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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!

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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 Worst Episode
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    Modern Marvels Season 1 Episode 4 - Cruise Ships
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #1 - Cruise Ships

    S1:E4

    A large machine turned water city, cruise ships are exciting and new.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Modern Marvels Season 2 Episode 3 - Las Vegas
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #2 - Las Vegas

    S2:E3

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Modern Marvels Season 2 Episode 8 - Ocean Liners
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #3 - Ocean Liners

    S2:E8

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Modern Marvels Season 3 Episode 9 - Paving America
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #4 - Paving America

    S3:E9

    The story of the construction of our grand national highway system, from its beginnings in 1912 (it was conceived by auto and headlight tycoons) to its completion in 1984 (when the last stoplight was removed–and buried).

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Modern Marvels Season 4 Episode 3 - Aqueducts
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #5 - Aqueducts

    S4:E3

    Many rivers quenched the thirst of millions in the American west and around the world. Without these aqueducts, some of the earth’s largest cities would turn into gigantic ghost towns. Their technology has been in use for over two thousand years. But today these engineering marvels cost billions of dollars to build, requiring thousands of men to toil for years on end. Aqueducts have made some men famous and others fabulously wealthy. In Los Angeles one man’s vision took one hundred thousand men to complete and a great city was truly born. In Northern California the most famous conservationist of our time waged the political fight of his life in an attempt to save one of nature’s most spectacular valleys from San Francisco’s demand for more water.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Modern Marvels Season 4 Episode 12 - Air Force One: A History
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #6 - Air Force One: A History

    S4:E12

    A look at the planes that carried the president of the USA. With improvements in technology the planes could change for the security and safety of the leader of the USA.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Modern Marvels Season 5 Episode 1 - Polio Vaccine
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #7 - Polio Vaccine

    S5:E1

    When “poliomyelitis” swept the nation, thousands died or were disabled before American ingenuity, trial and error, and blatant acts of desperation led to one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs in history. We’ll see how polio shaped the vision of FDR, and catapulted the young unknown doctor Jonas Salk to international celebrity.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Modern Marvels Season 5 Episode 18 - Battlefield Engineering.
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #8 - Battlefield Engineering.

    S5:E18

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 1 - Demolition
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #9 - Demolition

    S6:E1

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 2 - The Atlantic Wall
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #10 - The Atlantic Wall

    S6:E2

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 10 - Plastics
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #11 - Plastics

    S6:E10

    Plastics are everywhere–the home, the workplace, the car, the human body, outer space, and most conspicuously, the garbage heap and landfill. Artificially created test-tube material, plastic can’t be returned to nature. Will we drown in a sea of plastic? Join us as we review this protean substance’s past and future.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 12 - Extreme Sports Gadgets
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #12 - Extreme Sports Gadgets

    S6:E12

    To run faster, jump higher, and play longer–the ultimate goal of all athletes. But when training runs its course, science and technology jump in. Explore the history and technological advances in everything from athletic shoes to football gear. And leap into a future filled with radar-enhanced baseballs and virtual-reality stadiums.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 13 - Bombs
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #13 - Bombs

    S6:E13

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 16 - Stereos
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #14 - Stereos

    S6:E16

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 17 - Mail Delivery
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #15 - Mail Delivery

    S6:E17

    Through rain, snow, heat, or gloom of night, we expect postmen to deliver the mail. The U.S. Post Office handles over 603-million pieces of mail daily. Yet it represents only 43% of the world’s total mail volume. From ancient Sumerians to Pony Express, from airmail to E-mail, we follow the long journey of mail.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 18 - Clocks
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #16 - Clocks

    S6:E18

    Does anybody really know what time it is? Set your clocks as we explore the relativity of time from antiquity–when man attempted to chart time with methods ranging from shadows, candles, and water–to today’s atomic clock system–accurate to within one second every two-million years.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 20 - Physical Fitness
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #17 - Physical Fitness

    S6:E20

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 31 - Baseball Parks
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #18 - Baseball Parks

    S6:E31

    Step up to the plate and play ball as we take you on a tour of those amazing edifices of the national pastime–baseball stadiums! From the sandlots and wooden ballparks of the 1800 and 1900s to the monolithic multipurpose stadiums of today, baseball parks have grown into technological wonders that pull in and cost millions.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 37 - Simulators
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #19 - Simulators

    S6:E37

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 42 - Emergency Room
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #20 - Emergency Room

    S6:E42

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Modern Marvels Season 6 Episode 48 - Lost Marvels
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #21 - Lost Marvels

    S6:E48

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Modern Marvels Season 7 Episode 1 - The City Beneath Our Feet
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #22 - The City Beneath Our Feet

    S7:E1

    Beneath every modern city, hidden by manhole covers, drains, and ventilation grates – lies a labyrinth of tunnels, wires, conduits and pipes. They deliver power to our homes, water to our faucets, messages to our loved ones and sometimes – they even move us. Workers create the secret world beneath our feet using everything from shovels, pickaxes and dynamite to multi-million dollar tunneling equipment. The modern subterranean worker, or as they like to be called, “Sandhogs” use time tested methods as well as modern inventions, such as airlocks and computerized mapping techniques to avoid pitfalls and get the job done in the city beneath the street.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Modern Marvels Season 7 Episode 2 - Tower Bridge
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Tower Bridge

    S7:E2

    Join us as we span the history of one of the world’s most famous bridges, London’s Tower Bridge. The world’s largest bascule bridge (a counterweighted drawbridge), when it was erected in 1892, it became a postcard image of London. The famed gothic towers of this pioneering steel structure, sheathed in stone, are purely decorative.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Modern Marvels Season 7 Episode 6 - Bridges.
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - Bridges.

    S7:E6

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Modern Marvels Season 7 Episode 7 - Prisons
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - Prisons

    S7:E7

    “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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Cruise Ships" is the worst rated episode of "Modern Marvels". It scored /10 based on 0 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 3/20/1994. This episode scored 0.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Las Vegas".