Real History

This documentary examines how silver shaped the history of the world from the 16th century onwards, kickstarting the global economy and growing the wealth of many cities in the country. It would also set China on a collision course with the European colonial powers and The Americas which would light the fuse of the Opium Wars which would prove to be China's undoing for over 100 years.

The ancient Egyptians prospered for 3000 years in a society that was far ahead of most of the ancient world. Their rich culture and complex society can be directly traced back to one key feature of the Egyptian landscape: The River Nile.

In the Georgian period, a worrying trend emerged. Evolving from medieval practices like trial by combat, men would settle their disagreements by dueling to the death. Often these disagreements were relatively low stakes, but were still settled with swords or pistols.

The empire of ancient Greece was one of the most advanced and most powerful of the ancient world. This ancient superpower would go on to influence all aspects of human society thousands of years after their empire's demise. Their heroes, villains, gods and goddesses have lived on in infamy, but what was life like for the ordinary person in this time?

In Victorian Britain, bare-knuckle fighting was by far the most popular sport. Even the downtrodden working classes could earn respect, fame and fortune from their fists. In a world with very little for the general public to do in their free time, fighting gripped the nation like nothing had ever done before.

It's no secret that in WW2, Hitler's Nazis looted the world of valuable art and treasures. But despite ransacking entire countries, this was never quite enough. This treasure hunt would cross over into the world of religious fiction when they became obsessed with finding The Holy Grail.

Present day China is the result of some 5,000 years of history. This enormous country has been shaped by ancient gods as well as feuding warlords since before records began. This documentary takes a look at this culturally rich country from its inception by the first Emperor.

This is the untold story of the female bar-knuckle boxers of Georgian London. The underground scene that took place in dingy basements and shady back alleyways was rampart in the 1700s. The women who fought all had different reasons for why they did it, and they all had a point to prove.

In 1940 Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany with the English Channel the only thing standing between them and invasion. One way Hitler planned to deal with Britain was cut off their ability to fight back by tanking their economy.

Jim Charlesworth is a professor convinced that a large number of the Dead Sea Scrolls have yet to come to light, and that he, like a modern-day Indiana Jones can track them down. He is not alone in his quest. Other scroll hunters, archaeologists, scholars and scientists, share his conviction. For those who deal in scrolls, or deal in the secrets that they hold, the story is far from over.

The Veil of Veronica is a priceless relic from biblical times. It is said that this piece of cloth touched Jesus' face and afterwards an image of Christ himself had been printed onto it. The veil has a storied history since then with no one knowing if the copy held by The Vatican is the real deal or not.

In 1820 a man called Thomas Beale buried a fortune in treasure somewhere in Virginia. He wrote a set of 3 codes that contain details on the treasure's location, the treasure's contents and the owners of the treasure. To this day only the codes relating to the contents and owners have been solved. Meaning that this great treasure is still out there somewhere 200 years on.

The Titulus Crucis or "true cross" is an ancient relic that is held in The Church of Santa Croce in Rome. It is said to be a piece of wood from the cross that Jesus Christ was crucified on. There has always been fierce debate on the authenticity of the object, with each side of the argument feeling incredibly strongly about this controversial relic.

In 524 BC, a force of 50,000 Persian soldiers travelled across the Western Desert of Egypt. Their intended target was The Oracle of Amun, however the army would not make it. They would instead disappear in a sandstorm, in a legend that still draws curiosity today.

The Book of Thoth is said to have been written by the ancient Egyptian God of knowledge of the same name. It has had a strange, mystical impact on the thousands of years following its discovery. Some say it is a "book of spells" and some say it has already predicted the future.

China's pivotal, bloody and beleaguered WW2 campaign is often forgotten in the west despite the "battle of China" being the longest of the war. World War II: China's Forgotten War sheds new light on the conflict, presenting an epic, eight-year war against an invading Japan, 2 years before Germany invaded Poland, and cost 14 million Chinese lives.

The Alps are is one of the harshest environments on the planet. The mountainous terrain is covered by ice and snow all year round, but due to climate change this ice is melting. This is revealing all manner of frozen secrets, perfectly preserved by the ice.

Machu Picchu, the Incan citadel in the sky, located deep in the jungles of Peru. It remained lost to the outside world after the Incan civilisation escaped there from European invaders in the 15th century. That is until real life Indiana Jones Hiram Bingham discovered the city in 1911.

Most records state that WW2 began in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland. This however is not true. It began in 1937 with the Japanese invasion of China known as The Second Sino-Japanese War. China would be torn apart by the ruthlessness of Imperial Japan and would not receive any help fighting for their country until several years later Sino-Japanese War.

3 months before the end of WW2, the Japanese Imperial Navy sunk the American Submarine USS Lagarto. 88 crewmen died and the submarine remained lost until 2005 when the wreck was discovered by divers off the coast of Thailand.

Cold War tensions between the rival superpowers weren't looking good by the mid 1950s. Both sides of the frontline in mainland Europe were filling up with troops and equipment by the day and political revolutions gripped both Hungary and Cuba. Day by day, year by year, the world came closer to all our nuclear war.

The Dambusters air raid on the industrial heartland of Nazi Germany's war machine has become the stuff of legends. This against all odds mission was almost suicidal for the daring young pilots involved. But thanks to their courage and the forward thinking of genius scientist Barnes Wallis, the raid was a success. This is their story.

4 years after the end of WW2 and the beginning of The Cold War, tensions are rising fast. The USSR now has possession of atomic bombs and the two nations are locked in a proxy war in Korea. The US and NATO back the South while The USSr and China are fighting on the side of the Communist North.

The end of WW2 in 1945 was supposed to mark a new era of peace and prosperity around the world. Instead, before the war had even finished two two superpowers, the USA and the USSR would be gearing up for a tense standoff against each other. A standoff that would threaten the world with nuclear annihilation for decades to come.

