16:9 Landscape Documentaries
Beyond the 60-second shorts: full-length widescreen historical documentaries, companion articles and source discussions.
The War of the Currents: Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla's Motor
In the late 1880s, Edison's direct current and Westinghouse's alternating current fought to wire America. Westinghouse bought the rights to Tesla's AC motor; Edison's side answered with dead dogs and the electric chair. AC won on engineering, Edison lost his own company in a merger, and Tesla gave up his royalties to keep Westinghouse afloat.
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Published Landscape Documentaries (5)
The War of the Currents: Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla's Motor
In the late 1880s, Edison's direct current and Westinghouse's alternating current fought to wire America. Westinghouse bought the rights to Tesla's AC motor; Edison's side answered with dead dogs and the electric chair. AC won on engineering, Edison lost his own company in a merger, and Tesla gave up his royalties to keep Westinghouse afloat.
They Took a Harbour Across the Channel: Mulberry in 1944
British engineers prefabricated two harbours for Normandy, joined floating roads to tidal pierheads, and kept the surviving port working after a June storm wrecked its American counterpart.
How Did Jellicoe Bring His Fleet into Battle Through Jutland's Mist?
From HMS Iron Duke, Admiral John Jellicoe had to turn incomplete reports into a battle formation. The Jutland records reveal the decisions, German counter-manoeuvres and uncertain night that made the outcome so contested.
Why Nansen Deliberately Froze His Ship into Arctic Ice
Fridtjof Nansen built a ship to survive Arctic pressure, surrendered its route to the drifting ice, and turned an unsuccessful attempt on the North Pole into an enduring scientific expedition.
When Glass Cracks 7 Miles Deep: The Trieste Descent
On 23 January 1960, two men descended into the Mariana Trench aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste. At thirty-five thousand eight hundred feet down, they reached the seabed of Challenger Deep. During the descent, a sharp bang shook the cabin as an outer Plexiglas viewing window cracked under pressure, yet the steel sphere held.
From the Compilation Engine
Architects of Disaster
From the Vasa warship sinking in 20 minutes to the St. Francis Dam collapse and the Boston Molasses Flood.
The Unbroken
The Mad Trapper of Rat River, the Weigl typhus lice-feeders, and the 150-mile sub-zero arctic marathon of John Johnson.
Seconds From Midnight
The Goldsboro B-52 single-switch miracle, the Soviet nuclear sub veto, and the Tunguska cosmic mystery.
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