From the untouched, pristine waters of the Caribbean island of Bonaire to the vibrant beauty of the Mesoamerican Reef, explore some of the rarest protected aquatic paradises in the world.
Across land, sea, and air, they carry the most massive, fragile, and expensive cargoes on the planet to destinations hundreds, even thousands, of miles away. Follow the teams of engineers tasked with planning and executing the world's most nail-biting moves. Through each daring and dangerous relocation and amidst tough conditions and tight deadlines, these heavy haulers must overcome incredible challenges to get their colossal cargoes to their new homes.
Behind many million-dollar inventions are priceless stories of inspiration, controversy, triumph, and tragedy. Explore inventions large and small, lifesaving and life-taking, scary and playful, and meet the men and women who dedicated, and often risked, their lives to follow their vision and ultimately change the world.
Tasmanian devils are the bruisers of the animal kingdom: feisty, fearless, and always up for a fight. But despite being at the top of the food chain, these marsupials face extinction due to a deadly disease they pass on to one another through biting. Join conservationists as they step into the turf of this brawling ball of ferocity, in a bid to rescue them from themselves.
The story of Qin Shi Huang is as epic in life as it is in death. Crowned as a boy king over 2,000 years ago, he grew to unify China for the first time, establishing a new form of government, uniform laws, and a single writing system that is still in use today. He also ordered the construction of a royal tomb that is larger than the Great Pyramid of Giza and is guarded by a massive army of terracotta warriors. Explore the transformative life and magnificent afterlife of China's first emperor.
It begins at Minnesota's Lake Itasca and ends in the Gulf of Mexico. From top to bottom, the mighty Mississippi River is a 2,300-mile marvel and America's lifeline to the world. Follow the river as it carves its path from the northern headwaters to the nation's heartland to the southern bayou. Discover how the Mississippi operates as an engine of commerce, and see how its creatures thrive in and above its rushing waters and along its lush, green banks.
"Boomtowners" plunges into a modern-day "gold rush" that's attracting thousands of people from all over the country to the Bakken, a region of North Dakota. An oil boom has turned the area into the epicenter of a white-hot industrial revolution, but a rise in jobs has also led to a surge in population and living costs. Experience this phenomenon first-hand through the eyes of newcomers and longtime residents trying to make a living there in this groundbreaking new docu-series about tapping into the American dream.
On April 23, 1945, the U.S. Navy warship USS Eagle 56 exploded off the coast of Portland, Maine due to a malfunction of the ship's boilers...or so the official report said. A civilian-led dive expedition attempts to discover the lost wreckage and find out what really happened, uncovering fresh clues, startling eyewitness accounts, and a possible cover-up.
Across the planet, every animal--predator or prey--has survival advantages honed by millions of years of evolution. Watch some of nature's most accomplished survivors as they put their talents to the test, with their very lives at stake.
Enter a world filled with the most spectacular freaks of nature on the planet. Here you will find a weird and wonderful collection of leaping spiders, snot-casting fish, blood-sucking bats, flesh-boring bugs, and other bizarre creatures occupying our land, sea, and sky. Join us as we celebrate oddities of all shapes, sizes, and species, giving an up-close view of them in their natural habitat, and revealing how these misfits of nature have developed their strange adaptations over tens of millions of years.
They provide shade in blistering heat, shelter to animals in desperate need, and feasts when the rest of the region has dried up. They are the miracle trees of the African savannas, giving predators and herbivores the tools to stay alive in some of the harshest environments on Earth. Join us as we take a look at the sausage tree of Zambia, the marula of the Manyeleti, and the camelthorn of the Kalahari, each tree uniquely evolved to adapt to Africa's extremes, and each one an integral part of the lives of the inhabitants.
Once completed, HMS Queen Elizabeth will be the United Kingdom's largest warship, longer than three football fields and taller than Niagara Falls. But right now, she's months away from being seaworthy and battle ready.
Meet five inventive, courageous, and hardworking entrepreneurs, who led the charge during one of the most exciting eras in economic history. Levi Strauss, Henry E. Steinway, William E. Boeing, John Jacob Astor and Henry J. Heinz changed the way the world eats, dresses, plays and travels. They each left Germany hoping to find a better life in America and they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Relive the tragedies and the triumphs that made them millions while leaving a major imprint on American culture.
New technology and the opening of previously closed societies are ushering in a golden age of archaeology, uncovering the secrets of some of history's most famous empires. Smithsonian Channel has gained access to some remarkable discoveries, and will reveal new insights in a major new programming block: BEHIND THE LOST EMPIRES. The block features specials on the lost city of Pompeii, a recently discovered Roman gladiator school in the heart of Europe, China's Han Dynasty and its infamous female Emperor Wu, and Burma, the world's first golden civilization.
Smithsonian Channel's Sound Revolution is a documentary television series hosted by award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. Documentary footage, expert interviews and musical performances trace the origins of be-bop, jazz, rock 'n' roll and soul music, all emanating from “ground zero” – Clarksdale, Mississippi – and the Mississippi Delta. Each hour-long program is filled with recent performances, largely from the Montreux Jazz Festival, featuring performances by: B.B. King, Ike Tuner, Buddy Guy, Etta James, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Robert Cray, Miles Davis, The Neville Brothers and many others. The show premiered November 2008 on Smithsonian Networks.