Secrets of the Dead

History Series / 8 Seasons

Secrets of the Dead is part detective story, part true-life drama that unearths evidence from around the world, challenging prevailing ideas and throwing fresh light on unexplained events.

54m 50s / TV-PG

The Rise of the Body Snatchers

2m 37s

In the 18th century, private anatomy schools were set up across London to give medical students the opportunity to learn anatomy by dissecting human cadavers. But supply lagged behind demand. Anatomists needed many more bodies than the ones of hanged murderers, which were the only bodies legally available at that time for their study. This created a business for body snatchers.

Ben Franklin’s Scientific Achievements

3m 23s

America’s Founding Father Benjamin Franklin was intellectually curious about the world and he operated in it as a gentlemanly scientist. He pursued experiments related to electricity, he looked at better ways to make clocks and improve bifocal lenses. In 1752, he had won world-wide fame when he proved that lightening was not an act of God but in fact electricity.

William Hewson’s Experiments and the Craven Street Bones

2m 21s

William Hewson, Benjamin Franklin’s neighbor at 36 Craven Street, was no ordinary physician. He was an anatomist. Hewson had conducted extensive research into the human lymphatic system and his detailed findings were recorded by leading anatomical artists of the day. Are the bones at Craven Street connected to William Hewson?

Preview | Resurrecting Richard III

43s

In 2011, a group of amateur historians made an incredible archaeological find: the bones of King Richard III, hunchbacked, with an arrow through the spine. Richard is thought of as the most evil king to have ruled England and also as a fearsome warrior, despite the extreme curvature of his spine. Now, scientists are testing the bones to find out more about the king.

Richard’s Body Double

3m 39s

26-year-old Dominic Smee has the exact kind of scoliosis to the same degree as Richard III. The team studying Richard III will train and test Dominic to find out exactly what Richard was capable of. Resurrecting Richard III premieres on Wednesday, September 24th at 10 p.m. on PBS. (Check local listings)

Did Richard III Maintain a Healthy Diet from Birth to Death?

2m 20s

A team of scientists has traveled to Richard’s birthplace in Northamptonshire to find out if he was a fit and capable warrior at the Battle of Bosworth. By analyzing the chemical isotopes in Richard’s teeth, legs and ribs, they can create a complete profile of Richard’s diet over the course of his life. Resurrecting Richard III premieres on Wednesday, September 24th at 10 p.m. on PBS.

Preview | The Mona Lisa Mystery

30s

Discover a portrait of a younger and more beautiful Mona Lisa that predated the famous Louvre masterpiece. In September 2012, headline news shook the art world. A secret da Vinci had been uncovered, a portrait of a younger and more beautiful Mona Lisa that predated the famous Louvre masterpiece.

Theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre

1m 45s

In the summer of 1911, the relatively obscure Mona Lisa portrait was stolen from a Renaissance gallery in The Louvre Museum. The scandal soon made the Leonardo da Vinci painting a household name. A handyman Vincenzo Peruggia committed the crime, removing the wooden panel portrait from its frame and escaping in broad daylight the following day when the museum was closed.

What Is the Isleworth Mona Lisa?

4m 13s

Two years before the death of Leonardo da Vinci, the aging artist was visited by Cardinal Luigi d'Aragona to survey his works. A diary written by the Cardinal’s secretary suggests da Vinci showcased a Mona Lisa portrait different than the one now on display in The Louvre Museum.

Preview | The Lost Gardens of Babylon

43s

Examine a world wonder so elusive that most people have decided it must be mythical. Centuries of digging have turned up nothing — but the searchers were digging in the wrong place. Now, this film proves that the spectacular Hanging Gardens of Babylon did exist, shows where they were, what they looked like and how they were constructed.

Archimedes' Screw & the Date Tree of Babylon

2m 8s

Archimedes of Syracuse is known for inventing a device that efficiently raised water for irrigation. Dr. Stephanie Dalley translated a cuneiform text from of the Assyrian king Sennacherib which led her to believe the Hanging Gardens of Babylon made use of a comparable device approximately 350 years before the time of Archimedes.

Who Built Hanging Gardens of Babylon?

3m 12s

Dr. Stephanie Dalley, an expert on the ancient cuneiform texts, is one of a handful of people who can read this language which dates back to the Babylonian era. Her translation of the cuneiform on a prism at the British Museum, leads her to an intriguing theory about the location, builder, and look of the Hanging Garden.

Preview | Carthage's Lost Warriors

30s

In 146 BC, as the Romans conquered the vast Carthaginian Empire in North Africa, thousands of people fled their homeland. Now, science is suggesting some may have taken refuge thousands of miles away in South America. In addition to the scientific evidence, blonde, blue eyed indigenes suggest that contact with the West occurred long before Columbus arrived.

The Petroglyphs on Pedra do Ingá

2m 10s

Countless figures and symbols have been engraved into the monolith since the Itacoatiara culture existed in Rio Paraíba. At an early stage local archaeologists noticed that many of the petroglyphs on the Rock of the Ingá displayed similarities with writing from the Old World in classical times.

Preview | The Lost Diary of Dr. Livingstone

30s

Dr. David Livingstone is the renowned British explorer, whom American journalist Henry Morton Stanley greeted with the now famous words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume.” When New York Herald reporter Stanley found him in a small African village on November 10, 1871, the reclusive Livingstone had lost contact with the outside world for six years.

Dr. Livingstone Discovers & Names Victoria Falls

2m

Livingstone charted large parts of the continent previously unseen by European eyes. Where there was once a blank space, he filled in the map of Africa. One of Livingstone’s most famous discoveries was the Victoria Falls on the Zambesi River.

Dr. Livingstone Concocts "Rousers" to Fight Malaria

2m 34s

150 years ago, malaria was a mystery to doctors in Africa and the west. On earlier expeditions, when Livingstone travelled along these same river banks, he recorded suffering from malaria dozens of times. Livingstone develops his own medicine and pioneered a systematic dosage to keep him alive. The main ingredient was quinine, found in the bark of the South American cinchona tree.

Preview | JFK: One PM Central Standard Time

30s

Fifty years after the tragic shooting of President John F. Kennedy, Secrets of the Dead chronicles minute-by-minute the assassination as it was revealed in the CBS newsroom from the moment the President was shot until Walter Cronkite's emotional pronouncement of his death, one hour and eight minutes later.

Preview | Bones of the Buddha

30s

The mystery surrounding the bones of the Buddha dates back more than 100 years ago, when colonial estate manager William Peppe and his workers began digging at a mysterious hill in Northern India. Peppe had no idea what they'd find just a little more than 20 feet down. They unearthed an astonishing discovery: a huge stone coffer, containing five reliquary jars, more than 1,000 separate jewels.

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