History

The true story behind one the of most daring rescues in modern US history: a secret mission to free hostages captured during the 1979 Iranian revolution.

HISTORY in partnership with Nitro Circus announces a revamped format of the Sunday, July 7 live television event “Evel Live 2” due to renowned freestyle motocross athlete Axell Hodges crashing during a practice jump of the longest motorcycle jump in history. In the spirit of daredevil Evel Knievel, Hodges recently attempted to jump farther than anyone ever has on a motorcycle – a distance that was set in 2011 at 378 feet and 9 inches by Robbie Maddison – and severely injured both ankles prior to the live show. In the revamped show, beginning at 9pm ET, exclusive crash footage of Hodges will be revealed and four-time X Games Medalist Vicki Golden will aim to set a new world record in an epic live motorcycle firewall stunt.

This fascinating documentary unfolds in reverse telling the story of Mandela from the old man to the rural child. With contributions from storytellers from every corner of the globe, we gain a unique insight into why Mandela was so loved and revered. Mandela's unique way of handling the challenges of life range from his relationship with the British Royals and the attempted suicide of a South African rugby hero, to epic political strategies that clinched a World Cup, and single-handedly averted civil war. Beyond the media hype was the political genius who could manipulate the press, inspire awe in celebrities, politicians and superstars alike and managed to shape a country from inside a prison cell. For the first time, his genius as a political strategist is laid bare and we discover the seminal moments that transformed a man into a hero.

This documentary chronicles General William Tecumseh Sherman's fabled "March to the Sea" through Georgia and the Carolinas, utilizing state of the art production techniques including CGI, special effects and historical re-creations.

History travels thousands of years back in time with a fresh investigation of the most infamous and devastating catastrophes in the Bible. From the epic floods in the time of Noah, the fire and brimstone that beset Sodom and Gomorrah, and the calamitous Ten Plagues of Egypt, Biblical Disasters explores these legendary tragedies to illuminate their essential humanity and to compare them with the cataclysmic natural disasters of more recent times.

After Jackie celebrates the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s integration into Major League Baseball. Robinson opened the door for other African Americans to join the league and this documentary taps into key people and events in the aftermath.

Detailed and fascinating documentary telling the history of the famous German battleship of World War II. The urgent British hunt and the German ship's efforts to escape are described through vintage film and recollections of both British and German veterans of the battles.

Mexican writer Paco Ignacio Taibo II reconstructs one of the most remarkable founding myths of the United States of America: the epic battle of the Alamo, a fortified former Spanish mission near San Antonio de Béjar, in which a group of secessionist Texans withstood for thirteen days the merciless assaults of the Mexican army of President General Antonio López de Santa Anna.

Dr. Theodor Morell served as Adolf Hitler's personal physician from 1936 to 1945, often treating the Fuehrer with unconventional medicines and concoctions of unknown compounds. Medical experts examine the evidence for Hitler's abuse of amphetamines and narcotics, as well as abundant evidences for symptoms of Parkinson's disease and perhaps even syphilis. Did the Fuehrer's failing health, abetted by Morell's treatments, affect his military judgment and contribute to the defeat of Nazi Germany?

In the midst of a profound economic, political, and social crisis, in April 1982, the armed forces led by the then de facto president, the alcoholic General Leopoldo Galtieri, launched the reconquest of the Falkland Islands. This marked the beginning of a military adventure in the South Atlantic against a world power that laid bare the errors and horrors of the Argentine military regime. This documentary depicts the final act of a bloody dictatorship.

Beginning with Rome's fall in the fifth century, tis History Channel presentation sheds light on the Dark Ages, covering the continent-wide chaos, including raids by Vikings Vandals, and Visigoths, bubonic plague, famine, civil unrest and more. The program takes viewers from the darkest of times to the dawn of a new beginning as the turmoil besieging Europe gives rise to the Crusades, the Enlightenment, and the Renaissance.

Documentary examining the growing number of conspiracy theories surrounding the destruction of the World Trade Center that have been circulating online.

WWII from Space delivers World War II in a way you've never experienced it before. This HISTORY special uses an all-seeing CGI eye that offers a satellite view of the conflict, allowing you to experience it in a way that puts key events and tipping points in a global perspective. By re-creating groundbreaking moments that could never have been captured on camera, and by illustrating the importance of simultaneity and the hidden effects of crucial incidents, HISTORY presents the war's monumental moments in a never-before-seen context. And with new information brought to the forefront, you'll better understand how a nation ranked 19th in the world's militaries in 1939 emerged six years later as the planet's only atomic superpower.

September 11th... Pearl Harbor... the assassination of JFK. Days that forever changed America. But the Kennedy assassination is different: 50 years after it happened, most Americans think we don't know who did it. Now History has conducted the largest nationwide survey ever attempted on the topic to learn exactly what the country believes. Who do Americans suspect was really responsible for JFK's death?

What is life really like in the American mafia? How do you get in, get made and make money? And what happens when you get in too deep? THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE MOB answers all of these questions and more by turning to the ultimate authority: former Colombo family captain Michael Franzese. Michael grew up in this world, following in the footsteps of his father, Colombo family underboss Sonny Franzese, and he earned more money for the organization than anyone since Al Capone. Michael also did what no made man has ever done before or since: he publicly quit La Cosa Nostra -- without going into witness protection -- and lived to tell the tale. This fast- paced, two-hour special takes viewers on a step-by-step journey through the world's most famous criminal organization as lived by one of its most notorious members. You'll find out exactly how the mob works -- and wonder how Michael Franzese is still alive.

When the fight against a supposed subversive threat seems not to be enough to ensure national unity, the Argentine military dictatorship rekindles the extinguished fire of an old border dispute with Chile in order to make the nation close ranks around the criminal regime: the chronicle of an internal political conflict that was about to turn into a bloody war.

Take an unforgettable look at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, which includes a special effects theater, lifelike figures of the Lincoln family, and much more. Features comments from author Gore Vidal and museum director Richard Norton Smith.

Traces the long and ferocious rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, centered on the “New Coke” debacle of 1985. For almost a hundred years, Coke had been the undisputed leader in the multibillion dollar global soda industry–stodgy, predictable, but indisputably top dog–while Pepsi had been the upstart No. 2, forever poking at its big brother with cutting edge advertising. But in 1985, in a stranger-than-fiction twist, Coca-Cola’s executives took a step so daring that no one in either company could believe it: they changed the formula of the most popular beverage on the planet.

MIRACLE RISING: SOUTH AFRICA is the epic legacy of South Africa's political transformation that culminated in the first free and fair elections in April 1994. Recounted through the personal accounts of key figures, both local and international, the documentary examines how South Africa avoided a civil war and moved towards, as Archbishop Desmond Tutu coined the phrase, "a rainbow nation." From the evil legacy of apartheid to the triumphant first democratic elections, Miracle Rising: South Africa moves beyond mere chronology and delves into the hearts and minds of the leaders and people of South Africa, culminating in the thrilling behind-the-scenes events of the elections that resulted in the joyful inauguration of President Nelson Mandela. Told through simple, intimate portraits of key players, it weaves a grand story of a nation into an intimate history of men and women determined to change the country for the best of all who live there.

Thomas Jefferson is the most researched, most written about, most referenced, and most quoted of our Founding Fathers. And yet, somehow, he remains the most stubbornly inscrutable. Embrace and celebrate the third president's complicated life and legacy in the two-hour HISTORY documentary, Jefferson.