Smithsonian Channel

Dunhuang's transformation from desert outpost to Silk Road stronghold.

The early years of Cleopatra's life, during which she survives her upbringing in an incestuous, murderous family and goes on to forge a romantic and political alliance with Julius Caesar.

The hunt for the football involved in one of sports' greatest plays and a controversial championship ring.

On inadequate foundations, San Francisco's MOMA triples in size creating an exterior light enough to prevent collapse; a 1970s Sydney skyscraper is recycled into a 21st century tower; in Dallas, a five acre park is created.

Dunhuang's transformation from desert outpost to Silk Road stronghold.

The early years of Cleopatra's life, during which she survives her upbringing in an incestuous, murderous family and goes on to forge a romantic and political alliance with Julius Caesar.

Bill Nighy leads a magical journey in the Norfolk Broads along England's holiday river, the River Bure; discovering a watery world where both wildlife and recreation go hand in hand.

Strange aquatic mammals populating a river in Columbia; a ship marooned in a sea of sand along Namibia's notorious Skeleton Coast; a Boeing 727 jetliner hidden in a pine forest; an unusual pattern is discovered in the Nevada desert.

Bill Nighy narrates a trip along the River Po, traveling across northern Italy from the snow-capped Alps to the delta where it meets the Adriatic Sea.

A dramatic repair mission gives the Hubble Space Telescope another chance to capture stunning pictures like only it can.

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Strange aquatic mammals populating a river in Columbia; a ship marooned in a sea of sand along Namibia's notorious Skeleton Coast; a Boeing 727 jetliner hidden in a pine forest; an unusual pattern is discovered in the Nevada desert.

Bill Nighy leads a magical journey in the Norfolk Broads along England's holiday river, the River Bure; discovering a watery world where both wildlife and recreation go hand in hand.

Tracing the southern half of the Dempster Highway, over some of the world's most remote Earthly wonders, from the Arctic Circle on the way to the Klondike River and Dawson City.

Revisit Colditz Castle, a Nazi fortress where breakouts featured human catapults and clever disguises; meet the pilots who staged the famed Great Escape from a Polish stalag; see how 32 POWs pulled off the Warburg Wire Job in just one minute.

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.

Examine how German soldiers used an erotic painting and other decoys to distract their captors as they tunnelled out of Island Farm POW camp in Wales; see how American bombardiers were smuggled out of Russia, and study a wartime Trojan Horse plot.

A mass uprising that shows the world the truth about the Nazis' secret Sobibor death camp; learn how the Davao Dozen break out of a harsh Japanese penal colony and explore how two plucky German pilots plot to get out of Britain.

A look at riverine warfare from the Civil War to Vietnam and small but powerful combat ships.

On inadequate foundations, San Francisco's MOMA triples in size creating an exterior light enough to prevent collapse; a 1970s Sydney skyscraper is recycled into a 21st century tower; in Dallas, a five acre park is created.

The early years of Cleopatra's life, during which she survives her upbringing in an incestuous, murderous family and goes on to forge a romantic and political alliance with Julius Caesar.

The Draken crew gets a new captain, battles fierce winds and learns to accept defeat with Viking honor on the way to England.

Get a birds-eye view of a mysterious, massive explosion in China and a quickly melting glacier on Earths iciest continent; investigate a strange orange haze enveloping the Big Apple, then float over a toxic, too-hot-to-handle lake in New Zealand.

Nearly a decade after the ancient site of Nimrud was destroyed by terrorists, experts return to salvage the wreckage; archaeologists piece together the remaining ruins to reveal the origins and brutal decline of a lost empire.

The Draken crew gets a new captain, battles fierce winds and learns to accept defeat with Viking honor on the way to England.

Examine mysterious holes in Isreal; explore a ghost village hidden in the Colombian jungle, a shipwreck off the coast of Sri Lanka and a gutted airplane fuselage abandoned in Iceland.

Nearly a decade after the ancient site of Nimrud was destroyed by terrorists, experts return to salvage the wreckage; archaeologists piece together the remaining ruins to reveal the origins and brutal decline of a lost empire.

The search for Secretariat's missing Kentucky derby saddlecloth and Dale Earnhardt's first racecar.

The Draken crew gets a new captain, battles fierce winds and learns to accept defeat with Viking honor on the way to England.

Examine mysterious holes in Isreal; explore a ghost village hidden in the Colombian jungle, a shipwreck off the coast of Sri Lanka and a gutted airplane fuselage abandoned in Iceland.

Nearly a decade after the ancient site of Nimrud was destroyed by terrorists, experts return to salvage the wreckage; archaeologists piece together the remaining ruins to reveal the origins and brutal decline of a lost empire.

Traveling the Dordogne River via traditional boats through the green heart of southwest France; drinking wine and hunting for truffles; riding a luxury cruiser to a lighthouse built for a king.

Dive into the historical and natural secrets of the deep; explore an uninhabited concrete island, ocean spirals off the Australian coast, underwater evidence of a violent past and tracks thousands of metres below the sea's surface.

Bill Nighy leads a magical journey in the Norfolk Broads along England's holiday river, the River Bure; discovering a watery world where both wildlife and recreation go hand in hand.

An exploration of the route that has become known as the Klondike Trail.

