produced by the National Geographic Society, it was a National Geographic Video exclusive, narrated by Martin Sheen, written and produced by Nicolas Noxon consisting of historical photos and footage of the massive steamer being built and launched, the discovery and exploration by Dr. Robert Ballard, and a look inside the wreck, not only the ship itself, but the human story and sinking theories. At the time, young undersea explorer Bob Ballard develops the technology and the U.S. Navy sponsors an expedition. The date is September 1, 1985, the search has been going on for 56 days when Argo's camera shows wreckage, then one of Titanic's massive boilers. Then it follows Ballard in his exploration the next year, along with Martin Bowen, the pilot of the undersea robot, ROV Jason Jr., which was mounted in a "garage" on the front of the DSV Alvin.
Observes life along the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. Shows how the bay and the region's main industry, crabbing, shapes the lives of a wide variety of people. But, the Bay is also threatened by overdevelopment, overuse, and pollution.
Shows the unique and complex ecosystem of the tiny island of Siarau off the north coast of Borneo, comprised of mangrove trees with roots above ground and salt-excreting leaves. Present are proboscis monkeys, mudskippers, fiddler crabs, and other creatures that have adapted to life between the land and the sea.
A kaleidoscopic view of Jerusalem and its people as they are today--the remarkable outcome of 3,000 years of history, hope, and faith.
Mel Fisher searches 16 years for the treasure of the Spanish galleon Atocha which sank almost 300 years ago.
Enter the mysterious, unchartable wilderness of Okefenokee, 700 square miles of swampland on the Georgia-Florida border. Eerie, forbidding, and darkly beautiful - Okefenokee is ruled by a descendant of the dinosaur: the fearsome alligator. Day and night the alligator glides silently through its steamy realm, stony eyes just above the waterline, mouth held in a seemingly perpetual smile. Join scientists as they study the behavior of these huge and powerful reptiles in the Realm of the Alligator.
At dusk, a pride of lions sets out to hunt. The camera captures intimate glimpses of lion behavior-care of the young, the struggle for food, and the interplay of the pride with other African bushveld animals. Filmed in Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Mount Vesuvius, located in Southern Italy, has erupted 50 times since the time of the Roman Empire, making it Europe's most active volcano. Its most significant eruption, in 79 A.D., buried the great cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and essentially encapsulated an historic moment at the height of the Roman Empire. This moment is the main focus of National Geographic: In the Shadow of Vesuvius. After a brief introduction to the mountain's history, the cameras follow a group of archaeologists as they travel to the site of Pompeii and unearth several pristine artifacts that help piece together a clear vision of Roman society.
Discusses the physical characteristics and behavior of the grizzly. Explores the relationship between the bear and man.
Reclaim a piece of the past with talented artisans, collectors, and dreamers who restore masterpieces of a bygone era. You will fly the skies in a WWI bi-plane, drive in the glamorous Duesenberg automobile, ride a turn-of-the-century carousel, sail aboard a magnificent tall ship, and finally, promenade through the halls of a breathtaking Russian palace. Saved from obscurity, these priceless Treasures from the Past bring history to life once more.
Researchers/conservationists Mark and Delia Owens pursue their scientific studies of lions and brown hyenas in the torrid reaches of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana. When forced to abandon their home in the Kalahari Desert, they find a new African work site in a wildlife park in the southern African country of Zambia.
Many anthropologists believe that Australia's indigenous traditions make up the oldest surviving culture in the world. At the heart of this culture is a robust oral tradition and a belief system based upon reverence for the land, and for the spiritual dimension known as the Dreamtime. Composed of several different groups, each with a distinct set of customs and traditions, the Australian Aborigines are nevertheless linked by many linguistic and cultural similarities. This program ushers viewers into their ancient culture as tribal elders transfer knowledge of the old ways to what may be the last traditional Aboriginal generation
Since the 1970s, poachers have slaughtered 95 percent of Africa's black rhino population. Demand for valuable rhino horn in the Far East, where it reaches prices of up to $7,000 per pound, perpetuates the killing of these magnificent creatures. In North Yemen, a rhino-handled dagger is the ultimate status symbol, and a fine antique specimen sells for as much as $15,000. In Africa, the war to save the rhino is heading toward a bitter climax. Zimbabwe rangers realize they can only stem the tide of this crisis unless the network of corrupt dealers and middlemen in the illegal wildlife trade is broken. Until then, the desperate battle to save one of the world's oldest surviving land mammals from extinction continues.
Go behind the scenes at Moscow's Circus School and experience the magic and wonder of the performances that delight millions. See lion tamers risk life and limb, trapeze artists glide through the air, of course, the beloved clowns who inspire imagination and fantasy. With laughter as their language, the Soviet Circus bridges the gap between generations, borders, and all peoples of the world.
Who are we, and where did we come from? Follow a trail of ash-entombed footprints to learn about some of the intriguing clues in one of the greatest mysteries of all time: the origins of the human race.
The Gagudju aborigines of northern Australia represent the longest unbroken culture in human history, having passed along their traditions for 40,000 years. Now, however, it seems the Gagudju are experiencing their final generation, as young members of the tribe have gone off to practice the ways of modern civilization.
For more than a century National Geographic has participated in and chronicled many of the world's greatest explorations—unlocking the secrets of the oceans, lifting men into the stratosphere, and mapping the very boundaries of the earth, sea, and sky. Now you can relive some of the most significant expeditions in history. Follow Robert E. Peary to the North Pole; join Jane Goodall for her pioneering work with chimpanzees; climb Mount Everest on the first American ascent. Marvel at 100 years of exploration in the Society's official centennial presentation.
Documentary featuring current and archive footage of documentary filmmakers and camera operators who risk their lives in order to capture vivid images of deadly animals, combat, and natural dangers and disasters.
Journey deep into an African rain forest for a rare and intimate look at the lives of the Baka, a semi-nomadic people who have wandered central Africa for centuries.
Of all the creatures that walk this planet, the elephant is the largest, strongest, and among the most intelligent. From Sri Lanka to Kenya, this episode is a charming, sometimes alarming, in-depth look at this magnificent animal and its precarious future. In Asia, watch man and beast work side-by-side in a land where the elephant is an object of worship and affection. In the open spaces of Africa, marvel at the behavior of wild elephants as they communicate over great distances. Finally, witness the birth of a baby elephant as it struggles to its feet for the very first time.
Called by one philosopher "the noblest beast God ever made," dogs have served humankind in more ways than any other animal. You'll see loyal canines at work as they search for buried victims of an earthquake disaster, assist the physically disabled, and pull sleds in the blizzard conditions of Alaska. Find out how dogs are trained to 'act' on the Lassie television show, and meet dogs that served as messengers on the battlefields of WWII
A look at life in the Serengeti Plain through the eyes of wildlife photographer Hugo van Lawick and Masai tribesman and author-lecturer Tepilit Ole Saitoti.
'Sink the Bismarck!'' was the cry as British forces searched the Atlantic for the German navy's most powerful vessel. The pursuit ended on May 27, 1941, in a battle that plunged the Bismarck into waters nearly three miles deep, taking with it more than 2,000 lives. Almost half a century later, explorer and scientist Dr. Robert Ballard, who discovered the sunken Titanic, searched the Atlantic for the infamous Bismarck. On June 8, 1989, he located the sunken ship, 600 miles off the coast of France. National Geographic looks back at the first, and last, mission of the Bismarck and talks with survivors of the notorious World War II battle. Then, in its climatic chapter, the story reveals exclusive footage of this remarkable undersea exploration
When seasonal rains sweep across South America, the Amazon River and its tributaries overflow their banks to create an ecosystem unlike any other - a place where, for six months out of each year, land-dwellers and water-dwellers mingle. This program joins an expert Amazon biologist in a journey into the flooded forests of the Amazon Basin to film dolphins navigating through treetops, a male 'water monkey' releasing a cloud of babies from the nest in its mouth, and the usually lethargic three-toed sloth swimming agilely among branches. The video also explores the depletion of the region's natural resources, both by indigenous inhabitants struggling to survive and by outsiders eager to clear land for mass crop production.
Travel to faraway Bali, a tiny enchanting island in the Indonesian archipelago that many revere as Heaven on Earth. Born of fiery volcanic eruption, this isolated paradise is made up of two thousand square miles of spectacular mountains, enticing beaches and flourishing rice terraces. This distant land is home to an extraordinary culture where artistic expression serves to please the gods and placate the demons. Experience the intensity of religious beliefs through haunting music, exotic dance and mysterious rituals that animate every aspect of Balinese life.
In a remote part of southern Africa, the crippling drought of the early 1980s caused a quiet but significant upheaval. In the African country of Botswana, there was once a paradise. But as the continent was seared, rainwater pans dried and quite mysteriously the Savuti Channel itself shrank, drained away, and died. United by a common instinct to survive, scores of animals set out in search of water. This film follows their journey, which proved to be a life-and-death struggle that brought about momentous change to a pristine landscape of forest and river.
Characterized from its birth by a boldness of vision, Leningrad (St. Petersburg) today is in the forefront of the changes sweeping the former Soviet Republics. This video introduces a young ballerina, a rock guitarist, factory workers, and 'citizen diplomats'. The film was a silver award winner at the Houston International Film Festival.
A family of naturalists aboard a 50-foot schooner journey through the islands of the pristine Antarctic peninsula.
Documentary on the domestic cat. One of the most popular of pets, the cat retains many behavior traits closely resembling the traits of the lion, the tiger and other larger wild felines.
The Great Lakes basin is a melting pot of tradition and history. The same waters that nourish the region's wildlife have also shaped the customs of the people who live along its shores. Join us for a survey of the Great Lakes and the fascinating people and wildlife that surround them. We'll engage with cleanup efforts to keep the lakes healthy and vital, and will also take up an investigation into the sinking of the ship the Edmund Fitzgerald. A diverse group of citizens, these people have one common denominator: the survival of their culture is linked to the preservation of the lakes.
A discussion of diamonds, pearls, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires - how they are mined, made by man, and the businesses involved from production to the sale of a cut gemstone.
This program spans the country to celebrate its' history, sights, spectacles, and traditions.
Explore the Hawaiian Islands, an archipelago born of volcanic eruptions tens of millions of years ago. Fertile for evolution and protected by the immense Pacific Ocean, this isolated tropical haven produced an explosion of wildlife found nowhere else on earth. Once able to flourish, exquisite creatures such as the ancient green sea turtle, the playful monk seal, and the Hawaiian honeycreeper now exist in fragile habitats. Discover a land of precious and threatened life forms.
Watches the change of leadership in a pride of lions in Botswana, and the new era and growth which follows.
Guiding viewers through a rich mosaic of history and culture, this program evokes the complexities of Mexico as experienced by its own people. The nation's indigenous and Spanish roots are both explored through nuanced discussions of iconic cultural elements-for example, viewers learn how the Day of the Dead reflects the national character by merging Catholic and pre-Columbian traditions. Meanwhile, a look at Mexico's modern urban landscape reveals a unique dynamic of politics, art, and commerce. The perspectives of Mexican citizens from all backgrounds and walks of life infuse the program in a manner that can only be described as a traves de sus ojos-through their eyes.
Through the cameras of National Geographic, you'll enter the lives of four families who have turned their backs on civilization to fulfill their dreams of living off the land in Alaska.
Chronicles the exploration of the world's most exotic new cave: New Mexico's Lechuguilla Cave, which remained undisturbed for millions of years until 1986. Also see the 1972 expedition that stumbled upon a passageway that linked the Mammoth and Flint Ridge Cave systems, creating the longest cave network in the world.
National Geographic’s Kangaroo Comeback follows a red kangaroo mother and her joey and traces the family tree of these extraordinary animals, showing the special relationship the mother's pouch affords the pair.
Long before Columbus, the Maya established one of the most highly developed civilizations of their time in the jungles of Mexico and Central America. Yet this advanced society of priests, astronomers, artisans, and farmers suddenly and mysteriously collapsed more than a thousand years ago. Accompany archaeologists to Copan, Dos Pilas, and other spectacular Classic Maya ruins as they unearth artifacts and huge temples of incredible beauty. Recently deciphered hieroglyphics and other new discoveries offer astounding clues to the lives of these ancient people. You'll hear the startling story of one kingdom's downfall and its final desperate hours of violent warfare. Through spine-tingling recreations, witness ancient rituals reenacted on sites where they originally occurred. And meet the enduring Maya who still maintain many of their ancestor's traditions.
Profiles of keepers around the world demonstrate how these guardians of endangered wild species face the problems and complexities of their relationships with captive animals.
Presents the exploration of the Skeleton Coast along the southwestern shore of Africa by wildlife photographers Des and Jen Bartlett, focusing on the elephants of the Namib Desert and how they traverse 40-50 miles of desert to reach the coast; and on the Bartlett's living and working arrangements in this environment as they pursue their wildlife conservation efforts.
Presentation of man's relationship to fresh water and an examination of the controversy over whose needs determine water use in the United States with examples of wetland, river, and non-renewable water- supplies given to show how water becomes power.
Surviving Everest is a documentary about alpinism that takes place in Everest. It was directed by Martha Conboy in 1993 and produced by National Geographic. It is a part of the series National Geographic Explorer . It features Edmund Hillary, Chris Bonington, Reinhold Messner, Lou Whittaker, Jim Whittaker, Tim Macartney-Snape and others.
Explorer follows Bob Ballard and veterans from both America and Japan as they search for ships that were sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal.
Meet the largest carnivore on Earth: the great Kodiak bear. Travel to Alaska's Kodiak Island where 4,000-foot mountains rise up along hundreds of miles of jagged coastline. Hike these ancient feeding trails where bears as big as 1,500 pounds gorge on berries and roll down salmon-rich rivers past cubs learning to fish. Renowned wildlife filmmaker Wolfgang Bayer even takes you inside a den. Plus, witness dramatic home videos of dangerous tourist encounters with these amazing animals in Giant Bears of Kodiak Island.
Join renowned wildlife filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert as they capture the drama of Africa's largest free-roaming elephant herds on their timeless journey across the bush country of northern Botswana. Two years in the making, this remarkable documentary reveals extraordinary elephant behavior never before filmed. View the rare adoption of an abandoned infant, the organized rescue of a calf in danger of drowning, and the haunting way bull elephants mourn the death of an aged companion.
The Caribbean. Examined: aquatic life, from the spawning process to survival. Among the diverse creatures: groupers, manta rays, turtles, dolphins, jellyfish. squids and humpback whales. Also: activities around coral reefs.
A look at the disaster that shocked the world on May 7, 1915 when the state-of-the-art ocean liner sunk to a watery grave after being struck by a German U-Boat torpedo that killed over 1100 passengers.
This National Geographic documentary explores the causes and effects of nature's more destructive forces; hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes. Through actual footage of storms and disasters, from both media and the National Geographic cameras, the viewer is shown how powerful and unpredictable nature can be. As with most National Geographic films, science and fact take precedence over sensationalism; thus, National Geographic: Nature's Fury also contains commentary and graphics that explain what causes an earthquake, a flood or other natural disasters, as well as what scientists are doing to help protect people from harm
Celebrates 30 years of televised specials by the National Geographic Society.
Provides an intricate look at one of nature's fiercest predators. The use of a camera placed on the back of a female shark allows a visual record of the animals patterns of movement. Focuses on the relationship between the great white and their seal prey on the Cape of South Africa and the Farallon Islands.
Renowned Japanese wildlife filmmaker Misuaki Iwago ventures into China's remote Qinling Mountains in an unprecedented attempt to reveal the secret life of the Giant Panda. Shot over the course of a year in one of China's most extreme and stark landscapes, the story includes the first recorded footage of a mother panda raising her young cub in the wild. Iwago also traces some of the mountain's other inhabitants including the only wild breeding population of crested ibises, the golden-haired mountain goat, and the golden snub-nosed monkey. Along with the Giant Panda these animals have nestled in this unforgiving environment since the last ice age. Welcome to one of the last remaining sanctuaries on planet Earth.
Documentary on the history of railroads in India, including where the trains run, how they are used by the people in the country, and the complexities of running the trains onboard.
Anyone, at any time, can fall victim to nature's raging furies. Around the globe, hurricanes, tornadoes, and typhoons strike without mercy and often without warning. In the last century, more than half a million lives were lost to the violent forces of cyclones, tropical storms, and the wicked weather swirling in and around them. National Geographic chronicles some of the world's most shocking storms with gripping footage and scenes of heart-thumping, real-life drama: roofs ripped from houses, trees snapped like toothpicks, and trucks tossed about like children's toys. From twisters sweeping across the Midwest's "Tornado Alley," to the vicious force of Florida's Hurricane Andrew, these are among the most powerful forces on earth. Before the next killer storm, scientists are rushing to unlock the mysteries of the Cyclone!
The hunted - they slip across borders in search of prey, boldly striking without fear. The hunters-- an elite force of specially-trained soldiers with orders of shoot-to-kill. Now, watch the story of one of today's most compelling dramas, the life-and-death struggle to save Africa's endangered animals. Shot on location by famed African filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, travel to some of the most remote corners of the African bush.
Shows how animals survive when drought strikes at the Kruger National Park. Hippos and crocodiles take refuge in the last pool in the riverbed, and an increasing crowd of thirsty animals compete for a life-saving drink. It also shows how baboons force a crocodile to release its prey.
Fabled Romanovs, led by Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra, ruled imperial Russia in high splendor, despite the disintegration of their divided, war-torn country. In 1918 the rise of Communism violently collided with the rule of royalty when the tsar, his beloved wife, and their children were murdered and buried in a secret grave. Story is told from newly discovered photographs and archival film.
Predator versus prey in a deadly battle on the African plains. Leopard and warthog: Two unlikely creatures linked by fate on the African savanna. One is predator, the other, prey. This intimate film presents remarkable close-up footage of the leopard, perhaps the wildest of the great cats and its odd-looking neighbor, the warthog. Their parallel lives include age-old scenes of mating, birth, and raising young. But when these lives intersect, the outcome is always the same: The formidable leopard outranks the warthog on the food chain. The night is full of other killers on the African plains. Leopard and warthog are just players of an ongoing struggle to survive, played out at the Mala Mala Game Reserve in South Africa. One of nature's most magnificent natural settings sets the stage for the many dramas in BEAUTY AND THE BEASTS: A LEOPARD'S STORY.
Stalk the Arctic ice with the fiercest predator, the polar bear, as it prowls one of the most forbidding places on the planet: a hidden kingdom of magnificent creatures. Armed with a keen sense of smell and backed up by 1,700 pounds, fur and fangs, the polar bear stands alone at the top of the food chain. Yet many other hunters manage to survive in and around harsh arctic waters from the savvy arctic fox to the massive, whiskered walrus.
The mysterious puma. Only a lucky few have ever seen this magnificent cat that prowls the Andes. For two years, acclaimed natural history filmmaker Hugh Miles lived among Patagonia's pumas, capturing never-before-seen images of this shy, secretive predator. Experience the unprecedented trust formed between the filmmaker and an extraordinary puma he calls Penny. His camera, equipped with a special night-vision lens, reveals the triumphs and tragedies of Penny's life: She finds a mate, gives birth to three cubs and guides her offspring through daily struggles against starvation and poaching. It is rare for a totally wild creature to allow a human to come so close, and Hugh Miles makes the most of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Now, you too can walk in the path of the Puma: Lion of the Andes.
While most think an oasis in the desert is at best a mirage, this is not always so, as is the case of the jewel of the great African Kalahari Desert, Okavango. This nourishing delta, the largest within the borders of the Dark Continent, is the lifeblood for thousands of weary animals making the trek across the unforgiving sun-baked lands of Zimbabwe.
In 1922, American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews led an archeological expedition into Mongolia's Gobi Desert and uncovered one of the richest dinosaur graveyards in the world. Political conflicts forced him to leave before he had even scratched the surface of the treasure below. In 1997, two paleontologists from the American Museum of Natural History were finally allowed to return, retracing Chapman's steps and unearthing some groundbreaking finds of their own. With spectacular on-location filming, archival footage from Chapman's expedition and impressive computer animation, it's an amazing journey back in time to a lost world where ancient giants once roamed.
The documentary explores the causes of tsunami waves, one of nature's most powerful and destructive forces. Survivors and scientists tell gripping tales of past tsunami disasters in Hawaii, Japan, and the Pacific Northwest.
A revealing look inside the most famous house in America.
First and foremost, Asteroids: Deadly Impact is a story about how the world could end. Underlying its premise we find the pillars of asteroidal impact.
Venture into the dense forests of coastal Siberia to track down the biggest cat on Earth, the elusive Siberian Tiger. Join a team of Russian and American scientists risking their lives to save this highly dangerous creature.
A firsthand look at volcanoes, including Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines and Japan's Mount Unzen.
Far from a desolate wasteland, the Sonoran Desert's spectacular landscape and varied climate support a diverse community of plant and animal life, such as the Saguaro cactus, the nectar bat, and the Gila monster.-
A look at the dangerous existence of the Andean guanaco as it eludes predators and competes with its rivals for scarce food.
Africa's Kalahari Desert is one of the harshest places in the world. When the desert dries out after the rainy season some hungry animals remain but it's a lean time between rains and everyone is on the look out for food. The bat-eared fox must outsmart hungry jackals, cheetahs, and lions for its next meal.
America's most-threatened creatures are captured in this poignant and unforgettable portrait of animals losing their struggles with man. Join photographers Susan Middleton and David Liitschwager on their quest from the California Sierra to the deep South, and from the woods of North Carolina to the Pacific's shores. Along the way they encounter red wolves, bald eagle chicks, golden trout, and a camera-shy wild ferret. Don't Say Goodbye! captures the beauty of these creatures, as well as the plea to keep their homes and lives.
The giant squid (genus Architeuthis) seems like a creature from mythology--the world's largest invertebrate (up to 60 feet long), the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, a highly developed brain, a voracious predator. In works of fiction, they are a ferocious enemy of man. But the giant squid is real. Yet all we know about them comes from carcasses washed up on shore or caught in fishermen's nets; Architeuthis has never been seen alive. This documentary looks at the scientific efforts to find a live specimen in nature, focusing on Dr. Clyde Roper's project to attach a "Crittercam" camera to a sperm whale (which feeds on giant squid) in hopes that the whale will lead us to the elusive deep-sea giant squid.
Join Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, on an expedition in the Mediterranean where he uncovers eight ancient roman wrecks beneath the sea, and thousands of artifacts spanning more than 2,000 years of human history.
A look at the iguanas of the Galápagos Islands.
On March 13, 1993, a catastrophic storm pounds a 1,200-mile swath from Florida to Canada, killing about 270 people.
Who built the pyramids? What were the secrets of mummification? Which treasures were selected for afterlife and why? For centuries, Egypt's pharaohs have kept these secrets to themselves... until now. Follow scientists as they recreate the ancient ritual of mummification and discover how the bodies of the pharaohs were preserved.
Ancient human grave sites speak volumes to those who listen. These haunting human "time capsules" have been uncovered all over the world. Some even reach a certain level of fame: The Ampato maiden sacrificed on an Andes peak. The Alpine Ice Man, the oldest frozen mummy ever found. England's 9,000-year-old Cheddar Man. Others' stories are known only to the ages, like a cache of elaborately adorned 7,000-year-old mummies unearthed in Chile, and the thousands of Egyptian mummies actually burned as train fuel in the 19th century. Modern science now allows us to explore these human treasures without destroying them, and connects us all to the secrets of the ancient dead.
This historic documentary reveals the one-time classified secrets of the Axis and Allied powers that eventually changed the outcome of the war, some for the better, others for the worse. From National Geographic and Warner Home Video, this educational film gives insight into the soldiers, sailors, and aviators who made the supreme sacrifice for a greater good. Highlights include a gripping tale of three Norwegian "special force" resistance fighters who went on a search-and-destroy mission. Additionally, there is a haunting look into the Japanese "kamikaze" pilots' psyche as they became airborne torpedoes trying desperately to sink the Pacific fleet.
Highlights the discovery and development of the predatory dinosaur Suchomimus (a relative of Spinosaurus), following the work of Paul Sereno from the Sahara Desert to the finished skeletons and flesh model.
Rainforest: Heroes of the High Frontier looks at the brief history of rainforest research. Through some inventive camerawork, the directors follow enthusiastic researchers to the tops of rainforest trees (known as the rainforest canopy), where more than half of the earth's species reside. Lighthearted music and the exuberant energy of the researchers give this video a playful tone. The researchers, however, do not fail to mention the importance of rainforest conservation as the main component in the continuation of their important research.
Dolphins are famous for their intelligent and playful ways, but perhaps less well known is their aggressive side. Dolphins : The Wild Side follows these mammals in the wild as they fight for mating rights, hunt for food, and clash with other dolphin species. Thanks to some brilliant underwater camerawork, we're treated to the sight of dolphins hydroplaning through 10 inches of water after fish, ramming one other in a quarrel over females, and evading a group of hungry orcas in Alaska. But perhaps the most impressive part of this documentary is the scenes of a dolphin pod working in concert to trap a shimmering, mammoth school of sardines. Through the calculated use of air bubbles, tail slaps, and sonic pips, the animals corral their prey and have a feast. The clever, and at times ruthless, nature of these mammals is on abundant display in this entertaining documentary.
Journey to the heart of the forests depicted in Rudyard Kipling's 'The Jungle Book' for an unprecedented look at one tigress's struggle to raise her cubs and survive in the wild. From high atop an elephant's back--the safest way to see these fierce creatures up close--National Geographic's wildlife filmmakers track 12-year-old Bengal tigress Lakshmi and her three tiger cubs for two full years.
Traverse the globe's snowy peaks and hear firsthand from experts, climbers, and skiers all about understanding and surviving the lethal phenomenon of the avalanche, also known as the "white death."
A one-hour film graphically depicting the drama and poignant impact the 1998 El Nino had on California's marine mammals and kelp forests
Join famed underwater explorer Dr. Robert Ballard as a rare find off the coast of Israel sends him, a team of experts, and a National Geographic crew on a quest to solve an archaeological mystery. See the oldest shipwrecks ever found in the deep Mediterranean, relive the excitement of an ancient wreck discovered by a U.S. Navy nuclear sub, and probe the secrets of these unprecedented archaeological time capsules and the clues they offer to an extraordinary, ancient civilization that dates back to biblical times.
Nearly everyone has seen the vivid newsreel footage of the Hindenburg disaster, when Germany's pride, the greatest airship ever flown, burst into flames while attempting to land in New Jersey after a transatlantic crossing in 1937. And while the Hindenburg's fiery end could not have been more public, the cause of the disaster has always the subject of much speculation, with theories ranging from sabotage to the more mundane explanation of static electricity igniting the highly flammable hydrogen gas used to lift the 804-foot-long dirigible. In this captivating video from National Geographic, archival films tell the story of the age of airships, and gorgeously shot modern footage takes the viewer inside the enormous airship hangar, which still stands today and is used as a warehouse at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Interviews with Hindenburg crew members who survived the disaster provide vivid testimony about the airship's fiery demise, and a former NASA engineer who has long been fascinated by the Hindenburg provides intriguing conclusions about how the fire spread so quickly. The answers given by modern science indicate that overlooked features of the Hindenburg's construction contributed to its dramatic end, which also marked the end of the luxurious and amazing era of airship travel.
The Battle of Midway was the turning of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. The historical event is recreated while Harold Ballard, the famous oceanographer who found the HMS Titanic, undertakes the mission to find two of the aircraft carriers lost in the battle, the USS Yorktown and the Japanese carrier, Kagi, with veterans from both sides on board
In 1938, the Nazis launched expeditions to the Antarctic and Tibet in search of proof of an ancient master race. Was there any basis for these bizarre missions? Who financed them?
Cross the threshold of the final frontier as mankind embarks on the greatest adventure of all time: space travel. From heroic space pioneers to modern-day cliff-hanger missions, it's a thrilling look at humanity's quest to conquer space.
In 1953, the first brave group of visionaries stood on the highest point on earth — the summit of Mt. Everest. Since that time hundreds of expeditions have attempted, successfully and unsuccessfuly, to conquer the daunting mountain peak. Forty-seven years, hundreds of discarded oxygen bottles and tons of debris later, the highest camp of Everest is known as the world's highest trash dump. In May 2000, a group of environmentalists executed a full-scale cleanup of this extraordinary natural wonder. Narrated by Sharon Stone and stunningly photographed by high altitude cinematographer Jeff Rhoads (National Geographic's A Footprint on Everest), Beyond the Summit: The Everest Environmental Expedition documents their arduous endeavor.
The man who will always be known for finding the Titanic, Robert Ballard, contends that there's still a lot we don't know about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. And by going underwater he's determined to find out some of the lesser-known aspects of the Sunday morning when America was plunged into World War II. Everyone knows about the Japanese torpedo plane attacks, but Ballard, along with American and Japanese veterans, sought out the wreckage of a Japanese midget submarine that actually became the first casualty of the battle when it was sunk by an American destroyer an hour before the Japanese airplanes made their appearance. And while thousands pay their respects at the memorial built atop the wreckage of the sunken battleship Arizona, an elite team of divers from the National Park Service fear the old battlewagon is an "ecological time bomb" because of vast amounts of fuel oil still aboard. Diving robots equipped with cameras are used to assess the condition of the wreck, and sections of the ship not seen since the morning of the attack are viewed. This is a fascinating documentary that combines commentary by historians, including author Stephen Ambrose, with spectacular underwater photography. --Robert J. McNamara
This documentary chronicles the search for wild mustangs in New Mexico to establish a breeding program for these endangered animals
Take a fascinating theory, a celebrated deep sea explorer, and cutting-edge detection technology—then put them all to the test in the poisonous "dead zone" of the most mysterious sea in the world… the Black Sea. Join Dr. Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, on an odyssey of biblical proportions as he sets out to find the submerged truth about the Great Flood. Almost every major culture on Earth includes an ancient flood story. What if evidence of the Great Flood could be found?
Paleontologist Paul Sereno and reptile expert Brady Barr are doing a research on "Sarcosuchus Imperator", a 40 feet long prehistoric relative of crocodiles. The story about the creature is presented through CGI animation as well.
Explore the Black Sea in search of evidence that may confirm the stories of Noah's epic flood.
Provides a behind-the-scenes look, with unprecedented access, into life inside the Vatican. With rare footage of secret archives, private chapels and papal quarters, the program explores the Vatican's long, powerful history, and the unique traditions and ceremonies that have survived for nearly 2000 years. Accounts from Vatican officiants, historians and devoted individuals who work closely with the Pope John Paul II provide privilieged insight into the inner workings of one of the richest wonders of the world.
This powerful program features amazing, never-before-seen photos and personal stories of North Vietnamese war photographers as they relive their unforgettable experiences in the war. This is the companion to the new book Another Vietnam, an unprecedented view of the war in Vietnam from the perspective of Vietnamese photojournalists.
Film footage of a wild leopard in South Africa's Mala Mala preserve has documented unusual animal behavior. Filmmaker Kim Wolhuter followed a single large male leopard for 18 months, recording the most intimate details of its life. Shot mostly in the dark, when the big spotted cats are most active, the documentary recorded a leopard killing twice in quick succession—once for the hyenas that dogged its footsteps and again for its own meal, so it could eat in peace.
National Geographic goes behind the scenes with unprecedented access to witness three of America's diplomats at work in three remarkably different countries: Japan, Pakistan and Guatemala. Journey behind embassy walls and closed doors to learn what drives these ambassadors to a life of conquest and compromise, danger and even deception. Meet some of the remarkable women and men, trained in the demanding arts of diplomacy, who are charged with keeping America's relations stable and strong in the midst of crisis and calm.
In Saqqara, Egypt's city of the dead, archaeologists began chipping away to find a honeycomb of burial shafts, passages and funeral chambers connected to Ramses and Tutankhamen. Filming for two years, National Geographic has exclusive access to this amazing site as the team uncovers one incredible find after another.
This program provides a very broad brush overview of the history and responsibilities of the Pentagon with commentary by America's highest ranking soldiers but the primary focus is on 9/11.
National Geographic looks at the largest human organ: the skin. People are obsessed with its beauty and humbled by its flaws. The ultra-thin shield protects us from dangers but often defines and shapes the body loving inside it. National Geographic offers a trip back in time to explore the evolution and human and examines the rainbow of diverse skin that exists with us today.
In a place like no other, where fire and water meet, the battle for survival rages on. Stromboli is an island in the Mediterranean and one of the most active volcanoes on the planet. Lava and debris constantly pour into the sea. But this doesn’t phase the common octopus. We now bring the species’ never-before-told struggle for life to the screen. Males fight to the death over females; a mother strives to protect her young. And if they can survive the harsh environment and sharks, countless shipwrecks and fishing nets provide unusually rich hunting grounds. With an arsenal of underwater equipment and cameras, we follow filmmaker Natali Tesche and the scientists working to uncover the secrets of how the octopus manages to thrive here.
Cutting-edge medical technology and riveting, life-or-death personal dramas combine in this unprecedented, from-the-inside-out exploration of The Incredible Human Body. Marvel at the revolutionary imaging system used to guide a surgeon's scalpel in a delicate brain-tumor operation. Witness a childless couple's fight to beat the odds and create a new life with a micro-technological assist. See how London cabbies are sending modern brain development theories on an unexpected detour. An astonishing excursion into the living bodies of real people, right down to their stem cells, this is the extraordinary inside story of the human machine as you've never seen it before.
The wreckage of PT-109 was located in May 2002, when a National Geographic Society expedition, headed by Ballard, found a torpedo tube amongst wreckage that matched the description, and location, of Kennedy's vessel in the Solomon Islands.[1] The boat was identified by Dale Ridder, a weapons and explosives expert on the U.S. Marine Forensics Panel.[1] The forward section was later found using remote-viewing equipment, however, the stern was never discovered. Much of the half-buried wreckage and grave site was left undisturbed in accordance with Navy policy. During the expedition, they meet and interview Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana, the original two natives who were dispatched by coastwatcher Reg Evans to find Kennedy's shipwrecked crew after the Navy had given them up for dead. Max Kennedy, Kennedy's nephew, who joined Ballard on the expedition, presented a bust of Kennedy to the two men.
