History's turning points: the conquest of Spain
By the 8th century, the rise of the Muslim Empire spread Arab rule over the Middle East, Egypt, and North Africa. After appointing a Berber, Tariq, to invade Spain, the Arabs enslaved the Visigoth Kingdom. Seven centuries of their Moorish rule broug...
History's turning points: the Russian Revolution
Both Lenin and Kerensky were driven to overthrow the Czar. From similar backgrounds, they were both fervent revolutionaries. Lenin wanted the rich to be poor; Kerensky wanted the poor to be rich. Lenin, a charismatic workaholic, won because he would...
History's turning points: the atomic bomb
Without doubt, the Second World War was the most momentous event in U.S. history. Few single instants have marked so great and historic watershed as 9:15 a.m., August 6, 1945. Traditional war as an instrument of international policy ended completely...
History's turning points: the battle for Canada
In the first half of the 18th century, British and French interests in North America increasingly overlapped. British war minister William Pitt ordered an invasion up the St. Lawrence. Racing winter, British forces scaled the cliffs near Quebec City...
History's turning points: the Battle of Actium
If the battle of Actium had been won by Cleopatra and Antony, there would have been no Roman Empire. Yet Octavius Caesar's victory in 31 BC created an absolute dictatorship that sparked one of the greatest imperial and cultural expansions the world ...
History's turning points: the Great Wall of China
To seal off his empire from marauders, Qin Shi Huang commanded the building of the Great Wall. Three hundred thousand were employed, and thousands, especially the scholars, died and were buried within the wall. Called "the world's longest graveyard,...
History's turning points: the conquest of the Incas
Pizarro and his band of conquistadors conquered the Inca empire, beginning the Spanish domination of South America. But the plunder had only begun. The Spaniards' diseases wiped out 90% of the Incas. History's Turning Points is a thirteen part serie...
History's turning points: the siege of Constantinople
In 1204 crusaders sacked the city, then named Constantinople. For the next thousand years, the Byzantine Kings hid safely behind the massive walls of Constantinople. Then in 1453, with the Turkish Ottoman Empire encircling the city, Sultan Mehmed br...
The witness: from the balcony of room 306
"I wondered for many years," reveals the Rev. Billy Kyles, "why I was there at that crucial moment." Rev. Kyles stood only a few feet away from Dr. Martin Luther King when the eminent civil rights leader was assassinated. This Academy Award-nominate...
They surveyed the world: exploring the Arab empire and beyond
During the 10th century, people routinely journeyed from one end of the huge Arab empire to the other - and even into non-Islamic lands far to the north and the east. Who were these travelers, and what did they seek? This program captures what it wa...