Modern Marvels by HISTORY
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Modern Marvels
The Cape Cod Canal represents an engineering feat many believed impossible; begun in 1909 during the Great Depression, this major commerce and recreational Intracoastal Waterway route showcases determination, ingenuity, and American spirit.
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Modern Marvels
An underground subway system transforms the bustling metropolis of Athens, Greece, alleviating chronic traffic problems, meeting the needs of the 2004 Olympics and uncovering thousands of invaluable artifacts.
Modern Marvels
The engineering marvel Machu Picchu sits perched on a ridge in the Peruvian Andes; originally built by the Incas, this magnificent structure remains a mystery.
Modern Marvels
Infantry soldiers known as "Tunnel Rats" searched for and destroyed secret subterranean enemy networks in Vietnam; armed with flashlights and pistols, these volunteers faced lethal odds and uncovered arms caches, with many casualties.
Modern Marvels
The construction of a terrorist-proof safe room, and how windows might someday act as biological weapons detectors; what technology can do to protect civilians, and how they can use technology to protect themselves.
Modern Marvels
Sinkholes; use of asbestos; Chang River flood; liquid natural-gas explosions; Hyatt Hotel walkway collapses.
Modern Marvels
From a massive oil spill to refinery blaze to a downed plane, find out what went wrong and how to prevent the next engineering disaster.
Modern Marvels
The hidden uses of grease inside giant machines; how grease is made in a New York factory; new advances are working towards for grease.
Modern Marvels
The Koenigsegg CCR automobile; the Shanghai Maglev train; motorboat racer Ken Warby and the Spirit of Australia; the Kingda Ka roller coaster; the Holloman High Speed Test Track.
Modern Marvels
Strap on a parachute and soar through the saga of jet propulsion which radically transformed the world since inception of World War II.
Modern Marvels
Trains capable of speeds of up to 190 miles per hour can be found throughout the world; scientists are looking at new alternatives to electricity, including magnetic levitation that can move passenger trains 345 miles per hour and beyond.
Modern Marvels
The construction of the 51-mile canal that took ten years to build and employed over 40,000 workers, 6,000 of whom died of yellow fever, malaria, and other horrors; an earlier, nine-year attempt by the French ended in failure and cost 20,000 lives.
Modern Marvels
Built with the pioneering use of steel-wire support cables, the Brooklyn Bridge became an instant symbol of American pride; rare photographs and behind-the-scenes stories recall the politics, the struggles, and the tragedies that made it possible.
Modern Marvels
The history of long-duration life in space from the first Soviet station to Skylab to Mir to the International Space Station; what it is like to live in space, as well as the monumental obstacles engineers and astronauts overcame to make it possible.
Modern Marvels
The history of photography began as early as the eleventh century; the advancements by Niépce and Daguerre in the 19th century and William Henry Fox Talbot and George Eastman in the 19th and 20th centuries.