Witness life and death duels as they unravel under the fierce Kalahari sun. The two competitors are a swift and graceful antelope and the fastest predator on land. Springbok and cheetah have evolved together pushing each other to greater and greater competitive skills and spectacular speeds. This is a contest that leaves only the quick - or the dead. Join National Geographic as we observe the lives of these two exceptional creatures and the events that form their lives against the dramatic backdrop of the Kalahari, its changing seasons, its occasional riot of blossoms and the many other animals, which share this harsh environment.
Join archaeologist Zahi Hawass as he unravels the mystery of how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built and who executed the awe-inspiring enterprise. Witness the opening of a 4,500-year-old sarcophagus, the oldest ever found in Egypt.
National Geographic Television & Film has made an exciting discovery of its own -- hours of never-before-seen footage of Dian Fossey, author of "Gorillas in the Mist", studying and working with mountain gorillas. It was filmed by Bob Campbell, the wildlife photographer and filmmaker whose footage and photographs propelled Dian and the mountain gorillas into the international spotlight. This documentary tells of the never before mentioned relationship between Fossey and Campbell that turned sour as well as her life that ended in the loss of her friend and her murder.
A documentary about alpinism that takes place in Everest. It was directed by Liesl Clark in 2003 and produced by National Geographic. It is a part of the series Nat Geo Wild. It features Pete Athans, Peter Hillary, Edmund hillary, Jamling Norgay, Brent Bishop, Kanza Sherpa and others.
National Geographic takes you on an exclusive tour inside Air Force One, part luxury hotel, part super secret military command post. From its beginnings with President Roosevelt making a secret wartime flight in 1943, to the historic flight that returned President Kennedy's body to Washington after his assassination, to the closing months of the Clinton administration, Air Force One takes you through the history of the world's most powerful plane. Features exclusive interviews with President George W. Bush and former Presidents Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter. AKA Inside American Power: Air Force One
From a hostage crisis to a bank robbery to an armed standoff, when lives are on the line, Special Weapons and Tactical units known as SWAT teams, rely on high-tech Tools of the Trade.
National Geographic takes a behind the scenes look at the Special Forces of the United States.
Three sons travel to Everest to challenge the mountain that shaped the lives of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay fifty years prior.
Their empire stretched from Ecuador all the way to Chile. Only 40,000 strong, they ruled ten million subjects and created one of history's greatest civilizations. But with one quick blow, the Spanish brought this mighty empire to its knees. it is one of the most dramatic and poignant stories in history. Unfortunately, the drama unfolding today is as disturbing as that which played out 500 years ago. As archaeologists struggle to understand and preserve what remains of a great culture, tomb looters and the forces of "progress" are pushing it ever closer to extinction. Across Peru, the past is colliding with the future as the demands of a growing population threaten to destroy its precious heritage. From high atop remote Andean peaks to just below a dusty shantytown on the outskirts of Lima, archaeologists are racing against time to preserve the legacy left by their ancestors.
In the face of his own threatening illness, the jaguars' greatest protector is battling time and adversity to save these endangered cats. Venture deep into the wilds of Brazil, Belize, and Panama with biologist Alan Rabinowitz as he pursues these elusive predators - and fights to protect even more jaguar habitat than he already has.
Almost 250 years after a vicious storm sent the Auguste cargo ship to the bottom of a Cape Breton Bay, causing a ship of millionaires to go down with their wealth in gold, a team of archaeologists and divers hopes to finally uncover the forgotten story of the shipwreck and raise a lost treasure.
Two-thousand years ago, a series of events changed history and gave birth to Christianity. According to the Gospels, Jesus was crucified, resurrected and ascended into heaven. But how much is legend and how much is truth? Join National Geographic for a fascinating journey back to ancient Jerusalem. There, they investigate the disappearance of Jesus Christ after his death and attempt to gain new insight hidden within the diverse accounts of his resurrection that may ultimately shed new light on the mystery of Easter.
Through breathtaking discoveries, archaeologists are uncovering the early years of the ancient Maya to reveal a dynamic, sophisticated culture that was flourishing before the time of Christ. The Preclassic Maya—once dismissed as primitive—created massive pyramids, elaborate art, early writing, and more. Join National Geographic's Dawn of the Maya as it investigates the rise one of the world's greatest and most mysterious civilizations.
A great paradox underpins our existence: the forces that make life possible also imperil it. In FORCES OF NATURE, audiences will experience the spectacle of tornadoes, floods, erupting volcanoes, hurricanes and their aftermath.
Nat Geo WILD gets up close with the mysterious world of the social insects thriving right below our feet.
For decades the wreck of the liner RMS Titanic had eluded those seeking to locate her grave site. Many failed until Dr. Robert Ballard turned a dream into reality in 1985 when he found her remains over 12000' beneath the North Atlantic Ocean. Dr. Ballard tells how his missions to two lost submarines from the Cold War helped him find the debris trail of the Titanic that she left across the sea bed. Interspersed with this intriguing once-Top Secret mission is the story of Ballard's 2004 trip back to Titanic to document the ensuing effects of visitors and salvagers since his last trip in 1986. Understanding that the Titanic and her remains belong to everyone, Dr. Ballard returns with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to help make his vision of a museum - a museum available to all - become a reality.
Travel back in time and explore the ancient myths and legends of this fabled city.
Join two scientists and an explorer as they travel to Lebanon to find out more about the ancient Phoenicians. The scientists are using genetics to determine the link between the current Lebanese population and the early Phoenicians from bone excavations made at ancient sites. Meanwhile, the explorer tries to retrace the shipping and sailing routes of the Phoenicians, who were aggressive explorers that discovered and conquered other Mediterranean lands.
The first and last line of defense for the president.
"National Geographic Photographer Mike Yamashita sets out to visually document one of the greatest overland journeys ever made: the 24-year odyssey of Marco Polo. " In the course of this incredible journey Mike stumbles onto a nomadic Kazak wedding in Aksai and investigates the controversy of the Great Wall - why did Polo never mention this in his famous travelogue "The Description of the World"? And why did he never mention tea or chopsticks? Yamashita talks to noted Chinese historian Professor Liu Yingsheng about these and many other Polo conundrums. In Yunnan province, he visits the bound feet women, and travels to inner Mongolia to film the famous herds of the Mongolian horsemen. As Yamashita reaches Xanadu he ponders on how Polo became a trusted confidant to the Khan and spent 17 years in his service. What sights he must have seen. But did he? The mystery slowly but surely reveals itself.
Journey to the untamed Great Bear Rain Forest where the wildlife is like nothing you have ever seen.
Relive pivotal, history-shaping events of Would Wail as seen through the eyes of those who fought it in this 7 27994 75062 extraordinary commemorative tribute. With narration from John McCain, Bob Kerrey, and Bob Dole, these are the unforgettable stories of D-Day veterans, recounted in the veterans' words. From the prelude to war to the stunning Normandy assault to the final victory and the war's aftermath, The Boys of Normandy is a powerful homage to the courage and sacrifice of ordinary soldiers, sailors, and airmen who went to war as young men - and came home as heroes.
Few creatures are as mysterious or captivating as the whale. From the Florida Keys to the Arctic waters, from Puget Sound to the islands of the South Pacific, whales today are threatened with new challenges. Watch the struggle unfold as men and women confront the mystery of a sudden 'mass stranding' of a group of pilot whales; an intense controversy brews over the impact of military sonar on whales; and as one scientist endures bone-chilling Arctic water to launch a groundbreaking study of the great bowhead whale. Learn about the increased suicidal behaviours of whales, and the actions taken by those on the front lines of conservation as they fight to ensure that the ocean waters remain a safe home for these magnificent creatures.
National Geographic searches for and investigates the wreck of the gold carrying civil war era SS Republic which sank in a hurricane in 1865.
From the alleged sighting in 1947 to the incident at Roswell, N.M., military personnel, scientists and ordinary citizens give extraordinary accounts of encounters with the unexplained.
An international team of researchers has uncovered one of the most sensational fossil finds in living memory: the well-preserved skull of a chimp-size animal that doesn't fit any known species. It was almost certainly a hominid — a member of a subdivision of the primate family whose only living representative is modern man. And it has left scientists gasping with astonishment for several reasons. To start with, it is nearly 7 million years old — a million years more ancient than the previous record holder. It almost certainly dates from very near that crucial moment in prehistory when hominids began to tread an evolutionary path that diverged from that of chimps, our closest living relatives.
It's the world's most intriguing mystery. The mystery of us. How did we get here? And what happened on the journey from ape to man? The trail begins somewhere in Africa. Here apes first descended from trees and started walking on two legs. Then, astonishing things began to happen. Over the eons, these creatures morphed into a variety of weird human forms. Many lived in the same place at the same time. Some walking apes - including our own species, modern humans - undertook epic migrations out of Africa. On these journeys, they left evidence of their perilous lives. Super-predators like sabre-toothed cats and giant crocs hunted them. Drought, volcanoes and maybe even other ape-men killed them. To survive, we modern humans became more adaptable, cooperative, and clever. But then something went wrong. Investigators have reached a startling conclusion: around 70 thousand years ago, we almost became extinct. What happened? How did we survive these threats to become the last walking ape standing, the one species who left the other contenders in the dust, seized the planet, and declared it our own? In Last Man Standing: The Human Race we'll explore this captivating mystery and search for the ultimate survivor. This new programme touches upon two astounding discoveries. The first just came to light on the remote Indonesian island of Flores. Here, investigators find an entirely new kind of human half our height - nicknamed the 'Hobbit'. It's one of the biggest finds in the last fifty years. This new species may force a rewrite of the human story. At the bottom of Africa, another bone detective finds some very different fossils. These are not the bones of a dwarf. They are the bones of an ancient giant - nicknamed 'Goliath'. For decades, the best minds in science studied fossils and concluded that human evolution was a straightforward story: millions of years ago somewhere in Africa, one of our ape ancestors came down from the trees. He picked up the genetic baton that wo
On March 16, 1966, Neil Armstrong and David Scott launch into space aboard the Gemini 8 capsule. The mission is to rendezvous and dock with the Agena space module , a critical step in reaching the moon. Gemini 8 successfully docked with Gemini Agena target vehicle GATV-6 hours 34 min after liftoff. Because of problems with the spacecraft control system, the crew was forced to undock after approximately 30 min. The spacecraft-target vehicle combination had begun to encounter increasing yaw and roll rates. The crew regained control of their spacecraft by using the reentry control system, which prompted an early landing in a secondary landing area in the Pacific. No EVA was performed. The failure was caused by an electrical short in control system. Docking and re-rendezvous secondary objectives were not achieved due to the shortened mission.
An examination of theories that the boy-king was murdered, and circumstances surrounding a number of mysterious deaths that followed, by an international team of scientists using state-of-the-art technology.
Just in time for the Royal Wedding - National Geographic takes you inside the palace gates for an unique and intimate look at the remaining monarchies and their relevance in the modern world. In the past, monarchs have ruled almost every culture, but recent history has not been kind to royalty. Democracy and revolution have stripped them of their power and scandals have given rise to debates about their futures. Go inside the palace gates for an intimate look into the lives of today's monarchies and their relevance in today's modern world. Can kings and queens survive the challenges of the 21st century or will this generation become the last royals?The Last Royals weaves together the stories of four royal families, the Queen of England: Queen Elizabeth, King of Nepal: King Gyanendra, King of Buganda: Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II and King of Tonga: Taufa'ahau Tupou IV. The film also includes interviews with King Gyanendra, King of Tonga: Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, Prince Michael of Greece, T.R. Reid, and others.
In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family.
In the closing months of World War II, defeat was looming for the Germans. The invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day -- opened a second Allied front, and the Allies began overtaking a host of German positions; Paris was liberated on August 25; Romania and Bulgaria surrendered in quick succession. But the Nazis did not intend to go down without a fight -- and without inflicting as much damage as possible on the Allies. To do so, they employed or planned to employ an increasingly deadly array of military weapons -- from ballistic missiles to rocket planes to, perhaps, the atomic bomb. The British, American, and Russian governments were not content to sit idly by, waiting to be slammed by the advanced technology. Covert teams of commandos and agents were sent ahead of the front lines and deep into Germany, hunting for both the weapons and the scientists and engineers who'd created them. For British and American operatives, failure was not an option. If they didn't capture the Nazi technology and scientists, agents of the burgeoning Soviet Union might -- and that could spell disaster in a post-war world already feeling the chill of the impending cold war.
Every year, hundreds of people are killed by elephants and the number of casualties keeps rising. We travel to India to find out why elephants, the world's favorite circus act, are becoming such a deadly problem.
Without the moon in its regular orbit around the planet, would life exist on Earth? Or would the climate teeter between cataclysmic extremes? Today, the moon shines brightly in the night sky from about a quarter of a million miles away. When it first formed though, it was 15 times closer to Earth and its gravity had a tremendous influence on the planet. Slowly drifting further away from Earth, the moon has reshaped the world. It created seasons, the 24-hour day, tides and may have even influenced the evolution of life here on Earth.
They are some of the biggest pyramids on the planet, millions of tons of stone and earth towering above the landscape in a display of massive wealth and power. But it wasn't the pharaohs that built these pyramids. This is the majestic ancient city of Teotihuacán, Mexico, home to one of the most powerful civilizations of its time. But why, around 750 AD, did the advanced civilization that created Teotihuacán suddenly vanish? The identities of its founders, the language they spoke and even the original name of the city are all unknown. DNA analysis of bodies from Teotihuacán shows they weren't Mayan, Incan or Aztec, but an entirely different civilization. It was assumed to have been a peaceful, utopian society, but the latest discoveries are revealing a much darker scenario. In the depths of Teotihuacán's pyramids, experts have uncovered vault after vault filled with curious human remains. Through historical recreations and spectacular CGI, Pyramids of Death brings the world of these ancient people to life, from their remarkable feats of construction and engineering to their grisly methods of human sacrifice. Follow the investigation step by step and unravel the mysteries surrounding the rise and fall of one of the ancient world's most powerful and least understood civilizations.
"Where did we all come from? Could we all be descendants of Adam?" And if he existed, who was he, where did he live and what did he look like? It is a mystery that intrigues us all and questions like these have been asked time and time again but nobody has got close to the answer - until now. Spencer Wells, a leading geneticist and National Geographic Explorer-In-Residence, is setting out on a quest to discover if there was an "Adam" from whom all humans are descended. Wells uses the latest in DNA testing technology to take us on an extraordinary journey across the globe as he traces humanity's family tree. As we travel through humanity's genetic past we'll encounter longstanding mysteries which today's DNA tools can finally solve. As Spencer Wells follows the Y-chromosomes backwards through the generations, the branches of man's family tree begin to coalesce into a single trunk, pointing to a single Adam. But now that we have found him, what did he look like and how did he live? DNA Mystery: The Search for Adam sets out to find the answers.
From the creators of critically acclaimed Inside 9/11 comes another powerful journalistic account, Inside Hurricane Katrina. Go beyond the round-the-clock news coverage for a comprehensive look behind the devastation caused by nature's fury and human error. How did this happen? Can it happen again? Why weren't emergency personnel fully ready to respond to a real disaster? Using comprehensive analysis of events, hours of government audio tapes, and personal interviews, National Geographic takes viewers into the eye of Katrina to uncover the decisions and circumstances that determined the fate of the Gulf residents.
In Dino Death Trap head deep into China's Junggar Basin where palaeontologists have uncovered the remains of dinosaurs previously unknown to science in a discovery which could reveal the secrets of dinosaur evolution. While in Dino Autopsy we get under the skin of a dinosaur with exclusive access to the excavation of one of the most intact dinosaur mummies ever found. In Dino Death Trap, an extraordinary dinosaur find follows a team of palaeontologists in western China as they unearth a virtual black hole in dinosaur evolution. Led by Dr James Clark of George Washington University and Dr Xu Xing of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the team uncovers hundreds of exceptionally preserved dinosaur fossils, including new species that were astonishingly found stacked on top of one another in pits of death in the dry and desolate Junggar Basin. Preserved for 160 million years, a total of 400 specimens and around 40 different species, including bizarre ancestors of the T-Rex and the triceratops and an ancient crocodilian, were discovered in the pits. The scientists believe they may even have found the elusive ‘missing link’ in the middle Jurassic, when dinosaur evolution went wild. Watch in awe as the amazing creatures are digitally brought back to life and we probe the mystery of how these dinosaurs lived and died.
A filmmaker and a scientist join forces on a potentially deadly quest to drive right into the heart of a tornado, pushing twister science to new heights.
Pterosaurs are the closest thing to real dragons Earth has ever seen. These giant flying reptiles dominated our skies millions of years ago. Join the hunt for evidence of the biggest Pterosaur and learn the secret of its flight. AKA: Flying Sky Monsters
Documents the 9 month journey from conception to birth with images taken inside the womb. New photographic and camera techniques allow the viewer to see previously unknown images concerning a time we all go through.
Once little more than a potter's field, Arlington National Cemetery has become a national shrine and treasury of American history. Discover how this revered site came to be, and how it serves as the final resting place for both the famous and obscure, from John F. Kennedy to the Unknown Soldier. Through rare archival footage and captivating, true-life accounts, experience the moving stories of heroes and gain a privileged glimpse into the daily activities and official rituals of the dedicated staff. From fallen soldiers and daring explorers to political leaders, the hallowed history of Arlington reveals a powerful portrait of this iconic and venerated landmark. (Warner Home Video)y.
Documentary about the history of the social impact of the Berlin Wall, one of the most forbidding symbols of the Cold War. Built in 1961, it divided the city for 28 years.
Every dark element of a mighty human empire building has long been perfected by the insect world. In NGC's Insect Wars, the violent existences of insect empires are explored and the sometimes brutal battlefield tactics, ingenious defensive strategies andstruggles for power between empires are revealed. Go into the inner sanctums of the world's mightiest insect empires and catch a rare and close-up glimpse at the world of invertebrate power not often seen by the naked eye.
The January 28, 1986, launch of the space shuttle Challenger was expected to be a historic first - schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was to be the first ordinary U.S. citizen flown into space. Instead, the Challenger flight marked one of the greatest tragedies in American space exploration when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven crew members on board. With the shuttle's explosion came serious questions. Could the tragedy have been averted? Why did NASA allow the Challenger to launch on that unseasonably cold morning? Did NASA knowingly put political, monetary or public relations considerations ahead of the astronauts' safety? On the eve of the disaster's twentieth anniversary, the National Geographic Channel (NGC) presents "Challenger: The Untold Story," which portrays the events and decisions leading up to the ill-fated launch with an immediacy that catapults viewers back to those tragic days.
He's one of the most hated men in history: Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus. For centuries, his name has meant treachery and deceit. Hidden for nearly two thousand years, an ancient Gospel emerges from the sands of Egypt that tells a very different version of the last days of Jesus and questions the portrait of Judas Iscariot as the evil apostle. Join National Geographic and a team of Biblical detectives as they race to determine the authenticity of this ancient document, piecing together its delicate pages before they turn to dust. With movie-quality dramatizations and insightful analysis by the world's foremost experts, The Gospel of Judas reveals a new account of Jesus's betrayal to the modern world.
He stalked the Caribbean trade routes, striking fear into the hearts of all who dared sail the treacherous waters by pillaging no less than forty ships in the short time span of just two years. Now, thanks to the folks at National Geographic, viewers can board the ship of notorious pirate known the world over by the ominous moniker Blackbeard for a two-hour, high-definition look at the exploits of the intelligent and charismatic marauder born Edward Teach. A cunning thief whose terrifying and carefully constructed visage struck fear into the hearts of sailors while inspiring wild stories of wretched savagery, Blackbeard (portrayed here by actor James Purefoy)'s notorious reputation alone was often enough to cause his prey to give up without so much as a fight. With this documentary, history buffs will find out just why the old adage about truth being stranger than fiction has more merit than some give credit for.
In the true story of Spartacus, you'll discover how one man, fueled by a desire for his own freedom, led a revolution against the Roman Empire and became a hero even more compelling than the legend Hollywood created.
His name resonates throughout history - a mythical figure, one of the greatest commanders of the ancient world. But what of the man behind the legend? A man who handed Rome the key to the future by allowing them to learn his tactics and use them against him; and who was ultimately betrayed by his own people, spending his final years on the run from the Romans.
This secret society has shaped world events for 1,000 years. Members turn up in the World Bank, the United Nations, the Pentagon, and the top ranks of major corporations. But who exactly are the Freemasons?
Delve into the terrifying world of structural engineering gone horribly wrong. Examine the chain of events that led to some of the world's worst structural disasters, including the collapse of a giant department store in South Korea; the collapse of the roof of terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris; and the collapse of two overhead walkways onto a crowded hotel lobby in Kansas City in the U.S. Follow the clues that led forensic experts to the fatal flaws that killed hundreds in the blink of an eye, and look at some of the newest, most futuristic building concepts and ask if, by pushing the limits of new materials and revolutionary technologies, are we not courting future disasters?
It was the treasure trove that sent shockwaves through the archaeological world - a fabulous collection of precious metal that captured the imagination of the public and experts alike. Now, in Saxon Gold: New Secrets Revealed, you can explore the true significance of the £3million Staffordshire Hoard, and sift through hundreds of precious artefacts to reveal the remarkable tales behind the bounty. British metal detecting enthusiast Terry Herbert struck gold when he uncovered over 3,500 Saxon artefacts in a field in 2009. The haul is now in the joint custody of the Birmingham and Stoke museums - find out how the professionals are using the mountains of glittering gold and shimmering silver to shed new light on the mysterious Dark Ages - and provide eye-opening evidence of Britain's violent past. Curator Dr. David Symons is your guide as he trawls through the treasure with the help of a team of Anglo-Saxon metalwork specialists, gemstone analysts and osteoarchaeologists. With the story of the Staffordshire Hoard slowly coming to light, examine the latest theories exciting archaeological experts worldwide and, above all, marvel at the craftsmanship, ingenuity and sophistication of Anglo-Saxon ancestors
This is the true story of Egyptian spy Ali Mohamed. He infiltrated U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA and FBI, and joined the U.S. Army. At the same time, he took orders from the Egyptian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization and later joined forces with al Qaeda. He trained Osama bin Laden's jihadist warriors and helped plan terrorist attacks including the 1998 African embassy bombings
Secrets of Mary Magdalene strips away the veils of history to reveal the flesh and blood woman who served as Jesus' foremost apostle and possibly the love of his life. Based on the nonfiction book "Secrets of Mary Magdalene" by bestselling authors Dan Burstein and Arne De Keijzer, this documentary special uncovers the latest information on one of the world's most controversial religious figures.
This documentary tells the story of how a team of architects, builders, structural engineers and scrap artists came together last year to build a house entirely out of garbage. Not the usual green materials everyone is talking about, something greener than that -- real and true garbage plucked straight from the waste stream.
The documentary tells the stories of four Mennonites (Aganetha, Cornelio, Pedro and Jacobo) living in two different communities. The colonies of El Savinal (El Sabinal) and El Capulin are settled in the Mexican state of Chihuahua and look like typical German farming communities of the 19th Century.
In the frozen wilderness of Antarctica, where oceans ice over and just staying alive is an achievement, one creature has perfected the art of survival - the emperor penguin. Eons of evolution have built an animal superbly adapted to the howling gales and sub-zero temperatures, but the emperor may have finally met its match. Parts of Antarctica are warming, giving birth to huge icebergs, and the consequences could be catastrophic for this majestic animal. In a place where all life is touched by the ice, it is a dramatic shift. Explore this region from its inhabitant's perspective, using state-of-the-art technology. By better understanding these amazing animals, researchers can help prepare for their future, as the balance of life in the Antarctic continues to change.
Nestled in the remote and desolate steppes of southern Kazakhstan, the Russian run Baikonur Cosmodrome is the oldest and largest space facility in the world. With 20 to 30 rocket launches annually, the stage is set for an unusual mission. American entrepreneur Greg Olsen has spent 20 million dollars to live out every stargazer's dream. He will become the third private citizen on the planet to hop aboard the Soyuz rocket, and journey to outer space. After completing 900 hours of intensive cosmonaut training, including zero G exercises, crisis drills, and launch simulators, Olsen joins two veteran astronauts on a mission to the International Space Station. Olsen turns his personal handy-cam on himself and records a daily diary while in orbit some 350 kilometers above the Earth. Throughout the training, launch, and re-entry procedures, cameras provide a rare peek inside a Russian space mission, gaining unprecedented access to the floor of mission control as well as the highly secure laun
National Geographic examines evidence to shed new light on cities said to have been destroyed by the hand of God.
Examine the greatest escape in history--how Moses and the Israelites fled enslavement with the parting of the Red Sea.
National Geographic explores the Book of Revelation to see if there is more to it than prophecy.
Experts unravel the mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and explore theories about their creation.
As only National Geographic can, The Great Quake tells the terrifying and inspiring tale of a pitched battle between man and nature told by the stories of people who lived through it. On April 18, 1906 the greatest natural disaster in American history strikes without warning. Concrete buildings explode into clouds of dust and rubble and fires break out by the thousands. For the next three days, San Francisco's corrupt and charismatic Mayor takes the helm of this city under siege, making decisions that are swift and radical. This is the terrifying and inspiring tale of a pitched battle between man and nature told by the stories of people who lived through it.
Go undercover with National Geographic correspondent Lisa Ling as she journeys into mysterious and reclusive North Korea.
During World War II, Allied POWs were forced by Japanese Soldiers to work on the construction of the Thailand to Burma railway which included the Bridge on the River Kwai. The prisoners worked under savage conditions and only with basic tools. Based on witness testimonies and photographic evidence, the documentary tries to answer the questions as to how this feat of engineering was built. The documentary special also tells of the developement of America's first precision guided muniton, the' Azon' bomb, and how it was used to destroy the bridge.
Would you leave friends and family to voluntarily work in a war zone? Is six hundred dollars a day worth risking your life? Apparently it is for 25,000 international security contractors employed in Iraq today. Each and every day these tattooed and muscle bound civilians run a gauntlet of hidden dangers as they carry out critical missions to safeguard the Iraqi reconstruction effort and protect V.I.P.s. But the insurgents don't distinguish between civilian contractors and coalition forces. EXPLORER examines the grim reality of private security contractor in Iraq, where every mission could be their last.
A weapon so technologically perfect in structure, so formidable in strength and so beautiful in creation. This high definition one hour special is the inside track on the World's most influential weapon. For over a thousand years this weapon dominated the battlefields of Japan, instilled fear and terror into every enemy it faced, and created a new spiritual way of life that lasts through to the present day. The Samurai sword – a weapon so technologically perfect in structure, so formidable in strength and so beautiful in creation. For the first time unique access has been granted and we travel into the core of the ancient foundries, sword-smiths and fighting schools to reveal what makes the so-called perfect sword. This is a no holds barred look at one of the most iconic man-made objects ever forged. Join us as we take the inside track on the making of the legend that is the Samurai Sword.
Eye of the Leopard tracks one cat for a remarkable three years in Botswana. She's called Legadema, or "Light from the Sky," and we follow her from the first vulnerable days as a cub all the way to developing into one of the most feared predators.
On Southern Africa's desolate West Coast, a new born African Penguin, Lucy, struggles for her life. She has just a ten percent chance of making it to adulthood and predators constantly lie in wait. Her parents have their hands full for the next four months, feeding and protecting her and her older brother. As they return from their daily fishing expeditions rogue seals ambush their fishing parties, stealing their hard won day's catch and endangering the lives of their dependent chicks.
Artificial reefs mean big business for the tourist industry, but how are they created? Canada is a world leader in the technology needed to create these diving meccas. National Geographic Channel follows the reef-building process as an old naval ship is meticulously cleaned of pollutants, carefully wired with explosives, and sunk to an underwater resting place. These submerged ships also provide habitats and breeding sites for innumerable marine species.
Dispelling rumours about Freemasons, the two-hour programme helps to distinguish facts from fiction behind this enigmatic group with millions of members worldwide. For the first time, Masonic temples around the world open their doors and provide exclusive coverage for "Freemasons on Trial".
In the spring, the western diamondback rattlesnake emerges from its winter hiding place after not eating for more than 6 months, it has only one thing on its mind: food. To obtain its first meal, the snake must face a series of challenges that build to the rattlesnake’s strike. In Striker, the National Geographic Channel reveals the science behind the rattlesnake’s strike: how this remarkable predator finds the best ambush sites; how it detects its rodent prey, even in the dark; how it moves at lightning speed with amazing precision; and how its highly toxic venom acts on the nerves, muscles and tissues of its victims.
It is one of the most notorious assassinations in modern history: the murder of the Romanovs, Russia's ruling family. Once the subject of a high-stakes murder investigation, the trail went cold of Soviet rule. Now, the mysterious deaths are fueling a heated battle between forensic scientists, religious leaders, and Russia's political elite. Are the bones buried in St. Petersburg really those of the Romanovs? And what became of two of their children, whose bodies were never recovered? Can members of the family have survived a night of unspeakable brutality, or did one of the world's most powerful dynasties really come to an end, changing the course of world history to this day?
You might pride yourself on being clean and tidy around the home but the truth is you’re living with alien-like creatures. Every room, every cupboard, every nook and cranny is infested with little creatures of mass destruction. Dust mites, grain weevils, cockroaches and maggots, until now they’ve preyed on the fact that you can’t see them, but all that is about to change…Welcome to 24 hours in the Bug Brother house.
In a remote outpost in south-central Afghanistan, a group of Americans stand in the breach between the rule of law and the rule of terror. They are Green Berets, part of an elite division of the U.S. Army Special Forces, charged with protecting local civilians from the wrath of the Taliban. For this film, the Pentagon waived their 48-hour limitation on embedded media and allowed NGC cameras to chronicle the lives of these war-hardened Americans for 10 days. AKA: Green Berets Under Fire
Six years ago, U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan for providing sanctuary to al Qaeda terrorists. Now, these Islamist militants are back.
New evidence on the fate of the Incas helps to reimagine their tale in this National Geographic presentation. Great Inca Rebellion presents stunning new evidence that is changing what we know about the final days of the Inca Empire. According to traditional accounts, the mighty Inca were swiftly wiped out by a small band of Spanish conquistadors. But new evidence had been unearthed that supports a different version of the story. Uncovered remains of those who died in battle along with recently discovered documents suggest that even after forming military alliances with thousands of Indian mercenaries, it took the Spanish many years to defeat the Inca Empire. Brought to life through CGI reconstruction and re-enactments, the untold epic saga of guerilla warfare and rebellion are revealed as National Geographic reveals the truth behind the Incas last stand.
There are two strands to this intriguing documentary about the famous bust of the Egyptian queen, which was discovered in 1912 by German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt. The first is about Borchardt and how he pulled a bit of a swiftie on the Egyptians to get the thing back to Berlin, while the second is about what Nefertiti has been up to lately - being X-rayed and so on in a bid to dispel doubts about her authenticity. The man who connects the strands is Adolf Hitler, who fell in love with the spectacular limestone bust, left, and wanted it to be the centrepiece of a new Egyptian museum in Berlin. The Egyptian government, having realised what it had lost, had been clamouring for the piece's return but Hitler refused, eventually having it hidden away in a salt mine for protection from Allied bombing raids. Rumours have persisted, however, that the bust was swapped for a fake en route to the mine - hence the high-tech examinations. Under the X-ray everything looks OK, but curiously the face beneath the colourful make-up looks older and more wrinkled than the glamorous beauty the world has come to know. Looks like somebody got a makeover.
National Geographic Scientist Uncovers Treasure Trove of Human Fossils That Could Challenge Rules of Human Evolution Tiny Humans Living as Recently as 1,500 Years Ago Could Rewrite the Timeline for Human Evolution On the final day of his vacation in Palau, National Geographic research grantee and world-renowned paleoanthropologist Lee Berger accompanies a local guide to a hidden cave where he discovers a cache of fossilized human remains. Berger returns to the cave six weeks later with a team of elite scientists and finds not just one human skeleton, but several, unlike any he has ever seen. Measurements show that these people were some of the smallest humans to walk the earth, but they had enormous teeth. Has Berger discovered a lost human species or a tribe of mutants?
Hippos are regarded one of the most dangerous animals as they kill more people in Africa than any other beast.We reveal what triggers them to attack.
From our first cry to our last breath, our bodies undergo a continuous second-by-second transformation. Every move we make and every outside stimulus triggers a reaction through the skin, bones, organs, muscles and cells. We breathe, on average, 700 million breaths in a lifetime; an adult skeleton is replaced every seven to 10 years; we shed as many as 30,000 dead skin cells every minute; and the food we eat travels 30 feet (9 meters) on its journey through our bodies. This documentary takes you beneath the skin to reveal how our bodies evolve from birth to old age, and the amazing biological systems we need to thrive.
Today, 65 percent of adult Americans are overweight, but few are morbidly obese. What are the physical stresses of weighing more than 500 pounds and what steps can reverse it? NGC explores the genetics of weight gain and medical advances to treat it.
Brings to life some of the most bizarre, ferocious and fascinating creatures to ever inhabit the ocean. Combines animation with recreations in a prehistoric adventure. A journey to the bottom of the ancient oceans dramatizes awe-inspiring creatures.
Incredible Human Machine takes viewers on a two-hour journey through an ordinary, and extraordinary, day-in-the-life of the human machine. With stunning high-definition footage, radical scientific advances and powerful firsthand accounts, Incredible Human Machine plunges deep into the routine marvels of the human body. Through 10,000 blinks of an eye, 20,000 breaths of air and 100,000 beats of the heart, see the amazing and surprising, even phenomenal inner workings of our bodies on a typical day. And explore striking feats of medical advancement, from glimpses of an open-brain surgery to real-time measurement of rocker Steven Tyler's vocal chords.
The world renowned National Palace Museum in Taiwan is home to one of the world's greatest Chinese art collection, including more than 600,000 pieces of the priceless imperial Chinese treasure. The Emperor's Treasure takes viewers, for the first time, on an amazing journey into the secret imperial treasure trove at the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. It features the story of a Chinese emperor's ambitious art collection, the courage of the people who protected it from destruction during the two wars and the technology used to preserve the masterpieces for future generations. AKA: Secrets of the First Emperor
In 1995, the first gray wolves were transported from Alberta, Canada to Yellowstone National Park, to repopulate the sprawling landscape with the species, absent for more than 70 years. The following year, a second wave of wolves was brought to the park from British Columbia, Canada; five of them were released together, and they were named the Druid Peak pack. Since the arrival of those first immigrants, wolves have thrived in Yellowstone — and none more dramatically than the Druids.
