1995

S3.E1 ∙ Air Force One: A History

Tue, Dec 31, 1996

A look at the planes that carried the president of the USA. With improvements in technology the planes could change for the security and safety of the leader of the USA.

6.9 /10

S3.E2 ∙ Brooklyn Bridge

Sat, Sep 30, 1995

First-hand accounts and extensive archival footage bring the struggle to create the world's first suspension bridge to life.

7.2 /10

An engineering feat first attempted in Babylonian times, tunnels are an integral part of 20th century society. Yet they remain among the most dangerous projects ever undertaken. Here are the stories of the world's great tunnels, of the genius of men and the marvels of machinery. From Brunel and Greathead, who developed an innovative shield which allowed them to burrow under the Thames, to Clifford Holland, who overcame nature and technology to carve his 8,463 foot path below the Hudson, few of the great architects lived to see their dreams completed. Perishing in greater numbers were 'sandhogs,' workers who labored beneath unforgiving waters to forge these indispensable subterranean arteries. See why that danger remains today with a look at the construction of New York's new water tunnel, inching forward even as the death toll climbs.

7 /10

S3.E4 ∙ The Tennessee Valley Authority

Sat, Oct 14, 1995

America was in the throes of the Great Depression, and rural America was on the brink of disaster. Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried many federal interventions to steady the shaky economic course, and none succeeded more spectacularly than the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

7.2 /10

S3.E5 ∙ Satellites

Sat, Aug 16, 1997

From Sputnik to the communications satellites that beam images worldwide, trace the development of the orbiting wonders that have transformed the world.

7.4 /10

S3.E6 ∙ Radio: Out of Thin Air

Sat, Aug 23, 1997

The romantic history of the original broadcast phenomenon comes to life in this compelling program featuring interviews with radio personalities Larry King and Casey Kasem.

8.2 /10

S3.E7 ∙ The Search for the Polio Vaccine

Sat, Oct 04, 1997

Dr. Jonas Salk's discovery of a cure for polio halts one of the twentieth century's most dreaded diseases.

7.3 /10

S3.E8 ∙ The Stock Exchange

Sat, Oct 11, 1997

6.7 /10

S3.E9 ∙ Transcontinental Railroads

Sat, Oct 11, 1997

In the 1860s, two rival workforces attempted what many deemed impossible: to link the vast American continent with a transcontinental rail line. Men of vision - and men of greed - took on titanic challenges of engineering as they sought to lay 1,700 miles of track across untamed wilderness and extreme terrain. This episode of Modern Marvels traces the dramatic story of how the Union Pacific Railroad Company built east from Nebraska - and the Central Pacific forged west from California. For each mile of track laid, each company would earn generous government land grants and subsidies. With no rendezvous point specified, the corporate competitors were pitted in a great race to hurl as much track across the country as possible. Daunting obstacles faced both builders. On the Great Plains, the Union Pacific confronted Native American tribes fighting desperately to protect their territory and their way of life. In California, the Central Pacific smacked head-on into the mighty Sierra Nevada mountains. The Union Pacific's workers teemed with Civil War veterans, traveling in an innovative "city on wheels". And the Central Pacific was dominated by thousands of immigrants from China, forced to dig snow tunnels to survive the Sierra's harsh winters. Crossing America's frontier with towering trestles, long tunnels and tracks stretching to the horizon, the two great labor forces were destined to meet at a desolate spot in Utah called Promontory Summit. When a ceremonial spike was driven the...

7.4 /10