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The Worst Episodes of Dates That Made History

Every episode of Dates That Made History ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Dates That Made History!

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Historian Patrick Boucheron revisits the most important dates in history through the prisms of memory and collective imagination.

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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 1 - April 21 -753 - The Foundation of Rome
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    #1 - April 21 -753 - The Foundation of Rome

    S2:E1

    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:Unknown

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  2. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 2 - -52 - The Siege of Alesia
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    #2 - -52 - The Siege of Alesia

    S2:E2

    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:Unknown

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  3. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 3 - 315 - The Donation of Constantine
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    #3 - 315 - The Donation of Constantine

    S2:E3

    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:Unknown

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  4. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 4 - May 29 1453 - The Fall of Constantinople
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    #4 - May 29 1453 - The Fall of Constantinople

    S2:E4

    The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire – a power descending from none other than ancient Rome. Its symbolism has long since transcended its actual significance.

    Director:Benoît Laborde
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 5 - -18000 - The Lascaux Cave
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    #5 - -18000 - The Lascaux Cave

    S2:E5

    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:Unknown

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  6. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 6 - 1911 - The Conquest of the South Pole
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    #6 - 1911 - The Conquest of the South Pole

    S2:E6

    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:Unknown

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  7. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 7 - May 14 1610 - The Assassination of King Henry IV of France
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    #7 - May 14 1610 - The Assassination of King Henry IV of France

    S2:E7

    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:Unknown

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  8. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 8 - -399 - The Trial of Socrates
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    #8 - -399 - The Trial of Socrates

    S2:E8

    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:Unknown

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  9. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 9 - August 25 1270 - King Louis IX Dies in Carthage
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    #9 - August 25 1270 - King Louis IX Dies in Carthage

    S2:E9

    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:Unknown

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  10. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 10 - October 17 1961 - The Paris Massacre
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    #10 - October 17 1961 - The Paris Massacre

    S2:E10

    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:Unknown

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  11. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 11 - The Revolutions of 1848
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    #11 - The Revolutions of 1848

    S2:E11

    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:Unknown

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  12. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 12 - October 1860 - The Sacking of the Summer Palace in Beijing
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    #12 - October 1860 - The Sacking of the Summer Palace in Beijing

    S2:E12

    The capture and looting of Emperor Qing Xianfeng's two summer palaces in Beijing (Peking) was the culmination of the Second Opium War; pitting the colonial powers of France and the United Kingdom against China. Yet it was also a double-edged sword.

    Director:Juliette Garcias
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 13 - July 4 1776 - The American Declaration of Independence
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    #13 - July 4 1776 - The American Declaration of Independence

    S2:E13

    The American revolution is sometimes watered down to the point where it can become an almost silent revolution.

    Director:Denis van Waerebeke
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 14 - 1000 - The Millennium
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    #14 - 1000 - The Millennium

    S2:E14

    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:Unknown

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  15. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 15 - -1348 – Akhenaten's Religious Revolution
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    #15 - -1348 – Akhenaten's Religious Revolution

    S2:E15

    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:Unknown

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  16. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 16 - 1324 - Mansa Musa's Pilgrimage to Mecca
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    #16 - 1324 - Mansa Musa's Pilgrimage to Mecca

    S2:E16

    The Arab chronicles of the fourteenth century bristle with a rumor: from the farthest lands to the west of the known world, across the Sahara desert, a black emperor and his court crossed the lands of Islam on a pilgrimage to Mecca, staying in what was at the time the capital of the Islamic world, Cairo.

    Director:Lucie Cariès
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 17 - 751 - The Battle of Talas and Height of the Tang Dynasty
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    #17 - 751 - The Battle of Talas and Height of the Tang Dynasty

    S2:E17

    In the middle of the 8th century AD, in the heart of Central Asia, on the borders of present-day Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, a battle without victors was fought.

    Director:Juliette Garcias
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 18 - April 21 1526 - Babur Takes Over India at Panipat
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    #18 - April 21 1526 - Babur Takes Over India at Panipat

    S2:E18

    On April 21, 1526, the little king of Kabul Babur boldly took northern India from the Sultan of Delhi, Ibrahim Lodi. With his victory, the time of the second Islamization begins, which will spread to the shores of Indonesia.

    Director:Juliette Garcias
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 19 - September 7 1812 - The Battle of Borodino
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    #19 - September 7 1812 - The Battle of Borodino

    S2:E19

    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:Unknown

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  20. Dates That Made History Season 2 Episode 20 - September 11 1973 - The Other September 11 - The Military Coup D'Etat Against Allende
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    #20 - September 11 1973 - The Other September 11 - The Military Coup D'Etat Against Allende

    S2:E20

    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:Unknown

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  21. Dates That Made History Season 3 Episode 1 - International Workers' Day
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    #21 - International Workers' Day

    S3:E1

    May 1st, far more than just "Labor Day," has its roots in workers' struggles that began in Paris in 1889. Its symbols, such as the red triangle, representing the equal distribution of time in a day, or the hawthorn, with its more tragic connotations, are emblems of a dream of emancipation but also of disillusionment. Even today, its message resonates in the streets around the world.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Dates That Made History Season 3 Episode 2 - 212 - Constitutio Antoniniana
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    #22 - 212 - Constitutio Antoniniana

    S3:E2

    In 212 AD, the imperial law known as the Edict of Caracalla extended Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the Empire. It is a fundamental law of the late Roman Empire, establishing the core principles of identity and citizenship. What does this event reveal about 3rd-century Rome? With Audrey Bertrand.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Dates That Made History Season 3 Episode 3 - 1816 - Frankenstein
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    #23 - 1816 - Frankenstein

    S3:E3

    Frankenstein's creature, born from Mary Shelley's imagination during the summer of 1816 on the shores of Lake Geneva, embodies our fear of uncontrolled scientific progress leading to the dehumanization of the world and of life. How can a founding myth of modernity remain relevant?

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Dates That Made History Season 3 Episode 4 - 1521 - The Conquest of Tenochtitlán
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    #24 - 1521 - The Conquest of Tenochtitlán

    S3:E4

    On August 13, 1521, Tenochtitlán, the capital of the Aztec Empire, fell to Hernán Cortés after a months-long siege. With its conquest, the Spanish conquistador not only conquered one of the world's largest cities, but also the spiritual center of a highly developed civilization. The conquest is not only part of Mexican history, but also of Europe's colonial conscience.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Dates That Made History Season 3 Episode 5 - June 30, 1936 - Haile Selassie's Speech before the League of Nations
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    #25 - June 30, 1936 - Haile Selassie's Speech before the League of Nations

    S3:E5

    When Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia denounced the Italian invasion of his country before the League of Nations General Assembly on June 30, 1936, he called upon nations to uphold their obligations under international law. However, the silence of the major powers turned the Ethiopian crisis into a scene of political capitulation.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"April 21 -753 - The Foundation of Rome" is the worst rated episode of "Dates That Made History". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Lucie Cariès and written by Unknown, it aired on 8/30/2020. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "-52 - The Siege of Alesia".