America's Hidden Stories

During a failed raid to free northern POWs in 1864, papers are found on the body of Union Colonel Ulric Dahlgren ordering the assassination of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The discovery fuels outrage in the South and energizes the Confederate secret service. Now, historians have teamed up with descendants of the slain colonel to uncover who was behind the audacious murder plot and to consider if Abraham Lincolns assassination one year later may have been a retaliatory measure.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japans war machine attacked Pearl Harbor, killing over 2,300 American servicemen. The conventional story is that America was caught sleeping that day and was hit without warning. But newly declassified documents from U.S. Naval intelligence and the FBI reveal a very different tale, one of Japanese and German spies studying Pearl Harbor long before the assault with our agents watching them the whole time. So, how were we still caught so tragically off guard? Modern historians are determined to find out.

Casimir Pulaski was an American Revolutionary War hero who helped save George Washingtons life in the Battle of Brandywine. He was known as the "Father of the American Cavalry," but new evidence suggests that the general may not have been male. Follow a team of anthropologists as they examine the bones found at Pulaskis monument in Savannah and run state-of-the-art DNA tests in order to determine if the officer was female or if someone else was buried in the tomb.

Most people think of Jamestown as the story of John Smith and Pocahontas, but new scientific research has revealed another prominent figure from Americas first English colony. Discover the story of Sir George Yeardley, a commoner who became governor and went on to preside over the birth of the nations democracy. Follow a team of archaeologists as they excavate the 1617 church where, according to English tradition, the leaders of the colony were buried, including our countrys least known and first founding father.

Follow a film historian as he unravels the mystery of a silent era movie apparently made by the notorious hate group.

See how a silent, invisible, and very real threat turned 19th century New England farmers into vampire hunters.

Witness the events--both political and romantic--that turned George Washington from British loyalist to American icon.

Retired members of FOG, the Field Operation Group launched in secret by President Carter, detail their covert mission to rescue 52 Americans taken hostage by Iranian forces in 1979.

Historians chronicle the untold stories of Black settlers who journeyed to the Wild West in search of freedom and opportunity, examining their roles as marshals, cowboys, soldiers and more.

Experts delve into the undelivered promise of rigid airships on the American military landscape, and the tragic fate of the USS Macon and efforts to explore its remains in the Pacific Ocean.