Was Adolf Hitler influenced and motivated by the occult? Through the years, historians have debated the mysterious connection between the occult, Hitler and the Nazi party, including some who maintain that Hitler killed others to keep his occult beliefs a secret. NGC examines how Hitler's involvement with the German Worker's Party brought him face-to-face with occultists who may have influenced his beliefs
The USS Ronald Reagan: the world's most advanced aircraft carrier. A floating piece of American territory. And a powerful weapon, swarming with planes, explosives, and thousands of the Navy's best crew. This formidable marine monster is also a mobile combat airport, perfectly designed for one task: to launch and retrieve legions of strike fighter jets anywhere in the world, on extremely short notice. And the 5000 men and women on board have to perform this task to perfection. Surrounded by roaring jet engines and dangerous weapons one mistake could mean disaster. From the Flight Deck to the cockpit to the Captain's chair, we're taking a behind-the-scenes look at the American military's ultimate weapon the Supercarrier: USS Ronald Reagan.
They soar to record heights, towering over normal people. From a benign tumor on the pituitary gland to excess growth hormones, find out how giants are made.
Deep in the heart of the Amazon, an uncharted lake emerges every dry season when the floodwaters recede. It's rumoured that this secret lair lures reptiles little changed since the time of the dinosaurs. And not just a few; hundreds gather - even giant creatures allegedly journey to this far off, inaccessible place. Outsiders come here at their peril; fishermen claim to have lost limbs to fearsome monsters. Are these exaggerated local legends? Or is the veil of mystery about to be lifted on one of the earth's largest yet least studied carnivores - the black caiman?
Deep in the heart of Zambia lies one of Africa’s best kept secrets. This is the home of one of the biggest hippo communities in the world. But this summer will be the toughest ever on record as water is scarce and a rare, natural outbreak of anthrax hits the community. Two brothers face a deadly battle over territory while a young mother and her calf, desperate to survive, journey to the river in search of water. As bloated and putrefying corpses start to appear, it appears the river is spreading the disease. The young mother succumbs after drinking the water, leaving her calf to fend for itself. For the brothers, each lick of an infected carcass transfers lethal amounts of anthrax. Will they survive to fight the living breathing opponent vying for their patch of ground before the rains come to sweep the deadly curse of anthrax away? This is a hippo story like no other, following the lives of those tough enough to survive hippo hell.
The Heilongjiang Acrobatic troupe, based in the city of Harbin, is one of China's most respected acrobatic groups. For over 50 years its performers have thrilled audiences throughout China with contemporary interpretations of this traditional art form. Two years ago, artistic director Mr. Guan Xin Min decided on a new and innovative direction for Heilongjiang--they would become the only acrobatics truope in China to perform on ice! Combining ice-skating and traditional acrobatics may be a great marketing tool, but it will take a team of ultra- talented and dedicated performers to turn this idea into reality. After training practices and performances, the Heilongjiang Acrobatic troupe is ready to take its unique style of ice acrobatics beyond mainland China. This is a tense and exciting time for all the young performers--but will circumstances beyond their control conspire to end this momentous endeavour before it even begins?
Four bodies, a scattering of clues, a mystery whose solution could rewrite history. National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Spencer Wells, opens an ancient case of missing persons, using the latest advances in DNA technology to determine the origins of a group of enigmatic mummies found in western China. What he learns may change what we know about the world. The four individuals were part of a vanished world that existed in western China between 2600 and 4000 years ago - long before Marco Polo or the Silk Road. Yet these long-buried corpses look European and were found with tools that didn't exist yet in that part of the world. Who were they? Where did they come from? And how might they have affected the spread of culture and technology in prehistoric times?
Despite the worldwide interest in his life, little is known about Jesus between the ages of 12 and 30. How did he spend his missing years? While his birth, childhood, later years and death are all well documented in the gospels of the New Testament, a question mark continues to hang over how Jesus spent his time between the ages of 12 and 30. This baffling gap spans the period that stretches from his preaching in a temple as a young boy, right up to the point at which, as a grown man, he first met John the Baptist. Jesus: The Missing Years explores the 18-year gap that incredibly, nobody knows anything about. The debate continues to rage over where the young Christ was during these 'missing years'. Some wild theories have claimed that he traveled far and wide, with India and Tibet being possible destinations. Others claim it is far more likely that he remained in Nazareth, leading a humble life working as a carpenter. Now, scholars and theologians are using clues from ancient texts to piece together the events of Jesus' young adulthood in an attempt to shed new light on the unknown parts of his life.
On Botswana's Linyanti Plains, a band of brothers reigns amongst the top predators. Three cheetahs: partners since birth, and one of the most efficient hunting forces on the plains. They hunt as a team, with Achilles in front, and Odin and Shiva flanking him on either side. The powerful trio have held their territory for over five years, until one day tragedy strikes. Achilles is killed by a cobra bite, leaving Odin and Shiva to fend for themselves for the first time in their lives. With the power of three broken they must adapt fast: learning to hunt as a twosome and defend their kills without the help of Achilles. Confounding their efforts is a host of scavenging predators: an injured leopard, a cunning hyena and a devious black backed jackal. Making matters worse, a lone male cheetah begins to trespass on their land. As the cheetah brothers regain their strength and efficiency, the lone male becomes a major concern. When they eventually corner him, a vicious fight breaks out. But then a remarkable transformation occurs – instead of killing the cheetah, they tolerate him. Day by day, the strangers gradually begin to accept each other, until one day – against all odds – the power of three is returned to the Linyanti Plains as a new coalition of cheetahs hunt together at last…
It is one of Egypt's enduring mysteries. What happened to Nefertiti and her husband, Akhenaten - the radical king, and likely father of King Tut? In a dark and mysterious tomb located in the Valley of the Kings, there is a small chamber with two mummies without sarcophagi or wrappings. At times, both have been identified as Queen Nefertiti by scholars, filmmakers and historians. But the evidence has been circumstantial at best.
Secrets of Jerusalem's Holiest Sites takes us on a journey into one of the most sacred places on Earth dating back to biblical times. It is the most hotly contested piece of real estate on the planet and its name alone is enough to spark riots across the Middle East. Known as the Temple Mount to Jews and Christians and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, it is so sacred to all three religions that followers willingly die for it.
Long a symbol of love, affection and faithfulness, the diamond is now increasingly linked with war, blood and brutality. In the diamond-rich West African nation of Sierra Leone, rebels used the precious gems to bankroll a violent ten-year insurrection, leaving a terrorized population and a ravaged landscape in its wake. National Geographic correspondents follow the trail of illicit diamonds from their origin in the muddy pits of impoverished Sierra Leone, to the pristine cobblestone streets of Antwerp, Belgium, to their final stop in the glittering display cases of New York's finest jewelry stores.
The sabretooth cat was one of the most terrifying animals ever known to exist. For close on two million years, this relative of the modern lion terrorised the Americas, using its knifelike fangs to kill its prey, but 10,000 years ago, it vanished from the face of the earth. What caused it to go extinct?
Journey to the top of the world to witness firsthand how the planet's changing climate is affecting the creatures that inhabit the icy Arctic. See how the loss of Arctic ice affects the survival skills of ringed seals, polar bears, and narwhals. For some, the ice is a way to hunt — and for others, a way to keep from being hunted. These Arctic creatures have become masters at negotiating the perils of this frozen world...but their dependence on the ice is also their greatest vulnerability. National Geographic's Crittercam technology provides a never-before-seen perspective on this changing world. See how the resourceful creatures of the Arctic are learning to adapt - from their own point of view.
Follow the swashbuckling historical tale of notorious pirate Black Sam Bellamy as marine archaeologist Barry Clifford goes in search of his fabled treasures.
Lindsay Hunt, a former professional game hunter, holds South Africa’s wild Cape buffalo in high regard. So high, in fact, that Hunt has made it his personal mission to help preserve these notoriously unpredictable animals. In the wild, the buffalo are nearing extinction from threats such as bovine tuberculosis and foot and mouth. This new documentary series follows Hunt on his intriguing journey to capture these wild buffalo – which could kill him with a single swipe of their deadly horns – in an effort to breed new healthy stock.
Where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans collide, at the bottom of South America, is Patagonia, one of the last great wild Eden's on Earth. Join National Geographic on a journey to this breathtaking sub-Antarctic region now facing its greatest challenge recovering from the misguided actions of man. Eden at the End of the World offers a wondrous glimpse into the pristine haven that is Patagonia
NGC visualizes in spectacular HD the devastating ecological impact each single degree increase in temperature could have on our planet over the next century.
As new research continues to reveal that apes are smarter than previously thought, NOVA explores just what separates humans from the great apes.
Once upon a time, long ago, in a land not so far away, our beloved planet was bunched together into one giant super-continent. It was inhabited by very small and similar creatures. But over the next millions of years, the land began to break apart, and its creatures began to grow apart-becoming bigger and weirder than ever before. Bodies with tiny arms grew massive heads. Tiny heads adorned giant crests. Long necks steadied long tails. The time of the bizarre dinosaur had arrived. Immerse yourself into a lost world of strange beasts that roamed our planet a hundred million years ago - how their stories of life, death, combat, and sex can tell us about evolution and give insight into life on our planet in National Geographic's Bizarre Dinosaurs. AKA: The Weirdest Dinosaurs
Experts in code writing and breaking tell tales of heroic risks and cat-and-mouse secrecy, where science meets deadly adventure and everyone from queens to soldiers to everyday citizens can pay the price.
What would happen if every single person on Earth simply disappeared? Gone. Not dead, just gone. This is the astounding story of a world we will never see. A world without people, where city streets are still populated by cars, but without drivers. Nobody to fix bridges, repair buildings or maintain power plants. After being controlled by humanity for millennia, nature reclaims the earth. But how would that work? How long would skyscrapers, nuclear power plants, and our homes last if abandoned? How would wild and domestic animals fare without us? Will the Eiffel Tower outlast the Statue of Liberty? Aftermath: Population Zero gives us a chance to see the impact of human beings by seeing how Earth would adapt without us. AKA: Aftermath: The World After Humans
It's the oldest, largest and one of the most prestigious air shows in the world, a show where fans gather to see spectacular aerial displays and get up close to the beautiful flying beasts of the sky. Business leaders gather to sign deals for new fleets of planes worth millions, swap ideas and examine new aviation technology. National Geographic Channel goes behind the scenes of the famous Paris Air Show to see the latest examples of aviation innovation and find out how the team behind the event wing into action.
Equipped with more electro sensors than any other shark, extreme maneuverability, serrated teeth and an ability to swim fast have armed the Hammerhead with an amazing arsenal of survival tools. But unfortunately, indiscriminant fishing currently threatens the Hammerhead's very existence with a severe population decline in the past decade. In an ever-changing world, where skills are constantly put to the test, how will these magnificent fish continue to survive and meet the natural and unnatural challenges of today?
Imagine accelerating from 0 to 128 mph in 3.5 seconds and then hurtling over a 45-story building in a go-kart. You crest a hill, experience weightlessness and then G forces plaster you to your seat. As the ride ends, dopamine floods your brain. Every rollercoaster conspires with physics, geometry and precision engineering to jump start your brain chemistry and shake up your basic instincts. Why do we get such a rush out of roller coasters? What will the next generation of Supercoasters unleash
In a playful, surprising and thought-provoking portrait of our time on earth, National Geographic demonstrates, in a series of remarkable visuals, what makes up an average human life today and how everything we do has impact on the world around us. In this unique journey through life, it shows all the people you will ever know, how much waste you will produce, the amount of fuel you'll consume and how much you've got to pack in during your 2,475,526,000 seconds on earth.
Legends of the Ice World brings the northern polar cap to life by combining modern technology with traditional and beautiful wildlife footage. State of the art computer graphics reveal the foundations, history and weather patterns of this frozen desert of the North. Stunning wildlife footage illustrates the diversity of life in this icy world, from the seabirds and lemmings at the base of the food chain to the lords of the ice, the polar bears. This intimate portrait also follows the dramas of a reindeer migration, wrestling walruses, and the great, annual battles of musk oxen.
Join undercover agents and slip into the shadowy web of illicit trade, where dangerous multi-billion dollar criminal networks threaten whole sectors of the world economy. Illicit: The Dark Trade travels the globe to expose the dire consequences of this dirty industry: money laundering, political corruption, and the subversion of entire governments. From knock-off handbags to bootlegged compact discs to fake pharmaceuticals, this hard-hitting special reveals how consumers' insatiable demand for counterfeit merchandise has given birth to a vast criminal system.
Provides a look into the photo album of SS officer Karl Höcker, the adjutant to the commandant at Auschwitz. Taken between May and December 1944, the chilling photos capture life at the concentration camp for Nazi officers and staff: relaxing on the terrace, eating blueberries, stopped mid-singalong by a sudden downpour.
They’re our closest cousins in the natural world, with DNA that has been found to be a remarkable 98.4% identical to our own - but are apes really so similar to human beings? This film sets out to answer this question by demonstrating how much apes can do and how much they can’t. When put to the test just how big a difference does 1.6% variation in DNA make?
An amazing tournament of animal survival at a South African watering hole is captured on a vacation video. Enlisting the help of wildlife experts, National Geographic deconstructs this battle
In the vast expanse of South Africa’s Mala Mala game reserve, a host of Africa’s largest and fiercest wildlife species compete for food, mates and territory against the backdrop of a harsh dry season. Track the interconnecting lives of this wild community, locked in a never-ending battle to stay alive. At the heart of it all is a pride of lions. Challenged from all sides by other big characters in the area, relationships constantly take unexpected turns. Shera is the matriarch of the Mala Mala pride, who struggles to rear her cubs in the face of attack from rival males. She is also a successful hunter and leads her pride into the thick of the resident 500-strong buffalo herd. The buffalo are weak and thin at this time of year, strained by the heat, the lack of lush grazing and their daily pilgrimage to the ever-shrinking Sand River. Shera’s younger sister doesn’t have young of her own. She is a valuable babysitter when the pride sets out to hunt and the cubs need her, for there are many enemies in this neighbourhood
For 5,000 years, the purpose of this monument has remained a mystery, but archaeologists have uncovered a theory to explain this architectural riddle
Ten extraordinary days, ten ordinary characters, ten overlapping stories - coming from all points of the compass - bearing down to the same moment: the end of the biggest war the world has ever known. Combining large-scale reconstructions with traditional documentary storytelling, Ten Days to Victory evokes the climactic last moments of the Second World War. The program interweaves the stories of ten very different people caught up in the liberation of Europe from the grip of Nazi terror. Their diaries, letters and interviews provide a unique insight into the dramatic events of some of the most gripping and terrifying days in history. For these individuals, as for millions of others, the German surrender on 8th May 1945 marks the end of everything that has consumed their lives for six long years.
The nuclear trail to Titanic and the intact treasures of the Black Sea. It was the greatest nautical mystery of the 20th Century: the final resting place of Titanic.
“They told us, ‘In 30 days, half of you will be dead',” recalls one veteran in this sombre account of the bloody, ferociously fought D-Day battle, which claimed the lives of at least 2,000 US infantrymen in one day.
Tucked in the Selous game reserve in Tanzania there are hunters, big and small. Here a brave bunch of Banded Mongooses fight to survive amidst an army of killers. They're bigger, faster, smarter, and braver than their Meerkat cousins, but a tough year lies ahead. Follow the mongoose pack as they are tested to the limit, living under constant threat from predators and the harsh African weather. Ela, the leader of the Magwa clan must work hard to raise her family here. It's time to meet the bandits of Selous.
While on a study in Sharkville, a shark-infested area off Africa's coast, shark expert Ryan Johnson made the discovery of a lifetime, great whites hunting at night. For the first time on film, witness this remarkable sight.
Over the past few decades, the Middle East has been an epicenter of political and violent turmoil, often with religious conflict at its core. An understanding of the Muslim faith and its most sacred text is very important. NGC presents Inside the Koran, a journey into the heart of the Islamic world to better understand this complex and seemingly contradictory spiritual guide, including the messages that some perceive as justification for the violent conflict and suicide bombings.
It is one of the most controversial issues of our day, jeopardizing the health and smearing the reputations of Olympians, professional sports players and even high school athletes. The government has declared them illegal without a prescription, athletes call them unfair, and some doctors say they are potentially deadly. What are the real dangers of these drugs? We've seen what's happening outside the body; now NGC reveals what's happening inside the body, in the Science of Steroids.
They solve murders, catch spies, and prevent terrorist attacks. They are one of the most revered law enforcement agencies on the planet, and one of the least understood until now. Go behind-the-scenes with the federal agents of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). With re-enactments, on-location footage and interviews with agents, re-examine the agency's most challenging case - the bombing of the USS Cole - and see how the NCIS is staying one step ahead of the terrorists.
The discovery of what native Mauritian diver and keen naturalist Hugues Vitry calls “shark pits” is the origin of unanswered questions about the unusual behaviour of sharks in underground caves off the coast of Mauritius. Why do dozens of sharks aggregate in these pits? Why do they act so strangely while there? In a bid to answer these questions, Hugues teams up with shark scientist Ryan Johnson, to enter the underwater world of Mauritius and explore the mysteries of the “Shark Pits”.
The stress response: in the beginning it saved our lives, making us run from predators and enabling us to take down prey. Today, human beings are turning on the same life-saving physical reaction to cope with 30-year mortgages, $4 a gallon gasoline, final exams, difficult bosses and even traffic jams — we can't seem to turn it off. So, we're constantly marinating in corrosive hormones triggered by the stress response. Now, scientists are showing just how measurable — and dangerous — prolonged exposure to stress can be. Stanford University neurobiologist, MacArthur "genius" grant recipient, and renowned author Robert Sapolsky reveals new answers to why and how chronic stress is threatening our lives in Killer Stress, a National Geographic Special. The hour-long co-production of National Geographic Television and Stanford University was produced exclusively for public television. In this revelatory film, discoveries occur in an extraordinary range of places, from baboon troops on the plains of East Africa to the office cubes of government bureaucrats in London to neuroscience labs at the nation's leading research universities. Groundbreaking research reveals surprising facts about the impact of stress on our bodies: how it can shrink our brains, add fat to our bellies and even unravel our chromosomes. Understanding how stress works can help us figure out ways to combat it and mitigate negative impacts on our health. For over three decades, Robert Sapolsky has been working to advance our understanding of stress — in particular how our social standing (our place in various hierarchies) can make us more or less susceptible to the damaging effects of stress. Throughout the film, he weaves the grim realities of the impact of chronic stress with his wry observations about 21st century life. "The reality is I am unbelievably stressed and Type A and poorly coping," says Sapolsky. "Why else would I study this stuff 80 hours a week? No doubt everything I adv
Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy will risk everything to be the first to fly across the English Channel using a single, jet-propelled wing attached to his back.
Take an extraordinary journey with one of nature's majestic giants of the sea - the humpback whale. Humpbacks from Fire to Ice follows a mother and her calf on their perilous 12 month journey across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to Alaska and back again. During this 12 month journey, the calf learns the way of the whales and how to survive in an underwater world ruled by cunning and ruthless predators.
The Great Pyramid at Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still standing and no one knows how it was built. For centuries archaeologists have been trying to figure out how ancient Egyptians moved huge stones to the top of the Pyramid
Herod's bloody reputation has always hidden another side of one of the Bible's greatest villains - an architectural mastermind of breathtaking proportions. An Israeli archaeologist claims to have found Herod's most intimate creation of all - his tomb.
The ultimate story of lost civilisations and mysterious relics and the main storyline of the long-awaited 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – the crystal skulls are one of the most enduring treasure myths of all time. Now for the first time, we reveal the full story in this definitive documentary with new, cutting edge science and historical detective work shedding fresh light on this alluring legend.
In one single, epic camera move we journey from Earths surface to the outermost reaches of the universe on a grand tour of the cosmos, to explore newborn stars, distant planets, black holes and beyond.
Mysterious in its movements, ferocious and feared, the Tiger Shark is a highly-adaptable hunter, swallowing up anything in its way. Sharks are suffering from human environmental pressures, so do these secretive monsters still deserve their killer reputation? Can these prehistoric predators fight to find their way in the 21st century? Examine the conservation and research efforts in South Africa, Hawaii and tiny Bimini Island that allow humans and sharks to coexist in the 21st century.
The 17th-century privateer, Captain William Kidd captured the Quedagh Merchant ship loaded with gold, silver, and other valuables from the East Indies. After learning that he was a wanted man, Kidd secretly abandoned the ship. Its location followed Kidd to the grave when he was executed for piracy and murder. Resting in the crystal-clear Caribbean for more than 300 years, the Quedagh Merchant was recently discovered just 70 feet off the coast of Catalina Island in the Dominican Republic. Join a team of underwater archaeologists as they uncover its precious cargo. Using the data collected and vivid computer-generated imagery, National Geographic has re-created the ship in all its glory, pitting the historical record against the actual archaeological evidence.
In the depths of the Black Sea lies a landscape of eternal darkness. With no light and no oxygen in the sea's anoxic layer, no life can survive, except perhaps the ghosts of ancient mariners whose ships foundered thousands of years ago. Because the environment cannot support the organisms that typically feast on organic materials, such as wood and flesh, there is an extraordinary opportunity for preservation, including shipwrecks and the cargos they carried. In the year 2000, on his third trip to the Black Sea, explorer Dr. Robert Ballard discovered a miraculously well-preserved Byzantine shipwreck, but his team could only take pictures. Now, Ballard returns with archaeologist Dr. Bridget Buxton and Dr. Sergiy Voronov of the Ukrainian Department of Underwater Heritage, and uses state-of-the-art technology and a revolutionary $1.5 million robot known as "Hercules" to excavate two shipwrecks for the first time ever, including one of the most pristine ancient vessels ever found. In 2006, Ballard and the team returned to survey the area for more shipwrecks, and last year began excavations on Sinop D, and Chersonesos A, a 10th-century shipwreck found off southern Crimea at a depth of 135 meters. At Chersonesos A, the team excavated the ship's cargo of nearly 200 jars commonly found at Byzantine sites on the shores of the Black Sea, including Chersonesos. The bright orange color of the nearly 1,000-year-old jars was completely preserved, to the team's amazement. From there, the team sailed to the deeper site, Sinop D, which was the focus of the 2007 survey. The team hoped to answer questions about the ship's construction, its cargo, and how the anoxic conditions had affected its preservation. Ballard and his team have only two weeks, so they must work in perfect precision on their hunt for the Ghost Ships of the Black Sea. Ballard calls this site "the greatest museum on Earth," but his team of marine archaeologists has only begun to scratch the surface of the Black S
'Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures' is an extraordinary story of Afghanistan's significant role in the ancient history of the Silk Road, and of the heroic Afghans who safeguarded their cultural legacy from war and chaos during the last couple of decades.
With the help of state of the art special effects, this National Geographic documentary attempts to recreate what civilization looked like during the first 8,000 years that human beings lived on Earth.
300 million citizens, 270 million guns, 5 stories, and one thing in common: Gun Nation. National Geographic tells the story of America's connection with guns through the eyes of its citizens. From gangs, to local law enforcement, to gun hobbyists to a young mother: this documentary is explores the lives of people with guns.
This film goes inside the tragic story of an estimated 1.5 million people at hundreds of sites and how the Nazi military committed these horrific crimes.
Since 2004 two intrepid explorers have been trekking across the surface of Mars. Surviving in the hostile landscape and persevering in the face of elemental and mechanical difficulties, rovers Spirit and Opportunity now face the final stretch of their mission.
Lincoln's journey from his early years as a rising politician through his presidency, the Civil War, and his untimely death.
Astronauts are preparing to rendezvous one last time to refurbish and re-boost the venerable Hubble Space Telescope. Its a dangerous mission, so why is Hubble worth the risk? Hubble has been the key that has unlocked many secrets of the Universe. Take an excursion into the high frontiers of space as we explore the epic discoveries of made with Hubble. See how Hubble has explored the creation of stars and planets, the glory of supernovas, the formation of super massive black holes, charted dark matter and changed forever our understanding of reality itself. See how Hubble has glimpsed the origins of our Universe and the end of time. And see what NASA has planned for the orbiting telescope, and the successor to the Hubble program, the "James Webb Space Telescope".
Along the wild edges of the Earth, against a stunning backdrop of aerial, underwater, and wildlife photography, evolutionary biologist Armand Leroi leads us on an unforgettable journey retracing the adventure - and uncovering the evidence - that inspired Darwin's revolutionary work, On The Origin of Species. AKA Darwin's Lost Voyage
This is the untold story of one of the biggest Zeppelins ever built: the USS Macon. Originally built in the early 1930s by German engineers, the Macon carried five Sparrowhawk planes inside her hull that could be launched and retrieved during flight.
Uncover the strategy and details behind Operación Jaque – the masterwork in a series of Colombian intelligence endeavours and military operations aimed at suppressing powerful guerrilla militia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Through a series of ploys, Colombian officials tricked FARC leaders into releasing 15 politically significant hostages, including Colombian presidential-hopeful Ingrid Betancourt. Approximately 700 FARC hostages are still being held. Testimonies from high-tier military leaders, the intelligence agents who developed the operation, helicopter hostage rescuers, hostages and captured FARC members unravel this web of espionage. While Colombia's President and Defence Minister received accolades from around the world following the liberation, the hostage rescue has not been without controversy. Allegations of illegally using the International Red Cross emblem, media organisation logos and the filtering of the operation's video to Colombia's main TV network have tarnished the operation's successful tactics.
Although they left no writings of their own, the Druids have had a profound impact on modern culture. The Druids of Celtic Britain are remembered as mystical holy men, holding the secrets of nature. But ancient sources - including Julius Caesar himself - accused them of human sacrifice, even cannibalism. Now, new discoveries are uncovering the secrets of these Celtic pagan priests. Archaeological evidence reveals the truth about Druid sacrifice and tells the story of the Druids' last stand against Rome's conquering legions. Learn how a recent discovery of a cloaked man buried almost 2,000 years ago with mysterious metal rods has been linked with the Druids for the first time.
The naval base at Guantanamo Bay secured a place in the annals of history when the first wave of detainees from Americas War on Terror men dubbed the worst of the worst arrived in 2002. A symbol of freedom protected or freedom tragically betrayed, the controversies of Guantanamo embody the thorny issues of America's fight against an enemy that wears no uniform, has no address and will declare no armistice, and an administrations battle to keep prisoners beyond the reach of due process in American courts. The goings-on inside the wire encircling this highly classified camp have been a closely held government secret until now. For the first time, National Geographic exclusively captures day-to-day life in the most famous prison in the world exploring the ongoing daily struggle between the guard force of dedicated young military personnel and the equally dedicated detainees, many of whom are still in legal limbo after being held years.
Recycling gets a makeover with a quirky group of young "eco-capitalists" at TerraCycle, Inc. Using only materials found in the trash, the team will transform cereal boxes into notebooks, newspaper into pencils and cookie wrappers into kites.
It's a wild family drama in Kruger National Park: 28 members, including teenage bullies, new babies, absentee fathers and sick relatives and dynamics changing every day. Only this family is a mega lion pride.
A team of scientific detectives from around the world attempt to crack one of sciences most enduring mysteries - what killed the megafauna? Long after the extinction of the dinosaurs, extraordinary species of giant beasts roamed the earth, ruling the animal kingdom for hundreds of thousands of years. But suddenly, they vanished. Something happened which wiped them off the face of the planet forever. Recent discoveries could now help solve that mystery and offer insight into environmental problems today which threaten the world - and mankind.
What begins as a star’s cataclysmic explosion in a violent supernova results in one of the most mysterious phenomena in our universe: a black hole. Black holes are the makings of science fiction, with fantasies of tunnel passageways that travel through space and time dominating the imagination. Nothing survives a black hole; it's gravitational pull twists space and time into a furious knot so strong that not even light can escape, making the likelihood of locating a passageway inside almost impossible. Are black holes a rare freak of nature or does the universe hide many of these mysterious phenomena? 125 billion galaxies make up the visible universe, with every major galaxy housing a black hole. Indeed, even our own Milky Way harbours a super-massive black hole, 50 million kilometres wide at the very centre of the galaxy. What role do black holes play in attracting matter together within the spider’s web of gas and galaxies? And, with their voracious appetites, what’s to prevent a black hole from wiping out solar systems like our own?
Only a handful have ever been found before. But none like her. Her name is Lyuba. A one-month-old baby mammoth, she walked the tundra about 40,000 years ago and then died mysteriously. Discovered by a reindeer herder, she miraculously re-appeared on a riverbank in northwestern Siberia in 2007. She is the most perfectly preserved woolly mammoth ever discovered. And she has mesmerized the scientific world with her arrival - creating headlines across the globe. Everyone wants to know... how did she die? What can she tell us about life during the ice age and the Earth's changing climate? Will scientists be able to extract her DNA, and what secrets will it uncover? AKA Baby Mammoth: Frozen in Time
A search for the real Shangri-la in the Himalayas uncovers rare manuscripts and wall art in remote caves that have not been touched for hundreds of years.
The sinking of the Titanic was far more than a simple accident. A tragedy that could have been prevented, it was the result of a long chain of mistakes: a fatal series of avoidable human errors that sent the Titanic and more than half of her passengers to their watery graves. Based upon the official inquiry held immediately after the event, with additional evidence that's come to light since the wreck of the ship was discovered in 1985, National Geographic, in this drama-documentary special, explores Titanic: How It Really Sank. Aired on 2009.
NGC goes inside the science of how a super flu virus develops and mutates, and the quick but complex decisions that must be made when trying to contain a new flu virus on the run.
Before Columbus, there's no record of navigators sailing the seas from East to West, returning to Europe. See if the crew of the Abora III complete the remarkable journey and gain insights into the abilities of ancient sailors in Lost on the Atlantic.
If you think debtors today have a hard time, go back 300 years with Piers Hernu to London's Fleet Prison. Greed and fraud leads to one of the biggest financial meltdowns ever. Thousands of investors lose everything. Sound familiar? Except this was nearly 300 years ago and the losers are thrown not just into debt, but into one of the most brutal prisons of all time. Who better to investigate than former city boy turned gold smuggler Piers Hernu. He found himself sharing a crowded cell in Nepal. But that was a picnic compared to the hell of London's notorious Fleet prison. Toffs and commoners alike were banged up under the brutal regime of governor Thomas Bambridge. Georgian society was horrified to discover the torture, cruelty and death that took place behind the walls of Fleet Prison, conveniently located on the edge of the City Of London.
Charles Lindbergh becomes the world’s most famous man in 1927 when he flies non-stop from New York to Paris. But behind the legend was a man who juggled multiple secret lovers and took on a President.
Once a year, one of Nature’s great spectacles takes place on the northernmost coast of the Gulf of Alaska. It is a predestined collision of two massive migrations - a David and Goliath event - when thousands of ravenous salmon sharks gather to attack millions of Pacific salmon. The salmon are desperately trying to reach their spawning grounds in Prince William Sound. The sharks are there to gorge themselves. But sharks? In Alaska? Of the nearly 500 known sharks in the world, this is the only large, agile shark equipped to ply these icy waters. This shark is warm-blooded! In the end, the salmon run on an urgency born of their need to reproduce while the sharks run on…hunger. This one-hour spectacular travels with the salmon shark and the salmon in the most revealing portrait ever of this rarely filmed, little known shark: Alaska’s Icy Killer.
A top-secret unit known as MIS-X helped Allied POWs dig massive tunnels and coordinate elaborate escape plans from German prison camps. MIS-X officers and former prisoners divulge how they smuggled radios, maps and money into the camps. AKA: Escape Factory
Historians have long speculated that thousands of wooden ships plied a Maritime Silk Route from the Middle East to China, braving long distances on white-capped seas, but time and the deep ocean have destroyed any evidence . . . until now. In 1998 German engineer Tilman Walterfang found a shipwreck from the 9th Century blanketed by intact gold, silver and ceramic items. As we uncover clues and reveal the story of the wreck, reenactments transport us back in time to an age of the legendary Sinbad the Sailor, when vicious seas ravaged wooden boats like matchsticks. Through interviews with maritime archaeologists and ceramic experts we bring these characters to life by examining unique items recovered from the wreck and painting a vivid picture of glorious 9th Century Tang China. We reveal where the treasure now lies, in high security storage in Singapore. National Geographic show the incredible 60,000 pieces recovered – amid them are unique gold and silver items never before seen. It is a time capsule from a distant seafaring age that will take generations to fully understand. We piece together the last days of the ship’s journey before its untimely end in the treacherous straits of Indonesia and reveal one of the ancient world’s greatest trading routes and the brave men who sailed it.
This is a world you have never seen before - a world normally hidden under miles of water, the ocean floor. We'll remove the water using CGI animation, revealing a landscape of unimaginable scale with features more dramatic than anything on dry land.
Before today is over, at least 100 animal species will have disappeared from the planet forever. Thanks to a handful of dedicated scientists – a new generation of Noahs – Animals At The Edge won't be among them. As a flood of industrial development and urban expansion devours the planet's forests, species are being pushed into extinction 1000 times faster than at any other time in history. But for a few species, there is hope. Animals At The Edge takes viewers around the globe, into high-tech captive breeding programs where the last members of a few species are fighting for survival. Do these survivors hold the key to reviving whole species? Or have they been reduced to mere curiosities, staring down the abyss of extinction? And what does the planet's shrinking biodiversity mean for the future of our species? Animals At The Edge takes viewers to the remote and unlikely places where these embattled creatures are making their last stand.
90 miles from Kabul lies Camp Salerno – one of three us combat hospitals in Afghanistan. It's home to a four bed trauma unit that will see hundreds of casualties in the coming months. The war in Afghanistan is escalating. Since the us led invasion in 2001 troop deployments have increased year by year. Fighting has reached record levels, some of the heaviest is along the border with Pakistan. Many casualties will end up here – where a small group of medics fight another battle to save lives.
Uncover the secrets behind the magnificent Parthenon, in an inside look at its $10 billion restoration. It was first used as a temple to Athena.
Join leading astronomers on a visual journey beyond our solar system in search of planets like Earth. Using CGI animation, we’ll explore bizarre worlds that stretch our imagination: planets with iron rain and hot ice, with diamonds everywhere, and endless oceans of gas. Planets with abnormal orbital patterns and planets with no pattern at all that drift alone in the Milky Way. Planets so strange we never could have predicted them before. Could life exist there?
