• 1.7k
    watchers
  • 17.5k
    plays
  • 8.6k
    collected
  • 3
    lists

Modern Marvels

Season 4 1997 - 1998
TV-PG

  • 1997-01-02T03:00:00Z on History
  • 44m
  • 16h 52m (23 episodes)
  • United States
  • English
  • Documentary
Celebrating ingenuity, invention and imagination brought to life on a grand scale, MODERN MARVELS tells the fascinating stories of the doers, dreamers and sometime-schemers who created everyday items, technological breakthroughs and man-made wonders.

23 episodes

Season Premiere

1997-01-02T03:00:00Z

4x01 Air Force One: A History

Season Premiere

4x01 Air Force One: A History

  • 1997-01-02T03:00:00Z44m

Until the airplane soared on the scene, the President was mostly Washington-bound; then, in 1910, Teddy Roosevelt took to the sky! From FDR's custom-tailored prop plane to today's technological wonder, the program examines the evolution of the Oval Office in the Sky.

1997-02-02T03:00:00Z

4x02 Captured Light

4x02 Captured Light

  • 1997-02-02T03:00:00Z44m

The development of the photo camera was one of the most significant invention. The captured image has transformed the way we see our world, preserving moments forever with the push of a button. Modern Marvels; presents the strange saga of the birth of photography.

1997-02-17T03:00:00Z

4x03 Stealth Technology

4x03 Stealth Technology

  • 1997-02-17T03:00:00Z44m

Take to the skies with the most advanced planes ever built. Learn how the radical design and cutting-edge technology of the F-117 and its larger cousin, the B-2 Bomber, allow these planes to avoid detection by even the most sophisticated radar systems.

Venture inside some of world's most famous and fascinating structures in search of answers to their timeless mysteries.

1997-04-14T02:00:00Z

4x05 Roller Coasters

4x05 Roller Coasters

  • 1997-04-14T02:00:00Z44m

They are the centerpiece of all great amusement parks, heart-stopping rides with names like 'The Cyclone' and 'The Beast'.

Trace the complete history of mankind's eternal quest to unlock the mysteries of the heavens, and get an astonishing view of the very edge of the universe through the incredible Hubble telescope.

1997-06-23T02:00:00Z

4x07 The Great Wall Of China

4x07 The Great Wall Of China

  • 1997-06-23T02:00:00Z44m

The Great Wall of China mirrors China's turbulent history. Over two millenia the Chinese built, expanded or demolished parts of the wall in response to interstate rivalry, civil war, threat of invasion and relative peace. But only recently did the Chinese begin to regard this incredible structure with pride rather than shame.

1997-08-18T02:00:00Z

4x08 Satellites

4x08 Satellites

  • 1997-08-18T02:00:00Z44m

It took the innovation of three men, including a visionary British science fiction writer and a Nazi engineer, and one of the most desperate technological races of all time to create the satellite. See how satellites evolved into the world's most essential communications tools, and explore the stunning capabilities of modern spy "birds".

1997-08-25T02:00:00Z

4x09 Radio: Out of Thin Air

4x09 Radio: Out of Thin Air

  • 1997-08-25T02:00:00Z44m

Though now considered a country cousin when compared to the sophisticated television, merely a century ago, the radio galvanized communications as it linked the world without wires. The program examines the long life of the radio.

1997-09-08T02:00:00Z

4x10 Great Towers in the Sky

4x10 Great Towers in the Sky

  • 1997-09-08T02:00:00Z44m

A profile of history's greatest tower including the Tower of Babel, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, and the Eiffel Tower. Also features in depth looks at the Seattle Space Needle, the CN Tower in Toronto, and the Las Vegas Stratosphere.

Season Finale

1997-09-15T02:00:00Z

4x11 Household Wonders

Season Finale

4x11 Household Wonders

  • 1997-09-15T02:00:00Z44m

Reviews the revolution in home improvement and glimpses the kitchen of tomorrow. Included: the development of the stove, sewing machine, refrigerated air, washing machine, vacuum cleaner, toaster, and mixer.

1997-09-22T02:00:00Z

4x12 Radar

4x12 Radar

  • 1997-09-22T02:00:00Z44m

Examine the history of this landmark technology, from its role in the Allied victory in World War II, to its widespread use in air traffic control, ocean surveillance, astronomy, geology and meteorology.

1997-09-29T02:00:00Z

4x13 Forensic Science

4x13 Forensic Science

  • 1997-09-29T02:00:00Z44m

From Sherlock Holmes' examination of the physical evidence at a crime scene to today's DNA technology, we review the history of crime detection through the use of forensic science.

When "poliomyelitis" swept the nation, thousands died or were disabled before American ingenuity, trial and error, and blatant acts of desperation led to one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in history. We'll see how polio shaped the vision of FDR, and catapulted the young unknown doctor Jonas Salk to international celebrity.

1997-10-13T02:00:00Z

4x15 The Stock Exchange

4x15 The Stock Exchange

  • 1997-10-13T02:00:00Z44m

Welcome to the center of the American economy, where nearly $90-million changes hands each minute. Journey back to the wooden wall, built to hold back Indians, where early traders signed a pact creating the New York Stock Exchange; watch worldwide markets quake with the crash of 1929; and visit today's computer-driven wonder.

4x16 NORAD: The War Game Fortress

  • 1997-10-20T02:00:00Z44m

Journey inside the top-secret headquarters of NORAD–the North American Aerospace Defense Command–a binational military command composed of the United States and Canada. See how its primary mission has changed through the years, and go inside the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center.

Feel the earth move under your feet and dig into the fascinating history of earthmoving equipment--from invention of the simple spade to today's powerful steam shovels. Meet the legendary giants like John Deere, Jerome Case, and the founders of Caterpillar, who helped forge America's monolithic construction industry.

1997-10-29T03:00:00Z

4x18 International Airports

4x18 International Airports

  • 1997-10-29T03:00:00Z44m

The developments and technology of international airports' construction and operation.

Chronicling the development of deep-sea exploration and the vessels and devices that make it possible. Also: some of the revolutionary findings that have resulted from marine exploration.

1997-11-05T03:00:00Z

4x20 The Alaskan Oil Pipeline

4x20 The Alaskan Oil Pipeline

  • 1997-11-05T03:00:00Z44m

In 1973, a desperate America, starved by an OPEC embargo, began construction on an 800-mile lifeline for its insatiable oil hunger. We'll examine this technological triumph, built over impenetrable mountains and tundra, where temperatures drop to 75 below zero. We also study its impact on a fragile ecological system.

1998-01-05T03:00:00Z

4x21 Aqueducts

4x21 Aqueducts

  • 1998-01-05T03:00:00Z44m

The story of how man has moved water from place to place since ancient times up through Mulholland's Los Angeles aqueduct and the present.

4x22 American Steel: Built to Last

  • 1998-01-19T03:00:00Z44m

For over a century, the US steel industry was a powerful symbol of the nation's industrial might. Steel helped explode the stock market into an overnight powerhouse, and transformed a country of farmers and merchants into a nation of visionary builders. But America's domination of the market would meet new challenges in the 1970s.

1998-02-09T03:00:00Z

4x23 Battlefield Engineering

4x23 Battlefield Engineering

  • 1998-02-09T03:00:00Z44m

Meet some of the most important, yet least-recognized, warriors--the battlefield engineers who lay the groundwork for oncoming conflicts. We'll cover combat engineering from ancient Rome to modern-day Iraq, and take a look at the "Next Big Thing".

Loading...