Playback is currently unavailable for S4 E1 · America's Highways. Episode details remain available below.
Modern Marvels
HISTORY’s longest-running series moves to H2. Modern Marvels celebrates the ingenuity, invention and imagination found in the world around us. From commonplace items like ink and coffee to architectural masterpieces and engineering disasters, the hit series goes beyond the basics to provide insight and history into things we wonder about and that impact our lives. This series tells fascinating stories of the doers, the dreamers and sometime-schemers that create everyday items, technological breakthroughs and manmade wonders. The hit series goes deep to explore the leading edge of human inspiration and ambition.
- Created by:
- Bruce Nash
- Language:
- English
- Country:
- United States of America
- Network:
- History, A&E, H2
Episode guide
Seasons
Season 4
Episodes
Episode 1
America's Highways
1996-09-02 · 44mIn 1912, a headlight-maker and an auto magnate built the first cross-country road to spur the demand for new cars; 70 years and $125 billion later, the highway system had grown to 42,000 miles. Rare photographs and interviews tell the incredible story of the “paving of America”.
Current episode
E02
Episode 2
The Telephone
1996-09-15 · 44mFrom Alexander Graham Bell’s crude creation, to today’s high-speed wireless networks, we’ll look into the past, present and future of the telephone. We’ll visit the AT&T archives to see how the very first telephone boxes wired together with telegraph cables have evolved into vast wireless networks. Enter into the inner workings of Los Angeles County’s 911 emergency dispatch center, as well as explore advancements made by Lucent/Bell Labs in phone-embedded GPS technology. With telephone privacy issues making headlines, witness a demonstration of how easy it can be for someone to illegally tap your phone. We’ll also look at a technology developed by NASA-Ames that might one day allow people to converse by merely thinking what they want to say.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E03
Episode 3
Aqueducts
1996-10-06 · 44mMany rivers quenched the thirst of millions in the American west and around the world. Without these aqueducts, some of the earth’s largest cities would turn into gigantic ghost towns. Their technology has been in use for over two thousand years. But today these engineering marvels cost billions of dollars to build, requiring thousands of men to toil for years on end. Aqueducts have made some men famous and others fabulously wealthy. In Los Angeles one man’s vision took one hundred thousand men to complete and a great city was truly born. In Northern California the most famous conservationist of our time waged the political fight of his life in an attempt to save one of nature’s most spectacular valleys from San Francisco’s demand for more water.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E04
Episode 4
Television
1996-10-20 · 44mAn exploration of the world’s most popular entertainment, from the boy genius who invented it to the RCA “General” who made it a reality.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E05
Episode 5
The Computer
1996-11-24 · 44mA look at the inventions that have revolutionized society as we know it. They began as behemoths which weighed over 2 tons!
Watch progress · Not tracked
E06
Episode 6
Captured Light
1996-12-15 · 44mA look at the history of photography beginning as early as the eleventh century. Includes the advancements by Niepce and Daguerre in the 19th century and William Henry Fox and George Eastman in the 20th century.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E07
Episode 7
Stealth Technology
1997-02-16 · 44mA look at the F117 Stealth Fighter that led the pack for the Allies in Gulf Wars One and Two and virtually decimated Iraqi Air Defense. Find out how the technology allows it to approach its target without being detected by radar. Also, a look at the B2 Stealth Bomber.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E08
Episode 8
Pyramids: Majesty And Mystery
1997-03-23 · 44mStanding majestically for centuries, the world’s great pyramids have long inspired and mystified scholars. Leading experts and historians explore the engineering genius that created some of the largest structures on the planet. From ancient Egypt to Central America, we visit these technological masterpieces.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E09
Episode 9
Roller Coasters
1997-04-13 · 44mSince the turn of the 20th century, designers have competed to build them faster, taller, and steeper. But as technology pushes the envelope with flips, weightlessness, and more g-force than a jet, how many thrills can the human body take?
Watch progress · Not tracked
E10
Episode 10
Observatories: Stonehenge to Space Telescopes
1997-06-08 · 44mFrom Stonehenge to the Hubble Telescope, man has always been a species of stargazers. Unforgettable film footage and expert accounts reveal the facts of astronomy’s most mind-boggling discoveries.
Watch progress · Not tracked
E11
Episode 11
The Great Wall of China.
1997-06-22 · 44mWinding 6,000 kilometers through undulating mountains, it is said to be visible with the naked eye from the moon. But who called for the Great Wall's construction and how was it accomplished? Historians, engineers, and scientists explore one of the wonders of the ancient world.
Watch progress · Not trackedEpisode 12
Air Force One: A History
1997-01-01 · 44mA look at the planes that carried the president of the USA. With improvements in technology the planes could change for the security and safety of the leader of the USA.
Watch progress · Not trackedCast
Cast information is currently unavailable.
