In Search of History

Unraveling the mystery behind the fierce, saber-wielding monks known as the Knights Templar.

The Roman city of Ostia, founded in the 4th century B.C. at the mouth of the Tiber, was once a vital harbor town and important port; examining the reasons for the towns demise.

Hiram Bingham encounters the abandoned ruin of Machu Picchu in 1911.

Venice relied on her 200-square- mile lagoon for protection until surrendering to Napoleon in 1797, yet her origins have sunk into the miasma of myth.

Delphi was the sacred area where Zeus' two eagles crossed paths; in a cave under the Temple of Apollo, pilgrims enveloped by hallucinogenic smoke asked questions of the priestess.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are wrongly convicted.

Karnak grows from a small shrine to Amun to a religious complex, maintained by a society of priests.

Unraveling the mystery behind the fierce, saber-wielding monks known as the Knights Templar.

Adolf Hitler's rise to singular power in Nazi Germany was the product of a conjunction of forces and events; The Nazi party grew out of several occult groups that sprang up in late 19th-century Germany.

Alarmed by FDR's economic policies in the Depression, a group plots to create a fascist state; its choice of retired Marine Gen. Smedley Butler to lead is its undoing; Smedley learned details of the conspiracy and reported it to Congress.

A showdown with Britain that began over a pig; a war in Korea fought in 1871, not 1950; a U.S. citizen's attempt to seize control of Nicaragua; also little known invasions in Russia, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Searching for the true identity of the ``Man in the Iron Mask.``

Scientists investigate asteroids.

The story of the secret Irish society.

Examining one of America's darkest times. Includes startling facts about who the real accusers were and what the community did to make restitution to the loved ones of the dead.

Sacred ceremonies and rituals.

At each step in the march westward on the American frontier, pioneers fight a cunning, ubiquitous enemy -- death from disease and epidemics, as well as death from knife and gun wounds.

Young men of Navajo descent create a military code.

Historians examine ancient rituals that involve altered consciousness.

Revisting enemy actions, from Pancho Villa's raid on a New Mexican town where 18 were killed, the War of 1812, to the 1945 deaths of six Oregonians when a Japanese bomb-ferrying balloon flew 6,000 miles to reach its victims.

Developing nuclear weapons.

Dr. David Livingstone journeys across Africa and reporter Henry Stanley's quest to find him.

Examining the monuments built in tribute to Athena.

After a stroke leaves President Woodrow Wilson in a weakened position, First Lady Edith Wilson takes a leading role in the White House to complete the final months of her husband's term.

A French army captain is stripped of his rank.

The Freemasons are one of the world's most secret societies.

Examining the history of the first colony in the ``New World.``

As Jesus was dying on the cross, a Roman soldier pierced his side with a spear--thus giving birth to legend; a journey in search of the Holy Lance and its legendary power.

Ancient prophets look into the future.

An armed conflict arises when President James Buchanan picks a non-Mormon to govern the Territory of Utah in 1857.

Exploring the monuments of Rome.

During World War II, the U.S. military builds a relationship with the mafia.

Romans engineer a stone-paved highway system.

Many cultures offer human blood as a gift to the gods.

Members of the Chicago White Sox are accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series.

Despite her amassing of vast powers, rivals of the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut vowed to erase her legacy from the history books.

The brooding figure of the Great Sphinx stands guard over the pyramids of Giza; with the head of a man and body of a lion, this 240-foot ruin may depict Pharaoh Khafre, son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid.

In 1915, Germany's sabotage of Black Tom edges the United States closer to war.

The unmitigated success of the Allies' Operation Overlord depended on an elaborate plan to fool the Germans as to when and where the assault would hit.

Stretching roughly 80 miles across northern England, Hadrian's Wall split the country in two, serving as a barrier against Pict marauders.

Investigating if Dr. Frankenstein was born from novelist Mary Shelley's mind or based in reality as some investigators argue.

A witch once held the exalted position of a healing woman who harnessed nature's secrets for humanity's good; investigating what happened in the Middle Ages to transform the witch into a Christian symbol of evil.

Mankind's oldest death rituals.

Since the dawn of time, stargazers have looked to the sky wondering if Earth has had heavenly visitors; scientists investigate ancient ruins, artifacts and texts from around the world.

Alchemists worked in secret, conducting magical experiments to turn base metals into gold.

In 1987, the art market is flooded with gold and silver artifacts of unknown provenance; historians identify the hoard as pre-Columbian Peruvian.

Shrouded in secrecy, China's Forbidden City was the emperors' home from erection in the 1400s until abandonment in 1911, when revolution deposed the last emperor.

Visiting the site of Homer's epic ``The Iliad`` where the Greeks lay siege for 10 years against the city of Troy; reviewing the history of the epic and the site where Heinrich Schliemann discovered the fortified city in 1873.

