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The idea of being a cowboy exemplified freedom for many Americans. Yet few of us know that the first cowboys were actually enslaved Black men who looked after cattle herds in the ranches of Texas. Historians chronicle the untold stories of Black settlers who journeyed to the Wild West in search of freedom and opportunity, examining their roles as marshals, cowboys, soldiers and more.
An exclusive tour of the CIA's private museum reveals some of the agency's most remarkable spycraft and the daring missions on which they were used. The CIA Museum opens its doors and vaults to reveal the top secret stories behind agency documents, "Argo" artifacts, a Soviet helicopter used in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and more.
Witness the events--both political and romantic--that turned George Washington from British loyalist to American icon. Before there was Martha Washington, there was Mary Philipse, a British loyalist who was not only George Washington's secret love but the key to his destiny. At least that's the legend. But is their story based on romantic fantasy or historical fact? Did their doomed relationship lead to his rebellion against Britain? And why did Revolutionary politicians condemn Mary to death? Join us as we search for the truth behind the rumors, uncovering a story about a young soldier who wanted so badly to be British and transformed into a symbol of America.
Did two female spies from Virginia actually help the North win the Civil War? A Virginia society lady established an underground Northern spy ring in Richmond. A freed female slave worked as a secret agent right under the enemy's nose in the Confederate White House. It sounds like something out of a spy movie, but newly discovered evidence suggests the long-forgotten story of Elizabeth Van Lew and Mary Bowser is not only real but consequential enough to rewrite the accepted history of the Civil War. Join us as we examine this remarkable story of espionage missions, prison escapes, and incredible sacrifices.
From the American Revolution to the end of the 1800s, a mysterious ritual spread across New England...and beyond. Graves were broken into, the organs of the dead were burned and turned into horrifying forms of medicine. The reason why: to ward off vampires. Over time, stories of these exhumations vanished into rumor and legend, but new evidence has brought these ghoulish practices back into focus. So, were 19th-century farmers really fighting vampires? Or were they facing off against a predatory phantom that was even deadlier? See how a silent, invisible, and very real threat turned 19th century New England farmers into vampire hunters.
On October 2, 1919, Woodrow Wilson's wife, Edith, discovered her husband on a White House bathroom floor, the victim of a massive stroke. What happened over the next year would make history...or would have if it hadn't been so carefully guarded. Join a team of historians as they investigate newly uncovered documents that suggest that Edith Wilson was, in effect, America's first female president, and--equally shocking--that she and her accomplices may have schemed to conceal an incapacitated president from the public.
Film historian Tom Rice stumbled upon a rare artifact while researching depictions of the Ku Klux Klan in movies. It was fragments of a 1920s-era film that didn't simply show the Klan but made the notorious hate group the central part of the narrative. Who made this film? Why did they make it? And was it ever released? To answer those questions, and hopefully find a full version of the silent-era film, Tom will visit the Library of Congress, team up with KKK experts, and meet one of the filmmaker's descendants, revealing a story as shocking as any Hollywood production.
It's 1940, and as the Nazi Army overruns Europe, Germany is also funding a well-financed attempt to rig the U.S. election in hopes of ousting FDR from office and keeping America out of the war. Shockingly, this secret plot isn't the brainchild of Hitler's, but of an American oil tycoon named William R. Davis. Today, a group of historians and political experts examine uncovered government reports and White House letters and contemplate just how close the Nazis came to rigging the American election and changing the outcome of World War II.
Most people think of Jamestown as the story of John Smith and Pocahontas, but new scientific research has revealed another prominent figure from America's first English colony. Discover the story of Sir George Yeardley, a commoner who became governor and went on to preside over the birth of the nation's democracy. Follow a team of archaeologists as they excavate the 1617 church where, according to English tradition, the leaders of the colony were buried, including our country's least known and first founding father.
Benedict Arnold was a hero of the revolution. He was one of Washington's best generals. He had a new bride said to be the most beautiful woman in the colonies. And yet, just one month after marrying 18-year-old Peggy Shippen, Arnold reached out to the British and began to plot treason. What drove the celebrated general to betray his country? Studying never-before-seen documents, investigators are now exposing a vast conspiracy to crush America's hopes for independence with Benedict Arnold's young wife at the center.
Casimir Pulaski was an American Revolutionary War hero who helped save George Washington's life in the Battle of Brandywine. He was known as the "Father of the American Cavalry," but new evidence suggests that the general may not have been male. Follow a team of forensic anthropologists as they disinter and examine the bones found at Pulaski's monument in Savannah and run state-of-the-art DNA tests in order to determine if the officer was female or if someone else was buried in the tomb. Could this explain the general's strange behavior?
It's a Cold War story involving a turncoat KGB agent, doctored computer chips, and a fiery blast in the Siberian wilderness big enough to see from space. Modern historians investigate the claim of a 1982 Russian gas pipeline explosion to see if it was the result of the world's first-ever cyber attack, a retaliatory measure ordered by Ronald Reagan to bring the Soviet Union to its knees for decades of espionage.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan's war machine attacked Pearl Harbor, killing over 2,300 American servicemen. The conventional story is that America was caught sleeping that day and was hit without warning. But newly declassified documents from U.S. Naval Intelligence and the FBI reveal a very different tale, one of the Japanese and German spies studying Pearl Harbor long before the assault. The funneled American intelligence and stolen technology to the Japanese Navy, making the attack possible. So, how were we still caught so tragically off guard? Modern historians are determined to find out.
The Spanish flu was one of the most devastating natural disasters in history, an unstoppable virus that swept the planet in 1918, killing as many as 50 million people. New evidence suggests the possible birthplace was actually in America's heartland. Witness a globe-spanning story of death and denial on an epic scale, as we visit a mass gravesite, pore over old medical records and diaries, and use cutting edge scientific research to reveal the horrific truth behind this deadly pandemic and see if could happen again.
During a failed raid to free northern POWs in 1864, papers are found on the body of Union Colonel Ulric Dahlgren ordering the assassination of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The discovery fuels outrage in the South and energizes the Confederate secret service. The Dahlgren Affair may have changed the course of the American Civil War. Now, historians have teamed up with descendants of the slain colonel to uncover who was behind the audacious murder plot and to consider if Abraham Lincoln's assassination one year later may have been a retaliatory measure.
In 1692, the townspeople of Salem, Massachusetts found themselves in a panic over witchcraft. But after several months, the paranoia and violence ended almost as quickly as it began. All witch trials were halted, publications about the terror were officially banned, and the location of the execution site vanished from any records. Today, a group of historians uncovers new information about the infamous witch hunt in an effort to answer its most enduring mysteries. They use 3D computer mappings techniques and ground-penetrating radar to rediscover the long-lost site of the witch hangings.
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