8.4/106 votesLoading...#1 - September 11 1973 - The Other September 11 - The Military Coup D'Etat Against Allende
Season 2 Episode 20 - Aired 12/6/2020
Before the attacks of 2001 took its place, September 11 was associated with another global event: that of the overthrow of the socialist government of Popular Unity by the Chilean armed forces, supported by the American secret service, in 1973.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
8.3/107 votesLoading...#2 - 1911 - The Conquest of the South Pole
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 9/20/2020
In 1911, the expedition led by the Norwegian Amundsen reached the South Pole, beating the British Scott to the punch. The story of the conquest of the poles is the last chapter of a long epic, closing the age of the great scientific explorations that began at the end of the 18th century and became extraordinarily popular since the end of the 19th century.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
8.3/107 votesLoading...#3 - May 14 1610 - The Assassination of King Henry IV of France
Season 2 Episode 7 - Aired 9/27/2020
The assassination of Henri IV, peacemaking and reformist king, is as much a canonical scene in the History of France as it is a decisive break in political modernity. And first of all because it is a newsworthy event with an almost global dimension. We know that its spread to the “four corners of the world” is an indication of an open, if not connected, world.
Director: Pascal Goblot
Writer: N/A
8.1/1019 votesLoading...#4 - 24 September 622: The Hegira
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 3/17/2018
Muhammed’s first year in Medina, in year 622 of the Christian era, marks the beginning of the Muslim era and the birth of a new religion, civilisation, empire and calendar. The Hegira, Muhammed’s visit to the Mecca in Medina, also marks a major change : from then on, believers will pray in the direction of this new sacred place and no longer in the direction of Jerusalem.
Director: Pascal Goblot
Writer: N/A
8.1/108 votesLoading...#5 - 315 - The Donation of Constantine
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 9/6/2020
In the middle of the 8th century, the chancellery of the bishops of Rome was on the verge of becoming a spiritual heir to the Western emperors. That was when it committed the most important forgery in the history of the West.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
7.9/1015 votesLoading...#6 - 24 August 79: Destruction of Pompeii
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 4/7/2018
The catastrophe led to a vast interdisciplinary project : volcanology reveals the force of the eruption, archeology and the study of texts uncover new objects of daily life found in the remains of buildings and roadways, including graffiti on the walls… The eruption of the Vesuvio froze the town of Pompei forever. But can one be sure that all of these discoveries date back to the eruption ?
Director: Pascal Goblot
Writer: N/A
7.9/1015 votesLoading...#7 - 1347: The Beginning of the Black Death
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 4/14/2018
Did the first outbreaks occur in China or in the Caspian Sea ? Experts still argue. But how did the plague actually spread ? After many controversies, it seems that the rat flea was the major carrier of this disease.
Director: Pascal Goblot
Writer: N/A
7.8/1021 votesLoading...#8 - 33 AD: The Crucifixion of Jesus
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 3/17/2018
Christians believe Jesus is a man who preached and performed miracles and died on the cross but was resurrected. But for historians, the crucifixion is the least unreliable indicator of the Jesus' existence.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
7.8/1014 votesLoading...#9 - 20 June 1789: The Tennis Court Oath
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 3/31/2018
Because of its abstract nature, one tends to forget that the Tennis Court Oath was the key tipping point of the French Revolution, both from a symbolic and legal standpoint. On June 20, 1789, the deputies of the Third Estate, gathered in the hall of the Jeu de Paume at Versailles, swore together not to separate before having written a constitution to France. What happened that day at Versailles? Who are these men who made the people the sovereign of the French nation?
Director: Lucie Cariès
Writer: N/A
7.8/107 votesLoading...#10 - July 4 1776 - The American Declaration of Independence
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 11/1/2020
The American revolution is sometimes watered down to the point where it can become an almost silent revolution.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
7.8/107 votesLoading...#11 - September 7 1812 - The Battle of Borodino
Season 2 Episode 19 - Aired 12/6/2020
Apart from Tolstoy's readers, few people actually know about the battle of Borodino, fought some 100 km from Moscow. Even today it remains a landmark and symbol of the Russian resistance to the invader Napoleon Bonaparte.
Director: Thomas Sipp
Writer: N/A
7.7/108 votesLoading...#12 - August 25 1270 - King Louis IX Dies in Carthage
Season 2 Episode 9 - Aired 10/11/2020
On 25 August 1270 Louis IX died on the hill above Carthage. He was the only king in the history of France to die outside of national borders; even worse, on non-Christian soil. This day was a milestone in the career of a saint in the making. Even though the canonization of Saint Louis did not take place until 27 years later, in 1297.
Director: Benoît Laborde
Writer: N/A
7.7/107 votesLoading...#13 - -1348 – Akhenaten's Religious Revolution
Season 2 Episode 15 - Aired 11/15/2020
What if Blake and Mortimer had been right in the Mystery of the Great Pyramid? The history of the seventeen-year reign of Akhenaten, the 10th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, sometimes still seems to be a real historical mystery.
