07 Jun 2023
In 1968, art students Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey “Po” Powell made a trippy photo collage for their musician friends Syd, David and Roger. The resulting album and album cover, A Saucerful of Secrets, helped launch two careers: that of Pink Floyd, one of the 70s megabands, and of Hipgnosis, which, over the course of the next 25 years, designed a stream of iconic album covers.
15 Dec 2020
Secret societies is the new code word for organizations believed to pull the strings of the world. These groups have been both credited and blamed for great many nefarious acts perpetrated against humanity. Among the most infamous of secret societies stand without doubt the shadowy Illuminati.
20 Jul 2019
Recently discovered footage reveals the secret history of NASA's first landing on the moon, and using this brand-new evidence, former astronauts and experts challenge everything known about the Apollo missions.
22 May 2024
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04 Feb 2021
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01 Jun 2024
Fascinating new translations and fresh research are transforming the myth of Atlantis from the realm of fantasy into an incredible reality. Travel across continents and centuries to unlock the secrets of Plato's final legacy - a true story of Ancient Greece, Africa, and climate change across deep time.
29 Feb 2008
Archival footage, animation and music are used to look back at the eight anti-war protesters who were put on trial following the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
06 Sep 2024
An examination of the intimate life of America's most consequential president, Abraham Lincoln. As told by preeminent Lincoln scholars and never before seen photographs and letters, Lincoln's romantic relationships with men is detailed. The lens is widened into the history of human sexual fluidity and focuses on the profound differences between sexual mores of the 19th century and those we hold today.
01 Jan 2001
The Victorian era is often cited for its lack of sexuality, but as this documentary reveals, the period's artists created a strong tradition surrounding the classical nude figure, which spread from the fine arts to more common forms of expression. The film explains how 19th-century artists were inspired by ancient Greek and Roman works to highlight the naked form, and how that was reflected in the evolving cultural attitudes toward sex.
28 May 2019
Ireland, June 1944. The crucial decision about the right time to start Operation Overlord on D-Day comes to depend on the readings taken by Maureen Flavin, a young girl who works at a post office, used as a weather station, in Blacksod, in County Mayo, the westernmost promontory of Europe, far from the many lands devastated by the iron storms of World War II.
03 Jan 2021
In 2001, Jimmy Wales published the first article on Wikipedia, a collaborative effort that began with a promise: to democratize the spreading of knowledge, monopolized by the elites for centuries. But is Wikipedia really a utopia come true?
09 Nov 2008
Moscow, January 1948. In the bitter cold, a large crowd attends the State Funeral of the Yiddish actor and director Solomon Mikhoels. An official proclamation mourns the death of "a great People's Artist of the Soviet Union." What people are really mourning is the death of the most popular Jewish theater in the Soviet Union, and the man who kept it alive against all odds for over 20 years. No doubt many suspected the truth: he had just been assassinated by Stalin's secret police.
24 Mar 2022
With an area three times larger than Pompeii, Baia, about 15 km from Naples and within the volcanic area of the Phlegraean fields, is the largest underwater archaeological site in the world. In 100 BC Pompeii is an ordinary city of small traders crouched on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius, while Baia gains a peculiar reputation: it gradually becomes the ancient Las Vegas or Monte Carlo of the Roman Empire, a real posh center for noble gens and the powerful . Nestled in the center of the Gulf of Pozzuoli, Baia is flanked on one side by the port of Puteoli (ancient Pozzuoli) and on the other by the port of Capo Miseno.
11 Nov 2020
On October 14, 1947, Captain Chuck Yeager accomplished what many thought was impossible: he broke the sound barrier and in doing so, changed aviation history forever. Behind this remarkable achievement was a dedicated team of rocket scientists and engineers, and one incredible plane, a Bell X-1 named "Glamorous Glennis." This is the story of the plane and the people who dared to travel faster than the speed of sound, pushing flight science forward and proving that no matter the barrier, humanity can find a way to break through.
16 Oct 2021
Art and science have worked together to allow cinema to switch to color. Numerous processes have succeeded one another to try to solve this difficulty.
29 May 2012
The sinking of the RMS Titanic remains one of the most enduring and mysterious tragedies of the 20th century. For decades, investigators and amateurs alike have floated theories for why it occurred and who was to blame for the extraordinary loss of life, but no one answer could fully explain what happened. Until now. To mark the 100th anniversary of the infamous disaster, Smithsonian Channel will premiere Titanic's Final Mystery. The two-hour special investigates a century of theories and uncovers astonishing new forensic evidence that proves the most likely theory for the case.
03 Jul 2023
Egyptian archeologists dig into history, discovering tombs and artifacts over 4,000 years old as they search for a buried pyramid in this documentary.
27 May 2024
On June 6, 1944, the Allied Forces executed Operation Overlord, the largest seaborne invasion in history, storming the beaches of Normandy. This pivotal event, known as D-Day, liberated France and Western Europe. A new documentary features interviews with historians, experts, and eyewitnesses, providing detailed insights into the events leading up to this crucial day that played a vital role in bringing an end to World War II.
26 Oct 2003
Using archival footage, cabinet conversation recordings, and an interview of the 85-year-old Robert McNamara, The Fog of War depicts his life, from working as a WWII whiz-kid military officer, to being the Ford Motor Company's president, to managing the Vietnam War as defense secretary for presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
14 Oct 2024
A century after Shackleton's Endurance sank beneath the ice, explorers uncover the legendary shipwreck and an amazing tale of survival.