NGC conducts a forensic investigation to test the tenets of some of the most common conspiracy theories of 9/11 and the mysteries surrounding the attacks. Using high-tech forensic experiments, CGI re-creations, eyewitness footage and in-depth analysis by experts and "truthers," 9/11: Science and Conspiracy examines the alleged conspiracies and available evidence. Then we take a fascinating fly-on-the-wall position as the theorists observe the scientific results and react to the conclusions.
Unless answers are found quickly to strengthen the genetic base of our food in accelerating climate change, our world could face mass starvation. Solutions to this crisis lie within Mother Nature herself in the form of diverse genes found in the wild ancestors of our staple foods - and the man to hunt them down is Dr Ken Street, the Indiana Jones of agriculture. Ken and his team will travel to the land where agriculture began nearly 10,000 years ago. In the remotest parts of the Middle East and Central Asia, the genetic origins of our daily bread and other food still survive. The crops growing here have taken centuries to develop robust genetic traits that allow them to thrive in the harshest of climates. Scientists around the world want access to these genes so they may be integrated into food crops compromised by global warming.
The ancient Egyptians were fascinated by death. CGI and archaeological finds reveal both the terrifying and beautiful stories they believed of the afterlife.
National Geographic reviews Jack Horner's research into juvenile dinosaurs. His evidence suggests that juvenile dinosaurs looked sufficiently different from adults that they have sometimes been mistaken for a separate species. The program examines specific changes that occurred as dinosaurs aged and speculates on why the changes were necessary.
Filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert forge a relationship with a week-old leopard in Africa. This is the intimate story of the relationship between two filmmakers and a wild leopard. Since encountering Legadema as a cub, Dereck and Beverly Joubert have built up a remarkable attachment to her.
Humpback whales are icons of their kind. They capture our imagination with their power, their grace and their song. Now with National Geographic's CritterCam, we'll go where few have gone to capture some of the most intimate and astounding moments of these giants of the sea. We'll find out who calls the shots in the mating game and who gets beaten and bruised. We'll see some of the most extraordinary scenes ever captured between a mother and her infant. And for the first time ever, we'll see how a young calf learns the skills it will need to survive.
Just five days before Christmas in 1987, the passenger ship Doña Paz collided with an oil tanker off Mindoro Island in the Philippines. 4,000 passengers died in the tragedy. It was the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster. Through dramatic first hand accounts from survivors and rescuers, transcripts from the Philippine congressional inquiry into the tragedy, archival footage and photos and a re-enactment of the collision, dissect the unfolding tragedy of Doña Paz.
With stunning footage from the Kaguya lunar orbiter, NGC reveals images of the moon and Earth like never seen before, and unlocks the secrets of 4.5 billion years of Earth, moon and solar system history.
Seven-time Everest summiter Pete Athans, and big wall climber Renan Ozturk take on the dangerous job of climbing into the crumbling caves. Their goals are to get inside the inaccessible cave cities that humans have not entered for hundreds, if not thousands, of years to document what's inside and to search for nine legendary cave temples called "kabum." What they find goes far beyond their expectations, rocking the Himalayan world and rewriting the history of this remote and mystical region, previously off-limits to outsiders.
The notion of bringing Mars to life - transforming a cold, dry, uninhabitable desert into a living planet - is called terraforming, has been around for almost a century. Initially just a science fiction concept, it has become a subject of serious scientific investigation. Recent discoveries of rocks and minerals found by the Mars rovers show it must once have had warmer, habitable living conditions. Now, using photorealistic CGI visualizations, we'll make a science fiction dream of Mars - a world of trees, rivers and blue skies - a plausible future, bringing it to life after three and a half billion years in a deep freeze. AKA Living on Mars
He was called the King of the Jews, believed to be a Messiah and just before Passover, the Romans beheaded him and crucified many of his followers. But his name was not Jesus. It was Simon, a self-proclaimed Messiah who died four years before Christ was born. Now, new analysis of a metre-tall stone tablet from the first century BC, being hailed by scholars as a “Dead Sea Scroll on stone,” speaks of an early Messiah and his resurrection. Was Simon of Peraea real? Did his life serve as the prototype of a Messiah for Jesus and his followers? And could this tablet shake up the basic premise of Christianity? Head to Israel to assess this unique and mysterious artefact, including testing by a leading archaeological geologist and comprehensive review of the letters, script and content by a Dead Sea Scroll expert. Then, from Jerusalem to Jericho, researchers investigate key archaeological ruins which could help prove Simon was indeed real – all of which just might sway the sceptics.
National Geographic embarks on an expedition into the mysterious world of ancient American history to shed a different light on the history of the Americas. History books traditionally depict the pre-Columbus Americas as a pristine wilderness where small native villages lived in harmony with nature. But scientific evidence tells a very different story: When Columbus stepped ashore in 1492, millions of people were already living there. America wasn't exactly a "New World," but a very old one whose inhabitants had built a vast infrastructure of cities, orchards, canals and causeways. But after Columbus set foot in the Americas, an endless wave of explorers, conquistadors and settlers arrived, and with each of their ships came a Noah's Ark of plants, animals—and disease. In the first 100 years of contact, entire civilizations were wiped out and the landscape was changed forever.
This two-hour documentary looks through the scope of a rifle to tell the inside story of the Iraq War. We interview the men and women who fought on the front lines and use rarely-seen footage, shot by US troops, to give the viewer a personal look at modern warfare.
An insight into the drug trade in Mexico and the violence associated with it, which led to more murders in 2009 than there were casualties in Iraq over the same period
One of the best-kept secrets of World War II was Japan's plan to bomb the Panama Canal with an innovative secret weapon unlike anything its enemies possessed: a massive, aircraft-carrying submarine capable of travelling around the world to deliver its deadly attack bombers against land-based targets. It was a weapon so potent it could have changed the course of WWII. Each giant I-400 sub carried three state-of-the-art bombers in a huge hangar on the deck. When the sub surfaced, the bombers would be catapulted toward their targets. When they returned from their missions they'd land in the water near the sub and be hoisted aboard with a crane. Explore the sunken wreck of one of only three I-400s ever built to see how the world's first underwater aircraft carrier came about...and how close the Japanese came to making it count.
See how revolutionary high-speed, high-definition video is used to analyze pit crew performances down to fractions of a second for NASCAR races, a sport where races are commonly won by tenths of a second.See how explosives researchers use high-speed cameras to capture the plume size of flash grenades.Then, take a look at a beer brewer that uses high-tech video monitoring systems to analyze the high-speed production line in slow motion so it can investigate the source of the last costly shutdown.
To mark the anniversary of JFK's assassination on November 22,1963, hundreds of hours of news footage, radio reports, audio recordings and home movies have been released that captured history as it was chaotically unfolding. This unique eyewitness material was first stored by local news stations in Dallas/Fort Worth and then in the vault of The 6th Floor Museum—which is dedicated to helping others understand the day Kennedy was killed. Now, this rarely seen archival footage that has been digitally captured and assembled into a detailed timeline. Included is footage capturing the real-time horror of parade-goers who witnessed the killing, the out-of- breath local anchors reporting the breaking news bulletin, the priest who describes administering the president's last rites and the ongoing, on-air speculation over who fired the fatal shots.
We'll take to the skies with the presidential helicopter Marine One as it flies to the nation's largest city. To protect the President, Marine One must flawlessly coordinate with the Marines, the New York Police Department, and the Secret Service.O
It's time for some high-stakes acrobatics in the Indonesian jungle. Gliding tree snakes know how to get the jump on a quick meal. But to catch this flying dragon, the snake will need to be quick indeed.
National Geographic visits unearthed Roman theaters, medieval streets, and secret tunnels, bringing new light to Florence's lesser-known, dark history. Art detective and National Geographic Fellow Maurizio Seracini reveals history using a thermocamera to reveal long-lost architectural layers in some of the city's most famous landmarks. AKA Florence Unlocked
From the earliest days of Amazonian exploration, stories filtered back about the terrifying ritual practised by the region's headshrinkers who would shrink an enemy's head to render the vengeful soul powerless. Including rare footage of a reputed real-life ceremony from the 1960s, this documentary probes whether the film is genuine, if this shocking practice still takes place today, and how such a horrific custom evolved among these remote jungle inhabitants. British writer and adventurer Piers Gibbon is determined to find out, as he heads deep into the rainforest to meet the tribes whose superstitions and desire for revenge led to the legend of the headshrinkers. And in the heart of the jungle Piers discovers why it is still so dangerous to seek out the Headshrinkers of the Amazon. AKA: Search for the Amazon Headshrinkers
Welcome to a predator's paradise. Botswana's mysterious Savuti Channel. Where the prey is plentiful and the pickings are easy...but the banquet is crowded. Three groups abound in this predator battleground - the lion pride, hyena clan and wild dog pack - all using the dry riverbed as a hunting ground. While the dry season plagues the elephant and antelope herds, it makes for a predators delight. But then when heavy rains come from Angola flooding the Savuti Channel for the first time in 25 years, crocodiles seize the channel as their own. Witness the resulting unique behaviour of predator and prey alike as the dry and the wet channel forces them to react in startling ways, all in an effort to survive on the Savuti Predator Battleground.
For over 100 years the Tudor dynasty ruled over England, and in that time they changed the face of the country. Featuring stunning aerial photography, this fascinating documentary gives us a unique vantage point to understand how this family imposed itself onto the very fabric of the land with battlefields, ruined monasteries, powerful castles and the beautiful symmetry of the era’s grand houses and palaces. Swooping above the landscapes and buildings behind some of Britain’s best-known events – places where Sir Francis Drake, Henry VIII, Shakespeare and Elizabeth I once walked – this beautifully shot programme explores history from a whole new angle.
We take a closer look at the Taj Mahal and revisit its history - why it was built and what meaning it possesses.
Scott O'Grady's F-16 Fighting Falcon is blown to smithereens over Bosnia. Lucky to be alive, he needs to outmaneuver Serbian ground forces who want one thing only - his head. In Afghanistan, a US Marine accidentally falls out a chopper door and into the arms of heavily armed Al Qaeda terrorists. And in Sierra Leone, British soldiers are captured and exploited as live bartering tools by a gang of drunken guerilla warriors. Will these fallen heroes suffer the ultimate sacrifice? Or can their brothers in arms, risking life and limb, rescue them in time?
Editor in chief Chris Johns takes a list of hundreds of exceptional photos and whittles it down to just 10. The program tells the stories behind those photographs and includes interviews with the dedicated, adventurous photographers who get the one in a million shot that makes it into the magazine.
Each of us was the grand prize in an ultimate reality competition, the amazing race a sperm makes on the road to fertilization. Millions of sperm compete while overcoming armies of antibodies, treacherous terrain and impossible odds to reach their single-minded goal. To illustrate the full weight of the challenge, Sizing Up Sperm uses real people to represent 250 million sperm on their marathon quest to be first to reach a single egg.
National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis travels deep into the rain forest to visit the Barasana people and witness a majestic and ancient ritual. The film will be Introduced by Dr. Davis, who will also participate in a discussion after the screening with Dr. Martin von Hildebrand, an ethnologist featured in the film who has advocated in defense of the rights of the Barasana and other indigenous peoples of Amazonia.
National Geographic: Africa's Lost Eden: Gorongosa In the heart of Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, the waters of Lake Urema explode with the thrashing of a giant crocodile tail. Gorongosa was once known as the place where Noah left his ark: 1,500 square miles of lush floodplains in central Mozambique, packed with wild animals. All around, enormous buffalo, soaring fish eagles, and countless antelopes roam freely. But on closer look, something strange is going on. Fifteen years of civil war has taken a heavy toll and many species have been almost completely wiped out. All the usual top predators and prey are virtually missing, except for one - giant crocodiles and thousands of them. Discover what is being done to bring this African oasis back to its former glory, including perhaps the most ambitious restoration effort ever attempted, with elephants, hippos and scores of zebra, wildebeest, impala and buffalo, being relocated into the park.
What if the Maya were right about the end of humanity as we know it? Would fire pour from the sky, buildings shatter, floods destroy Washington DC and Los Angeles slide into the Pacific? That’s how Hollywood has interpreted the end of the Maya great calendar cycle on December 21, 2012, in the movie “2012” with John Cusack. This documentary looks for the truth behind the compelling myth - is there evidence of global upheaval on a massive scale? We follow scientist Adam Maloof to three continents on a detective story that spans eons, with clues embedded in the oldest rocks on the planet.
Ex "Sweeney" and "Bill" star Chris Ellison (aka the notorious D.I. Burnside) hosts this intriguing, hilarious and sometimes harrowing look at what life was really like for police men and women through the decades. Hear their amazing and never-before-heard stories about life on the beat on British streets.
Melting ice, rising seas - a huge tsunami wave heads for the coast. These are not headlines from today; they are stories from our prehistoric past. In Stone Age times, Northern Europe was a wonderful place to live where people pioneered a new, advanced, culture. But these were also times of frantic climate change when the seas were rising; drowning the land. See the story of a lost world in Stone Age Atlantis.
Stretching for thousands of kilometres across the desert terrain of southern Peru is one of mankind’s greatest mysteries: immense lines – carved as animals, humans and geometric shapes. While popular theories about the use of the Nasca lines have ranged from ancient race tracks to astronomical calendars and even alien landing strips, new scientific insight – and the unearthing of a headless body – may be the keys to finally unlocking the mystery. Join contemporary scholars as they investigate the huge geometric markings made by the Nasca people 2,000 years ago on Peru's dry pampa. AKA: Nasca Lines: The Buried Secrets
Relive the heroics of the crew of US container ship Maersk Alabama, who fought off an attempted hijack by Somali pirates in April 2009.
It's one of America's biggest environmental disasters and the largest oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico since 1979. As experts scramble to stop the leak, find out what happened to the oil rig Deepwater Horizon as a blowout tore it apart, killing 11 of 126 men on board and sending oil toward Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coastlines. The special contains never-before-seen footage obtained from the U.S. Coast Guard, NGC's production crew and emergency response crews of the aftermath.
Divers discover the wreck of an ancient Arab dhow off the coast of Singapore. The wreck gives maritime archaeologist Tom Vosmer a shot at a dream: to build and sail a unique replica. The quest leads Vosmer’s team deep into rainforests and deserts on a mission to unlock the secrets of a lost technology. But as the deadline for launch approaches, the project pushes the team to the limits of endurance; and brings the dhow to the brink of last-minute disaster- AKA Arab Treasure Ship AKA In Search of Sinbad's Secrets
Against the dramatic backdrop of riverine forests and wildlife-rich floodplains of Botswana’s Okavango Delta, Swamp Troop takes us into the heart of baboon society. We meet Boro, the troop’s alpha male, who brutally dispatches rivals, and jealously guards mating rights with fertile females. In a land where baboons must swim to survive, winter floods bring peril. A dangerous stranger threatens Boro and his two surviving infants. Tragedy strikes when Boro is toppled and disease claims the life of one of the infants. Without progeny, Boro’s reign as alpha is meaningless, he must do what he can to protect his remaining daughter. AKA: Swamp of the Baboons
Meet Tatiana and Krista Hogan, a set of two-year-old twins conjoined at the head. Like most conjoined twins, they share bone, veins and arteries, and in this sense, they share a brain. But their mother believes that because they share a thalamus, each girl can actually see and feel what the other is doing. Cameras follow these little medical marvels to get an intimate look into their lives. Watch the Hogan family attempt to live as normal a life as possible.
Some of the world’s best cave divers have travelled to the Bahamas Islands to plunge into the unique abyss found in blue holes – underwater caves that can go hundreds or even thousands of feet down and feature a maze of passages and tunnels, which act as liquid time capsules. Led by National Geographic emerging explorer and anthropologist Kenny Broad, the team of divers and archaeologists investigate these caves to unlock the mysteries of an ancient Bahamas teeming with life that quickly vanished, leaving the islands now mostly barren. What caused these animals to disappear, and could 800-year-old human skulls provide the answer? Cave-ins, poisonous gasses and potentially deadly effects from pressure of venturing too deep, cave diving is a dangerous sport – a lesson the team learns firsthand after encountering the remains of a diver wearing a 1970s wet suit and flashlight whose visit to one blue hole proved to be his last.
The devastating eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull in mid-April brought mass disruption to skies over Europe, shutting down European airspace and stranding hundreds of thousands of air passengers around the world. As news crews frantically monitored the ash cloud's progress and reported on the repatriation of tourists and business travellers, a National Geographic Channel film crew was on the ground in Iceland. They witnessed and captured dramatic events unfolding at the scene before, during and after the two eruptions. This exclusive footage will appear in Volcanic Ash Chaos: Inside the Eruption. See never-seen-before footage and experience the dangers faced by the crew as they filmed from the glacier next to the enormous crater spewing fire and ash, with gigantic sonic booms rocking them to the core every 10 minutes. Being trapped in a flood and having to drive into enormous walls of dense ash cloud that affected the team's breathing, are just some of the other challenges encountered during filming. This timely programme features other dramatic events including Coast Guard rescue flights and exclusive eyewitness accounts from the scene. Also see renowned geologists collecting vital data from lava and ash, as well as explaining the science behind the volcano chaos and its global impact, including the disruption in air travel - the biggest since 9/11.
The Oscar-winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" put India's largest slum, Dharavi, on the map. Much more than a slum, this mini-city bustles with industry, culture and dreams See the day-to-day activities and hear real-life accounts from its inhabitants, who have goals and aspirations -- people who are struggling to survive in a community that defies expectation
The treasures of the ancient pharaohs were legendary, but the tomb of the little-known Psusennes I stunned even the most experienced of Egyptologists. Untouched by grave robbers when it was unearthed in 1940, this discovery was overshadowed by the outbreak of World War II. The tomb contained a solid silver casket and riches that rivalled even those of the much-more famous Tutankhamen. But, with little known about his life, how did Psusennes generate such a mass of power and influence? Find out in this one-off special as leading historians reveal the truth about the king, who reigned around 3,000 years ago. Using his position as both pharaoh and a high priest to generate wealth, explore his ambitious scheme to relocate an entire city.
A first in the history of space exploration, recently scientists spotted and tracked an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. About the size of a truck, the asteroid slammed into the Nubian Desert in Sudan, and landed in nearly the exact location and only a few seconds from the time scientists had predicted. In Asteroid That Hit Earth, premiering on Friday 23 July at 9pm, join NASA experts and researchers as they examine the remnants of the asteroid to unlock the clues to help us prevent or simply survive future asteroid impacts.
They wear diapers and ride in strollers, but they're not babies -- they are "monkids." NGC goes inside the controversy of adopting monkeys as surrogate babies. Many question whether this is animal cruelty or even a danger to the owners. Others are fiercely devoted to these primates they see as part of the family. See just how far these wild monkeys have come from their treetop habitat as we explore this growing phenomenon.
If humans were as varied as dogs we would range in height up to 22 feet tall and in weight more than 1,000 pounds. In the ultimate canine ancestral story, NGC traces the genetic journey from wolf to dog, taking viewers back 100,000 years to meet the "mother of all dogs." It's no accident that dogs evolved this way, as humans have been selectively breeding them for around 14,000 years to serve our needs as laborer, companion, hunter, herder and warrior, as well as to suit our aesthetic fancy.
They tower over some of the most tranquil countryside in rural China. They're giant, man-made mountains that hold the keys to a violent history scarcely imaginable in such peaceful surroundings. These are the ancient pyramids of a bygone era characterised by battles and bloodshed, as warring kingdoms wrangled with each other in a power struggle spanning generations. Today, these huge structures present historians with some of the world's most fascinating and well-preserved examples of ancient tombs. Deep within the pyramids lie the mummies of early China's most important generals, emperors, lords and ladies; people for whom size definitely mattered, with the scale of their final resting place mirroring the magnitude of their status.
Giuliani's 9/11 reveals how one man, confronted by a city on its knees, stood strong in the face of the life-or-death challenges he never dreamt he would encounter. The mayor describes his urgent efforts to establish a safe command post for the city's leadership team; protect sites like the Statue of Liberty, bridges and subways; marshal doctors and nurses; and conduct a press conference to let people know city leadership was intact and working to protect them.
The Bombing of Germany explores the role bombing played in the course of the Second World War. Discover in detail how the British and American bombing campaigns against Germany were carried out and what they were designed to achieve. In this programme see interviews with veterans, historians, and ethicists from countries engaged in WWII as this film recounts the story of the British and American bombing campaigns against Germany.
Alien life forms lurk in our oceans, yet more than 95 percent of their depths remain unexplored. In this documentary, we journey toward the ocean floor, where eternal darkness prevails. Oceanographers search for creatures that thrive in extreme conditions scientists once believed too toxic to support any life. Photorealistic animation brings to life primitive creatures such as the armored Dunkleosteus, a shark-devouring beast.
Harrowing personal stories of 9/11, including testimonies from ordinary people caught up in the tragedy and those in power trying to prevent it.
If you think debtors today have a hard time, go back 300 years with Piers Hernu to London's Fleet Prison. Greed and fraud leads to one of the biggest financial meltdowns ever. Thousands of investors lose everything. Sound familiar? Except this was nearly 300 years ago and the losers are thrown not just into debt, but into one of the most brutal prisons of all time. Who better to investigate than former city boy turned gold smuggler Piers Hernu. He found himself sharing a crowded cell in Nepal. But that was a picnic compared to the hell of London's notorious Fleet prison. Toffs and commoners alike were banged up under the brutal regime of governor Thomas Bambridge. Georgian society was horrified to discover the torture, cruelty and death that took place behind the walls of Fleet Prison, conveniently located on the edge of the City Of London.
In the year 2210, scientists uncover the ruins of a great civilisation – so powerful one could argue it dwarfed anything that came before it. Sifting through the wreckage of cities overtaken by the desert and swallowed up by the sea, they piece together a remarkable story of collapse – the story of what on Earth happened to us. AKA: Doomsday 2210 (UK) Collapse: Based on the Book by Jared Diamond
Catch a glimpse of presidential life from behind the camera in this intimate and exclusive film. As an inspiration to millions worldwide, President Obama is already a modern-day icon. Meet the man behind the images, as this extraordinary show offers a snapshot of the President's life as you've never seen him before. Working out of the West Wing, office photographer Pete Souza is tasked with creating the official photographic archive of Obama's time in Office, granting him unprecedented access to the President as he goes about his work in the White House and beyond. From official state engagements to light-hearted family moments, this program features a series of Souza's best shots, as well as capturing the unique relationship he shares with the President - a relationship which allows him to shoot Obama off-guard. Whether travelling on Air Force One or hanging out with family dog Bo, Souza never leaves his boss's side, making this a truly comprehensive portrait of the most influential man on the planet.
Five hundred years ago, the last great pyramid-building civilization descended into a world of unimaginable horror. What drove them to extremes of human sacrifice?
Why does it have a unique red afterglow? How did it come to be the shape it is today? And why is it believed by so many to be cursed? Since its discovery centuries ago in the diamond mines of India, the Hope Diamond has travelled across three continents and into the hands of a most extraordinary cast of characters, from flamboyant royals to opportune thieves and eccentric millionaires. Allegedly a curse to those who own it, the diamond has inspired centuries of superstition and passion. Today, this deep blue, forty-five carat gem is one of the great attractions of the Smithsonian Institution in America. In this programme witness a major scientific exploration into the huge gem's unique and mysterious structure. By combining high-tech scientific investigation with historical records, Curse of The Hope Diamond will tackle the most gripping questions around this mysterious diamond. AKA: Secrets of the Hope Diamond
NGC goes inside one of the greatest natural marvels on the planet - a giant crystal cave described as Superman's fortress, with magnificent crystals up to 36 feet long and weighing 55 tons. A team of experts venture into the cavern, enduring scorching-hot temperatures that could kill a human after just 15 minutes of exposure. They'll push the boundaries of physical limitation to explore a crevasse that could lead to another - and perhaps more spectacular - crystal cave.
A behind the scenes look at Google today. From Google’s offices in China and Russia to the Googleplex (its Silicon Valley headquarters), uncover why this company’s corporate philosophy and attitude is so unique among major companies today.
Inside the Milky Way takes viewers on an astounding journey across 100,000 light-years to witness key moments in the history of the Milky Way. Using the latest science, NGC constructs a 3-D state-of-the-art CGI model of our galaxy. We'll peer into the heart of the Milky Way on the hunt for super-massive black holes, watch how stars are born and die, fly out and above the plane of our galaxy to understand its true shape and scour its dusty spiral arms for the possibility of life. AKA Journey through the Milky Way
His attempt to blow up Parliament has seen Guy Fawkes go down in infamy, but the attempted coup was about much more than just one man. Hatched by a group of 13 conspirators, the 1605 plot came after decades of simmering religious tension in England. Fed by an atmosphere of fear and alienation, a group of disaffected young Catholics decided to assassinate King James I and the entire political establishment. Having smuggled of explosives into a cellar beneath the building, the plotters came within hours of the total destruction of the Houses of Parliament and the complete rewriting of history. Now with the help of CGI to recreate early 17th-century London, see how much damage would have been caused by the explosion, while dramatic reconstructions uncover the men behind the plan and explore what drove them to radicalism. This is the true story behind this historic act of treason.
In an age when online dating and reality TV abound, Amish romance looks anything but modern. Three couples - two Amish and one ex-Amish - share the traditions underlying courtship, engagement and marriage in Amish culture. From Rumspringa, the once-in-a-lifetime experience of a world outside the fold, to an intensive 18-week period of church evaluation that would test any couple's commitment, NGC cameras capture the details as the community prepares for the highly anticipated weddings.
In a planet full of conflict, America faces challenges like never before. Inside the Department of State follows US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her team of top advisors into some the most embattled regions of the planet. Travel behind the scenes on some of Clintons most crucial overseas missions to date: including trips to Pakistan, Israel, Egypt and Afghanistan. Each mission sheds new light on the machinery & strategy of American diplomacy.
Historians and archaeologists head to a supposedly cursed mountain in south-west Ethiopia, where decades before an English adventurer claimed to have discovered the gold mines of alleged king of Israel, King Solomon.
Explore the history of the rebel liquor that sparked a war between bootleggers and the law during prohibition and launched NASCAR as a nationwide sensation. NGC travels to Appalachia to uncover the secrets of this unlawful liquor
For the first time ever, see the full magnificent hoard of Saxon treasure unearthed in Staffordshire in 2009. What does it reveal about our past?
With temperatures ranging from 1000 to 2000°C, gravity 15 times stronger than Earth's, and a year that lasts just 5.6 of our days, HAT-P-2b is not a planet you'd want to visit for vacation.
In 2009, a team of British cavers investigated a recently uncovered cave in a remote Vietnamese jungle. The Son Doong cave is enormous; can it be larger than the current world-record holder? The explorers traveled for miles through the cave before hitting a 46-foot-high wall. Now, follow the team as they return to Son Doong to finish exploring the cave and climb the wall. Will Son Doong prove to be the worlds biggest cave? And what secrets are undiscovered inside this unique ecosystem?
After assassinating President Abraham Lincoln, the famous stage actor John Wilkes Booth, a confederate sympathizer, eludes thousands in one of the largest manhunts in U.S. history.
Of all the archaeological sites in Egypt that may still yield ancient treasure, perhaps the richest is the Nile River. Enormous boats navigated the river’s perilous waters loaded with monumental items, obelisks and riches for the pharaoh’s royal temples. The question remains … what lost treasures could modern technology reveal at the bottom of the Nile? In this program we join the archaeological search to locate and extract these lost artifacts that could unlock some of the mysteries of Egyptian history. What lost treasures could modern technology reveal at the bottom of the Nile? A team of archaeologists hopes to locate lost artifacts that could unlock some of the mysteries of Ancient Egypt.
In a land reduced to sand and water, every day is a struggle for survival. But one creature has conquered these two elements: crocodiles have learned to thrive. Life takes place within a strict hierarchy, and rank must be respected above all else. There's only place for one at the top of the pile. His name is Croc Boss; challenge his authority and the consequences can be devastating.
As the 44th president's chief photographer, Pete Souza is never far behind President Obama. Now in the National Geographic Special, The President's Photographer: 50 Years in the Oval Office, viewers can follow Souza, and those who came before him, for a behind-the-scenes look at the everyday grit of the American presidency. Offering a chance to see what it's like to cover the most powerful man in the world, for history. The presidential photographer's job is two-fold: one, taking photographs of the president greeting dignitaries, visitors and guests; and two, perhaps more challenging and gratifying: documenting for history every possible aspect of the presidency, both official events, backstage happenings and "off-duty" private moments. "Creating a good photographic archive for history is the most important part of my job, creating this archive that will live on," says Souza. "This is not so much photojournalism as photo-history." Souza and his staff produce up to 20,000 pictures a wee
Oceanographers have been gripped by a new spirit of discovery and have undertaken the biggest population census of ocean species ever conducted a Census of Marine Life. The quest: to find out when and where it all began. Where did the water come from? How was life created in the oceans? And how did it evolve to the enormous diversity we see today? Join National Geographic as we travel more than 4 billion years into the past to uncover how oceans and marine life came to exist.
In southern Peru lies one of mankind's greatest mysteries - 1000's of giant shapes etched into the desert sands. We reveal who made them and why. Etched, as if by giants, onto the arid moonscape of Peru's southern desert lies one of man's greatest mysteries; the Nasca Lines. More than 15,000 geometric and animal-like patterns have been discovered criss-crossing the pampas like a vast puzzle. Who built them and what was their purpose? Ancient racetracks, landing strips for aliens, or perhaps a giant astronomical calendar? And are the Lines connected to the gruesome discovery of large cache's of severed human heads. Now, after decades of misunderstanding, modern archaeology may finally have the answer. Excavations in the surrounding mountains are uncovering extraordinary clues about the people who made them and why. A long since vanished people, called the Nasca, flourished here between 200BC and 700AD. But the harsh environment led them to extreme measures in order to survive. Archaeolo
In an extraordinary discovery that made front page headlines around the world, scientists uncovered evidence of a race of "hobbit-sized" prehistoric species on a remote Indonesian island. A full-grown adult would have been as tall as an average four-year old child today. Researchers believe this ancient race lived at the same time as modern humans, sharing the earth for at least 80,000 years. National Geographic delivers the world's first in-depth documentary of this groundbreaking find.
Two hour special celebrating the first 25 years of National Geographic's Explorer series.
Almost 70 years after its sinking, the powerful headlights of two high-tech research submersibles illuminate the silhouette of the biggest German battleship ever. The pride of the German Kriegsmarine: Bismarck. In 1941 the Bismarck was sent out to raid and destroy allied supply convoys in the North Atlantic. With resources vital to their nation under threat, the British fleet went after this supposedly unsinkable ship. But who actually sank the steel giant? This high-end, CGI-intensive documentary retraces the first and final voyage of Hitler's dreaded weapon: the Bismarck. The Bismarck was a German battleship and one of the most famous warships of the Second World War. The lead ship of her class, named after the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck displaced more than 50,000 tonnes fully loaded and was the largest warship then commissioned. This documentary is telling the story with the last survivors and visits the mangled wreck after sixty years.
They called her the Virgin Queen England's first Queen Elizabeth, a revered ruler in her own lifetime. Yet behind her fame lie many dark secrets, and an unsolved mystery Why didn't the queen marry and provide an heir to the throne? For centuries, rumors have swirled of claims of illegitimacy, adultery and even that the queen may not have been a woman. Now NGC reveals the startling stories and secrets behind England's Virgin Queen.
Violent, secretive, spiritual and packed full of knowledge, an obscure and mysterious manuscript called the Fight Book realistically depicts the bloody side of Europe in the Middle Ages. Through historical re-creations, CGI and leading historians, we reveal the surprising detail that proves medieval society was far more refined and peculiar than we realize.
The history of our planet is epic from its birth out of cosmic rubble to the unique complex of land, sea, atmosphere and life we know now. See how water was transported to Earth's surface inside millions of meteors. Through CGI re-creations, meet the inhabitants of Earth over the ages, from slimy mats of algae to the great dinosaurs and the ancestors of mammals and humans. Read more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/earth-making-of-a-planet-4920/Overview#ixzz1LCzoF7C0
NGC investigates one of the most intricate prison escapes in history three tireless inmates break from the fortresslike Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary and brave the frigid waters in a handmade raft. For nearly 50 years, it was assumed that these men drowned, but what if they didn't? NGC goes inside the U.S. marshals' investigation following the complex and tantalizing leads they've tracked to close this case.
Was Abraham Lincoln dying of cancer when he was killed? NGC is on the front lines as scientists attempt to solve a genetic mystery -- using a piece of fabric stained with the president's blood to run DNA analysis. The final year of Lincoln's life seemed to age him a decade, and he had lost an alarming amount of weight. Even today, his strange body shape, unusual height and long limbs have led to speculation that he harbored some hidden medical problem.
During World War II, Allied operatives went on secret missions to kill Adolph Hitler and his top officers, including Erwin Rommel. Allied Special Forces launched daring wartime missions to capture or kill Nazi generals where they were stationed on the front lines of war. National Geographic Channel captures the real-time drama felt as the Special Forces commanded these dangerous and complicated missions to exotic locations.
Could the fabled lost city of Atlantis have been located? Using satellite photography, ground-penetrating radar and underwater technology, experts are now surveying marshlands in Spain to look for proof of the ancient city. If the team can match geological formations to Plato's descriptions and date artifacts back to the time of Atlantis, we may be closer to solving one of the world's greatest mysteries.
We've all heard the warning: it's only a matter of time before a devastating earthquake hits a major American city and wipes it off the map. Scientists now believe that day could be sooner than we thought. And it's not Los Angeles or San Francisco that's in danger. But Seattle, Washington, the crown jewel of a region called Cascadia in Americas Pacific Northwest. Scientists fear Cascadia could suffer a catastrophe of global proportions: a megathrust earthquake. It is the largest earthquake the planet can create. A megathrust near Indonesia in 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed more than a quarter million people. What is Cascadia doing to prepare? And what will happen when the mega-thrust strikes? AKA: Doomsday Earth: Mega Quake
Are aliens really out there? You've heard tales of little green men from other planets, but these are normally consigned to urban legends and sci-fi fables. However, a dossier of files released by the Ministry of Defence last year proves just how seriously some of these close encounters are taken by the government.
Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant seems peaceful now, but 32 years ago, it brought America close to catastrophe. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes -- and the health and safety of hundreds of thousands hung in the balance.
