Centuries and centuries before Christ was born, Romans, Mesopotamians, Carthaginians, Balkans, Germans and Scandinavians held huge celebrations on or near December 25th to welcome the return of the sun.The Origins of Christmas delves into this history, revealing surprising similarities between the world's favourite Christian holiday and some of its not-so-religious roots:One of the earliest
In 1542, the Spanish Conquistador, Francisco de Orellana ventured along the Rio Negro, one of the Amazon Basin's great rivers. Hunting a hidden city of gold, his expedition found a network of farms, villages and even huge walled cities. At least that is what he told an eager audience on his return to Spain.The prospect of gold drew others to explore the region, but none could find the people o
Stonehenge, located on the Salisbury Plain in Southern England, has long been associated with Druids, a group of wise men present in England more than 2000 years ago. Still today at Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, Druid celebrations are held at Stonehenge. But were they the actual designers?Excavations underneath the stones have revealed artifacts, like antler horns, carbon dated
The notion of the devil does not originate in the Bible, as many may think - In the Old Testament, Satan is just another one of God's servants. It is in Iran that the religious teacher Zarathustra simplified things, ending up with only two - a God of the Good and a God of Evil. This belief then spread throughout the Middle East. In the Jewish world, Satan, God's obedient servant, was gradually rep
Idi Amin Dada is a name that is familiar to many over the age of 35, but is almost unknown to those younger than that. The story of Idi Amin is an example the potential of humanity to carry out the most grave atrocities and offers a lesson for us all. This self proclaimed leader of Uganda came to power via a coup, but was eventually challenged by armed exile group. How Uncle Idi chose to deal with
This documentary examines the bloody career of Vlad the Impaler, the 15th-century prince of Wallachia who took no prisoners in his resistance to the spread of the Ottoman Empire. Known as Dracula, he learned the arts of war as a hostage of the Turks, but asserted his independence by working his own disloyal nobles to death and repelling a Turkish invasion by filling the battlefield with 23,000 imp
Dispatches reporter David Modell films a remarkable six months spent in the questionable company of Mark Collett, leader of the youth wing of the British National Party, and reveals the true nature of a party trying to reinvent itself and broaden its appeal. A rising star of the party, Collet reveals to Modell his deeply held Nazi sympathies. This despite the party’s claim it no longer has any ass
Until the current period or until the last 30 years, it was conventional wisdom, both in science and theology, we’re alone in the universe; a single repository of life anywhere in the known universe. Well, no one believes that anymore. Out of the Blue presents unexplained cases from around the world, investigates 50 years of official contradictions and denials, and puts forth possible reasons for
Documentary from Channel 4 shown in 1994 about the infamous ‘UFO Crash’ at Roswell in 1947. In the summer of 1947, there were a number of UFO sightings in the United States. Sometime during the first week of July 1947, something crashed near Roswell. W.W. “Mack” Brazel, a New Mexico rancher, saddled up his horse and rode out with the son of neighbors Floyd and Loretta Proctor, to check on the shee