Episode list

Theo Wilson travels back in time to 1937, finding himself aboard the world's most luxurious airship, the Hindenburg, where he must solve the mystery of what leads to its fiery fall from the sky - the first epic disaster ever caught on moving film. Wilson pieces together the true story of how incredible engineering, Nazi propaganda, and a literal perfect storm lead to the iconic catastrophe. Aboard this floating five-star hotel, complete with its own cigar bar, we see the glitz and glamor and hubris that plays an unexpected role in sealing Hindenburg's fate.

Theo Wilson time-travels back to 1889 to the bucolic river shores of Johnstown, Pennsylvania where the biggest flood in U.S. history is about to be unleashed. But how does the disaster happen? Wilson uncovers an elite, millionaires club that transforms the world's largest manmade lake into a personal playground for the posh by pushing aside much needed maintenance on the nearby dam. We discover how bad judgement and a passion for parties and fishing set the table for the tragedy, and learn what role the Transcontinental Railroad, heroic telegraph operators, and record rainfall play in creating a catastrophe that kills over 2,000 people.

Theo Wilson time-travels to Russia on April 26th, 1986, as workers at the Chernobyl nuclear plant are in the throes of a disaster that will put the lives of millions of Soviet citizens and Europeans in jeopardy. The name Chernobyl still evokes dread, but the big question is, how did it happen? Theo Wilson goes back in time to uncover the truth - discovering how the 1950s cover-up of another nuclear disaster, engineers turning a blind eye to fatal design flaws of Chernobyl's RBMK reactor, a Soviet holiday, the night shift and a breach in protocol lead to the world's worst nuclear meltdown.

Theo Wilson travels back in time to Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 where the village is self-destructing over allegations of witchcraft amongst dozens of its citizens. Why did this small town lose its collective mind in the 'witch hunts? Wilson finds himself solving the mystery of what led accused witches to be condemned to the gallows, retracing the dark road that caused Salem to turn on itself - from an accidentally flooded farm and a bitter feud between two Puritan families, to a divisive minister preaching "fire and brimstone," to a secret fortune telling game played by two local girls, to the "diagnosis" of Satanic possession, and a sham trial where hearsay and spectral evidence are all admissible, we find ourselves with a front row seat to the madness.

Theo Wilson time-travels to the mid 1800s where he finds a young man named Jesse James on the path toward becoming America's most infamous outlaw. Wilson uncovers Jesse James' rise to fame and subsequent fall - from his beating by Union militiamen, to his participation in a massacre at the hand of Confederate guerillas, to a revenge killing during his first big bank robbery, to a PR campaign quickly followed by a disastrous heist that sends him into hiding. Theo is there when Jesse James falls prey to a bullet fired by a gang member with a thirst for fame.

Theo Wilson travels back in time to 1893 Chicago, finding himself in the lair of America's first famous serial killer, H.H. Holmes. But how did Holmes become such a prolific murderer? Theo follows Holmes dark road from conman, to the owner of a fiendishly engineered "murder castle," where he hunts his victims in the convenient shadow of the World's Columbian Exposition.

Theo Wilson time travels to 1865 and immerses himself in the events that lead to the assassination of President Lincoln

On January 26, 1986, 2.5 million school children, plus Americans and people around the world, watch the launch of the first teacher, Christa McAuliffe, into space, aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. The mission is supposed to showcase the safety of NASA's fabulously successful shuttle program which is the envy of the world. But joy turns to horror as the kids in this classroom, and the rest of the world, witness Challenger explode. Why did it happen? Theo Wilson retraces a mission destined for tragedy, from a worrying mishap on an earlier shuttle flight, to mounting concern by engineers that Challenger had a fatal flaw, to a fateful 11th hour meeting where Challenger is given the go-ahead despite the warnings.

Theo Wilson time travels to the tension-filled 60s to see how inspirational Civil Rights hero, John Lewis, came to lead a historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday. Wilson retraces Lewis' bruising quest for change: from a call to action after the murder of Emmett Till and a childhood stand at his local, segregated library, to a poisonous sit-in, a stint in Parchman Prison, and the confrontation in Selma. The audience watches John Lewis' journey and witnesses his lifetime of causing what he called "good trouble" to change the world. This is the story of Lewis, an American hero.

It's February 14th, 1929 - In a Chicago garage during the height of Prohibition, a group of gangsters is mowed down by Tommy Guns. It will be known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and its violence shocks the nation, eventually leading to the end of the nationwide ban on booze. But how did this historic hit really happen? Theo Wilson retraces the steps, from the first day of Prohibition, to the rise and secret rules of the speakeasies, to a flower shop hit and the bloody beer wars between the rival forces of Chicago's North and South sides led by ruthless gangsters George "Bugs" Moran and the FBI's "most wanted" Al Capone.

Theo Wilson travels back in time to April 19, 1995, when Oklahoma City is rocked by a two-ton fertilizer bomb shortly after 9 AM. What leads Timothy McVeigh to commit the worst domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history? Theo Wilson retraces McVeigh's journey to becoming a terrorist -- from the Army barracks where he bonded with future conspirators over a racist book, to the ruck where his plans to become an elite soldier are dashed, to his anti-government protest outside Waco as the Branch Davidian compound is seized, we see how this terrorist was made and how a mistake with a license plate ultimately brings him to justice.

Theo Wilson time-travels to the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 where the underdog Russian Army is about to pull off a victory that will turn the tide of the war in favor of Allied forces. How did the Russians win the battle of Stalingrad and reverse the Nazis' dark winning streak at a critical time? Wilson takes us through the essential moments that lead to an Allied victory: from a frigid and deadly winter that stops Hitler's troops, to the deadly accuracy of Russian snipers prowling Stalingrad's bombed out ruins, to Soviet female pilots chasing the Nazis out of the sky, and one Russian general's bold maneuver that traps the Nazis and changes the course of the war.