Author and explorer Piers Gibbon headed deep into the Amazon jungle to locate tribes that practiced headshrinking. In his newest adventure, Gibbon looks at one of mankinds ultimate taboos: cannibalism. He'll trek into the rain forest of Papua New Guinea to find tribe members who ate human flesh. Gibbon meets with members of the once-feared Biami tribe and witnesses their ritual techniques.
Could Jack the Ripper have been the world's first trans-Atlantic serial killer? Can 21st century techniques and CGI 3-D autopsies crack this 19th century crime spree, while reversing decades of investigative assumptions? Retired U.K. murder squad detective Trevor Marriott is determined to finally unmask the Ripper and possibly link him to other murders in Europe and the U.S.
Across the Himalayas are stories of the yeti, or abominable snowman. Half man, half ape, the yeti is said to roam only the most remote peaks, where people rarely venture. Now, veteran explorer and climber Gerry Moffatt sets out to find proof in a hunt that will test his stamina. As conventional scientific theories challenge ancient beliefs and credible witnesses, he works to separate fact from fiction and find hard evidence that the legend is real.
The Templars were considered the pope's private army, protecting Jerusalem for more than 50 years. But their legacy came to a sudden end casting them from the heights of wealth and power to the dark corners of history. Now, on the ruins of a 12th century castle near the border between what are now Israel and Syria, a team of archaeologists peel away centuries of sediment, uncovering signs of a six-day siege that could have led to the Templars' demise.
It rivaled ancient Egypt but was lost to history. Now a team of archeologists have made a major discovery in the Syrian desert: artifacts from a burial chamber deep within an ancient palace that paint a never-before-seen picture of a powerful metropolis known as Qatna. What became of its vast riches? And what brought about the final fate of this ancient superpower?
In spring 2010, the nearly unpronounceable volcano Eyjafjallajkull spewed ash clouds across Europe, bringing international air traffic to a standstill. Now, for the first time ever, a team of explorers descend into the nearby Thrinukagigur volcano crater - the only place on earth where it is possible to enter an old magma chamber. Inside the crater, the team finds crucial evidence revealing the inner workings of Icelandic volcanoes.
For the first time ever, an international investigation team joins forces to unravel the mysteries of the Malleus Maleficarum, or Hammer of Witches. Written in 1486, this infamous medieval manual changed the way the Western world saw evil. With detailed instructions on how to find, prosecute and punish witches, the Malleus inspired centuries of accusation and bloodshed on both sides of the Atlantic. Read more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/witch-hunter-s-bible-4924/Overview#ixzz1SarhuOem
Underwater explorers in the Baltic Sea set out to bring a recently discovered ghost ship - one of the most intact ancient wooden wrecks ever found - back to life. By pushing the frontiers of maritime archaeology and using the latest technology, the team hopes to recover artifacts from the ship, take measurements and create a 3-D model of the ship with pinpoint accuracy - unlocking a treasure trove of information.
Journey into the mouth of Mount Nyiragongo, Africa's most active volcano, and stand on the shore of the world's largest lava lake. Join an international team of scientists as they climb to the volcano's peak and then rappel directly into its mouth. Their goal: to collect a fresh sample from the deadly yet mesmerizing lava lake at the volcano's heart. Standing in their way is a 1300 foot sheer vertical drop, crumbling rock walls, and a roiling lava lake prone to sudden overflow.
The Tasman Sea is one of the world’s deadliest and most treacherous oceans, spanning 2,200 kilometres between Australia and New Zealand. No one had ever successfully navigated the Tasman by kayak although many had tried – one with a tragic outcome. This is the story of two young Australians, James Castrission and Justin Jones, who took on the Tasman and conquered it. In their tiny kayak they battled ten meter towering waves, massive storms, sharks and currents that conspired against them. After 62 days, 3318 kilometres and 1.7 million paddle strokes they finally reached the sands of New Zealand - and gained a place in history.
A lost piece of American history may have been uncovered deep in the sea a shipwreck thought to have belonged to a fleet of American privateers. In the late 18th century, the Irish Sea was a cauldron of kidnapping, thievery and unrepentant skullduggery. Governments, including the nascent U.S., hired sea raiders, or privateers, to pillage and steal from merchant vessels. Is it possible that this ship was on a mission from Benjamin Franklin?
A sea monster cemetery lies at the top of the world. It's an incredible grave site that contains countless, fossilized remains of huge marine predators from the Jurassic Era. Join an expedition to this remote burial ground via helicopter and boat. Paleontologists will contend with powerful polar bears and erratic Arctic weather to uncover an incredible treasure trove that contains all new species of predatory sea monsters. This time, one is a complete ichthyosaur skeleton -- the first of its kind to be discovered.
A seemingly impossible dream: to create a new population of wild tigers outside their natural habitat. One man, John Varty, did just that. Starting with two young, zoo-born tigers, Varty now has more than 15 tigers at his Tiger Canyons reserve, and has used ever-present cameras to document two years of their lives. Whether mating, birthing or hunting, Varty shows these magnificent tigers with remarkable, up close and personal detail.
Sex, Drugs and Plants' gives an insight into the fascinating world of plants. By feeling, "hearing," smelling and tasting, these plants continue their journey through the undergrowth, in a bid for survival. Scientists and experts reveal the skills and tricks that plants use to survive, with predatory plants using every trick in the book to entice a meal, including sniffing out their prey. Exploring the defences plants employ to save themselves from harm, featuring the amazing acacia, which commands an ant army to fend off unwanted visitors. Experts also investigate how human intervention affects the plants, including a fascinating look at how technological advances could change the future of farming.
More than one million of history's ultimate fighters died in the arenas of the Roman Empire, yet not a single complete gladiator skeleton has ever been found. Now, archaeologists in England have unearthed what is believed to be an ancient gladiator graveyard. It contains the skeletons of 75 adult males, all of whom died in the prime of life, with savage bone wounds suggesting lives of violence.
Mary Surratt was the only woman convicted in Lincoln's assassination, the first female to be executed by the U.S. government and now the basis for Robert Redford's The Conspirator. Just days before the feature film hits theaters, NGC presents a complementary documentary on her role in the 16th president's death. The Plot to Kill Lincoln: The Conspirator weaves together excerpts from the movie with historical records and expert interviews to tell the dramatic story.
Colombian drug traffickers are using a new secret weapon to smuggle cocaine north – drug submarines. Up to 30 meters long and nearly impossible to detect, they are capable of distributing several tons of coke in just one shipment. Dozens of subs are thought to be in operation between the coasts of Colombia and Mexico, and law enforcement estimates that another 70 will be built in the next year alone. NGC follows U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agents and the Colombian military looking for drug subs under construction in some of the most remote jungles on the planet.
Are we alone in the universe? Mars still dominates our quest to find extra-terrestrial life, but could the barren, icy or fiery worlds beyond harbour life?
She is believed to be one of the best-preserved mummies in history Rosalia, a lifelike 2-year old girl encased in a glass-topped casket for over 90 years. Amazingly, her skin and delicate curls of hair remain intact. But Rosalia and the other mummies deep in the catacombs of Palermo, Italy, have started to show signs of decay. Now, a team of scientists are fighting to preserve her remains. To save Rosalia, they'll need to decipher the technique of her conservation.
National Geographic takes an intimate look at life behind the Vatican walls. For more than a year, filmmakers were allowed extraordinary access to the center of the Catholic Church and members of the popes inner circle. We'll meet a bodyguard, an official photographer, the archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica who is privy to Vatican secrets and an altar boy living in the pre-seminary. Then, cameras enter the vaults under the Vatican museum.
In January and February 2011, millions of Egyptians took to the streets to overthrow the oppressive government of President Hosni Mubarak. The catalyst to this revolution, which enables large numbers of protesters to organize themselves, was social networking sites on the internet such as Facebook. While many observers described the revolution as a secular movement of disaffected middle class youth, Inside the Muslim Brotherhood exposes the role of Egypts largest opposition group and reveals what the future may hold as the country finally emerges from Mubaraks regime.
Marine ecologist Enric Sala compares the Mediterranean of today to the one that was filmed by Jacques Cousteau.
Is every warrior's face different? How were 8,000 made in eleven years, when every one should have taken a month? Why does every warrior have a name hidden on their body? Could they originally have been brightly coloured? And how big must their firing kilns have been? There are still plenty of unanswered questions about Shihuangdi's Terracotta Army. Using face recognition technology, painstaking archaeological research and interviews with craftsmen who build life-size replicas today, experts unravel the mysteries of the two-metre tall, 300kg pottery figurines found 37 years ago in the tomb of China's first Qin Dynasty ruler, revealing why they were one of the most fascinating, and mysterious, finds of the last century.
While Bernie Madoff sits in jail for his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, the U.S. Marshals Service auctions off thousands of items from his New York homes. Up on the auction block: a $350,000 diamond ring, rare Persian rugs, a 1917 Steinway piano and thousands of other items seized by the U.S. government. The money made at auction then goes into the Asset Forfeiture Program, which aids victims of white-collar crimes.
Enter the secret world of one of the most perfect societies on Earth to see how millions of simple creatures form a collective brain, make decisions, move as a single being and attack as one.
Wicked Pirate City tells the story of the rise and fall of Port Royal, Jamaica — home of the original Pirates of the Caribbean — which catastrophically sank in an earthquake in 1692. An expedition team of archaeologists and scientists dive to the underwater site for the first time in 20 years, to create an accurate 3-D computer model of the ruined city. To bring Port Royal to life, historical experts dig deep into the world's archives to piece together the fascinating story of Port Royal's most swashbuckling character, Sir Henry Morgan, whose life is inextricably linked to the fortunes of the town. Alongside the unfolding diving expedition, Morgan's story is retold in high-quality action drama, seen through the eyes of a fictional privateer, Thomas Blakeway.
As the Second World War began to draw to a close, the scientists and designers of Hitler's Germany were employed in a frantic race to create new ideas that would turn the tide of the conflict. They developed some of the most sophisticated and advanced weaponry of the age - the so-called Wunderwaffen or Wonder Weapons. From missiles and enormous tanks, to the biggest gun ever built and the prototype of a plane capable of launching a suicide bombing raid on the skyscrapers of New York. Hitler's Secret Weapon shows how they helped the technology of war advance generations in little more than a decade. Using archive footage, reconstructions and interviews with experts, this fascinating show explores some of the many plans for outlandish and fantastic designs the Nazis hoped would win the war. Could these weapons really have helped Hitler to triumph?
In the heart of the American southwest, the 320 cops of the Navajo Police patrol some of the most rugged territory in the United States. These modern day warriors are on a mission to protect the largest Indian reservation in North America, and to preserve an ancient way of life. They must deal with big city crime like gangs, drugs, murders, and human trafficking while also protecting wildlife, cultural landmarks, and endangered archaeological sites. On a landscape straight out of the Wild West, they even square off against the supernatural, as they investigate attacks by beings with supernatural powers known as Skinwalkers.
She has been referred to as the King Tut of China. Fu Hao, the legendary warrior queen of China's first dynasty, was buried with treasures of bronze, jade and ivory, more than a hundred weapons and the remains of sacrificed humans. For years archeologists could only speculate about the people of the Shang dynasty, who were known for their excessive drinking and passion for human sacrifice - until now.
Think you know everything about the planet you call home? Think again and prepare to be astounded in the premiere of X-Ray Earth. In this two-hour film, see the planet as it's never been seen before as we challenge all of your preconceived notions about the world in which we live. Planet Earth is home, a sanctuary and the cradle of civilization that suspends in the inky blackness of space. It has shaped evolution, history and everything that makes us human. Making use of cutting-edge scientific tools, this programme travels over, across and deep into the Earth's crust to learn just what makes your world tick. The result is a comprehensive portrait of a planet that defies your idea of terra firma.
Daytona Beach rolls out the red carpet for the half million bikers who arrive annually to ride, party, be seen -- and spend like there's no tomorrow.
When the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity touched down on Mars in January 2004, they were expected to drive a few hundred yards and last ninety days. Seven-plus years later, the hardy robots have proven to be two of the greatest explorers of the Space Age, trekking miles across hostile deserts, climbing mountains, scrambling in and out of craters, and cheating death many times. Now comes the sad news that while Opportunity continues to roll, Spirit has reached the end of the road. Death of a Mars Rover tells the epic story of Spirit and Opportunity, and the desperate effort to save Spirit after she drove into a quicksand trap and then fell silent over a year ago.
Selling guns to snipers is all in a day's work for one small-town Tennessee family. Ronnie, the designer and businessman at the helm of Barrett firearms manufacturing, and his two children are responsible for creating the M107 sniper rifle. The world's first semi-automatic .50 caliber rifle, the M107s power and precision allow snipers to destroy multiple targets from more than 20 football fields away. NGC goes inside this family of firearm "rock stars."
Unique in their beliefs, motivations and strategies, explore the lives of four families preparing for the end of the world as we know it. From bunkers to fortified off-the-grid locations, these doomsday preppers will go to whatever lengths they can to make sure they are prepared for any of life’s uncertainties. And with our expert’s assessment, they will find out their chances of survival if their worst fears became a reality.
Five Amish teenagers leave their sheltered community for the first time to spend four weeks abroad in the United Kingdom. It's a trip full of firsts — first time on an airplane, first visit to the ocean and first nightclub. We'll see how they react to the seedy streets of London, street performers and the hedonistic lifestyle of an indie rock band they befriend. We'll also see how their simple life clashes with that of the British upper classes.
For the first time, three prisons across Russia unlock their doors to an international film crew. From a Siberian prison camp where temperatures plummet to 50 below to the highest security prison, where cannibals, terrorists and serial killers will live out the rest of their days, caged like animals. And, a pass inside infamous Vladimir Central — at over 200 years old, it’s held an estimated one million inmates. Inside Black Dolphin, a cannibal talks openly about his crime, divulging how he boiled, fried and ate his murder victim. In Vladimir Central, a convict opens up about killing his brother-in-law for disturbing his daughter’s peaceful night’s sleep. And inside a Siberian prison camp, we meet two friends about to go their separate ways when one gets paroled.
Follow DEA agents on their quest to track down and bust narco-submarines in one of the most violent regions of Colombia- the coastal town of Tumaco. NGC joins the investigation, taking to the streets and swamps with armed marine patrols. We'll meet a drug sub informant who ventures out to mark a sub site for capture- and subsequently goes missing. And meet one of the very first drug sub inventors, now "in hiding" as he shows original "test" footage of his creation. We'll also examine several seized semisubs for clues to their makers. And our cameras are there for a first-time look inside the biggest prey of all- a fully submersible cocaine sub!
This is the story of the meteor that changed the world forever. In 312 AD the Roman Emperor Constantine claimed he saw a mysterious light in the sky which convinced him to convert to Christianity, forever altering the course of history. Now scientists believe they may have tracked down the source of this mysterious light. A team of geologists have identified a crater in Italy which they believe was produced by the impact of a previously unrecorded meteorite. The finding could explain not only the story of Constantine, but might also provide an explanation for a local legend which recounts how members of a pagan cult were overwhelmed by a light in the sky as bright as a second sun. The cult too immediately converted to Christianity. A team of international experts set out to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Mummy-experts try to rescue world’s greatest accumulation of mummies, endangered by humidity and showing signs of caducity, including the best preserved corpse worldwide: The little girl Rosalia Lomardo. Experts move to rescue the world’s greatest accumulation of mummies, endangered by humidity and showing signs of decay, including the world’s best preserved corpse: a two-year old girl from 1920.
In Salem Witch Trial Conspiracy, join author Katherine Howe as she embarks on a historical journey to bring you the truth behind the world's most famous witch-hunt. Of the over one hundred people charged with witchcraft, five died in jail, 19 died on the gallows and one was crushed to death. Each of these deaths was the result of an overwhelming religious hysteria, and even to this date historians are uncovering more about what really occurred.
When this robot is powered up, 200 pounds of machinery turns into a tool to give soldiers super-human abilities.
It was the ultimate display of mankind's destructive power - an earth-shattering explosion 2,500 times more powerful than the deadly bomb that annihilated Hiroshima and helped bring an end to the Second World War. Discover how one of the world's superpowers created and denoted an earth shattering explosion that shook this planet in the World's Biggest Bomb. World's Biggest Bomb combines first-hand testimony with in-depth forensic analysis and once classified rare footage of the 1954 USA Bikini Atoll explosion, to reveal how Cold War rivalry inspired an unprecedented acceleration in ammunitions technology, as US and Soviet bomb makers competed with each other to build the ultimate weapon. As both superpowers took ever-greater risks to get ahead, scientific know-how was stretched to its limits, leaving no one in control of the shocking devastation about to rock the planet. When the Soviets blasted their way into history in 1961, scientists worldwide were stunned. What caused this dramatic surge in explosive power? And why were weapons' experts unable to predict the dreadful outcome of their work? With the shockwaves from this extraordinary chapter in modern history still being felt across the globe, World's Biggest Bomb analyses the immediate and long-term impact of the world's biggest bomb - and its enduring political relevance in our increasingly volatile world.
After battling in late 1939 with British cruisers off the coast of Uruguay, Hitler’s prized “pocket battleship” and high-tech wonder, the Admiral Graf Spee was blown up by its own captain, Hans Langsdorff. Denounced by the Nazi regime, Langsdorff commits suicide shortly thereafter. National Geographic Channel reconstructs the first naval battle of World War II and retraces the events that led to the Graf Spee’s ultimate destruction. AKA: Hitler's Lost Battleship(UK)
Science partners with Hollywood special effects to build the world's largest model volcano. The plan: Create a four-story-tall, 150-foot-wide volcano that can erupt and spew simulated magma and ash. Scientists test cutting-edge scientific theories on the model to learn more about one of the most volatile natural forces on the planet.
Some of the world’s best cave divers have traveled to the Bahamas Islands to plunge into the unique abyss found in blue holes –underwater caves that can go hundreds or even thousands of feet down and feature a maze of passages and tunnels, which act as liquid time capsules. Led by National Geographic emerging explorer and anthropologist Kenny Broad, a team of divers and archaeologists investigate these caves to unlock the mysteries of an ancient Bahamas teeming with life that quickly vanished, leaving the islands now mostly barren. What caused these animals to disappear, and could 800-year-old human skulls provide the answer?
Still only a pre-schooler, Kanon Tipton takes the pulpit at his family’s church and like a seasoned evangelist fervently preaches the gospel, mopping his forehead, shouting, waving his arms, the congregation hanging on his every word. But he’s just 4-years-old. NGC’s Pint-Sized Preachers goes inside the controversial world of child evangelists to follow two rising-stars and one established child minister as they spread God’s word and bring congregations to their feet.
The real-life international drama plays out like the plot of a deadly spy thriller. In the summer of 2006, as many as 18 conspirators planned to simultaneously blow up almost 10 airplanes by bringing hydrogen peroxide-injected soda-bottles-turned-bombs onto flights bound from London to the U.S. and Canada. Now, NGC — with unprecedented access to undercover agents and top officials from British Counter-Terror Command, the CIA and Homeland Security — goes inside the true story.
Life After Dinosaurs recreates the evolutionary history of mammals from the dinosaur age up to the appearance of the first humans to explore how the present ecosystem on this planet was formed and how remarkable the fact is that we exist now.
In an exclusive in-depth interview, former President George W Bush discusses the horrific 9/11 attacks, his reaction to the tragedy and the gruelling pressure he faced.
With exclusive access and 25 hours of interviews, this two-hour special gives unique insight into the man who, perhaps more than any other indvidual, shaped the post-war foreign policy of the United States and in so doing remains one of the most controversial figures in American politics.
In the final months of World War II, American troops discovered a top-secret facility in Germany with an advanced batwing-shaped jet fighter. If Nazi engineers had had more time, would this jet have ultimately changed the outcome of the war? In this National Geographic documentary they rebuild a jet discovered in a top-secret German facility during the final months of World War II - the Horten 229
Their bravery has inspired countless films but, until now, the real story of some of Britain’s greatest war heroes has remained in the shadows. Hunting Hitler’s Henchmen is a film about some of Britain’s bravest military. With ex-special forces soldiers as guides, venture beyond the movies to meet the snatch squads: commandos sent behind enemy lines to take out Hitler’s most-feared generals. They slipped into Nazi-led Libya to kill the infamous Desert Fox, General Erwin Rommel, and succeeded in snatching General Heinrich Kreipe from under the noses of 15,000 soldiers. Risking their lives to disrupt the Nazi war machine, these are the heroes who inspired Hollywood: incredible men sent to eliminate Hitler’s top brass.
This program tells the story of Australia's remarkable 'summer of rain' as captured and reported by young people using phones and the internet.
His action-packed life may have blazed a searing trail of death and destruction through history but, in death, Genghis Khan is proving to be a puzzlingly elusive figure. In the Lost Tomb Of Genghis Khan saddle up with a team of experts as they unearth Mongolia's best-kept secret and the only remaining tie to its spiritual and political forefather. With no burial site ever uncovered, the 800-year-old mystery of the marauding Mongolian's final resting place has baffled archaeologists for centuries. Led by self-confessed Genghis-obsessive Albert Yu-Min Lin, the explorers hope that untested technologies and a sophisticated network of civilian scientists will give them the edge on previous missions. But as they approach what they believe could be the legendary Burkhan Khaldun - a sacred mountain often linked to the long-dead ruler - gold-grabbing gravediggers and freakish weather systems all stand in their way. The final pieces of this ancient mystery have never seemed closer, but will they stay out of reach forever?
Ernest Shackleton is one of the iconic figures of the 'Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration'. His expeditions and personality have left an indelible mark on the icy plains of Antarctica and in our conscience. Recently archaeologists unearthed an unusual legacy - his secret stash of whisky! His booze was found under the hut he built over 100 years ago, during his greatest expedition, Nimrod. Shackleton's Whisky is the story of the discovery, analysis and replication of Shackleton's precious liquor and his forgotten expedition, Nimrod.
Legends of lost continents and civilizations have captivated people throughout time. Philosophers and astronomers like Aristotle and Ptolemy believed that an unknown continent existed in the Southern hemisphere. In the Age of Discovery, renowned explorers like Magellan and Cook searched the Pacific Ocean in vain for a mysterious land they called "Terra Incognita." To this day, ancestral legends throughout Polynesia speak of a lost homeland and a great civilization that disappeared into the sea. Modern science disputes the existence of unknown continents and often dismisses creation myths. But on Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, elders fiercely believe they originate from a continent that sank following a catastrophic upheaval. They call this lost land "Hiva". Now, new scientific evidence points to a remote island chain in Polynesia as the center of an ancient, thriving civilization. For over 400 years these islands have been known to the world as the Marquesas Archipelago, but to the native Polynesians they were once called "The Isles of Hiva". Could the legend of the lost continent of Hiva be true? Using new archaeological, geological and genetic evidence and by unveiling voyaging techniques passed down over centuries, "Lost Continent Of The Pacific" reveals a mesmerizing world of sweeping beauty and human sacrifice, of vast stone cities covered by jungle, water and exploration, cannibals and masterful seafaring navigators who had colonized the largest ocean on Earth centuries before Columbus reached America.
Berlin, 1961: suddenly there is the Iron Curtain, and the wall separates friends, families and loved ones of each other. The Berlin Wall, this terrible "wonder of the world", was 28 years standing. Fifty years later, this documentary reveals astonishing details and disturbing stories about the 43.1 km long structure.
50 years ago, two men attempted to reach the deepest part of the ocean, 35,000 feet down in the South Pacific. This is the tale of the Trieste vessel and their feat that has never been equalled.
The water in the Great Lakes, the world's largest freshwater lake system, obscures many secrets of the North American continent's human history and its geologic past; computer-generated imagery shows what they would look like if it went away.
Any Londoner can tell you that the Tube is overcrowded. But how many know the real reasons why? In the premiere of London Underground Revealed journey below London's pavements to look back over 125 years of crushed commuters and rush-hour rage and discover remarkable engineering history behind the biggest metro system in the Western world. With each day bringing over 4 million passengers into a vast network of tunnels under the city, the iconic transport system is creakingly close to capacity. Can an ambitious plot involving £16-billion to build 30 new stations drag it back from the brink? Taking in the origins of the Underground, this one-off special also reveals how 19th century New York subway designs are inspiring the next generation of Tube trains, and explores the importance of early Parisian Metro makers to modern engineering methods. You'll also look at the continued technological advances stemming from the tragic 1987 Kings Cross fire, which will make the new Underground among the safest transport systems on the planet. Interviewees including Transport for London Network Services Director Nigel Holness and engineering expert Professor John Burland explain what the future holds for the capital's commuters as this historic subway system reinvents itself for a new era of 21st century travel.
Bob Arno wows audiences with his pickpocketing show in Las Vegas. The self-proclaimed Pickpocket King, he says has never met a thief who can match his skills. Until now. Now, Bob takes us to Naples, Italy, which he calls "the pickpocketing capital of the world," to uncover some of the worlds best pickpockets. With his access well get an inside glance into how an international crew of pickpockets operates and well see if Bob really is the Pickpocket King!
It took humans thousands of years to explore our own planet and centuries to comprehend our neighboring planets, but nowadays new worlds are being discovered every week. To date, astronomers have identified more than 370 “exoplanets,” worlds orbiting stars other than the sun.
Ian Brady's crimes are some of the worst Britain has ever seen. Along with his lover Myra Hindley, Brady murdered five Manchester children. Four decades later, the sadistic killer is on hunger strike and wants to die himself. Bringing together a team of psychologists, and featuring interviews with police officers who took part in the original investigation, this drama-documentary looks again at Brady's life, investigates his shocking crimes and asks whether this unrepentant killer should be allowed to starve himself to death. Can people in a civilised society let a man guilty of repulsive crimes decide when he wants to die?
You all know the story about the Great Fire of London. That the fire was started by accident in a bakery on Pudding Lane, and the inferno rapidly engulfed the City of London in September 1666, burnt for four days, destroying everything in its path. But how many of you are aware that at the time many Londoners believed that the fire was started deliberately? And as suspicions grew, London lynch mobs attacked immigrant groups, prompted by a widely-held belief that it was an act of arson committed by a foreign power?
When a mass of skeletons are found in a shallow grave, cutting-edge forensics and ancient texts tell a story of greed, betrayal and retribution.
The jaguar, the third largest feline in the world, is one of South America's most beautiful and iconic animals. But it is rarely seen, let alone filmed. This program is the very first in-depth portrayal of wild jaguars - an unprecedented look at their hunting, mating and family life amidst the exquisite, reflective landscape of the flooded grasslands of the Brazilian Pantanal. But it is also the story of wildlife filmmaker Christian Baumeister in his desperate search of the charismatic cat and his efforts to record their secret world.
The uncovering of the 3 shots fired that resulted in the assassination of Jon F. Kennedy
By 2050, lunar settlers could be making oxygen, growing food and finding water in a bustling, self-sustaining settlement. See what life may be like on the Moon. The day before the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11, NGC presents Living on the Moon. Man has always dreamed of living on the moon, and now a team of NASA scientists is proving that dream could be achieved in our lifetime. We take viewers inside Constellation, the space program's plan to establish a human outpost on the moon by 2020. Take a closer look at the plans underway, from upgraded space suits to housing modules and moon vehicles, and examine the challenges ahead, such as finding water, making oxygen, growing food and protecting residents from deadly radiation. Then, using 3-D animation, we'll visualize how the remarkable outpost will take shape.
Archaeologist Jeff Rose embarks on a journey to understand how the destructive forces of water might have inspired the biblical story of Noahs Ark and the great flood. Dr. Rose believes that a massive flood once swallowed a landmass as big as Great Britain, created the Persian Gulf and sent tribes of Neolithic people into constant retreat from the ever-rising waters.
A nine-year-old South African boy stumbles on one of the greatest fossil finds of all time – a two-million-year-old bone belonging to one of the most complete early hominid skeletons ever uncovered.
For decades, the U.S. government refused to acknowledge the very existence of the National Security Agency (NSA). And it's still considered one of the most secretive intelligence agencies in the world. But that's about to change. With the first access given to a documentary film crew since 9/11, National Geographic goes Inside the NSA (9pm) for a new one-hour special to demystify the modern-day spy agency.
The Arabian Desert separates two seas with completely different natures. The Red Sea is startlingly beautiful while the Persian Gulf is a dramatic and tough underwater world never filmed before. Desert Seas narrated by David Attenborough tells the story of how the peninsula of Arabia transformed from an ocean millions of years ago to the desert it is today. The Gulf is now home to a myriad of sea creatures but, just as Arabia was once ocean, a mere 10,000 years ago this expanse of water was a swampy flood plain. Since it drowned as sea levels rose, the Gulf is now the world's hottest and saltiest open sea. The Red Sea, on the other hand, is a far older coral-fringed chasm formed as plate tectonics pulled Africa and Arabia apart; its reefs are prowled by huge moray eels and their shrimp entourages.
An insight into Frank Lee Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin's 1962 attempt to escape from Alcatraz, reputedly the world's most secure prison at the time. The authorities always maintained the prisoners drowned, but the programme examines evidence suggesting at least one of them reached the mainland.
A British writer and historian explores the most remote parts of China's national monument. He questions peasants and herders, experts and scholars, in a bid to learn how long the Great Wall is
Investigating an alleged lost civilization on the Marquesas Archipelago, which is thought to have been the centre of an ancient and thriving society. Combining archaeological and geological evidence, a story of cannibals, stone cities, human sacrifice, and adventurers is uncovered.
In the heart of South-Eastern Turkey is an extraordinary site called Gobekli Tepe, which could be one of the most startling archaeological discoveries of our time. At 11,500 years old, this vast and labyrinth temple complex was built a staggering 7000 years before the Great Pyramid and 6000 years before Stonehenge. Archaeologists believe this could be the site of the worlds oldest temple, humanity's first "cathedral on a hill". And it could overturn all our conventional views on the rise of civilization and the start of the human story. In this film, archaeologist Dr. Jeff Rose follows a ground-breaking excavation which uses the latest technology to uncover the secrets of the site. air date reference of 2012-03-01 http://realscreen.com/2012/03/02/nat-geo-atlantic-examine-cradle-of-the-gods/
Through Their Eyes documents Daniel Craig's visit to Mongolia with the ORBIS team of medical professionals. While he was there, Craig witnessed the life-changing eye operations performed aboard the Flying Eye Hospital on the runway of the airport at the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator. The film reveals the dramatic contrasts in Mongolia, alternating images of men and women on horses galloping across the Steppes with those of motorcyclists negotiating the crowded streets of Ulan Bator. The most compelling stories, though, are those of families' emotional relief when a child's eyesight has been restored or the gratitude expressed by a Mongolian nurse to the ORBIS team that has trained her and her colleagues to extend treatment to their communities. Since ORBIS International was founded in 1982, the organization has carried out programs in 88 countries to provide medical training, tools and technology to local partners to address eye disease and preventable blindness in their communities. As a result of this support, more than 12 million individuals have received medical care and more than a quarter of a million eye care professionals have been trained.
National Geographic Channel joins the director and explorer-in-residence for the ultimate forensic investigation into the most infamous shipwreck of all time in Titanic: The Final Word With James Cameron. Cameron, who has made more than 30 dives to explore the Titanic, brings together a team of engineers, naval architects, artists, and historians to solve the lingering mysteries of why and how an “unsinkable” ship sank. With their combined expertise, they’ll examine the feature film and determine what technology has revealed since its release. An investigation of this magnitude has never been attempted before, and some of the revelations may alter the fundamental interpretation of what exactly happened to the Titanic on April 14, 1912.
Robert Ballard has been living and breathing the Titanic since he was part of the team that discovered it in 1985. In Save the Titanic with Bob Ballard, he revisits the iconic ship in an entirely different way—from the perspective of those who set sail on it some 100 years ago. Ballard travels to the shipyards of Northern Ireland to retrace the path of the doomed ship from its’ very incarnation. Throughout his journey, Ballard is driven by one personal question—will the Titanic survive another 100 years? As evidence mounts that the ship is under siege by natural forces, careless visitors and even rogue salvage operators, the man who found it teams with the families of victims and survivors to protect the legacy of history’s most famous ship.
Who was to blame for the Titanic's fatal collision? Why did no one come to her aid? How did the 'unsinkable' ship sink? In the UK premiere of Titanic: Case Closed British Titanic expert Tim Maltin presents startling new evidence and a forceful explanation for the catastrophe in this eye-opening documentary. Exposing a number of key myths, Maltin unearths compelling proof suggesting that unique atmospheric conditions in the Atlantic were to blame. A century on from the tragedy of the Titanic, a host of pressing questions remain unanswered... The Story explores the reasons why the Titanic sunk and why so few of the passengers were rescued. Tim Matlin, author of several tomes on the liner (including "101 Things You Thought You Knew About the Titanic But Didn't"), travels across Europe, North America and the Atlantic Ocean to meet experts and perform a series of eye-opening experiments. Documentary is written and produced by Nigel Levy, whose credits include doc series "Horizon" for the BBC and "Fatal Attraction" for Animal Planet.
Explore at the dark side of mind control, deception, fear and intimidation in the destructive experience of life inside two dangerous cults. Imagine a world where you weren’t free to do whatever you wanted – a world where someone else dictated how you should dress, think, feel and behave. This world is a reality for hundreds of people who belong to religious cults, where their leaders – or ‘prophets’– control everything from what they believe in to whom they marry. I Escaped The Cult takes an in-depth look at life inside some cults with extreme beliefs. For example meet members of a church where polygamy is insisted upon and a man can have dozens of wives; the followers who are sleep deprived, overworked and isolated from the rest of the world; and learn about the girl who watched her mother being forced to live in a shed for ‘idolizing her children. This probing show takes viewers on a journey to reveal the stories of courageous people who escaped the clutches of abuse, mind control and fear from these dangerous groups. http://natgeotv.com/uk/i-escaped-a-cult/about
Scientists decode the DNA of a bone pulled from a Siberian cave revealing a previously unknown species of hominid that lived at the same time and place as modern humans; and interbred with them. They are a part of us we never knew existed. What did these "people" look like? And how do they fit into what we thought we knew about our biological development as a species?
The dark waters of the ocean turn bright and crystal clear as cameras reveal spectacular underwater landscapes, hidden structures and marine life around New Zealand and across the globe.
Documentary examining the death of Amy Robsart, wife of Elizabeth I's alleged lover Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. The 28-year-old fell down the stairs at Cumnor Place in Berkshire, and the coroner deemed the incident the result of misfortune, but her demise was shrouded in suspicion.
