Modern Marvels

Since the invention of gunpowder, fireworks have thrilled audiences around the world. We'll view highlights of fireworks exhibitions and go behind the scenes to explore how science and art mingle.

From the neon sparkle of the Strip to the outrageous opulence of its penthouse suites, roll the dice with The History Channel to experience the incredible feats of engineering that underlie the world’s most unusual man-made paradise, the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. America's "neon oasis" is a glittering desert jewel whose name has become synonymous with fantasy, folly, and excess. Yet behind its facade of glamour and glitz stand massive monuments to architectural ingenuity and artistry. Follow along with the fascinating tale of Las Vegas and its mammoth masterpieces, from its origins as a dusty Mormon cow town, through its heyday as a mecca for the mob in the Rat Pack era, to its modern renaissance as a family-style play land. Explore the grandeur of Caesar's Palace, the colossal scale of the MGM Grand, the spectacular mirrored splendor of the Luxor, and many other wonders!

During the depths of the Depression, the Tennessee Valley Authority was a massive public works project that took a 40,000 square mile river basin and turned it into a model of industrial progress.

Used in technology, photography, and decorative arts, silver is one of the most versatile metals known to man. In this episode of Modern Marvels we’ll explore the methods, men and machines that extract this precious resource from the earth. In Northern Idaho’s Lucky Friday mine, workers toil more than a mile underground in an around-the-clock cycle of blasting and hauling silver laden rock. While in the wilds of northern Nevada, large machines and even larger ore loads make the vast Rochester open pit mine one of the most productive silver mines in the United States. Both these facilities owe their methods to the silver strike that started it all: Nevada’s famous Comstock Lode of the mid 19th Century. From some of the largest steam engines ever built, to robotic mining machines that work without human intervention, we’ll examine the past, present and future of silver mines.

Built in 1931 on the Columbia River, the Grand Coulee Dam is one of the world's largest hydroelectric plants.