NaN/100 votesLoading...#1 - Cruise Ships
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 3/20/1994
A large machine turned water city, cruise ships are exciting and new.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#2 - Las Vegas
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 1/15/1995
Rising from a stretch of desert with nothing but remoteness to recommend it, Las Vegas became a glittering wonderland for dreamers. We’ll take a look at the forces that made Las Vegas a place unlike any on earth.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#3 - Ocean Liners
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 6/4/1995
With technological advances, our ancient struggle against the sea has turned into a luxurious holiday. Come aboard for a peek at the elegant life on these floating resorts.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#4 - Battlefield Engineering.
Season 5 Episode 18 - Aired 2/8/1998
Meet some of the most important, yet least-recognized, warriors–the battlefield engineers who lay the groundwork for oncoming conflicts. We'll cover combat engineering from ancient Rome to modern-day Iraq, and take a look at the "Next Big Thing".
Director: N/A
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#5 - Demolition
Season 6 Episode 1 - Aired 7/27/1998
While a civilization’s greatness is reflected in the achievements of architects and engineers, equally impressive are spectacular acts of destruction throughout history. The cycle of construction and destruction reflects the shifting values of any given era. We’ll trace the evolution of planned destruction from ancient to modern-day.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#6 - The Atlantic Wall
Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 8/3/1998
The Atlantic Wall explores the construction of the shore fortifications built by the Nazis during World War II. We highlight the logistics of construction, types of fortifications, weapons, and obstacles used in the wall. The Nazis attempted to fortify 3,000 miles of occupied European coastline before the Allies launched thier attack on occupied Europe. Finally the Allied D-Day invasion planning and execution, with its associated propaganda and deception, are detailed.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#7 - Bombs
Season 6 Episode 13 - Aired 12/23/1998
Bombs…the most feared and powerful weapon in any nation’s arsenal. What began as incendiary devices in the 7th century has evolved into weapons that can literally blow the human race off the face of the earth! From the use of diseased carcasses flung over castle walls to Greek Fire to today’s smart bombs, we review the evolution of bombs.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#8 - Stereos
Season 6 Episode 16 - Aired 1/25/1999
The ability to transmit sound in stereo transformed the music of life into a rich symphony of sound. For over 100 years, enthusiasts and scientists have worked to create the ideal listening experience. From Thomas Edison’s early phonograph to today’s digital revolution, we examine this multi-billion dollar business.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#9 - Physical Fitness
Season 6 Episode 20 - Aired 3/15/1999
Meet the Strong Men and Women who go beyond mere fitness to pursue major muscle mass–from ancient Greeks, to performers in the 1800s astounding audiences with feats of strength, to the body builders of California’s Muscle Beach! Lou Ferrigno and other stars share stories of the pursuit of muscle. Also looks at the effect of steroids.
Director: N/A
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#10 - Simulators
Season 6 Episode 37 - Aired 10/11/1999
Though “simulations” date back to cave paintings, devices for interacting with “synthetic realities” are a recent invention. See how simulators are used as training tools for nearly every profession today where hands-on experience is too costly or dangerous–from the 1929 Link Pilot Trainer to simulated virtual realities.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#11 - Emergency Room
Season 6 Episode 42 - Aired 11/8/1999
Emergency room medicine has only been a recognized specialty since 1989, and it took close to two millennia to get to this point. We’ll examine advances that led to the modern emergency room–from the Byzantine’s establishment of the first hospitals around 1050 A.D. to today’s telemedicine. The prognosis for its future looks good.
Director: N/A
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#12 - Lost Marvels
Season 6 Episode 48 - Aired 12/14/1999
The very spirit that drives man to dream up ever more fantastic creations can also conceive changes that destroy old treasures. We look at great artistic and engineering feats that fell prey to the ravages of nature, the wastes of war, and the indifference of booming metropolises.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#13 - Bridges.
Season 7 Episode 6 - Aired 2/29/2000
From amazing ancient Roman aqueducts and arch bridges, romantic Renaissance spans, 19th-century railroad crossovers, to monumental marvels of our time, bridges played a key role in the human quest to connect and unify. We'll trace the history of bridge types, including suspension, arch, beam, truss, and cantilever designs.
Director: N/A
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#14 - Prisons
Season 7 Episode 7 - Aired 3/6/2000
“All hope abandon, ye who enter here!” This sentiment has permeated the masonry and clanging bars of prisons built throughout the ages. We’ll see how the philosophy and architecture of today’s American prisons emerged from the sewer cells and castles and dungeons of ancient Rome, medieval Europe, and 18th-century England.