Dr Maurizio Seracini has been hunting a lost mural entombed beneath the Palazzo Vecchio of Florence, for unravelling the real-life Da Vinci code.
American Transgender takes us firsthand into the daily lives of three individuals—Clair, Jim, and Eli—who each identify with a different gender from the one in which they were born and raised. We witness their struggles and triumphs, and experience their hopes and fears. How do they manage at work, build careers, maintain friendships, and nurture lasting, intimate partnerships? Each of the characters in the film tells their story in their own words as we follow them through life’s daily battles and victories, both large and small.
Take a journey from the footpath to the centre of the planet in one epic unbroken step, smashing through more than 6,000 kilometres of solid rock to explore the hidden world beneath our feet. With its stirring soundtrack and commanding narration, it's initially unclear whether this documentary is supposed to enlighten or terrorise. Beneath our feet lies our greatest enemy, it begins. Suddenly we're falling down a coalmine in America's Midwest, marvelling at the fossilised plants that cover the ceiling. To understand how they got there, we have to go back 300 million years - and, thanks to clever computer-generated footage, we can. What follows is an informative account of our very own journey to the centre of the earth via 6000 kilometres of rock.
AKA Empire
In one of the most significant CSI developments of the 20th Century, British investigators caught and convicted a murderer using DNA screening for the first time. Colin Pitchfork raped and murdered 15-year old Leicestershire schoolgirls Lynda Mann in 1983 and Dawn Ashworth in 1986. Find out how similar DNA techniques helped close a notorious Kansas cold case 20 years later, as the sadistic ‘Bind, Torture, Kill’ murderer Dennis Rader was finally brought to justice.
The discovery of a golden hoard sheds light on the mysterious dark ages. England was ripped apart by war but out of this time of turmoil the English language, Celtic art and Christianity were born.
Scientists in the year 2210 uncover the ruins of a great civilisation. Could it tell the tale of the collapse of Earth as we know it?
A fascinating exploration of the legends accredited to the mysterious religious and military order of the Knights Templar. The Order of the Templar, created after the first Crusade and disbanded by the King of France in 1307, gave birth to fabulous legends which persist to this day. Despite in-depth research, many enigmas still surround this mythical order and its legends - not least whether mysterious discoveries at Gisors and Oak Island can really hold the fabled Templar treasures. Now, this insightful documentary relives an epic adventure based on facts, places, puzzles and legends that feed faiths and have fascinated generations.
National Geographic Alcatraz Surviving The Rock: A look at how inmates including Al Capone and `Birdman’ Robert Stroud coped with the tough conditions of the notorious prison in San Francisco Bay.
In Hiroshima: Nuclear Apocalypse you will learn how the first atomic bomb affected our world from two personal and distinctly different points of view; the moment-by-moment testimony from those who were hit hardest by that weapon - the survivors; and the written reports of the US governments scientists and military personnel who were dispatched to Hiroshima to analyse first-hand the power of this new weapon their country had dropped on a city and its people.
When a German submarine sank passenger liner RMS Lusitania on 7 May 1915, it redefined the laws of conflict. The loss of the boat and 1,198 lives shocked the world. But was the U-boat’s torpedo the only thing that sank the Lusitania? Or was a second reported explosion caused by an illegal cargo of weapons? Dark Secrets Of The Lusitania plunges below the waves on a new expedition to venture into the wreck in a bid to get to the bottom of this century-old war crime. With tense dives in high seas, lab research into explosive theories and the haunting recorded testimony of survivors, this revealing documentary follows the team as they deploy the latest submersible, diving and computer technology to battle the Atlantic, the weather and even the ship itself. As divers risk their lives exploring the ghostly wreck, will the Lusitania finally give up her secrets and will the wreck’s elderly owner finally learn the reason for her demise?
This documentary is a behind the scenes look at some of the world’s most notorious criminals, their opulent lifestyles, and the way their complex operations were ran.
It took a year to build: the Jewel of Muscat – a reconstruction of a 1200 year old Arab ship, based on an ancient shipwreck. Built from more than 18 tonnes of wood, the ship is held together entirely by 100 km of rope in over 127,000 hand-sewn stitches. Now the Jewel will sail more than five thousand kilometres across the Indian Ocean and do battle with the Monsoon – the mighty rain soaked wind that turns the arid land it touches green. But for sailors it can spell danger and even death.
Martian Mega Rover tells the gripping, inside story of how those ambitious plans collided with enormous technical challenges and setbacks that doubled the budget and forced the launch date to slip more than two years. Veteran writer/ producer/ director Mark Davis, whose Emmy winning 2008 NGC production Five Years on Mars told the story of the Spirit and Opportunity mission, spent years embedded with the engineers and scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, capturing the dramatic mix of anxiety, despair, and elation that played out over the long struggle to get the Curiosity rover to the launch pad and on its way to Mars. He describes the experience: “The work these people do and the way they handle pressure is the most impressive thing I’ve ever seen. It’s been a privilege to watch it happen it from the inside.” Along with the human drama, Davis also brings the rover to life, visualizing the challenges it will face landing and operating on Mars with vivid, photorealistic CGI by Mars visual effects specialist Dan Maas. http://tvblogs.nationalgeographic.com/2012/08/09/martian-mega-rover-documents-nasas-eight-year-mission-to-build-launch-and-land-the-most-complex-rover-to-date/
Jonestown: Nightmare in Paradise chronicles the tragic final days of the People's Temple cult. In November 1978, more than 900 People's Temple members perished at Jonestown, their compound in northern Guyana - an act of mass murder and suicide ordered by the cult's messianic leader, Jim Jones. This film includes archival footage, exhaustively researched dramatic re-creations, and interviews with survivors and key witnesses, including Stephan Jones, son of Jim Jones.
The world watched in horror as the Twin Towers fell in 2001. Did you know that some 60 years earlier, Adolf Hitler plotted a similar atrocity on American soil? Hitler's War On America is the shocking and widely unknown story of Hitler's evil and audacious scheme. Determined to strike a symbolic blow to US morale, Germany made plans to fly fighter planes into Manhattan skyscrapers in an eerie premonition of Osama bin Laden's deadly attack. With Hitler convinced that such a psychological strike could have brought down his rival superpower, contemporary witnesses and archive material combine to examine the plot's origins in full. Hitler's War On America provides you with a terrifying insight into Hitler's psyche and reveals the original construction plans that show the extent of his destructive fantasy. Could the 'America Bomber' really have changed the outcome of the war? Find out in Hitler's War On America.
In early 1945, the Nazi submarine U-745 is lost and the body of its captain is found frozen on the island of Foglo. For nearly 70 years the U-boat's fate has remained a mystery. Now, after over a decade of painstaking research and underwater exploration, the mystery of the U-745 has been solved by the members of Badewanne, a Finnish diving team. While searching, they dispel the myth of the Louhi, a Finnish minelayer that some thought was sunk by its own mine and discover a type of submarine some say was never built. This group of highly skilled technical divers journeys deep below the frigid waters of the Baltic to reveal the secrets of the Nazi sunken sub.
For the first time, National Geographic takes you inside the heart of the money machine to places that you're not allowed to bring a camera ...straight into the vaults of some of the world's largest stashes of what you want, need and bust your butt to get: Money.
Coelacanth (SEEL-uh-kanth): a large fish with limblike fins, armored scales and a tail that no other living fish possesses. This prehistoric fish was thought to have died out with the dinosaurs in the great extinction. It has laid hidden deep in our oceans undisturbed and undetected for 70 million yearsa true living fossil. The coelacanth is thought to be related to the creatures that grew legs, breathed air and came ashore nearly 400 million years ago.
Professor Darryl Granger explores China's tiankengs - giant natural holes, hundreds of metres deep, which have developed in unusual environmental conditions.
Across New York City, an underground economy exists that pulsates with danger, allure and adrenaline generated by clandestine high-stakes poker games. One of the top games in the city is run by Mikey Tatts, who has cultivated an eclectic roster of players and friends, including Wall Street brokers, doctors, business owners, drug dealers, pimps and people who make their living playing cards.
If we faced a countdown to destruction, could we build a spacecraft to take us to new and habitable worlds? Can we Evacuate Earth? NGC's two-hour special examines this terrifying but scientifically plausible scenario by exploring how we could unite to ensure the survival of the human race.
Venturing into vast underwater graveyards of Maya human sacrifices, journalist and host of NGC’s Don’t Tell My Mother Diego Buñuel searches through a watery maze to unearth new revelations about the most infamous date in the Maya calendar: December 21, 2012 – doomsday. Using ground-breaking National Geographic technology, Diego and a team of archaeologists will literally light up the abyss to explore these underwater tombs and gain key insight into why the Maya may have predicted an impending apocalypse. In a secret location, Diego views a rare replica of one Maya codex whose last page filled with illustrations of floods and ominous-looking gods first sparked the apocalyptic prediction some 100 years ago. And, in remote Guatemala, NGC follows an elite team of researchers who descend through dangerous underground tunnels and, using modern techniques, make a revelatory discovery that may alter our perception of December 21, 2012.
From acclaimed filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, The Unlikely Leopard is the coming of age story of a young male leopard with a distinct personality. Join National Geographic as we follow this leopard through his life stages, from clumsy cub and stubborn teenager to independent adult.
Bones of Turkana follows the story of famed paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey and his wife Meave, daughter Louise and their colleagues, as they work in the arid northern regions of Kenya's Turkana Basin to unravel the mysteries of human evolution.
It is potentially one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in the history of Christianity., the ruins of one of the oldest monasteries in Europe. Here, under the location where the altar once stood, scientists have dug up an exquisite marble box holding what they believe to be the bones of John the Baptist, the man who baptized Jesus. If the date of the bones lines up with the Bible's profile of John, could it finally solve the mystery of what happened to his remains after his beheading, 2,000 years ago?
Get an extensive look at the series of events leading up to the sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise liner, and details plans to re-float the ship in one of the most expensive and challenging salvage operations ever attempted. The Costa Concordia was one of the world’s largest and most luxurious cruise ships ever built. So what happened? Why did the ship collide with a rock? Why wasn’t there an immediate call to abandon ship? Exactly what went wrong and who was at fault will be up to the courts. This special takes a look at the reports, audio recordings, and personal accounts gathered thus far to help tell the story of that fateful night.
The USS Freedom and USS Independence are the pioneering warships changing the face of battle on the sea with cutting edge design. Go inside the rigid testing that these ships must face to become part of the Navy. From a simulated high-speed attack to test the ships' guns and cannons to helicopter launches and technical failures, watch these ships attempt to achieve their mission objectives to ultimately be integrated into the U.S. Navy's Surface fleet.
April 14, 1865. One gunshot. One assassin hell-bent on killing a tyrant, as he charged the 16th President of the United States. And in one moment, our nation was forever changed. This is the most dramatic and resonant crime in American history: the true story of the killing of Abraham Lincoln. From Executive Producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, and narrated by Tom Hanks, National Geographic Channel's first ever docudrama, Killing Lincoln, based on the New York Times bestseller, combines re-creations with historical insight in a thrilling chronicle of the final days of President Lincoln and his assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
Ravaged by looters, earthquakes and erosion, the Step Pyramid of Saqqara is falling apart. Can experts win the race to save this precious pyramid and preserve its treasures?
Behind the modern, polished exteriors of their high tech offices and millions of innocent employees, lurks Japan’s Yakuza of old, still killing, stealing and extorting to this day.
Ten thousand years ago, humans shared the planet with mammoths. They roamed through the heart of Siberia numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Today, that same area is a massive mammoth graveyard, with thousands of skeletons preserved in the frozen tundra and a team of scientists want to bring the mammoth back to life. Follow this team on a quest to achieve one of the most audacious undertakings ever: to excavate frozen mammoth tissue in order to clone it.
Follow photographer James Balog across the Arctic as he uses time-lapse cameras to capture a multi-year record of the world's changing glaciers.
Do the jewels, bones and ashes found in an Indian tomb in 1898 mark the final resting place of the Buddha himself, or was it all an elaborate hoax? When Colonial estate manager, William Peppe, set his workers digging at a mysterious hill in Northern India in 1898, he had no idea what they’d find. Over twenty feet down, they made an amazing discovery: a huge stone coffer, containing some reliquary urns, over 1000 separate jewels and some ash and bone. One of the jars had an inscription that seemed to say that these were the remains of the Buddha himself. This seemed to be a most extraordinary find in Indian archaeology. But doubt and scandal have hung over this amazing find for over 100 years. For some, the whole thing is an elaborate hoax. For others, it is no less than the final resting place of the messiah of one of the world’s great religions. For the doubters, suspicion focuses on a key figure from the time, disgraced German archaeologist Dr. Anton Fuhrer. Renowned historian of India, Charles Allen, sets out to solve this extraordinary mystery once and for all.
This is the true-crime story of the multimillion-dollar yuppie drug ring run by a then, twenty-six year old Larry Lavin and two of his classmates. In the high-flying 1980's, Larry Lavin was a clean-cut, Ivy-League-educated dentist living the good life in suburban Philadelphia. But, what his upper crust neighbours didn't know was that Lavin led a double life - one that would finally be exposed by a shocking narcotics investigation. Awash in sex, drugs and money, Lavin oversaw a cocaine conglomerate, buying and selling enough white powder to anesthetize thirteen Eastern seaboard states … until the FBI cracked the ring. How was he able to create such a well-oiled network? And what brought about his untimely downfall?
The World in Two Cities follows Andrew Evans, National Geographic’s Digital Explorer, travelling through South Africa, a country with over 50 million people, nine provinces and eleven official languages. The documentary explores the coastal cities of Durban and Cape Town, discovering the new South Africa and it’s modern day cities, who are proud to keep ancient traditions alive whilst creating new ones by blending the different cultures that live together, forging a powerful multicultural movement.
National Geographic Extreme Neighbors: Most Americans think the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a thing of the past, but for residents of Harmony, N.C., they're the neighbors. When KKK members Chris and Tanya plan a rally in Harmony, residents set out to stop them. Led by Barbara and Terry, citizens of Harmony do everything in their power to make the Klan feel as unwelcome as possible. However, Barbara and Terry decide to attend the rally themselves to see if they can understand why their extreme neighbor do what they do.
British magician and card shark to the world’s elite, Drummond Money-Coutts, embarks on an international journey, going from London to Paris with a final destination of Bangkok. In this one-off special, DMC explores the thrilling and high stakes world of card tricks. Through breath-taking stunts and street demonstrations, Drummond reveals the secrets behind advanced card play, card cheating and the dark art of card magic. This show ends with his most dangerous trick to date!
Sex: How It Works explores the science behind arousal, orgasms, partner preference and sexual dysfunctions, weaving together real-life case studies, the latest technology and cutting-edge computer graphics. Viewers get a glimpse into the biology and sociology of sex, looking at how the impulse to pass on our genes influences and affects us socially and emotionally.
Blow Your Mind is the owner’s manual to the most complex machine ever developed. Your Brain. You might think you’re aware of what your brain’s up to, but the truth is we’re all just passengers along for the ride. In this fascinating and hilarious show, Robert Llewellyn and neuroscience expert, Bruce Hood, use mind-melting real-life experiments, hidden camera stunts, try- at-home tests and top notch animations to uncover the storm of unconscious processes that make up the human mind. On Blow Your Mind the whole world’s a lab and you, the unsuspecting members of the public, are the perfect test subjects.
A documentary looking at the controversial doping surrounding Lance Armstrong, talking to those closest to him.
Wild animals kill thousands of people every day - and the most dangerous creatures may not be what you think. From Bengal tigers to elephants to mosquitos, animals can kill in a multitude of ways. Predators are obvious killers, but others defend their territory, attack in self-defense, or kill by sheer accident. Wildlife experts break down some of the most revealing attacks caught on tape to expose what animals kill the most people, how they kill, and why.
This video was a You Tube sensation: A guy on a subway train grabs a fire extinguisher off a wall and uses it to fly back and forth while on the train. But how'd he do it? In Man vs. You Tube, engineer Tim Shaw and stuntman extraordinaire Johnny Riche join forces to determine the secrets behind some of the wildest clips to hit the Internet. Are they hoaxes or are they real?
Ten world experts formulate a list of the most important natural disasters of all time. Using eye witness video, historical archive and cutting edge CGI, they not only reveal the key moments that turned a natural phenomenon into a human catastrophe, but explain why the disaster they’ve selected is a genuine game-changer, worthy of its place as a one of the ‘Top Ten Natural Disasters’.
Documentary film recounting the story of Ten House, the fire station right next to the World Trade Center, and the experiences of its firefighters on 9/11
Explorer and scientist Paul Sereno made an extraordinary discovery in the middle of the Sahara desert: While prospecting for dinosaur bones, he stumbled across an ancient human cemetery more than 5,000 years older than the Egyptian pyramids. Who were these people and what were they doing in the middle of the desert? How did they live and die? What can this mystery tell us about our planet? And why are there two distinct groups of people here, existing thousands of years apart? National Geographic goes back into the desert with Sereno and his team as they excavate new burials and unearth amazing new discoveries.
In How Sherlock Changed The World forensic scientists, crime historians and Sherlockian experts reveal the surprising impact Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional character had on the development of real-life crime investigations and forensic science.
This past August, a NASA rover named Curiosity touched down inside Mars’ Gale crater, carrying 10 new instruments to advance the quest for signs that Mars might once have been suitable for life. With inside access to the massive team of scientists and engineers responsible for Curiosity’s on-the-ground experiments, NOVA was there for the exhilarating moments after the rover’s landing—and for the spectacular discoveries to come. As NOVA reveals the dynamic new picture of Mars that these explorers are painting, we will consider the deep questions raised by 40 years of roving Mars: How do we define life? How does life begin, and what does it need to survive? Are we alone in the universe?
This is history in the remaking, an epic look at an iconic event, and a world transformed. Take a bird’s eye view into a historical nexus point -- a forensic examination of the 24 hours leading to Dealey Plaza and the journey to catastrophe. We all know what happens there – but -- what happened before an era imploded? The day long period prior to the assassination of JFK is like a single pristine core sample boring into both the man behind the legend and the country behind the man. The view of Jack and Jackie’s tour of Texas affords intimacy and grandeur, providing an unforgettable document of all that was lost when those shots rang out. Visually, that lost world springs to life, as footage of the First Couple’s 24 hours in Texas is presented and selectively woven into haunting “then and now” of the same locations today. From a narrative standpoint, first person testimony features a riveting collage of personalities providing “who knew” and “I can’t believe” insights. One notable example is the show’s narrator, Bill Paxton, who, as an 8-year-old watched one of JFK’s last speeches, given by the President only hours before his death.
Wingsuit pioneers Jeb Corliss and Iiro Seppanen take on the ride of a lifetime, flying through a gigantic mountain cave called Heaven’s Gate.
Based on Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard's best seller comes this shocking thriller starring Rob Lowe and Ginnifer Goodwin. As John F. Kennedy (Lowe) rises to become U.S. president, a former Marine grows disillusioned with America. When their paths ultimately cross, the course of history is changed forever as seen in this mesmerizing film about the assassination of JFK -- and its chilling aftermath.
New DNA research collected by Professor Bryan Sykes, a leading British geneticist, reveals a unique genetic link the may answer the centuries-old mystery what is Bigfoot? The results are featured in a new two-hour special. Sykes sets off on a global quest to unlock the real story of Bigfoot. Sykes, professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford, collected and tested Yeti hair samples in the western Himalayas to find out what species they came from.
This feature-length documentary tells the story of seven critical moments that shaped the man who became a twentieth century icon. America’s most popular modern president was a man of great vision who inspires to this day. But behind the conviction and the charisma, JFK was a man of contradictions. A wise and cautious leader who behind the scenes, lived his personal life on the edge. A vision of health and vigor hiding a private struggle with his health from the world. There are seven key days that will change the way you see him - moments of crisis, times when he had to stand up and decide his own future and the future of the nation. The day he rescued the stricken crew of his Navy patrol boat in World War Two and became an American War hero; the television debate with Nixon that helped win him the election and marked the dawn of the TV age; Marilyn Monroe’s birthday serenade that risked his political career; the Cuban Missile Crisis when he prevented the world from plunging into nuclear war; the day he threw his weight behind the civil rights cause, and of course the fateful day of his assassination. In the year that marks the fiftieth anniversary of his death, the film includes interviews with friends and colleagues of JFK, as well as leading historians, rare archive material and dramatic reconstruction to give the audience front-row seats to these world-changing events.
Follow a group of scientists on the trail of a once-in-lifetime celestial visitor: Comet ISON.
In the small town of Nikolaevsk, meet a religious sect struggling to maintain their centuries-old traditions while surviving as commercial fishermen on Alaska's rough seas. The Old Believers once fled persecution from the mid-17th century Russian Orthodox church, eventually settling in places from China to Brazil to Alaska. Now, see how this unique community prepares for Lent while juggling the start of salmon fishing season, and plans to build a new church.
Scientists find out what impact climate change has on our world.
This is the incredible true story of a little girl’s kidnap, her five year survival alone in the jungle…and the monkeys who saved her. A unique journey from feral child to modern day Grandma now living happily in Bradford, England. Marina Chapman doesn’t know her real name or her biological family. She claims that as a child in Colombia she was abducted and abandoned in the jungle, and that she survived by living alone with monkeys for five years. Now, fifty years later, Marina is returning to Colombia with her daughter to try and uncover the truth. Scientists will analyse her bones, test her subconscious responses, examine the inner workings of her mind and a leading primatologist will try and pick holes in her knowledge of monkeys and their behaviour. Who were her real family? Why was she kidnapped? Could a five year old girl really survive in the jungle so long in the company of monkeys? Is Marina Chapman a fantasist? Or was she truly raised by monkeys? What the journey uncovers is incredible. But do the experts give her the answers she’s been searching for? Or will they shoot her story down in flames?
David Livingstone is the British missionary whose exploration into the 'dark heart' of Central Africa turned him into a legend. His meeting with American journalist Henry Morton Stanley has been immortalised by the iconic phrase, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume”. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Livingstone’s birth in March 1813, The Lost Diary of Dr. Livingstone follows a pioneering American team’s ground breaking attempts to decipher his last field diary. Faded and illegible, no one has been able to read these words since Livingstone's death 140 years ago. Now, state-of-the-art multi spectral imaging technology begins an incredible journey inside the mind of this 19th century adventurer.
For centuries, the relic of the Holy Foreskin was considered by believers to be the only piece of Jesus’ flesh to remain on earth after he ascended to heaven, and thus was among the most sacred relics in Christendom. Then, on New Year’s Day 1983, in a tiny village in the Italian countryside, Father Don Dario announced to his expectant flock that their beloved relic had been stolen. New York Times writer David Farley goes on a quest to unravel the story of this mysterious crime.
Ravaged by looters, earthquakes and erosion, the Step Pyramid of Saqqara is falling apart. Can experts win the race to save this precious pyramid and preserve its treasures?
Why do cats scratch your furniture? And insist on climbing up your curtains? A team of cat experts come together to answer the questions that plague cat owners everywhere.
National Geographic goes inside the eye of “superstorm” Hurricane Sandy, to explore why it happened and how it could happen again. Weaving together stories and film from those who rode out the catastrophic storm, first responders, weather experts, and storm chasers, we explore the mammoth and merciless force of nature that caused fatalities and paralyzed life for millions.
The longest war in America's history was sparked by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Less than a month later U.S. forces entered Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban. Chronicling a conflict that has spanned more than a decade and bridged generations, Inside the Afghanistan War shares the comprehensive 11-year-trajectory from its swift and relentless beginnings to the eve of the U.S. pullout in 2014.
Go inside Americas black world of off-the-record projects developed in secret. Host Jake Ward, editor of Popular Science, explores the little-known projects still being built in America that are so confidential, some are said not to exist. His mission: to shine a light on the covert technology hidden all around us. From futuristic aircraft flying faster than the speed of sound, to stealth weapons and propulsion systems, Ward explores as deep inside each secret site as possible.
When the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity touched down on Mars in January 2004, they were expected to drive a few hundred yards and last 90 days. But scientists were wrong; the hardy robots proved to be two of the greatest explorers of the Space Age. Now, 10 years later, one rover is down, but the other refuses to die and continues to send back stunning images and exciting new scientific information. As newer rovers continue to land on the alien planet, we look back at this remarkable journey. (Source: National Geographic Channel)
NGC presents the true story of an unlikely World War II band of brothers. The unsuspecting group of scholars, academics, historians and architects headed to the front lines of the bloodiest war in history to rescue thousands of years' worth of European art and culture from Nazi-occupied Europe. Through extensive archive sources and photographs, journals and letter excerpts, along with the personal accounts from surviving family members, this special sheds light on the remarkable story.
A National Geographic documentary about the fascinating and mysterious pre-Columbian Inca lost city of Machu Picchu. Deep in the Andean mountains lays a mysterious ruin named Machu Picchu. For 400 years it sat abandoned on its misty cliff, the quintessential lost city in the jungle. Rediscovered in 1911, it contained no written records or carvings, nothing that could shed light on its history. For a century since, it has defied the endless scores of visitors and scientists who attempted to understand its purpose. Who were the mysterious people who built it and why did they build it here? Today an international team of archeologists, engineers and scientists are finally piecing together the clues. Together they are discovering astonishing new burials, revealing the intricacies of its ingenious engineering and finally decoding the secrets of Machu Picchu.
Guantanamo's Secrets exclusively captures for the first time the day-to-day life of the most famous prison in the world.
The story of the 20-year war between armed robbers and one of the toughest police squads in the UK. With incredible archive footage and testimony from those on both
Mennonite builder Norman and his crew need to get a custom log home built for a client in Colorado before the winter weather stops them cold. As they race against Mother Nature, the build site in Colorado is hit with a flood of biblical proportions, sweeping away homes and lives. The sturdy Mennonite crew takes a journey of faith and craftsmanship to bring another client's vision to life a Mennonite-made log home.
When Mount Vesuvius erupted In 79 AD, it buried the booming city of Pompeii under tons of debris, sealing the fate of more than a thousand people. But It also sealed the ancient city - preserved it, protected it, like nowhere else on earth. Because of this, archaeologists and historians can clearly describe life in Pompeii up until its final moments. Now see the ancient city as never before with scenes from the motion picture, "Pompeii."
National Geographic Channel is taking viewers around the world—literally—in this spectacular two-hour television event broadcasting LIVE from the International Space Station (ISS) and Mission Control in Houston, Texas. Made in collaboration with NASA, we'll go into orbit with astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Koichi Wakata as they fly at 17,500 mph nearly 250 miles above the earth's surface on the International Space Station, while astronaut Mike Massimino joins host Soledad O'Brien on the ground at Mission Control in Houston. From space, Mastracchio and Wakata will give viewers a fully guided tour, showing us how they live for months in microgravity. They’ll conduct never-before-broadcast experiments that demonstrate the real-world value of the science conducted on the floating laboratory. Plus get ready for stunning shots of Earth, from sunset and sunrise, to city lights and green aurora, to lightning storms and shooting stars. You've never seen our planet like this before. [National Geographic]
Through gripping first-person accounts and digitally remastered archival footage, including the soldiers' own home movies and personal audio tapes, Brothers in War recounts the harrowing combat experiences of the men of Charlie Company - one of the last American combat infantry companies to be drafted, trained and sent to fight together in Vietnam. The two-hour special is fittingly narrated by Charlie Sheen, who rose to stardom after his 1986 performance as a Vietnam soldier in "Platoon."
For centuries, sailors have told terrible tales of ferocious underwater monsters. Now, an ultra-modern research crew hopes to catch a glimpse of the ultimate monster: the 12-metre, 200kg giant squid. Lurking some 500 metres below sea level, these real-life krakens are notoriously hard to film - and they have never been shot in their own world. With the team headed by British camera expert and expedition leader Martin Dohrn, the brave souls of the Makaira are hoping to be the first. Equipped with radical night-vision cameras and a custom-built stealth rig known as 'the Gupster', their mission takes them to a giant squid hotspot off the coast of the Azores. With the camera lowered, an astonishing array of curious creatures and super-sized sea serpents loom out of the darkness. Could one of them be the elusive giant squid?
London is burning. German bombs are decimating British homes and the dead lie in heaps. But this Blitz has nothing to do with World War II. This little-known story of a terror bombing campaign on the capital took place during the First World War. For 18 months the carnage was delivered by a machine straight from the pages of science fiction. The Zeppelin, the biggest flying machine ever to have existed, delivered a deadly payload straight to the heart of a nation and, for a time, there was nothing the British could do to stop them. This new kind of terror campaign rewrote the rules of war. For the first time in history, innocent civilians were bombed in their homes in a ruthless attempt to break a nation's morale. This also aired on the following: • Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries - S2013E46 - Attack of the Zeppelins • NOVA - S41E11 - Zeppelin Terror Attack • National Geographic Documentaries - S2014E08 - London's Zeppelin Attacks
Jesus Christ is one of the most famous names in the history of mankind. But Gospel writers left out crucial details about pivotal events in Christ's life - historical moments that have been adapted, embellished and rewritten over the course of hundreds of years. This special re-examines elements of Christ's life and ministry, such as the nativity, the miracles and the crucifixion - questioning basic modern assumptions to reveal some surprising and often shocking details.
Follow three juvenile gators on a fight for survival as they work to outmaneuver their abundant foe in a distressing game of life or death.
Crocs may have outlasted the dinosaurs, but now they face coastal development, dramatically altering their habitats.
What links Adolf Hitler, Heindrich Himmler and a priceless Celtic cauldron recently discovered at the bottom of a lake in Bavaria? In this film an investigation uncovers allegations of mafia involvement, an international fraud trial where millions of dollars are at stake and a forensic discovery that stuns the archaeological world and steers the mystery towards Himmler’s SS shrine at Wewelsburg and Hitler’s obsessive quest for the Holy Grail. This seemingly priceless and beautiful object has brought death and disaster to everyone who has attempted to own it but who did make it and why?
World renowned archaeologists are taking a 21st century approach to ancient history, conducting a forensic investigation into Tutankhamen's cause of death.
It was the biggest air and naval fleet in history to take off for France to free Europe from Nazi Germany’s clutches. As World War II entered its fifth year of combat, and despite set-backs in Russia, the power of Germany remained so strong that the Anglo American Allies had to recruit 2 million men all ready to sacrifice their lives. From the Battle of Normandy to the Liberation of Paris, tens of thousands of lives were lost; D-Day Sacrifice recounts the story of the D-Day Landings on 6 June 1944 through the testimonies of those who lived it. Comprised entirely of re-mastered and colourised archive footage, much of it never before seen, the remarkable testimonies of famous individuals like Dwight D. Eisenhower and Erwin Rommel are intertwined with those of anonymous soldiers and citizens, such as film director Samuel Fuller and Eisenhower’s chauffeur, Kay Summersby.
It was the biggest air and naval fleet in history to take off for France to free Europe from Nazi Germany’s clutches. As World War II entered its fifth year of combat, and despite set-backs in Russia, the power of Germany remained so strong that the Anglo American Allies had to recruit 2 million men all ready to sacrifice their lives. From the Battle of Normandy to the Liberation of Paris, tens of thousands of lives were lost; D-Day Sacrifice recounts the story of the D-Day Landings on 6 June 1944 through the testimonies of those who lived it. Comprised entirely of re-mastered and colourised archive footage, much of it never before seen, the remarkable testimonies of famous individuals like Dwight D. Eisenhower and Erwin Rommel are intertwined with those of anonymous soldiers and citizens, such as film director Samuel Fuller and Eisenhower’s chauffeur, Kay Summersby.
Hyena Coast Brown hyena expert Ingrid Wiesel wants to find her favorite study animal, named Tosca, who has disappeared from her home range on Namibia’s Wild West Coast. Ingrid has spent the last 17 years studying brown hyenas–now she must journey deep into Tosca’s world to discover what exactly has forced her to leave her traditional hunting grounds. The story begins with Tosca’s disappearance who, since her birth nine years ago, has been the subject of Ingrid’s studies. Tosca is an efficient and hardworking hunter, and also a successful mother. So when Tosca and her clan disappear from their home range, Ingrid sets off on a journey to find her, traveling deep into the world of brown hyenas. Ingrid’s journey takes her through some of Namibia’s most spectacular landscapes: down the wild coastal beaches which are popular resting and breeding sites for thousands of Cape fur seals; across the great dunes of the Namib desert; and into the abandoned mining town of Elizabeth Bay, a ghost town which has been deserted for 60 years but whose crumbling empty buildings now provide ideal shelter for brown hyenas. Central to Ingrid’s search for Tosca is a mission to understand why hyenas are abandoning their hunting grounds on the beach. A discovery of a mass seal die-off provides vital evidence that the ecosystem here is changing. Global warming is affecting ocean temperatures here and with that the seal population – the very food that coastal brown hyenas depend on. Despite their remote setting, these animals are being hit hard by climate change in ways that no one could have predicted.
This is the untold story of a Nazi vision, that went far beyond the military conquest of European countries. As part of their crazed dream to create a thousand-year Reich they developed detailed blueprints for Aryan settlements and vast hunting parks for ‘Aryan’ animals. Goering and Himmler employed Germany’s best scientists to launch a hugely ambitious programme of genetic manipulation to change the course of nature itself, both in the wild and for domestic use. In a fascinating blend of politics and biology, Hitler's Jurassic Monsters is the true and asthonishing story of how the Nazis tried to take control of nature and change the course of evolution.
Following the gruesome murder of a Californian family in 2003, police are pretty sure the killer is Vincent Brothers – but his alibi places him over 3,000 kilometres away from the scene of the crime. Using an unusual tactic developed in Scotland in 1935, investigators turned to ‘insect analysis’ for help. How did bugs found in Brothers’ rental car prove to be the vital ‘silent witnesses’ in this extraordinary case?
Elizabeth I War On Terror Summer 1586 is England’s darkest hour. A terrorist cell of Catholic extremists is planning to kill Elizabeth and install the Queen of Scots on her throne. One man stands in the way: Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth’s spymaster and security chief. So why was this dangerous prince of spies so dedicated to his Queen and country? In this tense documentary we’ll explore new visual evidence that will transform our understanding of Walsingham’s dark world.
GENERATION ASTRONAUT is a groundbreaking documentary special that sees ordinary men and women from across the globe competing against each other for the chance to live the dreams of a generation. Following more than 100 winners from over 60 countries as they strive to win one of 23 tickets to space aboard the Lynx shuttle in 2015, GENERATION ASTRONAUT showcases a week of intense competition at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, under the tutelage of a judging panel including legendary astronaut, Buzz Aldrin. This one-hour programme follows the hopes and dreams of the recruits as they bid to earn the journey of a lifetime - and make history.
