Secrets of the Dead — Season 12
Unearthing History
About this season
Part detective story, part true-life drama, long-running series explores some of the most iconic moments in history to debunk myths and shed new light on past events. Using the latest investigative techniques, forensic science and historical examination, it shatters accepted wisdom, challenges prevailing ideas, overturns existing hypotheses, spotlights forgotten mysteries, and ultimately rewrites history.
Episodes (6)
1. The Man Who Saved the World
Aired 23 October 2012
An officer aboard a Soviet submarine refuses to fire a nuclear torpedo during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
2. Bugging Hitler's Soldiers
Aired 1 May 2013
German POWs reveal inner thoughts about the Third Reich, including military secrets that helped the Allies win World War II.
3. Death on the Railroad
Aired 8 May 2013
Forensic and scientific analysis help determine how 57 Irish immigrants died less than two months after arriving in Pennsylvania to work on the railroad.
4. Cavemen Cold Case
Aired 15 May 2013
Scientists say some of the 49,000 year-old Neanderthal bones discovered in El Sidrón, Spain, bear signs of cannibalism.
5. Ultimate Tut
Aired 10 July 2013
New scientific research provides insights into how King Tutankhamen was buried, why his tomb remained intact and how he died.
6. Bones of the Buddha
Aired 23 July 2013
Bones of the Buddha is a 2013 television documentary produced by Icon Films and commissioned by WNET/THIRTEEN and ARTE France for the National Geographic Channels. It concerns a controversial Buddhist reliquary from the Piprahwa Stupa in Uttar Pradesh, India. It was released in May, 2013, and was broadcast in July 2013 in the US on PBS as part of the Secrets of the Dead series.