Ancient Discoveries Collection

History, Science Documentary hosted by Phil Crowley, published by History Channel in 2009 - English narration


Information
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Ancient Discoveries Collection 
Changes the way we think about the distant past. While we entertain visions of a simpler, unsophisticated time, the truth is much more complicated and fascinating than we imagine. This fresh, eye-opening series - filmed on location where historical events actually happened and using brilliant, lifelike computer animation - applies the latest scholarship to reconsider common beliefs about ancient times. Reconstructions of ancient machines and hands-on demonstrations bring ancient times to life.




10)  Ancient Tank Tech 
Asian battle elephants and Europe's medieval knights in armour demonstrate people in the past understood the modern tank's principles combining protection, speed and firepower; ancient antitank weapon.

11)  Ancient Torture Tech 
Grim new investigations re-write history by revealing that the rack actually ripped bone apart, not joints, as was previously thought. We then look at the whip, which was used extensively by the Romans, famously against Jesus. But there was a lot more biology and materials science involved that purely hitting someone. Next up, the pear of anguish was inserted into a person's body cavity and then a screw twisted that caused it to expand ripping the cavity apart. We discover how this might have worked and what damage could have been done. Lastly, hundreds of people were burnt at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition. But we ask what actually killed them: flame, smoke or heat?

12)  Death Weapons of the East 
The oldest known weapon is the staff. Watch the surprising results of a comparison test between a staff and a shotgun. Then learn about the ermei, a deadly Chinese underwater attack weapon, before we ask: which is more powerful, a meteor hammer or a punch? Can Chi Warriors really kill a man with a single touch? Investigate the ability of eastern warriors to withstand pain such as smashing concrete on live human heads. Finally, ancient Chinese crossbows are examined, including one small enough to fit up your sleeve.

13)  Impossible Army Machines 
The amazing successes and stunning failures of ancient military engineers influence today's weapons and tactics; an ancient Greek weapon is still used on aircraft carriers; rapid-firing Chinese catapult; Hannibal crosses the Alps

14)  Impossible Naval Engineering 
Citizens of ancient Tyre use fire ships against Alexander the Great's besieging fleet; Roman Emperor Nero builds a death yacht to kill his own mother; a 15th-century weapon designed to pierce enemy hulls; ancient paddle-wheel boat.

15)  Riots and Revolution 
The show tracks down the secret manual that explained how the Vietnamese defeated not only the US in the 20th century, but the Mongols 700 years earlier. It reveals the largest booby trap in history, one that snagged an entire battle fleet, how king Mithridates used a substance called burning mud in his revolt against Rome, and how the terrorist booby-traps and letter bombs of today were invented hundreds of years ago.

16)  Airborn Assault 
In this episode we investigate the kite bomb - a never-before-built medieval siege weapon that dropped bombs from a kite over cities. We build one and test it with startling new insights and success. Next we investigate ancient bouncing bombs that actually skip across water - the fore-runners of the famous Dam Buster projectiles - that terrorised shipping in Turkey in 1453. We also learn the secrets of ancient China's whistling arrows - used by commanders to direct the flow of a battle. We investigate the world's earliest rocket-powered explosive missile from the ancient battlefields of China, dropping an ancient experimenter 6000 feet from a balloon with only a pair of umbrellas. We build the earliest known successful parachute and drop a skydiver from 6000 feet in one of the most dramatic and successful tests we've ever done.

17)  Ancient Mega Fort 
We investigate the castle that helped create Great Britain and learn why it was such an impregnable fortress. Then it's off to discover the invisible underground defensive systems of Cappadocia and how they proved so successful they are they longest continually inhabited fortress in history. We test the ancient Mayan killer bee castle defences, and release bees in an attack. We build a replica section of the ancient Roman fort of Alesia and discover whether the great general Julius Caesar could really have built 24 miles of defences in just 6 weeks. We investigate the most impregnable walls in history - the multi-layered defences of Constantinople - and discover the type of cannon that the sultan Mehmet used to finally destroy them in the great siege of 1453. Finally, we fire one of these cannons for the first time in hundreds of years and collect invaluable ballistic data.

18)  Ancient Secret Agents 
We investigate the systems by which ancient intelligence services transmitted messages over thousands of miles - the fire beacon, the horse and the pigeon - and set up a great race between these three systems. We learn how ancient spies sent secret messages using invisible ink made of human sperm and how they wrote on the inside of a raw egg. We learn how Japan's covert assassins, the ninja, didn't only use darts and poisons: they were pretty good with explosives as well. Finally, we learn how a Roman James Bond used a suit made of cork to support him in full armour during a covert operation across a river.

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Technical Specs
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 * Video Codec: x264 CABAC [email protected]
 * Video Bitrate: 2150 Kbps
 * Video Aspect Ratio: 1.778 (16:9)
 * Video Resolution: 832 x 468
 * Audio Codec: AAC LC
 * Audio Bitrate: 128 Kbps CBR 48KHz
 * Audio Channels: 2
 * Run-Time: 45mins
 * Framerate: 25fps
 * Number of Parts: 18
 * Part Size: 691 MB
 * Container: mp4
 * Encoded by: Harry65
 * Source: PDTV



Links
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1)  Further Information 
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ancient-discoveries/