Greenwich Royal Observatory: Flamsteed vs Newton and the Stolen Star Charts

From Apollo 11's tense 1202 alarm to SpaceX's early return attempts and ESA's Gaia, this episode traces how spaceflight evolved under pressure and ingenuity. Early on July 16, 1969, more than a million people gathered around Cape Kennedy to witness Apollo 11 lift off, the culmination of a decade aimed at meeting President Kennedy's lunar goal. At the launch center, tension was high as rocket pioneer Werner von Braun and NASA teams prepared the giant Saturn V. Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and mission commander Neil Armstrong brought hard-earned Gemini experience, while unusual simulators and a Langley gantry helped them rehearse lunar gravity. Twelve minutes after liftoff they reached orbit. Trans lunar injection and docking proceeded smoothly as mission control refined navigation alongside the Apollo Guidance Computer. In lunar orbit, the command module became Columbia and the lunar module Eagle. The descent toward a long ellipse in the Sea of Tranquility unfolded in stages. Fuel sloshing muddied guidance, then the computer threw a 1202 alarm. A young software engineer recognized the overload as survivable, and Armstrong used the final phase to

From the omen of 1066's long-haired star to Hastings and the Harrowing of the North, this episode charts William the Conqueror's brutal rise. In History Makers, we trace the Norman story from Viking roots to the making of a king. We meet Rolf the Ganger and the birth of Normandy under Charles the Simple, then enter William's perilous childhood: assassination plots, the murder of his guardian Osborne Crepon, and years of anarchy. We see the young duke's iron resolve at Alençon, where taunts of "hides for the tanner" triggered a ruthless reprisal, and his strategic marriage to Matilda of Flanders. With Edward the Confessor's death, rival claims ignite. We examine Harold Godwinson's disputed oath in Normandy, William's papal-backed invasion force, and the contrasting battle doctrines of Norman combined arms of archers, spearmen and cavalry, as shown on the Bayeux Tapestry, versus the Anglo-Saxon shield wall and Dane axes. After Harold's dash north to defeat Harald Hardrada and Tostig at Stamford Bridge, the stage is set at Senlac Hill. At Hastings, arrows, infantry and cavalry grind at the Saxon line. When

This documentary explores how Victorian engineers transformed Britain with revolutionary bridges. From Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Royal Albert Bridge to the mighty Forth Bridge and London's iconic Tower Bridge, discover how iron, steel and bold engineering connected the nation and changed the world forever.

Four cases changed history: Sarajevo 1914, Capone's St. Valentine's Day massacre, the Lindbergh kidnapping, and Fritz Bauer's fight for justice. Crimes That Changed The World tracks the moments when violence and law collided to reshape nations. From the shots that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Sophie in Sarajevo, we follow the chain that pulled alliances into World War I. Along the Milyatska River, a bomb failed, a route changed, and a wrong turn at the Latin bridge put the heir and his wife in a gunman's sights. Investigators soon linked the plotters to the Black Hand as Vienna issued its ultimatum to Serbia. In Chicago, 1929, men posing as police lined seven North Side gang members against a wall and opened fire with Thompson submachine guns. The St Valentines Day massacre shattered Al Capone's untouchable image, prompting a federal push that used early forensic ballistics and, ultimately, IRS forensic accounting to corner him. Tax investigator Frank Wilson followed the money through cash ledgers and shell businesses, while a comparison microscope tied seized guns to the garage killings. Capone could not

A former bank robber describes the moment he would step into “lizard time” — and the day it all unraveled in Victoria in 1999. What follows is a raw reckoning with danger, addiction, and the strange freedom found inside a 7-step prison cell. From staking out armored cars and airports to spending years in solitary at Marion, Millhaven, and Kingston Penitentiary, Stephen Reed traces how time can stretch, snap, and finally settle. He recalls a childhood stolen, a four-hour heroin cycle that ruled his life, and the frantic minutes of a botched robbery that ended in a police shootout. Then a blunt jailhouse conversation reframed everything — legacy, responsibility, and what the present is truly worth — but not in the way you might expect. If you’ve ever waited for life to start “after” the next big thing, this story will stop you in your tracks. Watch to hear the moments he refuses to forget, the practice that untangled his thoughts, and the gift he decided to leave behind.

Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis. How Greece stopped Xerxes in battles that reshaped Europe. On the shores of Asia Minor, the Ionian Revolt lit the fuse. Backed by Athens, rebels burned Sardis, drawing the wrath of Darius. Hippias, the exiled Athenian noble, returned as a Persian pawn while a vast fleet moved toward Attica. At Marathon, Athens sent a runner to Sparta, faced a religious delay, and mustered hoplites beside a small force from Plataea. On the plain, the Athenian general Miltiades thinned his center, reinforced his flanks, and charged at a trot to blunt the archers. The Persian wings collapsed, the center buckled, and a bloodied messenger reached Athens to gasp “Victory” before falling. A forced march to Phaleron caught the enemy feet-wet and triggered a withdrawal. A decade later, Xerxes crossed into Greece with a colossal host, and the Hellenic League formed under Spartan command. At Thermopylae, Leonidas and 300 Spartans with allied Greeks held the middle gate until betrayal opened a mountain track. When told Persian arrows would blot out the sun, the Spartans answered they would fight