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The Best Episodes of Modern Marvels Season 11

Every episode of Modern Marvels Season 11 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Modern Marvels Season 11!

Binge this in 18h 20m•Peaking at 8.5/10

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

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 1 - Guns of the Russian Military
    6.7/10(13 votes)

    #1 - Guns of the Russian Military

    S11:E1

    Forged in Europe’s shadow, Russian small arms were once dismissed as crude copies. Often lacking the finish of Western counterparts, Russian guns have been battle-proven worldwide, with their emphasis on robustness and simplicity of design. Review the long history of Russian small arms–from Peter the Great to the Cold War.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 2 - The F-15
    8.5/10(13 votes)

    #2 - The F-15

    S11:E2

    Built to put U.S. pilots back in charge of the skies, the F-15 Eagle proved its superiority in Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In a dogfight, it can maneuver against the toughest fighters and climb to Mt. Everest’s height in 60 seconds. One of the toughest planes in the world, one fortunate F-15 pilot flew back to base after losing a wing! Featuring interviews with Operation Iraqi Freedom pilots and footage that puts the viewer right in the cockpit of the world’s greatest fighter aircraft.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 3 - The Submarines
    7.6/10(17 votes)

    #3 - The Submarines

    S11:E3

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 4 - Pacific Coast Highway
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #4 - Pacific Coast Highway

    S11:E4

    For 25 years, construction crews dug, blasted, tunneled, and bridged their way up America's West Coast along the California, Oregon, and Washington shoreline to build the Pacific Coast Highway. Historians, road and bridge engineers, and experts relate this story of perseverance, primal machines, convict labor, and engineering brilliance as we tour its scenic route. And we look at the latest technologies used to keeping it running despite floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, and landslides.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 5 - Gangster Guns
    7.6/10(18 votes)

    #5 - Gangster Guns

    S11:E5

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 6 - Ship of Gold
    7.9/10(21 votes)

    #6 - Ship of Gold

    S11:E6

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 7 - Racetrack Tech
    7.8/10(21 votes)

    #7 - Racetrack Tech

    S11:E7

    A look at the “science of safety” as applied to Indy or NASCAR racing. From tires to roll-cages to hood flaps, we examine the incredible technology that’s helping prevent crashes and enabling drivers to survive the inevitable ones. See how today’s innovative minds digitally reconstruct crashes and design new technology that keeps pushing the limits of racing. The drivers may grab the glory, but they wouldn’t dare get behind the wheel if it weren’t for the guys in white lab coats.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 8 - Oil Fire Fighting
    8.1/10(17 votes)

    #8 - Oil Fire Fighting

    S11:E8

    When a burning gusher shoots flames into the air, only a handful of men know how to snuff out the monster. Fighting fire with fire, they place explosives around the flames to blow it out, or douse it with tons of water. The modern world depends on these risk takers, yet their industry began less than 100 years ago. Join us for a scorching hour as we review the rich history of this “breed apart”, and look at modern heat-resistant clothing, new technology, and regulations that protect oil firefighters.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 9 - Command Central
    8.3/10(14 votes)

    #9 - Command Central

    S11:E9

    “Centcom” in Doha, Qatar represents everything a modern military command post can be with the most sophisticated military information systems–from video-conferencing to real-time frontline satellite communication. From this forward command in the heart of the Middle East, the U.S. ran the Iraq War. But command posts have not always been so technologically advanced as we see when we delve into the history of military communication–from tattooed messenger to satellite technology.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 10 - Front Line Reporting
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #10 - Front Line Reporting

    S11:E10

    In March 2003, embedded civilian correspondents rolled along with the U.S. military convoy as it invaded Iraq. Equipped with satellite and video phones, digital cameras, and lightweight satellite uplinks, frontline reporters dispatched the news of war as it happened. Reports of war are as old as war itself; once the exclusive province of soldier-scribes like Julius Caesar, the accounts were usually written after the fact. Join us as we review the history and preview the future of frontline reporting.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 11 - Nature's Engineers
    6.6/10(43 votes)

    #11 - Nature's Engineers

    S11:E11

    Towering skyscrapers buzzing with life, intricate tunnels connecting entire communities, mighty dams that tame the wildest rivers–this is construction animal style! Take a walk on the wild side as we investigate common creatures seemingly designed to alter their habitat and remake the world. Our ability to learn and capacity for abstract thought may separate us from beavers, honeybees, birds, termites, and spiders, but these engineers of nature remind us that we’re merely the latest in a long line.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 12 - Bible Tech
    8.3/10(23 votes)

    #12 - Bible Tech

    S11:E12

    Arguably the most influential book ever written, the Bible provides a glimpse into the origins of ancient technology and its uses. We examine the technological plausibility of biblical structures and machines–including the Tower of Babylon, the Temple of Jerusalem, ancient bronze and iron forging, and shipbuilding skills that might have been employed to build Noah’s Ark.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 13 - The Power Grid
    8.2/10(12 votes)

    #13 - The Power Grid

    S11:E13

    The largest manmade machine ever created, the electric power grid traverses the nation from California to Maine, Florida to Washington State. This huge complex of power plants, substations, and transmission lines continually supplies power to millions of customers. In an electrifying hour, we explore the grid’s origin, from Edison’s Pearl Street Station in New York to the post-WWII “Golden Age” to deregulation and restructuring that directly impacted California’s energy crisis in the 21st century.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 14 - Bathroom Tech
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Bathroom Tech

