8.2/1046 votes#1 - America 1900
Season 11 Episode 1 - Aired 11/18/1998
Over one hundred years ago, Americans looked forward to the uncertainty of a new century with a mixture of confidence, optimism and anxiety. Following a range of characters from famous public figures to ordinary citizens, this chronicle of a year in the life of America examines the forces of change that would come to shape the twentieth century.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.7/1041 votes#2 - Race for the Superbomb
Season 11 Episode 2 - Aired 1/11/1999
At the dawn of the Cold War, the United States initiated a top secret program in New Mexico to build a weapon even more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Japan. A world away, on the frozen steppes of Siberia, the Soviet Union began a similar effort. A web of spies and scientists, intrigue and deception marked the race to develop the hydrogen bomb, a weapon that would change the world.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.0/1047 votes#3 - Hoover Dam
Season 11 Episode 3 - Aired 1/18/1999
Rising more than 700 feet above the raging waters of the Colorado River, it was called one of the greatest engineering works in history. Hoover Dam, built during the Great Depression, drew men desperate for work to a remote and rugged canyon near Las Vegas. There they struggled against heat, choking dust and perilous heights to build a colossus of concrete that brought electricity and water to millions and transformed the American Southwest.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/1019 votes#4 - Alone on the Ice
Season 11 Episode 4 - Aired 2/8/1999
In June 1934, Richard Byrd lay alone in a small hut within the polar ice, hovering near death. No one before Byrd had ever experienced winter in the interior of the Antarctic. In an age of heroes, he was one of America's greatest. An explorer, aviation pioneer and scientist, Byrd was also an egotist, a risk-taker, and, his critics claim, a fraud who sometimes took credit for the accomplishments of others.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.6/1016 votes#5 - Rescue at Sea
Season 11 Episode 5 - Aired 2/15/1999
On January 23, 1909, two ships -- one carrying Italian immigrants to New York City, the other, American tourists to Europe -- collided in dense fog off Nantucket Island. In a moment, more than 1,500 lives became dependent on a new technology, wireless telegraphy, and on Jack Binns, a twenty-six-year-old wireless operator on board one of the ships. A story of courage, luck, and heroism at sea.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.3/1059 votes#6 - Meltdown at Three Mile Island
Season 11 Episode 6 - Aired 2/22/1999
At 4:00am on March 28, 1979, a reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power facility near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania suddenly overheated, releasing radioactive gasses. During the ensuing tension-packed week, scientists scrambled to prevent the nightmare of a meltdown, officials rushed in to calm public fears, and thousands of residents fled to emergency shelters. Equipment failure, human error, and bad luck would conspire to create America's worst nuclear accident.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.4/1014 votes#7 - Lost in the Grand Canyon
Season 11 Episode 7 - Aired 4/5/1999
In the summer of 1869, a one-armed Civil War veteran led the first expedition down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. John Wesley Powell's epic journey into the unknown established the Grand Canyon as a national landmark, and made him a hero. But when he used his fame to argue against the overdevelopment of the West, Powell was attacked.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
7.1/1062 votes#8 - MacArthur (1): Destiny
Season 11 Episode 8 - Aired 5/17/1999
Part 1 of a two-part biography of Douglas MacArthur takes "America's first soldier" from his brilliant WWI service into WWII, when his knack for alienating superiors hindered his "return" to the Philippines. Interviewed: biographer Geoffrey Perret; historian Stephen Ambrose; Gen. Vernon Walters (USA Ret.).
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votes#9 - MacArthur (2): The Politics of War
Season 11 Episode 9 - Aired 5/18/1999
The conclusion of "MacArthur" focuses on his "return" to the Philippines in 1944, his years as Supreme Allied Commander in Japan after the war and his controversial command in Korea. Interviewed: onetime MacArthur aide Alexander Haig; historian David McCullough
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
6.9/1047 votes#10 - Fly Girls
Season 11 Episode 10 - Aired 5/24/1999
During WWII, more than a thousand women signed up to fly with the U.S. military. Wives, mothers, actresses and debutantes who joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS) test-piloted aircraft, ferried planes and logged 60 million miles in the air. Thirty-eight women died in service. But the opportunity to play a critical role in the war effort was abruptly canceled by politics and resentment, and it would be 30 years before women would again break the sex barrier in the skies.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of American Experience Season 11
Every episode of American Experience Season 11 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of American Experience Season 11!
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.
Genre:Documentary
Network:PBS
Season 11 Ratings Summary
"America 1900" is the best rated episode of "American Experience" season 11. It scored 8.2/10 based on 46 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 11/18/1998. This episode is rated 0.5 points higher than the second-best, "Race for the Superbomb".