On the 8th May 1945, Europe breathed a sigh of relief as 7 bloody years of WW2 drew to a close. This documentary takes a look at the events that took place on the historic final week leading up to VE Day with newly colorized archive footage.

America is the cryptid capital of the world. These strange creatures of supernatural origin have been scaring America for centuries through myth, legend and hair raising first hand sightings. If you aren't already a believer, you will be.

Since the invention of clocks in the Renaissance period, the intricate maze of cogs and gears that make up their inner workings have been used for all kinds of things. One of these is the lost art of making automatons, lifelike creations such as dolls or animals. These incredible machines were ahead of their time and have entertained people for centuries.

At the end of the dark ages, the world saw huge social and cultural change. Most of this change was for the best, however the common problem of disease and sickness would get even worse. Knowledge and infrastructure to provide clean living conditions was still almost non-existent in this period and would cause suffering on a huge scale for the entire population.

This documentary follows a team of archeologists as they examine the remains of skeletons from the north of England from the 1300s. Modern science can tell us so much about these people and their lives, from the type of work they did to what food they ate. These investigations give us an amazing insight into what everyday life was like 700 years ago.

In 1361 on the Swedish island of Mästerby, local peasant farmers prepared themselves to fight approaching invaders. The forces of Danish King Valdemar IV would greatly outnumber them in terms of manpower, experience and equipment. What would follow would be the wholesale slaughter of the islands inhabitants, who would die defending their homeland.

The summer of 1967, known as the "summer of love" would turn out to be a momentous few months in world history. The 1960s was a decade that saw huge social change politically as well as culturally in almost all aspects of life. This was the summer that saw all this come to a head and young people knew they were living through a watershed moment in history.

Archaeologist Tim Sutherland unearths historical clues as he digs up burial sites from the Battle of Agincourt, which took place in 1415 in northern France. A weakened English army under King Henry V had their escape route cut off by a huge force of expert French soldiers. What happened next is still a fascinating source of intrigue to this day.

In 1938 upon returning to England after singing a peace agreement with Hitler, Neville Chamberlin famously said that this was "peace for our time". Just one year later, England would be declaring war on Germany after their invasion of Poland. How did this agreement with Hitler that he had no more plans for territorial gain end up in the biggest and bloodiest conflict in human history?

The Battle of Visby took place in 1361 on the island of Gotland. The bitter fighting between the forces of the Danish King and the forces from the Gutnish Country Yeomen resulted in a very one sided battle with the Danish forces taking a third less casualties than the Gotlandic natives. Several mass graves were found form the battle starting in the early 1900s. These huge caches provided us with an incredible insight into the brutal reality of medieval warfare.

By the mid 1930s, the writing was on the wall in Europe. War began to look like more and more of a real possibility as the months went by. As this became clearer and clearer, major powers began to make preparations in their own countries in anticipation of future conflict.

The Battle of Towton was fought in 1461 in North Yorkshire as part of The War of the Roses. It would go on to be the bloodiest battle in English history with over 28,000 people losing their lives in the most brutal ways imaginable. This documentary looks at what we can learn from this dark day in. English history from the archeological evidence.

With worldwide economic chaos now an accepted reality, the early 1930s were a strange time for the world. Some countries could sense the gathering storm from the political revolutions happening in front of their eyes, while some carried on blissfully unaware of what was to come.

Tibet has always been a disputed territory between India and China. The tension between the two nations has spilt over into violent clashes on multiple occasions and still results in border skirmishes to this day.

The cataclysmic disaster that was the great depression of 1929 would cause chaos around the world for the best part of a decade. The powerhouse that was the American economy was the saving grace of most of the world after WW1. This however, would also serve to be it's undoing.

In the decades following World War II, a new era of frosty relationship was ushered between the greatest superpowers of the time, America and the Soviet Union. As the fate of the world hung in the balance, Mao Zedong's China complicated matters by leaving their true allegiances secret.

This documentaries captures the ups and downs of the late 1920s, a period of great technological advances, huge cultural shifts and the rumblings of a coming storm in central Europe.

Filmmaker and author, Elisabeth Thieriot, embarks on an epic journey of discovery to dispel the myths about "the December 21st 2012 end of the world" conspiracy theories surrounding Aztec and Mayan Calendars.

This documentaries captures the ups and downs of the late 1920s, a period of great technological advances, huge cultural shifts and the rumblings of a coming storm in central Europe.

The First World War claimed a life every twenty five seconds for four years. What had been the point of it all? It was believed that World War One was the 'war to end all wars'. But 20 years after the guns fell silent the war drums were banging again-louder and more lethal before. Told through archive and the insights of international historians, Impossible Peace is a story of twenty years of peace that produced war.

As Franklin D Roosevelt faced an unprecedented 4th term as president, he would be treating new ground in more ways than one. Victory was achieved in WW2 and he prepared to shape the post-war world and size up to a new enemy, the Soviets. Still hiding his ill-health from the public, more secrets from his past would rise to the surface.

As well as serving an unprecedented 12 years in office, Franklin D Roosevelt also has the distinction of being the only president with a major disability. He was unable to walk for the majority of his presidency, a fact he kept hidden form the public.

For almost 50 years, black South Africans struggled for their right to simply exist under Apartheid. One way the racist government kept their biassed status quo was through strict censoring of the press. One publication that dared to stand up to this was The Guardian. This is their story.

When you think of ancient Egypt you think of the pyramids, mummies and the Sphinx. But there's more iconic aspects of ancient Egyptian life outside of this, like brewing. This documentary takes a deep dive into why and how the ancient Egptians brewed their beer and what significance it had in their culture.