It began as a protest against the Conscription Act of 1863 – but quickly descended into the bloodiest race riot in US history. So why did New York’s White working class kill at least 120 people during the New York Draft Riots?

When French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps returned triumphantly to Paris after completing the Suez Canal in 1869, he was hailed as a national hero. Thousands raced to invest in his next, even bolder scheme: to build a great canal across Panama. His dream would cut a swathe across the South American continent and unite the vast oceans of the Atlantic and Pacific. Fortunes seemed assured as shipping would no longer have to face the terrors of Cape Horn...

In peaceful times, the US Armed Forces are well stocked with brave men and women who voluntarily sign up to serve. However, in the event of a third catastrophic global conflict, it is possible for the U.S. government to rapidly recruit from the civilian population, thanks to the Selective Service System. In this video, we will find out where it comes from and how compulsory it really is.

Centered on faith, hard work, and the early stirrings of racial and sexual equality, the Shaker lifestyle was in many ways ahead of its time. But what was daily life like inside Shaker communities? Several years in the making, this program uses extensive archival footage integrated with reenactments and scholarly interviews to illustrate the Shakers' ordered, highly idealistic society. Visits to historic establishments in Pleasant Hill and South Union,...

Emmi, a German immigrant, is living in Chicago when the Great Fire breaks out on October 8, 1871, and, separated from her father, she finds herself with her neighbors, Cara and Seamus, braving the smoke and flames trying to escape the danger of the burning city, and searching for all their parents.