History's Mysteries

The 1962 death of actress Marilyn Monroe remains a source of controversy.

History's Mysteries examines the controversy over who was the first responsible for powered flight. A consensus of historians credit the Wright Brothers with this accomplishment, but some believe that others including a German immigrant named Gustave Whitehead were able to achieve fight several years before the historic 1903 flight at Kitty Hawk. It also looks at a controversy between the Wright Brothers and the Smithsonian.
 

Archeologists have long believed that civilization as we define it--intelligent, tool-making, monument building, social humans--began about 5,000 years ago. But submerged beneath the waves near the Japanese island of Yonaguni is evidence that may well overturn that long-held theory. A small but persuasive number of scholars and scientists have long thought that "advanced" societies may have existed as long as 10,000 years ago. Their theories, however well reasoned and defended, have been hamstrung by a lack of evidence. But recent discoveries of man-made artifacts on the Pacific seafloor may well prove to be the smoking gun that will propel this alternative view of civilization to prominence. HISTORY'S MYSTERIES travels to the site and plunges beneath the waves to examine the discovery, and talks to the investigators who are trying to unearth the secrets of "Japan's Mysterious Pyramids".

Zeugma: An ancient city: a Mediterranean paradise until it was flooded. Archeologists must work quickly to uncover it's secrets before it is flooded again.  Zeugma is an ancient city of Commagene; located in modern Gaziantep Province, Turkey. In 64 BC the city was conquered and ruled by the Roman Empire. Parts of Zeugma have become submerged in the Euphrates River since the construction of the Birecik Dam