England's Kind Edward I just crushed the infamous Scottish braveheart William Wallace and claimed all of Scotland as England territory. But Wallace's death only ignited a flame within the heart of Scottish outlaw Robert the Bruce. Robert gathered his men and waged war against England, capturing every English-held castle in Scotland, except one Stirling Castle near the Bannock Burn. NGC tells the story of the pivotal campaign at Sterling Castle and how it held the key to Scotland's future.
Nat Geo's Top 10 Photos gives viewers a front-row seat as photographers reveal the hard work, perseverance, and luck involved in capturing that one-in-a-million shot.
Australian adventurers Cas & Jonesy battle alligators, deadly snakes, fatigue and each other in search of a lost trail through Georgia's infamous Okefenokee Swamp. The fearless world-record-setting duo have conquered the South Pole and crossed the treacherous Tasman Sea in a kayak but tackling the Okefenokee brings new and unfamiliar challenges. Hostile spirits - the ghosts of long-dead Native Americans - are said by the locals to roam dark corners of the wetlands and Cas and Jonesy must go.
He’s been living surrounded by domesticated lions for years. Kevin Richardson lies down with them, pets them, takes care of them and travels long distances along with them. Convinced that animals cannot be domesticated through stick and chain strikes, he’s been using other techniques since their tender childhood to get in touch with them. The compassion, trust and even love he feels for those animals - considered as the most dangerous of the world - enabled him to create his own language. He claims an instinctive approach of those animals which led to the fusional relationship they share. This documentary takes you into the intimacy of this astonishing, “extra-ordinary” relationship. In South Africa, where wild beasts are the victims of poachers and dream sellers, Kevin tries to denounce those downward slides and protect the kings of savanna he knows better than anyone else because they are wrongly threatened.
At 165 pounds, and allegedly made from the skins of 160 donkeys, the Codex Gigas is the world's largest and most mysterious medieval manuscript. Filled with satanic images and demonic spells, according to legend, the cursed text sprang from a doomed monk's pact with the Devil. Now, Nat Geo follows a team of scientists as they embark on an unprecedented quest to unravel the secrets behind the book's darkened pages. Using ultra-violet fluorescence imaging, handwriting analysis and a re-creation of the text, forensic document experts attempt to uncover the cryptic truth behind this ancient Devil's Bible. The Devil’s Bible is so huge that it requires at least two people to carry it. Once considered the eighth wonder of the world, the Codex Gigas stretches three feet long and weighs a hundred and sixty-five pounds. It is the only book that places the Old and New Testaments alongside violent, holy incantations. The Codex Gigas contains one full page – right opposite the devil portrait – of a towering Heavenly City. Although no people can be seen in the Heavenly City, it is a symbol of hope and salvation, a contrast to the portrait of the devil on the opposing page. The Codex Gigas includes mystical medical formulas for anything from treating ailments such as fevers and epilepsy to resolving practical problems such as finding a thief. The book's transfer to Prague in 2008 took a year of planning. It was insured for $15.1 million during the transfer. The Devil’s Bible has 600 pages, which is 310 parchment leaves, all made from donkey skins.
The extraordinary untold story of the heroism and sacrifice of the NYPD’s elite rescue squad - the Emergency Service Unit - on 9/11. New York City’s Emergency Service Unit (ESU) is a unique institution in law enforcement; not only is it the busiest Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in America, the ESU is also one of the top urban rescue units in the world. Indeed it is often said when New Yorkers are in trouble they call the NYPD, and when the NYPD is in trouble they call the ESU. The vital role played by the ESU on 9/11 has long been overlooked, but now for the first time - using previously unseen archive material and moving first-hand testimony – we tell the truly inspirational story of the 9/11 rescue cops.
The extraordinary untold story of the heroism and sacrifice of the NYPD’s elite rescue squad - the Emergency Service Unit - on 9/11. New York City’s Emergency Service Unit (ESU) is a unique institution in law enforcement; not only is it the busiest Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in America, the ESU is also one of the top urban rescue units in the world. Indeed it is often said when New Yorkers are in trouble they call the NYPD, and when the NYPD is in trouble they call the ESU. The vital role played by the ESU on 9/11 has long been overlooked, but now for the first time - using previously unseen archive material and moving first-hand testimony – we tell the truly inspirational story of the 9/11 rescue cops.
9/11: Voices from the Air recalls the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 via radio transmissions between the cockpit and the control tower, and through cellphone calls between passengers and their loved ones. Along with archival film, dramatic re-creations and interviews with air traffic controllers, military personnel and the relatives of those on the planes, the documentary takes a new look at the confusion and terror of the morning's events.
9/10: The Final Hours takes us moment by moment through the day before everything changed, before the war on terror became a part of the world's everyday vernacular. We'll hear from those who worked inside the World Trade Center, whose snap decisions resulted in narrow misses of the attack, as well as men and women who confronted the terrorist mastermind of the operation, Mohamed Atta, during his sudden and still unexplained detour to Portland, Maine.
Dust and dunes, sun and sand: the parched landscapes of Namibia in southwest Africa are extreme in every way. This Terra Mater Factual Studios production tells the fascinating story of how the largest animals on our planet survive in the oldest and most inhospitable desert on earth. Ephemeral rivers support a stunning diversity of mega fauna in Namibia’s arid areas: elephants as well as giraffes, baboons, antelopes and lions. Spectacular aerials and a fantastic scenery, amazing animal behaviour and stunning timelapse sequences, impressive images and an exciting narrative – this is Wild Namibia.
9/11 survivor Pasquale Buzzelli tells his amazing story of riding a blizzard of falling debris from a 22nd floor stairwell – and the science behind his bewildering survival.
They came from around the globe, drawn to New York in search of a new life and a better future. Ten years on, survivors and relatives of the lost talk about how they've rebuilt their lives in the shadow of 9/11.
On December 7, 1941 Japanese forces attack United States military installations in and around Pearl Harbor, thus bringing the US into World War II.
Powell. McChrystal. McCaffrey. Petraeus. Clark. For the first time, National Geographic Channel gathers the nation's leading war generals for an unprecedented look at 50 years of military history, from the Vietnam War to America's war on Al-Qaeda. The two-hour special American War Generals reveals never-before-heard stories and insightful opinions from eleven active and retired U.S. Army generals. Their accounts take us through the big changes that have transformed the U.S. military from the first troops to enter Vietnam to the last combat troops to exit Afghanistan, explaining the critical personal experiences that shaped their lives and the way they approached modern warfare.
The Chinese snub-nosed monkey was one of the least documented species of its kind ... until now. Once believed extinct, renewed scientific interest in this shy creature with its strange snub of a nose has revealed that the monkey lives within a complex multileveled society, an uncommon trait among nonhuman primates. Come along for the journey around China's mountainous central and southwest regions as we investigate the mysteries behind these beautiful monkeys.
The Giant Panda is one of the world's most iconic bears, but they are also critically endangered. Now the race is on to save them from extinction. Follow the incredible journey of breeding a panda in captivity, to its dramatic release into the wild. We will witness firsthand the groundbreaking initiative to increase the panda population and raise awareness about this endangered species.
This is Adolf Hitler as we’ve never seen him before — through the eyes of his mistress, Eva Braun. From 1937 to 1944, Braun shot a series of remarkable amateur movies that take us into the inner sanctum of the Third Reich — Hitler’s chalet, the Berghof, the veritable decision center of the Nazi regime.
October 14th 2013 was the 70th anniversary of an event that shook the Nazi party to its core, when the Jewish prisoners at Sobibor, a Nazi death camp in Poland staged a bloody break out. Through brutally honest dramatisations and compelling first hand testimony, travel back with some of the last remaining survivors to reveal their extraordinary stories of courage, desperation and determination.
In deepest Siberia, two American scientists are on a mission, to expose the secrets of the woolly mammoth. Their search will lead them to one of the greatest mammoth finds ever uncovered.
Join us to explore the planets that are beyond our solar system.We'll also meet some scientists and understand their plans for NASA's Kepler mission. Based on the latest scientific results and deep space observations, two planets are identified to represent statistically likely celestial bodies capable of supporting life and are subsequently named Aurelia and Blue Moon.
For nearly 70 years, the tunnel allowing 76 allied airmen to flee from a POW camp in Poland has remained undisturbed. Now a crack team of engineers and historians are out to reveal its hidden secrets. A crack team of engineers and historians continue to unravel the secrets hidden in the tunnel that allowed 76 allied airmen to flee from a WWII POW camp in Poland.
What if the Apollo 11 astronauts had been unable to leave the moon as planned? What stroke of luck allowed the safe return of Apollo 13? NGC reveals the make-or-break moments you didn't see.. In July 1969, 600 million people around the world watched Neil Armstrong become the first human being to set foot on another planet. Apollo 11's mission and the five moon landings that followed were the most costly and dangerous single expeditions ever undertaken by any government at any time in history. For those who volunteered for the job, the risk of death was many times greater than a tour of duty in Vietnam. In all, 24 men ventured a quarter-million miles from home, relying on just a single engine. These are the untold stories of Apollo: the rarely remembered breakthroughs, harrowing escapes and heartbreaking disasters. Neil Armstrong also carried a small National Geographic flag when he became the first person ever to step onto the surface of the moon.
Arguably more than any other event, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent collapse of communist rule across Eastern Europe set the scene for the 1990s and David Hasselhoff was there to witness history in the making. With the 25th anniversary approaching, Hasselhoff vs. the Berlin Wall takes viewers on an incredible, personal journey back to Berlin, retracing the wall's history, meeting the people who lived in its long shadow and examining the fate of the wall's final remnants.
On November the 12th, millions of miles from Earth, a spacecraft will make history by attempting to land on an icy rock nearly three-miles across, hurtling through space at 41,000 mi/hr. An international team of scientists will work around the clock to make sure the orbiter Rosetta, and lander Philae, will survive the journey to accomplish their mission. If successful, Rosetta and Philae could help peer into our past and unlock secrets from our very origins. The stakes couldn’t be higher.
Alcatraz was a high security prison built with concrete and steel on an island surrounded by the frigid waters of San Francisco Bay. For almost 30 years Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was the countries toughest prison and a living hell for the high risk and high profile trouble makers men like Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly and the Birdman Robert Stroud. It’s a prison where every inmate learns one thing, there is no way out.
In an unprecedented partnership, NGC along with The Public Good Projects and NIH, America’s foremost scientific authority, will draw the nation’s attention to the science of sleep — a topic fundamental to our collective well-being.
"Area 51: X Files" utilizza documenti declassificati della CIA per presentare un documentario autorevole e attendibile. Tralasciando speculazioni e leggende metropolitane, il programma si concentra su quanto accade realmente nell'area test conosciuta nell'immaginario collettivo come Area 51. Questa è la vera storia di Groom Lake, il sito segreto dove i progetti Oxcart, Grudge, Sign, U-2, A-12, SR71, HAVE BLUE, F117 Nightawk e Raptor F22 hanno preso vita. Il luogo dove è nata e si è sviluppata la supremazia aerea statunitense dalla guerra fredda ai giorni nostri. Un racconto avvincente fatto raccogliendo le testimonianze di chi era impiegato in prima persona.
In this one-hour special, National Geographic Channel explores the Bermuda Triangle's ominous reputation by draining the water from it to see what exactly lies below the surface of the mythical triangle. With the aid of data from sophisticated sonar surveys, see what the ocean floor looks like below the Bermuda Triangle.
Sherri and her extreme outdoor catering company are hired to cook a gourmet meal off the grid in the wilds of Alaska for a high-end client with a taste for adventure.
This hard-hitting and in-depth special examines the medications Hitler was taking, how much he took and how often, and whether drugs played a role in his behavior and actions.
Gold is the oldest precious metal known to man and has long been the ultimate symbol of immortality and power. Throughout history, gold's scarcity and value has driven men to journey to unknown reaches, wage wars, conquer kingdoms and sacrifice all in the quest to find and possess it. National Geographic explores how man's endless search for gold across time and cultures ultimately shaped our civilization.
In Colombia and the Caribbean, American DEA special agents put the ultimate crackdown on billion-dollar drug cartels, risking their lives in the process.
Ten years after one of the most deadly tsunamis ever known, scientists are making a shocking discovery. Experts used to believe that the biggest killer waves were only generated in a handful of regions, but mounting evidence now suggests that more of the world’s coasts, from the Mediterranean to Australia, could be in grave danger. But where will the next Big One strike?
There's no denying we are obsessed with our cats. But have you ever wondered why your cat always lands on all fours? Why it purrs? And where it goes when it leaves the cat flap? Secret Life of Cats follows the incredible story of a newborn kitten as it grows into a nimble athletic neighborhood cat.
This film charts the inside story of the race to raise and re-float the stricken Costa Concordia. The colossal cruise ship crashed into rocks and capsized on the island of Giglio in Italy in a tragic disaster in which 32 people lost their lives trying to escape. This film uses stunning CGI animation and unique access footage to reveal the incredible innovations and technological breakthroughs needed to make 114,000 tons of mangled metal sail again.
On August 4, 1944, Anne Frank and seven others were found and arrested by the Gestapo. Now. their story is being told from a chilling new perspective: that of Anne’s captors, the Nazis.
Dr. Michael Scott sets outs across the historic landscapes of the ancient world to discover how and why, in just 400 years, the little-known Judaic cult of Jesus rises from a persecuted minority to become the official religion of the Roman Empire.
For centuries, the relic of the Holy Foreskin was considered by believers to be the only piece of Jesus’ flesh to remain on earth after he ascended to heaven, and thus was among the most sacred relics in Christendom. Then, on New Year’s Day 1983, in a tiny village in the Italian countryside, Father Don Dario announced to his expectant flock that their beloved relic had been stolen. New York Times writer David Farley goes on a quest to unravel the story of this mysterious crime.
The mystery of why dead birds fell from Arkansas skies on last year may now be solved. Much of the film was shot in Beebe, Arkansas where the birds dropped from the sky on New Year’s Eve. The episode will also discuss the many fish found dead in Arkansas waters. The “wide-ranging story begins with an investigation of the blackbirds death and ends by assessing how the human mind is inspired, or derailed, by seeming patterns or coincidences in nature,” according to the National Geographic website.
Anne Frank’s world-famous diary comes to an abrupt end several days before she and her companions in the Secret Annex were arrested on August 4, 1944. This is the story of what happened next, how Anne became absorbed into the horror of the Nazi camp system. Through eyewitness testimony from camp survivors and historic pictures and film, the brutality and horror of Auschwitz, Sobibor and Bergen-Belsen are revealed. Surviving for just 7 months after her arrest, Anne Frank is confronted with disease and depravity while barely missing liberation at these horrific camps. Two of Anne Frank’s friends remember both their school days in Amsterdam and the days before Anne’s untimely death at Bergen-Belsen in March of 1945 – shortly before the camp’s liberation. But Anne’s remarkable diary miraculously survived the war and was published by her father, Otto Frank.
Killing Jesus chronicles the events leading up to the death of one of the most influential figures in history; based on the book by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard.
Law enforcement officers on the Navajo Reservation balance present day issues with tribal beliefs in their constant pursuit of justice.
For the first time in history, the Catholic Church allows scientists to openly test the veracity of the remains of reported saints.
Since its launch in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has captured thousands of stunning images of space, revolutionized our understanding of the universe and become a global icon. To mark its 25th anniversary, National Geographic Channel tells the definitive story of NASA’s most successful science project ever, in Hubble’s Cosmic Journey, narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
The United States’ National Mall is an urban park unlike any other in the world, a landscape that seems so timeless and eternal it’s easy for visitors to forget that it is actually man-made. Now, for the first time, a National Geographic/PBS Special will bring the surprising story of the Mall’s creation and evolution to a national audience. Using a mixture of contemporary and archival footage, state-of-the-art graphics and exclusive aerials shot within highly restricted airspace, this hour will trace the Mall’s — and the country’s — transformation from fields and farmland to national icon.
Fingerprints have been used for identification purposes for centuries, but their role in CSI is a relatively recent phenomenon. It took the pioneering work of Argentine anthropologist Juan Vucetich in 1892 to realise their crime-cracking potential – and in doing so, inspire the techniques used to snare Richard Ramirez, the infamous ‘Night Stalker’ who terrorised Los Angeles almost a century later.
The story of the Second World War as it was experienced by the inhabitants of Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, then a Soviet satellite country.
This past August, a NASA rover named Curiosity touched down inside Mars’ Gale crater, carrying 10 new instruments to advance the quest for signs that Mars might once have been suitable for life. With inside access to the massive team of scientists and engineers responsible for Curiosity’s on-the-ground experiments, NOVA was there for the exhilarating moments after the rover’s landing—and for the spectacular discoveries to come. As NOVA reveals the dynamic new picture of Mars that these explorers are painting, we will consider the deep questions raised by 40 years of roving Mars: How do we define life? How does life begin, and what does it need to survive? Are we alone in the universe?
Documentary exploring the habits of urban raccoons, uncovering how they are thriving more in cities than the countryside, and how they have adapted to life with humans
National Geographic Channel (NGC) is embarking on an expedition nearly two decades in the making in The Walk Around the World, a one-hour special, premiering Friday, May 15, at 9 p.m. ET/PT, that follows former British paratrooper Karl Bushby (@bushby3000) on a remarkable journey from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., as part of an epic, record-setting feat — a 15-year, 36,000-mile walk around the world. “Most people told him it couldn’t be done. Sixteen years and 20,000 miles in, this American odyssey is yet another example of his determination to achieve the impossible.” Executive produced by Westward Productions founders Beau Willimon (writer and producer of acclaimed Netflix series “House of Cards”) and Jordan Tappis (director, producer and founder of Record Collection Music), The Walk Around the World treks along with Bushby on his journey of triumph and despair, armed with nothing but a pack of supplies, a handful of cameras and a trolley he calls “The Beast.” The result is an extraordinary story of dedication, perseverance and sacrifice, demonstrating the lengths to which one man is willing to go to achieve his dream. Bushby’s 3,600-mile walk across the United States is only one chapter in his extraordinary story. Fifteen years ago, with only $300 to his name, Bushby set out on a challenge to complete the longest continuous walk in human history. Planning to return to his home in Britain on foot, he left the southern tip of South America and walked up through Central America, North America and into Russia, successfully completing the first documented on-foot crossing of the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia. After trekking nearly 2,000 miles into the grueling Siberian tundra, the Russian government slapped Bushby with a five-year visa ban, halting the expedition to which he had already dedicated a third of his life. Now, this modern-day adventurer has set out on a mission to the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C., with his
Revisiting the murders of serial killer Peter Manuel in Scotland in the late 1950s, and asking whether the state of his mental health should have prevented him from being hanged.
This film tells the story of the last year of the war in Europe, from the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944 to the dual German surrender, first in Reims then Berlin, in May 1945. Eleven months of unprecedented combat. The hopes of the Allied landings, the liberation of Paris, the battle of the Ardennes, the massive bombing campaigns over Germany, the Soviet offensives, the libera- tion of the concentration camps, Hitler’s self-destructive folly, the battle for Berlin, and the final surrender. This series of major events contributes to making a powerful, intense and epic film.
This film tells the story of the last year of the war in Europe, from the D-Day landings in Normandy in June 1944 to the dual German surrender, first in Reims then Berlin, in May 1945. Eleven months of unprecedented combat. The hopes of the Allied landings, the liberation of Paris, the battle of the Ardennes, the massive bombing campaigns over Germany, the Soviet offensives, the libera- tion of the concentration camps, Hitler’s self-destructive folly, the battle for Berlin, and the final surrender. This series of major events contributes to making a powerful, intense and epic film.
Driving America tells the epic story of the automobile and its unique impact on American life and culture.
There are 60 members of the eagle clan, all united by their acute eyesight, broad, powerful wings, sharp talons and hooked beaked. As we explore their world, we’ll see the majestic Harpy eagle of the Amazon bringing a dead sloth to their nest. Slow motion reveals the skill of the African fishing eagle as it snatches prey from the water’s surface. In winter, when competition for food gets tough, the heaviest eagle of all, the Steller’s sea eagle, is hunting around ice floes. When they have their eye on the same meal, Golden, Steller’s and White-tailed sea eagles battle - filmed in breath-taking slow motion. To explore the world of the eagle we follow the fortunes of one individual from hatching to leaving the nest and setting up a home on her own, her fight for survival reveals what it takes to become a queen of the sky.
The most famous shipwreck in the world, the Titanic, lies over 12,000 feet down in the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Since the discovery of the wreck in 1985, there have been numerous expeditions to the site, but until now, no one has ever recorded the full extent of what really remains on this remote area of seabed. Now, over a century on from her tragic loss, we are able to reveal the overall wreck site: we will virtually drain the Titanic. Spectacular new visualisation techniques will depict this ‘draining’ process and offer viewers a ringside view for the emergence of the wreck from the waves – seen in full for the first time since April 15th 1912.
In 2006, a huge fossil was discovered. It contained two near-complete dinosaurs, locked in battle. Its discovery reopens a cold case, and could change what we thought we knew about the prehistoric world.
Imagine a biology lab filled by a 40-foot specimen, ready for dissection. The creature has skin like a crocodile, eyes the size of softballs and intestines large enough to fit your arm. T. rex Autopsy will go inside a full-size T. rex for the first time ever to reveal how the 65-million-year-old beast may have lived. Using cutting-edge special effects techniques, and in collaboration with esteemed veterinary surgeons, anatomists and paleontologists, T. rex Autopsy will build the world’s first full-size anatomically precise Tyrannosaurus rex, based on the very latest research and findings. The massive monster will be lifelike inside and out, giving scientists the chance to touch it, smell it, scan it, x-ray it and cut it open from head to toe.
Two Australian marine biologists are on an epic scientific expedition in Western Australia’s stunning Kimberley region to capture the birth of a Humpback Whale calf on camera for the very first time.
Before man ruled the world, Earth was a land of giants. Count down the biggest beasts of their kind to ever roam the planet in this eye-opening special, and uncover the secret lives of these supersized species. Birds with plane-length wingspans, dinosaurs rivalling a Boeing 737; this stunning CGI special goes in search of the truth behind these monsters, counting down the ten largest and most extraordinary finds. From handling the recently unearthed bones of a dinosaur far larger than previously known, to analysing the flight technique of a giant seven-metre bird –uncover the unique adaptations that allowed each animal to thrive. Visual stunts and surprising size comparisons bring each beast vividly back to life in ever-increasing sizes. Get ready for a dramatic countdown of the most mind-blowing lost giants.
As dinosaurs grew into the behemoths of the Cretaceous period they evolved many extraordinary but apparently useless features including spikes, sails horns, crests and the tiny "arms" of tyrannosaurs. The program reviews these unusual features and discusses theories of why they exist.
Renee Heidtman, a 32-year-old terminal cancer patient, shares her story as she battles her illness.
Titanic: Ballard's Secret Mission: Revealed joins the explorer as he reveals the story of stealth, subs and superpowers. Learn how Ballard's search for the Titanic became the cover story to ward off the Soviets. (originally aired March 1, 2013)
National Geographic reviews Jack Horner's research into juvenile dinosaurs. His evidence suggests that juvenile dinosaurs looked sufficiently different from adults that they have sometimes been mistaken for a separate species. The program examines specific changes that occurred as dinosaurs aged and speculates on why the changes were necessary.
April 2011 was the most violent month of tornados on record, and the deadliest in modern times. The ‘super outbreak’ of April 26-27 alone involved more than a hundred separate twisters, killing over 300 people and cutting a swath of destruction across the south. Using dozens of amateur and professional sources, Witness tells the story of this once-in-a-century event, as captured by those who lived through it.
Nine years in space. A four billion mile journey. Travelling at 35,000 miles per hour. One historic mission. Back in 2006 the New Horizons space probe was launched from Cape Canaveral on a journey bound for the edge of our solar system with the goal of capturing the first clear images and data ever recorded of Pluto. New Horizons is headed where no spacecraft has ever gone before: the last great, uncharted realm of our solar system called The Third Zone. There it will intercept the last unexplored world, the ninth planet, Pluto. It has just 86 seconds to complete its mission but assuming it is successful then this will genuinely be history in the making. No-one yet knows what Pluto really looks like, but one thing is certain: it looks set to revolutionise planetary science forever, because it could answer some of the biggest questions about how our solar system evolved and, ultimately, how the earth was formed. All being well New Horizons will fly by Pluto on July 14. It anticipation of that event National Geographic Channel broadcasts an hour-long special revealing the extraordinary story behind a landmark mission.
The death camp at Auschwitz was considered ground zero for the killings during the Holocaust, a place where thousands were starved and 1.1 million died, but there are only a small number of known photos from this infamous place before its liberation in 1945 - until now. The photos in this album are far from the gruesome iconic images of living skeletons or ash-choked ovens. These rare images show life from the other side of the wire, where the banality of evil is depicted by cocktail parties, sing-a-longs and food contests attended by the perpetrators. Another album showcases the victims as they arrive at Auschwitz. These albums are nothing short of scrapbooks from hell
he old Soviet Union was a sinister world, a land of secrets, rumours and uncertainty. After the fall of the Iron Curtain numerous unexplained case files have emerged from deep inside the former Soviet Union archives. These files tell of bizarre phenomenon, monstrous creatures and sinister occurrences. Russia’s Mystery Files investigates these rumours – from mountain wild-men to terrifying zombie dogs to a profoundly mysterious incident on the Mountain of the Dead.
The dark waters of the ocean turn bright and crystal clear as cameras reveal spectacular underwater landscapes, hidden structures and marine life around New Zealand and across the globe.
Why is a small region of China home to an extraordinary number of giant holes containing vast, little explored subterranean forests? One professor is on a dangerous mission to find out.
Shark Survivors USA Across the coastal waters of the United States, witness breath-taking shark behaviour, rare shark footage and interviews with experts and attack victims. Some of the most beautiful beaches in the United States also feature the highest incidences of shark encounters. Filled with the latest shark facts, United Sharks of America counts down America’s shark hot spots and offers an essential guide to shark activity and avoidance. The leading experts deconstruct shark attacks and provide valuable tips to stay out of their path. Learn about shark hunting techniques, hear from shark attack survivors and get to know the wide variety of shark species that thrive along the coastal U.S.
Set against the beauty and harshness of the Peruvian landscape, this 48 minute documentary film starring Cindy Crawford, traces the emotional journey made by a few visually impaired young patients seeking treatment. Their destination is the Flying Eye Hospital, a DC-10 aircraft converted into a mobile training hospital operated by U.S. based charity, Orbis International. Since 1982, the charity has worked towards the prevention and treatment of avoidable blindness in the developing world. Orbis volunteers work alongside local staff attempting their best to save sight and transfer knowledge amid the chaos and emotion of screening, surgery and recovery. It’s an unforgettable story highlighting the untold success when technology and good intentions meet people in need.
As YouTube turns ten, we chart the history of the last decade through the lens of the world's most famous video sharing site. This is the inside story on the biggest and most influential viral videos in history, and the platform's meteoric rise from start-up to major corporate player. It's the human story of those who created it, the stars it gave birth to, and the countries whose fates it changed. On April 23, 2005 the first YouTube video, "Meet Me at the Zoo," featuring co-founder Jawed Karim, was uploaded. Ten Years later, the video sharing platform has harnessed a power that has changed the world -transforming pop culture, rewriting the rules of politics, overthrowing governments, redefining the nature of news, and exposing us all to tweaking, planking, Psy, Beiber, and the car in the shark outfit on the robo-vac. This is the story of how all that happened in a single decade.
Its extraordinary dimensions, as long as 15 metres, and shape in the form of a silver ribbon, inspired the myth of the sea serpent. For the past two years, scientific buoys, immersed at a depth of two thousand metres in the Mediterranean have attracted countless species of pelagic fish; among them, the Giant Oarfish drifting vertically, alone or by pairs. With the help of the world expert in Giant Oarfish and logistic collaboration of enthusiasts, a scientific expedition reveals the biology of this enigmatic ambassador of the abyss. Entirely shot in HD, the film raises the veil on its paradoxical habits: why do all the adults self-mutilate and rid themselves of two-thirds of their bodies without being affected? How do they meet in the immensity of the ocean? Why does this fish not have any known predators?
NOVA and National Geographic present exclusive access to a unique discovery of ancient remains. Located in an almost inaccessible chamber deep in a South African cave, the site required recruiting a special team of experts slender enough to wriggle down a vertical, pitch-dark, seven-inch-wide passage. Most fossil discoveries of human relatives consist of just a handful of bones. But down in this hidden chamber, the team uncovered an unprecedented trove—so far, over 1,500 bones—with the potential to rewrite the story of our origins. They may help fill in a crucial gap in the fossil record and tell us how Homo, the first member of the human family, emerged from ape-like ancestors like the famous Lucy. But how did hundreds of bones end up in the remote chamber? The experts are considering every mind-boggling possibility. Join NOVA on the treacherous descent into this cave of spectacular and enigmatic finds, and discover their startling implications for the saga of what made us human.
This documentary retraces the last year of Hitler's death squad, Das Reich, the infamous Panzer elite division best known for its mass murders in the Ukraine and in Belarus, and its crimes against humanity.
For 20 years, Steve Elkins has been exploring Mosquitia, the largest untouched rainforest in Central America. Ever since Columbus landed here, legends swirled of a white city buried inland in the jungle.
In a California memorabilia shop in 2010, collector Randy Guijarro bought this 4-by-5-inch tintype for just $2. After enlarging the image, he saw what looked to be a familiar figure—Billy the Kid—playing croquet with his gang known as The Regulators. Guijarro also thought he recognized the Kid's best friends Tom O'Folliard and Charlie Bowdre in the photo. As the gravity of the discovery began to set in, Guijarro initiated a chain of events that would lead him on a painstaking journey to verify the photograph's authenticity.
A neurosurgery team at UH Case Medical Center in Cleveland performs an operation that has helped many Parkinson’s disease patients get significant relief from their debilitating symptoms—tremors, rigidity, stiffness, slowed movements and difficulty walking—and also enabled them to reduce their amount of medication.
Our host, photographer Jeff Hutchens travels the length of the Canal from Beijing to see the historical waterway, to Jiangsu province to see it at work. Along the way, he’ll take up the challenges and customs of living on the canal. Hell train in the same arts and culture born from Canal travelers, and unlock the secret ingredients in dishes that sprung up in the birthplace of the Grand Canal.
Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity have been on one of the greatest adventures of the Space Age. When they touched down on Mars, NASA warned that they weren't expected to last long but instead Spirit lasted six years and Opportunity is still rolling on.
From the D-Day Landings in Normandy to Nazi Germany's surrender, take a look back at the final year of World War Two, the most deadly of all time.
Mankind from Space is an epic journey of discovery. Using mind-boggling data and CGI, it traces humankind’s story from hunter-gatherer to dominant global species. Seen from the global perspective of space, this special shows the breathtaking extent of our influence, revealing how we’ve transformed our planet and produced an interconnected world of extraordinary complexity.
Palobi and Mudeya come from a tribe of Papua New Guinea. One is War Chief, funny and curious; the other is the Peace Chief, wise and observant. Invited by their friend photographer Marc Dozier, they launch on an expedition in the heart of a very strange civilization: France. From the depths of the Parisian metro to the snow-covered peaks of the Alps, these travelers from the other side of the world are confronted with a completely new reality: power, work, women, gastronomy, the French are obviously completely nuts! Fascinated by their new discoveries, the two Papuans are relentless: they want to explore everything, taste everything, and try everything - an absurd and wonderful marathon to discover France.
In 1943, Hitler planned to destroy London with a monstrous 25-barrelled cannon. The Allies dreamt up their own miracle weapons to destroy his supergun.
This is the story of two of the most dangerous creatures in the world, hippos and crocodiles, living uneasily together in an African river. Crocs have a remarkably ancient lineage. And some truly impressive distant cousins: the dinosaurs. It is believed that they have two hundred million years of evolution behind them. In most of that time, they have barely changed. This is the story of two of the Nile crocodiles, the most impressive creatures in the world, living together in an African river.
The tornado that struck El Reno, Oklahoma, on May 31, 2013, defined superlatives. It was the largest, one of the fastest, and—for storm chasers—the most lethal twister ever recorded on Earth. Among those it claimed was Tim Samaras, revered as one of the most experienced and cautious scientists studying tornadoes. But this storm was unlike any he had witnessed before. In this National Geographic Special, we unravel the tornado and tell its story. But this is not your typical storm chasing documentary. While this film will include many firsthand accounts and harrowing videos from scientists and amateurs in pursuit of the tornado, it was also probably the best documented storm in history and these clips are part of a unique and ever-growing database documenting every terrifying twist and turn of the storm from all angles. Compiling this archive is National Geographic grantee Dr. Anton Seimon. In the wake of the tragedy, Seimon has gathered all the video footage available of the storm and organised it into a synchronized, searchable database. Using Google Earth he’s pinpointed the exact location of every camera pointing at the storm. And using patterns of lightning strikes he’s synchronised every frame of video down to the second. When analysed alongside radar data, it enables us to peel back the layers and offer minute by minute, frame by frame analysis of the tornado, accompanied by some state-of-the-art CGI animations. The result is an extraordinary journey through the storm that’s unprecedented.
On "Inside Lego," LEGO's Vice President of Design, Matthew James Ashton, opens the doors of LEGO HQ and reveals how the company finds the next generation of LEGO Set Designers.
A group of underwater cave enthusiasts and mountaineering organizations explore the Leye pre-history Karst in the Guangxi Zhang Autonomous Region.
Join an aerial odyssey across Australia's iconic landmarks of Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, and Lake Eyre as we reveal how these unique environments affect the creatures who call them home.
A powerful new documentary takes a fresh look at the space shuttle Challenger explosion, a tragedy that is still seared into the minds of a generation 30 years after the smoke cleared.
The Caribbean has been shaped by millions of years of unstoppable volcanic forces and ferocious hurricanes, creating a network of 7,000 islands, each one more unique than the next. From islets only a few miles long to landmasses with towering peaks, the habitats of this tropical paradise range from lush rainforests hiding untold species to multi-coloured coral reefs teeming with marine life. The fauna of the Caribbean has had to adapt to an island existence, becoming either generalists or specialists…creatures as old as the dinosaurs nest on its beaches, opportunistic scavengers patrol its skies, iridescent dynamos forage in its forests and wandering ocean leviathans give birth in its warm waters.
