Modern Marvels Season 13 Episodes

Episode 1

Fire

Wed, Jan 11, 2006

Episode 2

Nature Tech: Avalanche

Fri, Feb 24, 2006

Episode 3

Shotguns

Sun, May 23, 1999

Episode 4

Cola Wars

Sun, Feb 1, 2026

The story behind the intense cola war between Coca-Cola and Pepsi in their quest to dominate the soft drink market.

Episode 5

Containers

Wed, Jan 4, 2006

The history of containers and how they store and move our everyday goods.

Episode 6

Cotton

Wed, Jan 18, 2006

Modern Marvels: Cotton takes us on a journey from the California cotton fields to the textile mills of North Carolina, the cotton oil mills of Arkansas, and back to the garment factories of Los Angeles. The show focuses on the great technological developments in cotton's history, including: the cotton gin, spindle picker, cotton module builder, power loom, the evolution of yarn spinning technology... and of course the ingenious method that finally licked the boll weevil. Along the way, we'll survey cotton's remarkable knack for weaving itself into history... including the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War.

Episode 7

Engineering Disasters 18

Wed, Feb 8, 2006

Engineering disasters highlighted include a coal mine in China, a crane collapse in Milwaukee, ground water contaminated with gasoline additives, and the hazards of radiation. Also profiled are the environmental disasters that plagued the Salton Sea in California and the Aral Sea in Asia.

Episode 8

Candy

Tue, Feb 14, 2006

This program explains how some of the more popular candies are made starting with the raw ingredients through the production process. It all starts with chocolate then move on to red hots, jelly beans, salt water taffy licorice and some special candies just for adults.

Episode 9

Engineering Disasters: New Orleans

Tue, Aug 20, 2013

An analysis of the engineering failures brought on by the 2005 landfall Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans focusing on the collapse of the levees, the Superdome roof damage, and Interstate 10 bridge collapse.

Episode 10

Leather

Wed, Mar 8, 2006

Today, leather is a staple of our daily lives. Modern tanners have devised techniques to make leather more versatile, colorful, and luxurious than ever.

Episode 11

Engineering Disasters 19

Wed, Mar 22, 2006

The background into the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald, two Boeing 737 crashes, a nuclear disaster near Los Angeles, and an oil storage facility.

Episode 12

Insulation

Sun, Jun 16, 2013

Episode 13

Hi-Tech Hitler

Tue, May 2, 2006

Germany is portrayed as a nation leading the world in science and technology prior to World War Two. But it squandered this wealth of knowledge, which should have enabled it to win the war, because the high command was selective about those advances they would favor. Examples are provided of technologies that languished under Nazism but exploded into new industries when they reached other countries after the war.

Episode 14

Shovels

Wed, May 3, 2006

Episode 15

Drilling

Wed, May 10, 2006

Episode 16

'80s Tech

Wed, May 24, 2006

Technology from the 1980s is remembered, including early cell phones and CD players; the Sony Walkman; and personal computers. Also: comments by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak; and a tour of the Computer History Museum in California.

Episode 17

Ben Franklin Tech

Thu, May 25, 2006

Episode 18

Heavy Metals

Wed, Jun 14, 2006

Some metals are so critical to the US economy the the Federal Government retains a strategic stock pile of them. This program describes how these metals are produced and what they are used for that make them so valuable: copper, iron, lead, nickel, uranium and zinc.

Episode 19

Horsepower

Wed, Jun 21, 2006

Everything related to horsepower beginning with the definition of what exactly horsepower is and how it is measured. Profiled are some of the fastest, largest, most dangerous, and most powerful engines ever made.

Episode 20

BBQ Tech

Wed, Jun 28, 2006

The history of grilling and barbecue to present day. Features how charcoal, wood pellets, and sauces are made to combine with the meat to make a delicious meal anywhere from cook offs to the backyard.

Episode 21

Pirate Tech

Sun, Jul 9, 2006

Pirate technology is examined. Included: navigational instruments; ship modifications to improve speed; and weapons. Also: a visit to maritime museums and shipwreck sites.

Episode 22

World's Biggest Machines 5

Wed, Jul 26, 2006

The world's largest engineering feats are explored. Included: NASA's wind tunnel and flight simulator at the Ames Research Center in California; a continuous mining machine in Pennsylvania; the London Eye observation wheel in England. Also: the Claas Cougar lawn mower; and IMAX technology.

Episode 23

Nuts

Wed, Aug 2, 2006

The story of how nuts from harvest to consumption feed the world.

Episode 24

Batteries

Thu, Aug 3, 200645 mins

Batteries. Mixtures of metals and caustic chemicals that make our tech, tools and toys surge with energy.

Episode 25

Mummy Tech

Wed, Aug 23, 2006

Episode 26

Levees

Wed, Aug 30, 2006

This episode of Modern Marvels explains how the development of levees helped man control the natural environment, but also showcases how they have failed, most spectacularly during Katrina's landfall in New Orleans.

