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Modern Marvels

Modern Marvels
★ 8.1/10•1993•44m•TV-PG•Documentary
Similars

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 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.

StatusReturning Series
Runtime44m
LanguageEN
First Air DateDec 10, 1993

Episodes

Episode 1 - Grand Coulee DamE144m

Grand Coulee Dam

The world’s largest concrete dam–and the largest concrete structure in the world–lies on the Columbia River in the State of Washington. B uilt in 1931, it is also one of the largest hydroelectric power plants in the world.

Dec 10, 1993

Episode 2 - The Empire State BuildingE244m

The Empire State Building

The remarkable story of how the landmark New York City skyscraper was constructed during the depths of the Depression. Requiring 10 million bricks and 60,000 tons of steel beams and using a revolutionary technique to hold the steel girders in place–hot rivets–the world’s tallest building was completed four months ahead of schedule.

Jan 21, 1994

Episode 3 - The Panama CanalE344m

The Panama Canal

Chronicles one of the most incredible engineering feats of all time: construction of the 51-mile canal that took 10 years to build and employed over 40,000 workers, 6,000 of whom died of yellow fever, malaria, and other horrors. An earlier, 9-year attempt by the French ended in failure and cost 20,000 lives.

Mar 4, 1994

E444m

Cruise Ships

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

Mar 20, 1994

Episode 5 - Transatlantic CableE544m

Transatlantic Cable

Looks at how one man’s vision and the cooperation between the U.S. and England resulted in an instant, reliable transcontinental mode of communication in the mid-1800s. See how wealthy 33-year-old Cyrus West Field endured many failures and lost millions in his attempt to close the communication gap between the Old and New Worlds.

Mar 27, 1994

Episode 6 - Mt. Rushmore.E644m

Mt. Rushmore.

The incredible tale of how Gutzon Borglum created the world's largest sculpture by carving the faces of four US presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln) into the Black Hills of South Dakota. The four figures carved in stone pay tribute to the first 150 years of American history. The hour chronicles the "swiveled pointer" that Borglum put in each president's "head", and how workmen hung like spiders 6,000 feet above the ground to blast away 450,000 tons of rock.

Mar 13, 1994

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