Explore the stark landscape, frigid sea and wild animals in Franz Josef Land, one of the most remote and inhospitable places on Earth. National Geographic Pristine Seas Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala leads a group of scientists and adventurers on the first international scientific expedition to Franz Josef Land. His team will work with some of Russia’s most formidable biologists, geomorphologists and ornithologists to see how climate change is affecting this untouched world.
The longest-running documentary series in cable television history, honored with nearly 60 Emmys and hundreds of other awards, is celebrating a quarter-century on the air. Hosted by NGC correspondent Lisa Ling, Explorer: 25 Years provides an overview of how the series has covered our changing world, including the first look at the wreckage of the legendary Titanic and the rediscovery of the Afghan woman whose green eyes captivated the world from the cover of National Geographic magazine.
In more than two years as head of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis has not shied from expressing his views on a great variety of issues.
SEA MONSTERS: THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE explores the most (in)famous legends of the ocean using the latest scientific technology and deep sea submersibles. During the hour-long special, viewers join the world’s leading experts as they investigate the myths and the truths behind these extraordinary creatures.
Host Danny Trejo sets out to discover the origin of the idea of hell.
Our planet is home to thousands of spine-tingling spiders that come equipped with strange features and bizarre behaviors. Over millions of years spiders have dominated almost every habitat on Earth – from the jumpers and hunters to the engineers and dancers, we delve into the world of Incredible Spiders.
The team of experts that looked at the historic symptoms of the Tudor king are: historian, Lucy Worsley, Henry historian, Robert Hutchinson and medical doctor, Dr. Catherine Hood.
America has more prisoners behind bars than any other country on Earth. It now has 25 percent of the world's incarcerated, amounting to five percent of the total population; it's an entire nation behind bars. But today, that nation is in crisis. Increasing violence, extreme crowding, rampant drug use and gang warfare are all part of daily life behind bars. And every day it gets a little worse. Go deep into the heart of America's troubled prison system, navigating this world with the inmates who struggle to survive incarceration, the officers responsible for controlling and protecting them and the experts trying to solve the crisis of a prison nation.
Pope vs. Hitler is a thrilling two-hour docudrama special that explores one of the least known stories of World War II – the role of the Vatican in the conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. By the time the Nazis invaded Poland in September 1939, Hitler and the new Pope Pius XII – formerly Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli – had been at odds for the better part of a decade. Hitler’s crackdown on the Catholic Church inside Germany – including the persecution of priests, destruction of churches and closure of Catholic schools – had incensed the Vatican, and prompted Cardinal Pacelli to create a network of secret Church couriers within Germany to relay intelligence about Nazi atrocities to the Holy See. Among its couriers was Josef Muller – a gregarious Bavarian lawyer who would become the Vatican’s top German spy – and almost die for the cause. Meanwhile, a group of high-ranking German officers were growing increasingly concerned about their supreme commander. When Hitler instructed them to invade Poland and ruthlessly execute its intellectual leaders – especially priests – a conspiracy against him began to take shape. In early 1940 – with Josef Muller acting as his go-between – Pius feverishly brokered negotiations between rebels in the German military and the British government, effectively giving the rebels an Allied green-light to take out Hitler. Understanding his efforts may lead to murder, Pius found moral justification in the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas, which endorsed the killing of tyrants in extreme circumstances. Pius believed the Nazis were a “satanic force” and counseled the conspirators to “change the regime and good things will happen.”
In honour of the 15th Anniversary of 9/11, National Geographic Channel is looking back at the very best reporting we have done since this world-changing tragedy first happened using extended excerpts from past specials that relate directly to events leading up to and following the attacks on New York City and Washington DC.
ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, one hundred and eighty-four innocent people lost their lives at the Pentagon. It is a fact that is fading from our collective memory. Today, its not uncommon to find people who dont know that the Pentagon was even a target - let alone the huge number of casualties. Though they helped define a generation, the individual acts of bravery and heroism that took place at the Pentagon are still relatively unknown. Even less widely known is that within an hour of the first attack, officials on the ground at the Pentagon received word that another hijacked flight was headed their way. For some evacuation was not an option. On the 15th Anniversary of the attack, survivors and first responders many for the first time share their raw and vivid recollections of the day that forever changed the world.
World War II left the greatest-ever number of ships and submarines hidden beneath the waves. Now, as the oceans drain, each vessel reveals its secrets through new data-based 3D reconstructions. From the Arizona in Pearl Harbor's shallows, whose destruction brought America into the war, to Nazi supership, the Bismarck, and its mysterious end three miles down; from the flaming merchant ships secretly torpedoed by U-boats off tourist beaches of the USA, to the covert inventions of the Allies' costly D-Day beachhead, and lastly to the troopship Leopoldville sunk with the needless deaths of 400 soldiers hushed up - Drain exposes the truth.
As the waters of the Amazon and its tributaries reach their lowest, torrential rain begins to beat down with brutal force. In a few months’ time, the forest will be submerged under almost thirty meters of water: enough to swallow up a ten-storey building! The youngest animals are dealing with the deluge for the first time in their lives. We follow them all: the sloth, terribly vulnerable; the opossum, the only marsupial outside Oceania; the harpy eagle, one of the greatest in the world; the shy, solitary armadillo; the squirrel monkey, a treetop acrobat… and many other inhabitants of a gleaming, transfigured world shown in this way for the first time.
Saddam Hussein was the fifth President of Iraq and one of the world's most brutal leaders of the 21st century. Behind the veneer of politics, his crimes against humanity echoed throughout the region. Whispers of his atrocities were heard across the globe. From prisoners to press, The Real Saddam Hussein opens the doors to the actions taken by the Iraqi President and how they ultimately led him to be captured, interrogated, and executed.
Killing Reagan explores the events surrounding the shocking assassination attempt on newly elected president Ronald Reagan by John Hinckley Jr., starring Tim Matheson as President Ronald Reagan and Cynthia Nixon as Nancy Reagan.
Before the Flood presents a riveting account of the dramatic changes now occurring around the world due to climate change, as well as the actions we as individuals and as a society can take to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet. The film follows DiCaprio as he travels to five continents and the Arctic speaking to scientists, world leaders, activists and local residents to gain a deeper understanding of this complex issue and investigate concrete solutions to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.
One of the most impressive and technologically advanced devices ever made, the Hubble Space Telescope has viewed objects never-before seen.
Harnessing the magic of the most modern visual effects, we tell the story of the human body—inside and out—as it lives, grows, and dies on this predestined journey we call life. Through our subject, “Adam,” we reveal the incredible changes and forces that take all humankind from cradle to grave.
Executive Produced by James Cameron, "Atlantis Rising" is a detective thriller that seeks out, uncovers and explores artefacts such as archaeological finds, satellite photographs and manuscripts hiding in plain sight and underwater. The one off special attempts to "decode" the artefacts in order to further the investigation and get to the bottom of the story
Using data from the Genographic Project to examine the migration of man across the planet.
Katie Couric travels across the U.S. to talk with scientists, psychologists, activists, authors and families about the complex issue of gender.
The revelations of the Ministry of Defence's UFO files, including the `Welsh Roswell', an alleged alien craft crash from which the authorities supposedly removed extraterrestrial bodies. Other documents include a letter claiming that Churchill ordered a cover-up of a wartime clash between a UFO and an RAF bomber, and the story of a 1964 Blue Streak missile test film believed to show an unidentified spaceman
Twenty-five years after the verdict in the Rodney King trial sparked several days of protests, violence and looting in Los Angeles, LA 92 immerses viewers in that tumultuous period through stunning and rarely seen archival footage. Produced by two-time Oscar winner Simon Chinn and Emmy winner Jonathan Chinn and directed by Oscar winners Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin, the film looks at the events of 1992 from a multitude of vantage points, bringing a fresh perspective to a pivotal moment that reverberates to this day.
A look at the current state of Syria amidst war and chaos in 2017, featuring stories of survival and observations by political experts from around the world. This episode is rated TV-MA for some disturbing violent images.
From the Ashes captures Americans in communities across the country as they wrestle with the legacy of the coal industry and what its future should be under the Trump Administration. From Appalachia to the West's Powder River Basin, the film goes beyond the rhetoric of the "war on coal" to present compelling and often heartbreaking stories about what's at stake for our economy, health, and climate. The film invites audiences to learn more about an industry on the edge and what it means for their lives.
Jane Lynch and Phil Keoghan take viewers on a journey around the world, focusing on some of the most spectacular wildlife.
NASA's biggest spacecraft plunges into Saturn in the final act of a 20-year mission showcasing the planet like never before.
Lisa Ling goes undercover in North Korea for a rare glimpse of the secretive country, and reports on dictator Kim Jong-un creating international crises.
On top of an old warehouse in Hamburg, the architects of Beijings Birds Nest Stadium are building a dramatic new concert hall. It’s hoped the stunning design will make Hamburg famous throughout the world. But to attract the world’s best musicians, the concert hall must sound perfect, and getting the acoustics right is notoriously difficult. To add to the pressure, the building is years behind schedule, and millions of Euros over budget.
Drawing from never-before-seen footage that has been tucked away in the National Geographic archives, director Brett Morgen tells the story of Jane Goodall, a woman whose chimpanzee research revolutionized our understanding of the natural world.
James Cameron looks back at his Oscar-winning film 20 years later to determine how accurate it was based on new evidence collected since then.
Draining the waters around Alcatraz reveals the infamous prison’s deepest secrets.
Take the ultimate guided tour of the most famous plane in the world, and meet the tireless crew charged with operating this global command center in the sky.
We reveal how a new "treasure map" of the Maya world is transforming what we thought we knew of one of the world's most mysterious ancient civilizations.
ABC News' Bob Woodruff explores how the Olympics have long been used as proxy battlefields for geopolitical conflicts on the Korean peninsula.
We once again teamed up with National Geographic's Pristine Seas team to survey and document Chile's Juan Fernández Islands, an archipelago that lies about 600 kilometers west of Valparaíso and consists of three islands: Robinson Crusoe, Santa Clara, and Alejandro Selkirk. On February 27th, 2018 Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet signed into law protections for nearly 450,000 square miles of water—an area roughly the size of Texas, California and West Virginia combined. We were privileged to host the expedition and to be able to help Chileans protect their amazing ocean habitat.
As early as 1920, the journalists of the "Münchener Post" recognized the danger posed by Adolf Hitler. Consistently and boldly they wrote about National Socialism. The brave journalists and their newspaper are almost forgotten today. A single book has been published about them - in Brazil.
Easter Island is one of the most isolated inhabited islands on Earth, and a riddle. What happened to the Rapa Nui who populated this ancient Eden? They carved giant statues, the moai, and created a culture of cooperation. Then something failed. Modern explorers investigate labyrinthine cave systems, finding grim clues. Now another sad fate may be in the island’s future – total disappearance.
1 day ago · With visionary thinkers and innovators as the guides, City of the Future: Singapore dives deep into the latest innovations and technology being created and implemented to blaze a path into the future.
Throughout the history of mankind, the buildings displayed power and a certain meaning, but also kept secrets. Sometimes by accident, sometimes deliberately, the whole cities would be drawn with an invisible ink. This show shows how and why buildings are filled with secrets.
As news filtered through the country, Michael and the crew captured the people of this secretive and little understood country.
With unprecedented access, National Geographic cameras go behind-the-scenes with the US Secret Service. Shift agents, intelligence agents, counter-snipers, and canine explosive ordinance units create a 360-degree shield that covers President Trump wherever he goes. We'll also bring to light stories never-before told by the Secret Service, like the time President Clinton was nearly assassinated by Osama bin Laden, and how those moments forever changed the protective strategy of the agency.
MARS: Inside SpaceX will go inside SpaceX’s plan to get humanity to Mars, providing an unprecedented glimpse into one of the world’s most revolutionary companies. Filmed over the course of three years – this journey will take us behind the scenes with Elon Musk and his engineers – as they persevere amidst both disheartening setbacks and huge triumphs to advance the space industry faster than we ever thought possible.
In August 2018 NASA launched the first ever mission to a star. A historic quest to explore the last great frontier of our solar system - the sun. This will be the fastest man made object ever created. A spacecraft that will travel 450,000 miles per hour. It's ground breaking mission, to fly into the 'atmosphere' of our star and revolutionize our understanding of it. This documentary will celebrate this world changing event. Exploring the amazing science of our sun and going behind the scenes of the NASA mission to reach it. Timed to coincide with the arrival of the probe into the sun's atmosphere (Nov 2018) and the huge media spike this will create, this documentary will celebrate a key moment in human history, humanities first attempt to touch the Sun.
Patagonia offers a unique environment for pumas to thrive, growing from tiny kittens to the largest puma species in the world. Big cat expert Boone Smith follows a bizarre trail of carnage and death to track pumas in Patagonia. The tables are turned when a big cat starts to stalk him and he comes face to face with a hungry mother on the hunt. Despite the dangers, Boone Smith uncovers their lucrative life, in a location where their behaviors are unprecedented. See how they grow from harmless kittens to deadly predators in Man Vs. Puma.
Today, X-rays, lasers, and computers are on the front lines of oral health, yet, we still strive for new and better ways to keep smiles on our faces.
As the weather grows more deadly and destructive, Americans are demanding solutions to climate change — and they aren’t waiting on Washington to act.
Lying at the foothill of Peru's Andes Mountains is the site of one of the world's greatest mysteries. Etched, as if by giants, onto its arid, moonscape plains are immense lines that stretch for miles to form strange shapes recognizable only from the air. Forming the shapes of animals, plants and humans, they were first spotted by pilots in the 1930s, and inspired fantastic explanations ever since and scientists have long speculated about their meaning. Now, a team of specialists from around the globe has come to southern Peru to investigate the Nasca Lines in the hope of uncovering their secrets. Thanks to intensive excavations, new technology and the findings of Italian, Peruvian, French and American scientists the film will help us shed light on the mystery that shrouds the strange and puzzling world of the ancient Nasca and Paracas, an older culture located on the southern coast of Peru in the regions of Ica and Nasca.
For more than a century, the RMS Titanic has been hidden in the Atlantic Ocean darkness, but now, we uncover the new evidence that could rewrite her story.
Witness a clash of oceanic titans in the remote crystal-blue battlefields of Ascension Island. Yellowfin tuna and mako and tiger sharks are all apex predators, but to these sharks, yellowfin tuna are the ultimate prize. The tuna are often faster, fitter and bigger than the sharks, reaching well over 113 kilograms. Any shark hunting these beasts needs brute strength and a little bit of luck to capture one. But when a third player enters the game, the scales tip. Who will win?
An investigation into the people who built Machu Picchu, the Inca citadel located in southern Peru.
Two journalists traverse the Grand Canyon by foot, hoping this 750-mile walk will help them better understand one of America's most revered landscapes and the threats poised to alter it forever.
Newly discovered skull carvings of Gobekli Tepe are revealing reveal even more about how and why civilised societies developed.
Archaeologist Pepi Papakosta is on a mission to find Alexander the Great's lost tomb. Excavating in a public garden in the centre of the city he founded 2300 years ago, Alexandria, Egypt.
Experience the journey of first ever crew of six women from the Indian Navy, who broke barriers and circumnavigated the world through extreme conditions.
Marine biologists use a hi-tech submersible to search for ocean giants in Antarctica’s icy waters.
The journey of the Israeli SpaceIL spacecraft, Beresheet, as it attempts to become the first privately-funded vehicle to make a lunar landing. Interviews with the founders, engineers and space experts interwoven with actuality sequences and graphics, chart the science, passion and determination needed in this new moonshot.
This is the story of the epic struggle to get the rovers Spirit and Opportunity to Mars. When they landed in 2004 the rovers weren’t expected to last much more than 90 days but instead they repeatedly cheated death for years, with Opportunity still going today. Their unprecedented record of discovery and resilience opened the Martian frontier for good and launched the modern age of exploration.
Real-life stories of those on the front lines fighting against Ebola. Given the right conditions, the deadly virus spreads like wildfire, then retreats into an eerie void, lying low in a mysterious host. In 2014 the worst Ebola epidemic in history killed over 11,000 people. Now, in 2019, it's back. Are we prepared?
In the heart of the Jordanian desert, the ancient city of Petra is full of mysteries. How was this architectural wonder created over 2,000 years ago?
Treasure-seekers have searched for King Solomon's mines with little results. New evidence sheds light on this century’s old mystery.
Archaeologists dive in underwater pyramids to find clues about an ancient Nubian kingdom.
National Geographic's Apollo: Missions to the Moon taps NASA's archival cache to present an immersive, riveting two-hour documentary about all 12 crewed missions. Relying only on images, videos and audio from the time to tell the story, Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning director Tom Jennings has created a virtual time machine to the Apollo era.
Halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica the rugged Auckland Islands, are a haven of life in the southern ocean. Every summer a huge congregation of New Zealand sea lions arrives, and brawling males battle for mating rights, while females give birth. Beneath the waves, male giant spider crabs migrate from the depths to the coast to perform their bizarre breeding ritual, while yellow-eyed penguins must adapt if they are to survive the summer.
At 6:31am, on Saturday 21 December 1968, the world held its breath as NASA launched the first-ever manned mission to the moon. As astronauts William Anders, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell blasted into space, our own planet was in chaos. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated, the Vietnam War had worsened dramatically, civil and student conflict was spreading throughout America and Soviet tanks had crushed the Prague Spring. What's more, NASA, fearful of losing the space race to the Russians, were risking everything on Apollo 8 - a sudden and controversial mission to the Moon. For the first time ever, humans journeyed to another world, but amazingly what they actually discovered was the Earth. The mission captured the first-ever colour photograph of our planet form space to reshape how we viewed ourselves and unite mankind like never before. Featuring a new and exclusive interview with Apollo 8 astronaut Bill Anders, who took the historic Earthrise photograph, this stunning, archive-driven documentary tells the incredible story of Apollo 8 and the environmental campaign that followed.
One famous day. Five heroes. Five key turning points that changed the course of World War II during the D-Day landings, told through the eyes of the people who made a difference. Using rarely seen archival footage dramatic reconstruction and written accounts from eye witnesses, and personal testimony from five heroes, this is D-Day as never seen before.
Explorer Piers Gibbon treks deep into the heart of Papua New Guinea’s rainforest to determine whether indigenous tribes still practice cannibalism today.
Maya legend tells us that there is a hidden underground cave below Chichen Itza, now high tech archaeologists are here to find the buried truth.
4500 planes are in the air over North America on the morning of September 11, 2001. After four horrifying crashes, no one knows if any other aircraft might be highjacked by terrorists, about to commit further acts of destruction. Where can 4500 planes, and thousands of passengers, safely land? And which might be Al-Qaeda missiles? At that very moment, 500 planes are westbound toward the US. 233 turn back to where they came.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) is a scientific center specializing in space science and advanced technology contributing to the establishment of the space sector in the UAE and humankind’s quest for the planets and beyond.
Deep-sea explorer Dr. Robert Ballard attempts to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance in an effort to end speculation about what actually happened to her.
This film looks at the artifacts recovered from the Titanic wreck site, their archaeological and sentimental importance, and what might become of them as RMS Titanic Inc., the ship's salvor-in-possession, faces bankruptcy.
It has always been thought that all Viking warriors were men, but new discoveries are challenging everything we thought we knew. Scientist and National Geographic Explorer Ella Al-Shamahi takes on a quest, using cutting edge science and technology to reveal evidence that elite Viking Warrior Women lived and fought more than a thousand years ago.
National Geographic explores controversial claims about Rapa Nui or Easter Island, challenging decades of previous claims from ecocide to cannibalism.
Join staff at Europe's second busiest port. With 10,000 shipments entering every day, 2,000 customs officers work tirelessly to halt illegal activity at Germany's 'Gateway to the World'
The definitive story of how the Internet went from birth to bust to becoming the most powerful creation on the planet.
At the height of the Roman Empire, an eruption of Mount Vesuvius buries the town of Pompeii in volcanic ash, killing thousands. Now, for the very first time, forensic experts investigate a group of victims called "The Fugitives." X-rays reveal ages, injuries suffered, and even artifacts like sandals and jewelry; the investigation also reveals why the victims failed to escape.
One famous day. Five heroes. Five key turning points that changed the course of World War Two during the D Day landings, told through the eyes of the people who made a difference. Using rarely seen archive, dramatic reconstruction and written accounts from eye witnesses and personal testimony from our five heroes, this is D Day as never seen before.
Legendary archaeologist Johan Reinhard spent his career searching for the lost temples of the Inca Empire in Peru, discovering all but one: Ausangate, named after one of the most sacred mountains in the Empire. Now in his seventies, he's handed the torch to environmental scientist Preston Sowell, who believes he has found the temple at the headwaters of the Amazon River, along with mysterious artifacts, ruins and endangered wildlife. This film follows Sowell's journey of discovery, loss and adventure as he seeks to protect this sacred place from environmental devastation.
They grew up under the Nazi regime. They pledged to give their lives for Hitler. They were fanatics who would not be stopped. They were the 20,000 teenagers who made up the 12th SS Panzer Division. Unleashed in France to halt the Allied invasion, they would sow terror and destruction in their wake. Historical colorized archives and a handful of survivors tell us this story.
Back to the Titanic documents the first manned dives to Titanic in nearly 15 years.
In April 2019, a massive fire ripped through the Notre-Dame de Paris, leaving it on the verge of collapse. Long before the last ember was extinguished, the French vowed to rebuild their beloved cathedral that has been the heart of French culture for nearly 900 years. The task at hand is enormous and those challenged with restoration have no idea what they're facing. In this special presentation with exclusive access, we go into the rubble with the heroes who risk their lives to stabilize what's left of Notre-Dame so she can be restored to her former glory.
A celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, this documentary is a feel good, heartwarming tale of big and small creatures. Chris Hemsworth makes an appearance with a baby koala.
How would natural habitats develop without human interference? In this documentary we follow an international team of scientists and explorers on an extraordinary mission in Mozambique to reach a forest that no human has set foot in. The team aims to collect data from the forest to help our understanding of how climate change is affecting our planet. But the forest sits atop a mountain, and to reach it, the team must first climb a sheer 100m wall of rock.
As the sea ice between Canada and Greenland melts, the outside world sees unprecedented opportunity. Oil and gas deposits, faster shipping routes, tourism and fishing all provide financial incentive to exploit the newly opened waters. But for more than 100,000 Inuit who live in the Arctic, on and around the frozen ocean, an entire way of life is at stake. Development here threatens to upset the balance between their communities, land and wildlife, leaving the future of this region and their culture increasingly uncertain.
The remarkable story of the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption of 1980 told by first hand witnesses who survived and using rare remastered archive material.
Scientists attempt Everest’s summit to install the world’s highest weather station.
A team of elite climbers attempts to locate the bodies of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine and the camera that could solve Everest's greatest mystery.
Documentary following an elite team of search and rescue workers from Texas A&M Task Force 1. When Tropical Storm Imelda brought record-breaking flash flooding to Southeast Texas in September 2019, the team battle to save lives and evacuate stranded residents from a community that had been devastated by Hurricane Harvey just two years earlier.
They've shared the ocean for millenia, but scientists have only begun to understand the relationship between SHARKS and DOLPHINS. New research allows us to peer into this incredible drama; redefining everything we thought we knew about sharks. They're stereotyped as independent loners, serial killers of the sea-but we've observed them hunting in teams, learning, and even passing on knowledge to fellow sharks.
Being the Queen chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II using never-before-heard interview recordings from those who know her the best.
Three photographers compete for a once-in-a-lifetime shot to go on assignment with National Geographic Travel and inspire the world with their images.
Newly declassified hard drives taken from the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed reveal a groundbreaking look at his personal life. Experts sift through the 470,000 digital files to piece together a roadmap into the mind of a mass murderer. Examine his contradictory personal psychology, relationship with family and religion as well as his legacy of violence and destruction.
In Central America, a caravan of migrants seeking a better life heads north to the United States, as narco-traffickers move drugs and money back and forth across the same border. From Academy Award-nominated director Sebastian Junger and Emmy-winning producer Nick Quested, Blood on the Wall explores the depths of corruption plaguing Mexico and Central America and the policies of the past that have made it impossible for everyday people to find justice.
National Geographic Explorer Enric Sala and his team sail the globe to save the oceans.
During the 2014 Ebola crisis, a slow response to the virus led to its rapid spread. Now in 2020, a more contagious virus is in our midst, and history is repeating itself on a global scale.
"Virus Hunters" explores some of the deadliest disease on our planet, and the medical professionals on the front lines trying to stop them.
The world's leading scientists show how their cutting-edge innovations and advancements are changing our world.
When North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un disappeared for three weeks, rumors swirled. With no succession plan in place, instability in this isolated dictatorship could have repercussions across the globe. Three generations have held power for over seven decades through their cult of personality claiming a divine right to rule. Who would be the next in line?
For centuries Egyptologists have believed that the Great Pyramids of Giza were designed as tombs. But why have no bodies or treasure ever been discovered inside the pyramids? Now, the history of the pyramids could be on the verge of being re-written. With exclusive access we follow the team as they unearth and examine the lost tombs, making the most important find in Egypt since the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb.
Snow blankets the trees and green lights dance in a star-filled sky. For a brief time during the festive season, our thoughts turn to a winter wonderland, far to the north. It’s a place best known to outsiders as Lapland, the magical home of Santa Claus. But far from the festive lights, Santa’s home is even more enchanting than you may realize.
Ancient civilizations hid the secrets of their incredible knowledge of astronomy in their temples and palaces, built to align with the sun, on the same day, all over the world. Revealing humankind's obsession with the sun, across thousands of years and every continent, this is architectural magic on a cosmic scale
The Wolong Panda Centre in China breeds Giant Pandas. The majority is raised there together to become superstars and ambassadors for China across the world. A few are on a different mission. PANDA GOES WILD is about one panda’s journey from birth to freedom over three years, and understanding the wild world he will face.
Follow the turbulent rule of North Korea’s secretive Kim family as they attempt to change their nation’s fortunes.
Set in the remote mountains of Tibet, the film follows the perilous existence of snow leopards and their cubs that are less than a year old, in a valley of a stunning beauty with a dazzling diversity of animal wildlife.
A look at the overhaul of the two presidential planes, exploring the cutting-edge technology that transforms them into secure command centres.
BUILT FOR MARS: THE PERSEVERANCE ROVER goes behind the scenes at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to follow the birth of the Perseverance rover.
On the 57th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, activists joined at the Lincoln Memorial for the 2020 March on Washington event.
Five students from disparate corners of the planet take their big ideas to Macau, China, host of one of the most prestigious entrepreneurship competitions in the world, the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards. Santosh is from a small farming town in Nepal; Alondra works the register at her family’s bakery in Puerto Rico; Henry is a programming wiz from Nairobi; Jason is a marketing machine from Greece; and Daniela is an immigrant escaping the crisis in Venezuela, taking on the chemical industry from her lab at NYU. They’ve each overcome immense obstacles in pursuit of their dreams, from hurricanes to poverty to civil unrest. Their ideas have already changed their own lives, but are they ready to change the world?
From scorching deserts to predator-filled forests, Australia is home to some of the harshest environments on the planet. Here, animals have carved out extraordinary adaptations to survive and thrive.
RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMER follows Washington Post reporter DeNeen Brown as she chronicles the discovery of a mass grave in Tulsa Oklahoma and investigates the reign of racial terror and legacy of violence that swept across the United States in the early 20th century.
Bob Ballard: He discovered the Titanic, the Bismarck, and dozens of other lost wrecks like the Lusitania and JFK’s PT-109. He helped prove the theory of plate tectonics, unearthed newfound forms of life at hydrothermal vents, pioneered the use of deep-diving submersibles, and remotely operated vehicles for undersea exploration. Now, National Geographic’s Bob Ballard reveals the inside stories behind his most exciting discoveries while sharing the personal triumphs, challenges and tragedies that led him to them.
Park Rangers work to protect and manage black bears and other animals in Great Smoky Mountain National Park as they prepare for the coming of winter.
Archaeologists dive into a flooded pyramid near the Nile, to search for a king’s burial that could reveal clues about the ancient kingdom of Kush.
A glimpse into infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci who has led the U.S. fight against every epidemic the country has faced from AIDS to SARS to Ebola, and the ongoing COVID-19.
Packed with a potent neurotoxic venom, one family of snakes kill more people than any other on earth. Scientists around the world race to uncover how.
The world's leading experts unravel the secrets of Ancient Greece's most magnificent architectural work, with the aid of aerial footage and 3D reconstructions
Actor, Adrian Grenier, and National Geographic Explorer, Shannon Switzer Swanson, explore the growing problem of water scarcity in the US. Are we running out of water? Shannon heads to the Colorado River to uncover solutions for the problems facing the region, while Adrian challenges himself to reduce his water use at home by an ambitious thirty percent. Will he succeed? Paid Content for Finish.
The mysterious jungles of Thailand are home to some of the rarest wild cats on earth - the Clouded Leopard, The Asian Leopard, The Indian Fishing Cat and the Indo Chinese Tiger. In one of the last truly wild corners of the world this extraordinary collection of secretive predators defend their last remaining stronghold. As their territories intertwine and continuously shift, these cats must cheat death on a daily basis if they are to survive and thrive out in these tangled lands.
One can see them from distances up to 30 km: like a mumbling, bubbling volcano, ready to erupt, a glowing cloud rises from the earth. This is how one can experience the Victoria Falls at sunrise. Locals call this: “The smoke of thunder”.
When the British army looks set to defeat Mussolini’s Italian forces, Hitler sends reinforcements; the Africa Korps led by General Rommel. The Desert Fox is on winning form until Montgomery, the British commander, sets up a plan to crush his opponent. After the American landing in North Africa, The Axis armies have no choice but to surrender and put an end to desert war.
THE EMIRATES FROM ABOVE leverages cutting-edge aerial cinematography to portray the UAE as never seen before. Featuring breathtaking drone footage at its centerpiece, it also tells the stories of local inhabitants, who share their insights and unique perspectives on the UAE and its many achievements.
This new documentary special is about the most intact slave shipwreck found to date and the only one for which we know the full story of the voyage, the passengers and their descendants.
This not to be missed story by award-winning filmmakers, conservationists Dereck and Beverly Joubert, takes through how Immani protects her four cubs from predators in deadly Kenyan terrain.
The world’s coastlines are diverse and dynamic. Born from fire and colliding continents… shaped by an unrelenting maelstrom of weather and currents. They are an ever-changing front line, where land meets the sea with violent fury and bountiful riches. Along the world’s coasts marine animals have adapted to feed, mate and raise their young.
Numerous reports of giant great hammerheads up to twenty feet in length, have put the true size potential of this species into question. A team of scientists from Florida International University, are now on an expedition off the coast of Florida, to try and find the world’s biggest hammerhead. Taking them from the numerous bridges of the Florida Keys, to the sharky waters of the Bahamas.
We Feed People spotlights renowned chef José Andrés and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen’s incredible mission and evolution over 12 years from being a scrappy group of grassroots volunteers to becoming one of the most highly regarded humanitarian aid organizations in the disaster relief sector.
Gorongosa National Park was known as Africa's Eden, but war almost destroyed it. Now, it's home to the greatest wildlife restoration in history
People lose millions of items at airports each year. Follow the journey of the stuff from found in Seattle to sold in Alabama or auctioned in Pittsburgh.
Never-before-heard trial testimony reveals shocking new details about World War II and the inner workings of the Nazi war machine. Hear the raw voices of Hitler's criminal henchmen - such as Hermann Goering, Wilhelm Keitel, Albert Speer and Rudolf Hess - as well as the victims and witnesses who bravely testified against them.
It's a story that could have been lifted from a Dan Brown novel: When Profesor Koeth enters his office at the university of Maryland one foggy morning, he finds a mysterious gift on his desk. The cube-shaped surprise weighs heavy in his hand. It is wrapped in a brown paper napkin and a note is attached to it: "Taken from Germany, from nuclear reactor Hitler tried to build. Gift of Ninninger." Koeth unwraps the gift. He cannot believe his eyes at first. Is it a real uranium cube? And does it really stem from an old German nuclear program? If so, how did it end up in his office 70 years later? In Hunting Hitler's Bomb, Koeth and his German counterpart, Dr Nagel, embark on a treasure hunt that stretches half around the globe. Did Koeth's cube truly come from Hitler's efforts to build a nuclear bomb - and are more cubes out there? We're about to find out.
After hearing fans continue to insist Jack didn't have to die that night, Academy Award-winning director James Cameron mounts tests to see, once and for all, whether both Jack and Rose could have fit on that raft and survived.
A year of war fought and observed from the air. The story of the Ukraine people’s heroic efforts to win back their country after Russia’s invasion.
In August 2003, France suffered its first major climate event: a heatwave which caused 15,000 human deaths, drought, crop failure and the breakdown of national infrastructures
In 2018, a shocking event made headlines around the world: a young American missionary, John Chau, was killed by arrows while attempting to contact one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous peoples on remote North Sentinel Island. From EmmyⓇ-winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (“Boys State”) with OscarⓇ-winning producer Simon Chinn and Emmy-winning producer Jonathan Chinn of Lightbox, comes National Geographic Documentary Films’ THE MISSION, which uncovers the gripping story beyond the headlines. Through exclusive interviews and with unprecedented access to Chau’s secret plans, personal diaries, and video archives, THE MISSION examines the mythology of exploration that inspired him, the evangelical community that supported his quest, and reveals his own father’s heartbreak as Chau’s youthful thirst for adventure became a fatal obsession.
After creating one of the world's largest marine protected areas in 2016 with National Geographic's support, Niue invites Pristine Seas back to assess changes using advanced tech and plan a sustainable future for their waters.
From the mighty Amazon’s icy source to its plume reaching as far as the Caribbean, National Geographic Explorer teams conduct groundbreaking research to take the pulse of one of the planet’s integral and endlessly magical resources. From the health of river turtles and pink dolphins to the migration of Andean bears, extreme urgency is met by equally hopeful solutions.
Maritime Heritage Trust locates Shackleton's shipwrecked Endurance near Antarctica in 1915. Shackleton and 27 crew survive incredible journey to South Georgia to seek rescue after ship sinks, showcasing human resilience against all odds.