Director: Florence Tran
Writer: N/A
7.6/1016 votesLoading...#14 - 1492: The New World
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 3/24/2018
1492 was officially the year the Americas were 'discovered', marking the end of the Middle Ages. Yet it's possible that Christopher Columbus setting foot on a West Indian beach in October obscures a far more complex story.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
7.6/1016 votesLoading...#15 - 6 August, 1945: Hiroshima
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 4/7/2018
As opposed to the official discourse, the United States viewed the Hiroshima operation as a large-scale scientific experiment to force the Japanese to capitulate and avoid a Russian invasion of Japan. The first mass bombing of the History: maybe 70.000 sustained fatal injuries.
Director: Lucie Cariès
Writer: N/A
7.6/106 votesLoading...#16 - -52 - The Siege of Alesia
Season 2 Episode 2 - Aired 8/30/2020
The defeat of Alesia, in 52 BC, marked the end of the well-known “Gallic War”, immortalized by its winner, Julius Caesar. Year zero of our French national history, Alesia became the founding act of an improbable Gallic unit, personalized in the guise of an impossible hero, Vercingetorix.
Director: Thomas Sipp
Writer: N/A
7.5/1014 votesLoading...#17 - 1431: The Fall of Angkor
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 4/14/2018
The fascinating discovery of Angkor’s ruins conveys images of magnificence and splendour : we’d like to believe in the idea of a lost civilisation, as was the case for the Roman Empire. Yet, the study of the ruins of these monumental temples gives no sign of any brutal disappearance : monumental inscriptions.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
7.4/1016 votesLoading...#18 - 323 BC: Death of Alexander the Great
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 3/24/2018
Alexander’s death marks the loss of the greatest conquerors in History, the only man who managed to extend the Empire to Eurasia, the Mediterranean and India. Different versions of The Romance of Alexander were found in the Persian, Arabian and Latin regions of the world, but also in Mali.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
7.4/1016 votesLoading...#19 - 11 February 1990: Liberation of Nelson Mandela
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 3/31/2018
“I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people” : those are the first words pronounced by Nelson Mandela after his release from prison, after 27 years of incarceration. The event struck a chord worldwide, reminding us that South Africa, historically, was not only the first country to be colonised but also the last country to be decolonised.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
7.3/108 votesLoading...#20 - April 21 -753 - The Foundation of Rome
Season 2 Episode 1 - Aired 8/30/2020
April 21, 753 BC: The Roman world was certain of its foundation date for more than 1000 years. The mythical tale, Ab Urbe Condita, formalized by Titus Livius, was based on the struggle of its founding twins: sons to a god, Mars, and a virgin, Rhea Silvia. Archaeological research and historical critics are now convinced of two things: the city is older and the myth is more recent.
Director: Lucie Cariès
Writer: N/A
7.2/106 votesLoading...#21 - -399 - The Trial of Socrates
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 10/4/2020
Why was Socrates condemned by the city of Athens? Was the figure of the master thinker, who could subvert the youth, really a danger to a Greek democracy that was more idealized than it was understood?
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
7.0/106 votesLoading...#22 - The Revolutions of 1848
Season 2 Episode 11 - Aired 10/25/2020
The expression “Spring of Nations” inspired the more recent “Arab Spring” of 2011. Also known as the Springtime of the Peoples, the period was characterized by a cascade of national claims. However, these movements had difficulties in coordinating, for the simple reason that these movements first of all stemmed from a desire to draw definite borders, rather than to open them.
Director: Pascal Goblot
Writer: N/A
6.6/108 votesLoading...#23 - -18000 - The Lascaux Cave
Season 2 Episode 5 - Aired 9/13/2020
Despite its worldwide fame, Lascaux is no longer considered to be the “Palace of Versailles” or the “Sistine Chapel” of prehistory, and is no longer considered to be the place of invention or creation of art. What if Lascaux was actually from a “Middle Ages” of prehistoric and human art?
Director: Jean-Christophe Ribot
Writer: N/A
6.3/107 votesLoading...#24 - 1000 - The Millennium
Season 2 Episode 14 - Aired 11/8/2020
What happened in the year 1000? Nothing: this date does not correspond to any major event. The passage from the first to the second millennium was not really an event for those who lived through it. The infamous “Terrors of the Year 1000” were largely an invention of 19th century Romantic historiography.
Director: Denis van Waerebeke
Writer: N/A
6.2/106 votesLoading...#25 - October 17 1961 - The Paris Massacre
Season 2 Episode 10 - Aired 10/18/2020
On October 17, 1961, at the call of the FLN, 20 to 30,000 Algerians from France peacefully marched through Paris. 12,000 people were arrested. The round-up, organized by the police prefect Maurice Papon, was followed by very brutal abuses and numerous disappearances.
Director: Juliette Garcias
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Dates That Made History
Every episode of Dates That Made History ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Dates That Made History!
Historian Patrick Boucheron revisits the most important dates in history through the prisms of memory and collective imagination.
Genres:DocumentaryWar & Politics
Network:ARTE
Best Episodes Summary
"September 11 1973 - The Other September 11 - The Military Coup D'Etat Against Allende" is the best rated episode of "Dates That Made History". It scored 8.4/10 based on 6 votes. Directed by Denis van Waerebeke and written by N/A, it aired on 12/6/2020. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "1911 - The Conquest of the South Pole".