Railroad companies advertised their station stops as havens for consumptives. Towns like Los Angeles, Denver and Pasadena grew as more health-seekers traveled west along the railroads. But promoters gave little thought to what would happen if climate was not a cure-all. Premieres February 10 on PBS American Experience.

As the scientific knowledge of tuberculosis progressed, so too did the prejudice towards people with the disease. Once it was learned that TB was not in fact hereditary, but was transmitted through person-to-person contact, those who suffered from the disease were ostracized from society. Premieres February 10 on PBS American Experience.

By the dawn of the 19th century, tuberculosis had killed one in seven of all people that had ever lived. Doctors believed it was hereditary, but had begun to observe that fresh air and outdoor living could sometimes change the course of the illness. Physician and TB patient Edward Trudeau was convinced the clean mountain air was like medicine for the lungs.

By the dawn of the 19th century tuberculosis had killed one in seven of all the people who had ever lived. The battle against the deadly bacteria had a profound and lasting impact on the US, shaping medical and scientific pursuits, social habits, economic development, western expansion, and government policy. Premieres February 10 on PBS American Experience.

In the summer of 1910, hundreds of wildfires raged across the Northern Rockies. By the time it was all over, more than three million acres had burned and at least 78 firefighters were dead. It was the largest fire in American history, and it assured the future of the still-new United States Forest Service.

In the summer of 1910, hundreds of wildfires raged across the Northern Rockies. By the time it was all over, more than three million acres had burned and at least 78 firefighters were dead. It was the largest fire in American history, and it assured the future of the still-new United States Forest Service. The Big Burn premieres February 3 on American Experience PBS.

In the summer of 1910, the Forest Service had less than 500 rangers nationwide. With hundreds of fires already burning, the organization set out to hire more men; in some instances, they even let out felons from local jails to help battle the blazes. "The Big Burn" premieres February 3 on PBS American Experience

At the turn of the 20th century, Gifford Pinchot was the nation’s preeminent forester. When his good friend, Theodore Roosevelt became president in 1901, the two men created plans and programs for protecting America’s forests. "The Big Burn" premieres February 3 on PBS American Experience.

After the Big Burn, Pinchot publicizes the selfless actions of the fire fighters who lost their lives in the blaze. The men who gave their lives to defend America’s public lands were regaled as heroes in the press, and an outpouring of public support helps ensure the survival and growth of the U.S. Forest Service. "The Big Burn" premieres February 3 on PBS American Experience.

In the early 1900s, timber was an essential industrial product in the US. Gifford Pinchot and President Theodore Roosevelt worried that unless America’s forests were protected and regulated, the nation’s forests would soon disappear. "The Big Burn" premieres February 3 on PBS American Experience.

Chief Forester Gifford Pinchot saw fighting forest fires as being essential to the new Forest Service’s mission. Fire could wipe out entire forests and Pinchot’s rangers were the nation’s only defense against it. "The Big Burn" premieres February 3 on PBS American Experience.

On New Year’s Eve, 1879, Thomas Edison unveiled his newest invention: the electric light. Reporters came from all over the U.S. to see Edison’s Menlo Park lab lit up with his incandescent bulbs. “Edison” premieres January 27, 2015 on PBS American Experience.

Thomas Edison is famous for inventions like the lightbulb, the phonograph and the kinetograph. But with over a thousand U.S. patents to his name, these famous breakthroughs are just the beginning. Go Beyond the Doc to learn about Edison's lesser-known inventions.

Premiering January 27, 2015 on PBS American Experience. Thomas Edison achieved glory as the genius behind such revolutionary inventions as sound recording, motion pictures, and electric light. The holder of more patents than any other inventor in history, "The Wizard of Menlo Park" was also intensely competitive and was often neglectful in his private life.

By the 1920s, Thomas Edison was a prolific inventor and quite possibly the most famous man in the world. But before he invented the phonograph, the lightbulb or the kinetoscope, he was a young boy working as a telegraph operator. He soon began tinkering with the telegraphic equipment and experimenting with his own improvements. "Edison" premieres January 27 on American Experience PBS.

In 1894, Thomas Edison filmed sharpshooter Annie Oakley in his Black Maria studio. He was testing a new device called the kinetograph, an electrically powered camera capable of capturing motion. “Edison” premieres January 27, 2015 on PBS American Experience.

In the 1890s, Thomas Edison worked with his assistant and part-time photographer, William Dickson to create a motion picture camera. They created a series of short films that could be viewed on a coin-operated, peephole viewing cabinet called a kinetoscope. “Edison” premieres January 27, 2015 on PBS American Experience.

Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated his new invention, the telephone, at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park. The always-competitive Thomas Edison then worked with his team to develop a device that trumped Bell’s, the carbon-button transmitter, just a few months later. “Edison” premieres January 27, 2015 on PBS American Experience.

In February 1881, Thomas Edison established the headquarters of the Edison Electric Light Company in New York City. Edison’s goal of electrifying Lower Manhattan had stalled for two years while Edison and his team grappled with creating the world’s first electrical power grid. “Edison” premieres January 27, 2015 on PBS American Experience.

On December 7, 1877 Thomas Edison demonstrated his phonograph at the New York City offices of the nation’s leading technical weekly publication, “Scientific American.” The following report set off a stampede of reporters to Edison’s laboratory to hear the amazing device. “Edison” premieres January 27, 2015 on PBS American Experience.