Dive into the historical and natural secrets of the deep; explore an uninhabited concrete island, ocean spirals off the Australian coast, underwater evidence of a violent past and tracks thousands of metres below the sea's surface.

Traveling the Dordogne River via traditional boats through the green heart of southwest France; drinking wine and hunting for truffles; riding a luxury cruiser to a lighthouse built for a king.

An exploration of the route that has become known as the Klondike Trail.

Rare archive footage charts the German Army in 1940 as it unleashes a new Blitzkrieg tactic.

Cameras roll as Nazi Germany launches an all-out assault on the Soviet Union.

Footage of life and death on the battlefield of El Alamein and behind the lines in the African desert.

The story of the greatest tank battle the world has ever seen.

A drone team at the location of the Battle of the Bulge hunts for the long-lost encampment of an African American troop.

Examine mysterious holes in Isreal; explore a ghost village hidden in the Colombian jungle, a shipwreck off the coast of Sri Lanka and a gutted airplane fuselage abandoned in Iceland.

Nearly a decade after the ancient site of Nimrud was destroyed by terrorists, experts return to salvage the wreckage; archaeologists piece together the remaining ruins to reveal the origins and brutal decline of a lost empire.

Investigators, oil workers and residents of the American Gulf Coast reveal the cascading problems and deadly mistakes that led to the worst marine oil spill of all time.

An inside look at the U.S. Air Force's largest aircraft, the C-5 Galaxy; its most dramatic combat and peacetime missions over the last 50 years.

A U.S. Parachute Infantry Regiment rushes to protect a critical bridge from a Nazi battle group during the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge.

Investigators, oil workers and residents of the American Gulf Coast reveal the cascading problems and deadly mistakes that led to the worst marine oil spill of all time.

An inside look at the U.S. Air Force's largest aircraft, the C-5 Galaxy; its most dramatic combat and peacetime missions over the last 50 years.

A U.S. Parachute Infantry Regiment rushes to protect a critical bridge from a Nazi battle group during the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge.

The search for a World Series home run ball and a rare bat that may have been used by a baseball legend.

Investigators, oil workers and residents of the American Gulf Coast reveal the cascading problems and deadly mistakes that led to the worst marine oil spill of all time.

An inside look at the U.S. Air Force's largest aircraft, the C-5 Galaxy; its most dramatic combat and peacetime missions over the last 50 years.

A U.S. Parachute Infantry Regiment rushes to protect a critical bridge from a Nazi battle group during the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge.

In the future, telescopes will allow scientists to see further to planets that may support life.

In an attempt to view the cosmos beyond the scope of human vision, infrared light and gamma radiation are used.

A breathtaking journey down the German section of the beautiful Moselle river, famous for vineyards on its dramatically steep banks and remarkable meandering loops.

Unlock an abandoned site on a remote Antarctic isle and check out mysterious shapes in the Finnish snow; puzzle over an inexplicable monolith in the far reaches of Norway, then get shocked by a blood-red frozen waterfall at the bottom of the world.

In the future, telescopes will allow scientists to see further to planets that may support life.

In an attempt to view the cosmos beyond the scope of human vision, infrared light and gamma radiation are used.

Tracing the southern half of the Dempster Highway, over some of the world's most remote Earthly wonders, from the Arctic Circle on the way to the Klondike River and Dawson City.

Unlock an abandoned site on a remote Antarctic isle and check out mysterious shapes in the Finnish snow; puzzle over an inexplicable monolith in the far reaches of Norway, then get shocked by a blood-red frozen waterfall at the bottom of the world.

Jeremy Birch takes on a salvage to raise a vessel with a concrete hull; it's been in the Fraser River for a month, collecting silt and mud, adding 30 tons to its deadweight.

A look at how navy weapons have evolved over the centuries, from cannons to gun turrets to nuclear missiles and beyond.

A look at Naval warfare's fastest combat ships and how the advantage of speed determined the outcome of some of the great seas battles of the last 150 years.

A look at riverine warfare from the Civil War to Vietnam and small but powerful combat ships.

A drone team at the location of the Battle of the Bulge hunts for the long-lost encampment of an African American troop.

Investigators, oil workers and residents of the American Gulf Coast reveal the cascading problems and deadly mistakes that led to the worst marine oil spill of all time.

An inside look at the U.S. Air Force's largest aircraft, the C-5 Galaxy; its most dramatic combat and peacetime missions over the last 50 years.

With thousands of German soldiers trapped in the Falaise Pocket, a small Canadian tank squadron tries to close off the escape route.

American paratroopers are dropped behind German lines on D-Day in order to secure territory behind the beaches.

Investigate the costs of Hitler's Soviet invasion, which aims to give the Nazis control over a key nickel mine and a transportation hub; seeing how this summer battle turns into a bitter winter war as the Allies tighten their grip on the Arctic.

In May 1941, the British Royal Navy relentlessly pursues the formidable battleship Bismarck with the mission to sink it at any cost.

American paratroopers are dropped behind German lines on D-Day in order to secure territory behind the beaches.

Investigate the costs of Hitler's Soviet invasion, which aims to give the Nazis control over a key nickel mine and a transportation hub; seeing how this summer battle turns into a bitter winter war as the Allies tighten their grip on the Arctic.