St. Petersburg, Russia, December 30th, 1916. Grigori Rasputin is assassinated. The story of the humble peasant who became the most influential adviser to czarina Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of the last czar, Nicholas II Romanov.
The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
Marie violates tradition in a small German town of Lauscha, to become the first female glassblower in in 1890. Her glass ball decorations find a new market in America.
Narrated by veteran Hollywood actor Tom Selleck, REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR chronicles the personal stories of veterans and citizens who witnessed the surprise attack by the Japanese on the American Pacific Fleet on December 7, 1941, launching the United States into World War II. Using archival footage and photos and graphics, the documentary shows in detail the bombings on Oahu, along with the fiery explosion of the USS Arizona, the sinking of the USS Oklahoma, and the attacks on Hickam Field, as well as on other parts of the island. REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR documents the 75th anniversary, the tragic events and the courageous acts of those who were in or near Pearl Harbor on that day.
This two-hour special looks back at Dec. 7, 1941 - the date that has indeed lived in infamy, as President Franklin Roosevelt promised - when imperial Japan attacked the U.S. naval forces in Hawaii, ushering America into World War II. The attack killed more than 2,400 people, wounded 1,000 and damaged or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and over 300 airplanes.
On the Eastern front in 1941, German troops attack a Red Army's field hospital destroying it and causing a massive loss of life. The surviving soldiers try to fight back but have to retreat, among them a young pilot , Vyacheslav with his dog Red. Having survived the German onslaught they are sent to the front line where Red will prove his courage...
The Philippines, 1898. Fifty Spanish soldiers arrive in the small village of Baler to rebuild an outpost. Although the war against the Filipinos and their American allies is almost lost, as is the Spanish Empire, the garrison will endure a cruel siege for eleven months. They will be the last to surrender.
Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire, a love triangle develops between Mikael, a brilliant medical student, the beautiful and sophisticated artist Ana, and Chris, a renowned American journalist based in Paris.
Fingal's Finest tells the extraordinary story of Thomas Ashe & the 5th 'Fingal' Battalion, Dublin Brigade of Irish Volunteers during the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. Largely forgotten by history, and by those who tell the tales of the 1916 Rising, the Fingal Volunteers did not lie in wait for the British Army to attack them in the buildings of Dublin City. Instead, they took the fight to their enemy in North County Dublin and Meath, which culminated in the only successful engagement for the rebels during those fateful six days in Easter Week, 1916, when they defeated a superior force of Royal Irish Constabulary at the Battle of Ashbourne.
From 1957 —the year in which the Soviets put the Sputnik 1 satellite into orbit— to 1969 —when American astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon—, the beginnings of the space conquest were depicted in popular culture: cinema, television, comics and literature of the time contain numerous references to an imagined future.
The most turbulent five years in the life of a genius woman: Between 1905, where Marie Curie comes with Pierre Curie to Stockholm to be awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the radioactivity, and 1911, where she receives her second Nobel Prize, after challenging France's male-dominated academic establishment both as a scientist and a woman.
Fidel Castro, the former President of Cuba and one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century, passed away in November. He famously claimed that "history will absolve me", but will it? This special film considers Castro and his legacy.
The remarkable true story of the woman behind the worldwide waxworks empire - Madame Tussaud. In an astonishing life that spanned both the French and Industrial revolutions, this single mother and entrepreneur travelled across the Channel to England, where she overcame the odds to establish her remarkable and enduring brand. Determined to leave an account of who she was and the times she lived through, her memoirs, letters and papers offer a unique insight into the creation of the extraordinary empire which bears her name.
A little known episode from the life of Stalinist security police office Julia Brystiger. Her nickname Bloody Luna was a reference to her incredibly brutal methods of interrogation. In the early 1960s, she appears in a centre for the blind on the outskirts of Warsaw, a place often visited by Cardinal Wyszyński, whose imprisonment in 1953-1956 Brystiger supervised personally. During a difficult and heated discussion with the cardinal, Brystiger denounces the communist ideology and begs for forgiveness for her crimes and for guidance in her search for God.
The inspiring true story of Seretse Khama, the King of Bechuanaland (modern Botswana), and Ruth Williams, the London office worker he married in 1948 in the face of fierce opposition from their families and the British and South African governments. Seretse and Ruth defied family, Apartheid and empire - their love triumphed over every obstacle flung in their path and in so doing they transformed their nation and inspired the world.