Their legions were legend as the Roman army marched across the known world, trampling its enemies and securing one of history's largest empires.

After WWII, a handful of Nazis were tried for war crimes at Nuremberg, but many seemingly disappeared; studying the Odessa organization, rumored to have links to the SS and to have ferried high-ranking Nazis out of Germany.

In ancient times, the tattooed Celts, who often fought naked while covered in blue paint, were Europe's most feared warriors.

In 1912, pieces of skull were found that appeared to prove the theory of a missing link, but were later found to be an elaborate hoax.

The Teotihuacanos leave no evidence of their culture after building one of the largest settlements in the ancient world.

In 1997, Britain ceded control of Hong Kong to China, completing the Boxer Rebellion's goal to oust outsiders; this movement led to the massacre of thousands of foreigners and international intervention in 1900.

High in the cliffs of New Mexico in an area called Chaco Canyon, the Anasazi built elaborate dwellings known as Great Houses, the largest a four-story complex with 800 rooms.

Romans erect cities to honor their emperors.

The history of the area in New York known as the Five Points, which was the breeding ground for such criminals as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano.

Extending more than 1,500 miles across northern China, this incredible engineering feat was devised by China's first ruler to protect his empire from nomadic marauders.

Now residing in the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest blue diamond is said to be cursed; purportedly stolen from a Hindu idol's eye, ownership carries a heavy price.

On Aug. 24, 79 A.D., Mt. Vesuvius erupts and lava engulfs the city of Pompeii, preserving it in time.

Initially established by Britain in 1655, Port Royal, Jamaica, quickly became a pirate's haven; examining the remains of the pirate city, sunk after an earthquake and resulting tidal wave.

In 1348, a mysterious and deadly disease ravaged Europe, killing millions of people while spreading irrational fear in its wake.

The samurai, a self-sacrificing warrior class of ancient Japan, developed a code of behavior where honor took precedence over life itself.

A legal battle between church and state unfolds when John Scopes stirs up controversy for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution to his class.

For over 150 years, pilgrims have journeyed to the French mountain village of Lourdes where Sainte Bernadette claimed to see a vision of the Virgin Mary.

Chronicling the Borgias, a Spanish crime family that migrated to Italy and became embroiled in political plots and murder during the Renaissance.

The Shuar practice the ritual of headhunting until a ban in the 1970s.

Recorded dragon sightings by Herodotus and Marco Polo; dragons in fairy tales; possible descendents.

Throughout the ancient world, many religions dominated the landscape as did the stone structures built to honor their gods.

Volcanic eruptions are attributed to Pele, queen of the fiery domain, and rituals are used to calm her anger.

By the Old Kingdom's 4th Dynasty, Egyptians expressed their profound concerns for the afterlife in towering monuments for the God-Kings.

Delphi was the sacred area where Zeus' two eagles crossed paths; in a cave under the Temple of Apollo, pilgrims enveloped by hallucinogenic smoke asked questions of the priestess.

Exploring the lost city of Angkor Wat.

A look at the story of the Nabataeans, a desert people who carved the city of Petra out of the Jordanian mountains some 2,000 years ago.

Venice relied on her 200-square- mile lagoon for protection until surrendering to Napoleon in 1797, yet her origins have sunk into the miasma of myth.

Hiram Bingham encounters the abandoned ruin of Machu Picchu in 1911.

The Roman city of Ostia, founded in the 4th century B.C. at the mouth of the Tiber, was once a vital harbor town and important port; examining the reasons for the towns demise.

Exploring the lost city of Angkor Wat.

Karnak grows from a small shrine to Amun to a religious complex, maintained by a society of priests.

A look at the story of the Nabataeans, a desert people who carved the city of Petra out of the Jordanian mountains some 2,000 years ago.

Recorded dragon sightings by Herodotus and Marco Polo; dragons in fairy tales; possible descendents.

Volcanic eruptions are attributed to Pele, queen of the fiery domain, and rituals are used to calm her anger.

For over 150 years, pilgrims have journeyed to the French mountain village of Lourdes where Sainte Bernadette claimed to see a vision of the Virgin Mary.

Throughout the ancient world, many religions dominated the landscape as did the stone structures built to honor their gods.

By the Old Kingdom's 4th Dynasty, Egyptians expressed their profound concerns for the afterlife in towering monuments for the God-Kings.

Chronicling the Borgias, a Spanish crime family that migrated to Italy and became embroiled in political plots and murder during the Renaissance.

The Shuar practice the ritual of headhunting until a ban in the 1970s.

A legal battle between church and state unfolds when John Scopes stirs up controversy for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution to his class.