Episode 27

Water

Wed, Sep 6, 2006

Water is examined as a natural wonder and as the substance that sustains life. Also studied is the technology it supports and which supports it. Included: irrigation systems; fountains; and the bottled-water industry.

Episode 28

Copper

Wed, Sep 13, 2006

The history and the many uses of copper including how it helped create the Bronze Age and how it's mined. Among the many uses for the red metal explored are its corrosion resistant properties on sea going vessels, it's decorative appeal, and it's antimicrobial properties. Also featured are copper bells, roofs, electronics, pipes, and wires.

Episode 29

Renewable Energy

Wed, Sep 20, 2006

Global problems require global solutions. Modern Marvels: Renewable Energy, a one-hour History Channel documentary, shows how the combined forces of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, wave and tidal power are ready to move the world beyond oil, coal and other 19th Century technologies.

Episode 30

Freight Trains

Wed, Sep 20, 2006

The story behind the development and the modern innovations of freight trains.

Episode 31

Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway

Tue, Sep 26, 2006

The system of rivers, bays, and sounds that form the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway in the United States is profiled from the colonial period to the present.

Episode 32

Stealth and Beyond: Sea Stealth

Wed, Sep 27, 2006

Episode 33

Stealth and Beyond: Air Stealth

Wed, Sep 27, 2006

They are the swarthy eagles of the sky: Past, present, and future advances in stealth military aircraft.

Episode 34

Ink

Wed, Oct 4, 2006

The everyday uses of ink from its ancient days to the modern world

Episode 35

Distilleries 2

Wed, Oct 11, 2006

A history of distilleries and the process of distilling alcohol. Included: a visit to the Christian Brothers winery in California; and, in France, the Courvoisier cognac company and an absinthe distillery. Also: comments by Anthony Dias Blue from Bon Appetit magazine.

Episode 36

World's Strongest

Wed, Oct 18, 2006

Some of the world's strongest machines featured include tractor pull sleds and tugboats. Also profiled are the world's strongest rope and plastic, spider silk, and the many uses of diamonds.

Episode 37

Tomcat Sunset

Wed, Nov 1, 2006

Explore the legacy of the F-14 fighter jet, one of America's greatest aerial weapons ever built.

Episode 38

Tobacco

Wed, Nov 8, 2006

The history of tobacco since colonial times when the plant was first farmed in the New World to the modern times. Also features a look at heath effects of various tobacco products and anti-tobacco campaigns.

Episode 39

The Supermarket

Wed, Nov 15, 200643 mins

The history of supermarkets and a behind the scenes look at how they operate.

Episode 40

Breakfast Tech

Tue, Nov 28, 2006

Wether it's bacon, eggs, and toast, oatmeal, a breakfast sandwich or cold cereal; it's the most important meal of the day. Sit back with glass of orange juice and see how your breakfast is made. Also, see how sailors aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John C. Stennis have breakfast in the middle of the ocean.

Episode 41

Wine

Wed, Nov 29, 2006

A look at the millennia plus long fascination of wine from its beginnings in ancient civilizations to the modern equipment and processes used to cultivate and process the various types of wine.

Episode 42

Harvesting 2

Wed, Nov 29, 2006

In America's orchards and farm fields, the constant struggle between hand labor and mechanization has produced dozens of efficient and sometimes bizarre harvesting methods. Learn the secrets of the orchard manager and his ladder crew as they check fruit pressures and barometric readings. Visit California's largest fruit packing house and try to keep up with 10-fruit-per-second conveyors. Then off to the corn fields of Nebraska and the cranberry marshes of central Wisconsin. Finally go underground to the world's largest mushroom farm where the harvest takes place in limestone caverns that run some 150 miles. From fruit tree picking platforms to cranberry beaters and corn pickers, farmers constantly strive to speed the harvest.

Episode 43

Engineering Disasters 20

Wed, Dec 6, 200643 mins

The story behind BP's Texas City oil refinery explosion in 2005, the 2001 crash of an American Airlines flight, the dioxin contamination of Times Beach, Missouri, and the Skylab space station.

Episode 44

Snow

Sun, Dec 10, 2006

The story of snow including how it is formed and the human inventions that help us live with the white stuff.

Episode 45

Tea

Wed, Dec 13, 2006

An hour steeped in the history of tea includes a visit to the Lipton Tea plant in Suffolk, Va., the Charleston Tea Plantation in South Carolina and the Celestial Seasonings plant in Boulder, Colo.; a chronicle of the events that led to the Boston Tea Party; and a segment on gourmet teas.

Episode 46

Christmas Tech

Wed, Dec 20, 2006

The story behind our modern Christmas traditions including how Christmas trees are grown and harvested as well as how Christmas lights and ornaments are made. Also featured are holiday store window displays at Macy's, the Rockefeller Christmas tree, and fruit cakes.