Smithsonian Channel The technological race intensifies as superpowers use imported German scientists for rockets and nukes; high-stakes intelligence relies on spy balloons and planes over the North Pole. 2026-04-17 Archaeologists find traces of a sea-battle that transformed Ancient Rome; archaeologists investigate how Rome rose to dominate the ancient world. 2026-04-17 Deploy futuristic lidar technology to map the Amber Road, an ancient trade network linking the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean. Follow researchers as they retrace the route and reshape our understanding of historical trade and cultural exchange. 2026-04-17 Open burial sites filled with secrets. Find powerful artifacts in a French rulers tomb, see what a tomb adorned with conch shells says about sacred ceremonies, and expose complex beliefs about animals and the afterlife in an Egyptian zoo graveyard. 2026-04-17 Question whether Napoleon Bonaparte was poisoned in exile, then find out whose bones were buried underneath Benjamin Franklin's London home. Analyze evidence that suggests that Grand Duchess Anastasia may have escaped the 1918 Romanov massacre. 2026-04-17 Learning why a clash over Nazi ideology wrecked a bright U-boat commander's career. 2026-04-18 During the Vietnam War, the United States needed a helicopter that could defend itself; the AH-1 Cobra, the world's first pure attack helicopter. 2026-04-18 President Harry Truman decides to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Emperor Hirohito surrenders, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrives to oversee the country's occupation; mortal enemies must now become partners in Japan's rebirth. 2026-04-18 Learning why a clash over Nazi ideology wrecked a bright U-boat commander's career. 2026-04-18 During the Vietnam War, the United States needed a helicopter that could defend itself; the AH-1 Cobra, the world's first pure attack helicopter. 2026-04-18 President Harry Truman decides to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Emperor Hirohito surrenders, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrives to oversee the country's occupation; mortal enemies must now become partners in Japan's rebirth. 2026-04-18 Learning why a clash over Nazi ideology wrecked a bright U-boat commander's career. 2026-04-18 During the Vietnam War, the United States needed a helicopter that could defend itself; the AH-1 Cobra, the world's first pure attack helicopter. 2026-04-18 President Harry Truman decides to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Emperor Hirohito surrenders, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur arrives to oversee the country's occupation; mortal enemies must now become partners in Japan's rebirth. 2026-04-18 Learning why a clash over Nazi ideology wrecked a bright U-boat commander's career. 2026-04-18 On D-Day and later in June 1944, the USS Texas helps silence batteries of German artillery and gun positions defending the landing beaches and the port city of Cherbourg. 2026-04-18 Allied convoys resupplying the Soviet Union navigate the Arctic, infested with U-boats and enemy aircraft. 2026-04-18 In May 1941, the British Royal Navy relentlessly pursues the formidable battleship Bismarck with the mission to sink it at any cost. 2026-04-18 The rise of submarines marks World War II at sea, leading to fierce battles above and below the waves. 2026-04-18 On July 3, 1940, the British fleet attacks the French navy at Mers el-Kébir, Algeria; in ten minutes, Bretagne sank, Mogador was destroyed, and Provence and Dunkerque were grounded. 2026-04-18 With her husband wounded, Laura Secord sets out to warn the British of a possible American attack. 2026-04-18 Paid programming. 2026-04-18 Follow the meteoric rise of the Macedonian conqueror who seized Egypt and built an empire that stretched from Europe to Asia; find out how founding the city of Alexandria and becoming a pharaoh transformed Alexander's life before his death at age 32. 2026-04-18 Part 2/6. Uncover the secrets of the Old Kingdom ruler who revolutionized architecture alongside his vizier, Imhotep; piece together the mysterious life of the very first king to build a step pyramid in the heart of a grandiose and complex burial site. 2026-04-18 Ramesses II reigns for 66 years and builds monuments and temples. 2026-04-18 Delve into the history of the Fourth Dynasty monarch responsible for one of the great pyramids; examine the tyrannical reputation of this ancient leader and decipher the complex strategies he used to guide such a massive building project. 2026-04-18 Part 5/6. Chart the turbulent reign of a brilliant strategist who allied herself with powerful Roman leaders in the hopes of saving her kingdom; examine the battle against Octavian that ended three millennia of Egyptian history and sealed Cleopatra's fate. 2026-04-18 Part 6/6. Unearth the dramatic final days of the Twentieth Dynasty's great warrior king, Ramses III; view a rare judicial papyrus that recounts the story of an assassination plot hatched in the royal harem; see what the monarch's mummy reveals today. 2026-04-18 American paratroopers are dropped behind German lines on D-Day in order to secure territory behind the beaches. 2026-04-18 The German war industry urgently needs more iron; Hitler has his eye on the Norwegian coast and especially on the harbor of Narvik, through which iron ore is shipped from Sweden. 2026-04-18 Relive the Flight of the Crow, a trek across Nazi-occupied Europe; find out how two Austrian mountaineers hiked their way out of the Himalayas, then learn why 378 Japanese POWs risked it all in Australia's bloody Cowra Breakout. 2026-04-19