    S11:E14

    From tub to toilet to toothpaste, here's everything you ever wanted to know about the most used and least discussed room in the house. From the first home bathrooms in ancient India, Roman latrines, and bizarre Victorian-era bath contraptions, to modern luxurious master bathroom suites, we trace the history of bathing, showering, and oral hygiene. And we reveal the messy truth about what was used before toilet paper–brainchild of the Scott Brothers of Philadelphia–and why astronauts wear diapers.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 15 - Engineering Disasters 6
    7.9/10(23 votes)

    #15 - Engineering Disasters 6

    S11:E15

    An in-depth look at the modern era's most complex, deadly, and controversial engineering failures. With the aid of 3-D animation, forensic experts, and footage of disasters, we seek to understand what went wrong and how mishap led to remedy. Stories include: the Marines' AV-8 Harrier "Jump Jet"; the Ford Explorer/Firestone rollovers; fire on the Piper Alpha offshore oil rig; derailment of a high-speed train in Germany; and computer errors that brought the world to the brink of accidental nuclear war.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 16 - F-18 Hornet
    7.9/10(16 votes)

    #16 - F-18 Hornet

    S11:E16

    One aircraft in the U.S. arsenal best typifies the will to win. Using the latest and most sophisticated computerized technology, the F-18 Hornet is now one of the foremost fighters of the 21st Century. Once a plane that nobody wanted, today it’s the principal Navy and Marine fighter-attacker–with a flick of a switch, it transforms from bomber to fighter. Interviews with pilots and crews, combined with archive film and color reenactments, take you inside the cockpit of this multi-role aircraft.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 17 - Hydraulics
    7.6/10(14 votes)

    #17 - Hydraulics

    S11:E17

    The machines that helped build our world have been powered by hydraulics, a compact system of valves, hoses, and pumps that transmits forces from point to point through fluid. This basic concept of powerful force transmission through fluid provides the drive for most machines today. From the ancient Roman mastery of the aqueduct to Universal Studios, a veritable hydraulic theme park, we see how hydraulics power industry, keep planes flying, and make that 3-point-turn a U-turn.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 18 - The Subs of WWII
    7.7/10(16 votes)

    #18 - The Subs of WWII

    S11:E18

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 19 - Plane Crashes
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #19 - Plane Crashes

    S11:E19

    When the most sophisticated machines fail, they do so horrifically, plunging to earth with a terrifying loss of life. From the beginning of manned flight, plane crashes have plagued the aviation industry and terrorized the public. But the truth is, passengers have never been safer because of the brightest minds, best technology, and billions of dollars focused on preventing air disasters. Using famous crashes like TWA Flight 800, we examine safety improvement and what still needs to be done.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 20 - D-Day Tech
    8.4/10(14 votes)

    #20 - D-Day Tech

    S11:E20

    Modern Marvels shines the spotlight on the array of inventions that made the epic invasion possible, telling the stories of their development and following them into combat in the greatest invasion in history. From parachuting mannequins to pole charges, amphibious DUWKS trucks to Rhino Barges, D-Day tech is a fascinating look at the hardware that helped free Europe from Hitler's grasp.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 21 - A-10 Tankbuster
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - A-10 Tankbuster

    S11:E21

    Nicknamed the 'Warthog', the A-10 Tankbuster is one of the U.S. military's most prolific air support fighters. Focuses on its design, production, and life saving record on the battlefield.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 22 - Rubber
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - Rubber

    S11:E22

    The story of rubber is more than tires, toys, gloves, and gum–it’s imbedded in modern life, from the controversial Challenger O-rings to seals on hydrogen fuel cells. A gigantic worldwide synthetic rubber industry creates exotic elastomers for high-tech applications, while China’s rapid industrialization plays havoc with the world’s natural rubber supply. From the ancient Olmecs of Yucat n, who knew the secret of vulcanization, to modern processing plants, we trace rubber’s history and future.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 23 - City Water
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - City Water

    S11:E23

    When you tap your faucet does clean, pure water flow? Can your city supply enough water for industry, firefighting, and street cleaning? U.S. public water-supply systems serve nearly 99 percent of the population, yet few users know how the system of aqueducts, pipes, and pumps work. Learn the colorful history of the water systems in Chicago, New York City, and Los Angeles when we scour the past and look to the future, including desalination plants that turn seawater into drinking water.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 24 - Greatest Movies Gadgets
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - Greatest Movies Gadgets

    S11:E24

    Cars that fly and drive themselves. Spiffy spy tools that see under doors and through walls. Water “Harleys” that fly above and below the surface. Only in the movies, right? Hollywood may have dreamt these things up, but regular guys are making them for real as we see in a 2-hour special combining clips of recent blockbusters and hilarious old movie serials, along with a look at real-life creations, including intelligence-gathering “insects” and undersea robots. Gadgets lovers beware your bank accounts!

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Modern Marvels Season 11 Episode 25 - Robots
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Robots

    S11:E25

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 11 Ratings Summary

"Guns of the Russian Military" is the best rated episode of "Modern Marvels" season 11. It scored 6.7/10 based on 13 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 1/16/2004. This episode is rated 1.8 points higher than the second-best, "The F-15".