Director: N/A
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#15 - Camping Technology
Season 7 Episode 13 - Aired 5/25/2000
As camping technology develops, it provides greater access to diverse outdoor environments. The earliest camping technology was developed out of necessity. Prehistoric man fashioned rudimentary backpacks and clothing out of bark and animal hide. The explorers and pioneers pushed the boundaries of the West in covered wagons, cooking over open fires, and living off the land. When men headed off to war, they returned with new camping gear and lightweight materials, which enabled further exploration. Today’s Himalayan mountaineers depend on carefully engineered clothing, tents, and boots to reach the highest peaks in the world.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#16 - Video Games: Behind The Fun
Season 7 Episode 25 - Aired 9/12/2000
A fun-filled glimpse into the not so distant history of video games. Since inception, the gaming industry has been a driving force in computer technology and video games are one of today’s dominant entertainment mediums. We’ll talk to creators of many of the most popular games in an hour packed with thrilling visuals from the virtual world of video games.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#17 - Assembly Lines
Season 7 Episode 29 - Aired 10/16/2000
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, an assembly line is an “industrial arrangement of machines, equipment, and workers for continuous flow of workpieces in mass production operations.” While the basic principles of the assembly line technique have not changed in one hundred years, the people and the products that exploit the technique have. Throughout the hour, we will hear from four generations of assembly line workers who will provide some perspective, heart and soul for this revolutionary production technique.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#18 - Suez Canal
Season 7 Episode 30 - Aired 10/17/2000
Since the ancient pharaohs’ time, the Isthmus of Suez has been the gateway to trade between East and West. It’s thought that the pharaohs could connect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean using a system of small canals; but the desert sands buried them. Not until mid-19th century did mankind readdress the problem. Since its completion in 1869, the Suez Canal has been a vital link in world trade and a point of controversy in geopolitics. Today, more than 20,000 ships transit the canal yearly.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#19 - London Underground
Season 7 Episode 31 - Aired 10/18/2000
Deep beneath London runs a complex network of many miles of tunnels; and, while traffic congests the roads above, hundreds of trains run through these iron and concrete arteries, carrying millions of people into, around, and out of the City. Here is the story of the “Tube”, the world’s first underground railway, which holds London together–from its opening in January 1863, through its deep-level expansion and electrification, to the fully automated trains of the 21st Century’s Jubilee Line.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#20 - Power Plants.
Season 7 Episode 35 - Aired 11/6/2000
Mankind controls the environment in a variety of ways, whether by capturing the force of a river, harnessing the power in coal or oil, controlling a nuclear reaction, or transforming the light of the sun into electricity. From Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla to Enrico Fermi and Albert Einstein, the world's greatest minds have enabled us to acquire our light, heat, and power with a simple flip of the switch. Join us for an electrifying hour as we review the foundation for all of this–power plants.
Director: N/A
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#21 - Line of Defense
Season 7 Episode 38 - Aired 12/5/2000
Fortification evolved as man tried to defend his territory from attack. From fenced-in hills to walled cities to impenetrable forts, strongholds of the past echo the history of battles for territorial control. In a 2-hour special, we examine various historical defenses, including France’s Maginot Line, a defensive string of forts with enfilading firepower; the Atlantic Wall, 3,000 miles of shore fortifications built by Germany in WWII; and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
Director: N/A
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#22 - Proving Grounds
Season 8 Episode 2 - Aired 1/16/2001
Where can you fire a missile without scaring the neighbors? Or lift millions of pounds in pursuit of a couple of ounces of gold? On a proving ground, of course, where performance is the only thing that matters. Because in the heat of battle or head-to-head competition, no excuses can be given. We’ll visit the US military’s Cold Regions Testing Center in Alaska and desert proving grounds in Arizona, the Olympic Complex in Colorado, and the now-defunct Packard proving grounds in Michigan.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#23 - Survival Technology
Season 8 Episode 5 - Aired 2/7/2001
In an historic survey of man’s adaptation to killer environmental conditions, we travel to the desert, the Arctic, the sea, jungle, and space, charting the body’s physiological responses to extreme circumstances such as frostbite, heatstroke, and hypothermia. We talk with military survival experts and learn about the latest cutting-edge survival gear, as well as the equipment aboard the space station, and look to the future, when nano-technology will create a new type of technology.
Director: N/A
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NaN/100 votesLoading...#24 - Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel
Season 8 Episode 6 - Aired 2/12/2001
Named one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern age, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel connects Virginia proper with its easternmost landmass. Stretching 17 miles across the historic Chesapeake Bay, the structure represents a man-made boundary between the Bay and the Atlantic. The structure includes two 2-lane highways supported mostly by trestles, four man-made and one natural island, two truss bridges, and two revolutionary sunken tube tunnels.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
NaN/100 votesLoading...#25 - Garage Gadgets
Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 2/22/2001
The household garage serves as the at-home sanctuary for the modern American male. Most men consider themselves to be “handy around the house”. Fathers and husbands see it as their role to provide for and take care of the family’s home and possessions. From lawn care products to snow removal and outdoor cooking, the Garage Gadgets of Do-It-Yourselfers have evolved over decades to face the ever-changing challenges of maintaining a home.
Director: N/A
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The Worst Episodes of Modern Marvels
Every episode of Modern Marvels ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of 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...
Genre:Documentary
Worst Episodes Summary
"Cruise Ships" is the worst rated episode of "Modern Marvels". It scored N/A/10 based on 0 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 3/20/1994. This episode scored NaN points lower than the second lowest rated, "Las Vegas".