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Modern Marvels : Season 4
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Air date: 02 Sep '96 - 11 episodesHISTORY’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 series goes beyond the basics to provide insight and history into things we wonder about and that impact our lives. This series tells fascinating stories of the doers, the dreamers and sometime-schemers that create everyday items, technological breakthroughs and manmade wonders. The hit series goes deep to explore the leading edge of human inspiration and ambition.
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List of Episodes (11)
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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1. America's Highways
02 Sep '96In 1912, a headlight-maker and an auto magnate built the first cross-country road to spur the demand for new cars; 70 years and $125 billion later, the highway system had grown to 42,000 miles. Rare photographs and interviews tell the incredible story of the “paving of America”.
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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2. The Telephone
15 Sep '96From Alexander Graham Bell’s crude creation, to today’s high-speed wireless networks, we’ll look into the past, present and future of the telephone. We’ll visit the AT&T archives to see how the very first telephone boxes wired together with telegraph cables have evolved into vast wireless networks. Enter into the inner workings of Los Angeles County’s 911 emergency dispatch center, as well as explore advancements made by Lucent/Bell Labs in phone-embedded GPS technology. With telephone privacy i
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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3. Aqueducts
06 Oct '96Many 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
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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4. Television
20 Oct '96An exploration of the world’s most popular entertainment, from the boy genius who invented it to the RCA “General” who made it a reality.
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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5. The Computer
24 Nov '96A look at the inventions that have revolutionized society as we know it. They began as behemoths which weighed over 2 tons!
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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6. Captured Light
15 Dec '96A look at the history of photography beginning as early as the eleventh century. Includes the advancements by Niepce and Daguerre in the 19th century and William Henry Fox and George Eastman in the 20th century.
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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7. Stealth Technology
01 Jan '97A look at the F117 Stealth Fighter that led the pack for the Allies in Gulf Wars One and Two and virtually decimated Iraqi Air Defense. Find out how the technology allows it to approach its target without being detected by radar. Also, a look at the B2 Stealth Bomber.
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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8. Pyramids: Majesty And Mystery
16 Feb '97Standing majestically for centuries, the world’s great pyramids have long inspired and mystified scholars. Leading experts and historians explore the engineering genius that created some of the largest structures on the planet. From ancient Egypt to Central America, we visit these technological masterpieces.
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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9. Roller Coasters
23 Mar '97Since the turn of the 20th century, designers have competed to build them faster, taller, and steeper. But as technology pushes the envelope with flips, weightlessness, and more g-force than a jet, how many thrills can the human body take?
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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10. Observatories: Stonehenge to Space Telescopes
13 Apr '97From Stonehenge to the Hubble Telescope, man has always been a species of stargazers. Unforgettable film footage and expert accounts reveal the facts of astronomy’s most mind-boggling discoveries.
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Modern Marvels (1993)
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11. The Great Wall of China.
08 Jun '97Winding 6,000 kilometers through undulating mountains, it is said to be visible with the naked eye from the moon. But who called for the Great Wall's construction and how was it accomplished? Historians, engineers, and scientists explore one of the wonders of the ancient world.
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