America: Facts vs. Fiction — Season 5

Aired 21 January 2017 • 22 min

The war waged by America's greatest generation is obscured by myth. Few remember that an American admiral played a pivotal role in showing Japan how to attack Pearl Harbor or that the German army was not the mechanized wonder it's reputed to be.

Aired 21 January 2017 • 22 min

Myths obscure the real facts about our favorite vices: smoking, drinking and gambling. You won't believe which nation had the first anti-smoking campaign, what those three X's on a jug of moonshine mean, or where our first slot machines appeared.

Aired 28 January 2017 • 22 min

Myths taint our knowledge of the 4th of July, St. Patrick's Day, and our favorite mini-holiday, the weekend. We should celebrate Independence Day on July 2nd, St. Patrick wasn't Irish, and the idea of a fun weekend is a recent creation.

Aired 28 January 2017 • 22 min

Much of what we know about the old west is myth, not fact, drawn from movies and TV. Gunfights never started with a quick draw, cowboys weren't all white, and Native Americans feared enemies more menacing than settlers and soldiers.

Aired 4 February 2017 • 22 min

Much of what we know about America's secret societies is myth, not truth. The Freemasons have no evil agenda, the Mafia took root not in New York, but the South, and Harvard's Skull and Bones does not control a sinister shadow government.

Aired 4 February 2017 • 22 min

Myths eclipse the real facts about NASA's dramatic rescue of three astronauts aboard the crippled Apollo 13 spacecraft; and Hollywood movies have a hit-and-miss track record of depicting the realties of interstellar exploration.

Aired 11 February 2017 • 22 min

The real facts of the nuclear age are clouded by myth. Manhattan played a major role in the Manhattan Project; there were closer calls to World War III than the Cuban Missile Crisis; America's nuclear security hinges on a football and a biscuit.

Aired 11 February 2017 • 22 min

Myths litter the stories of America's most infamous bad guys. Al Capone was a philanthropist as well as a hood; Benedict Arnold was a hero as well as a traitor, Jesse James was no wild west Robin Hood; and we've got Billy the Kid's nickname wrong.

Aired 18 February 2017 • 22 min

Myths distort the stories of two of America's most renowned rivalries. Before their fateful duel, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were law partners; and the conflict between the Hatfields and McCoys didn't end in the backwoods, but a courtroom.

Aired 25 February 2017 • 22 min

Myths and misconceptions surround four pivotal historic moments: the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., the Boston Tea Party in 1773, and the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Aired 4 March 2017 • 22 min

Myths cloud the real facts of America's Civil War. The North's biggest city tried to secede; the Union didn't go to war to end slavery; most deaths weren't caused by battle wounds, and Grant and Lee didn't end the conflict; two other generals did.

Aired 11 March 2017 • 22 min

America's medical history is infected with myths. George Washington's doctors may have inadvertently killed him; Abraham Lincoln used a toxic remedy that warped his mind; and heroin was once a best-selling cough suppressant.

Aired 21 January 2017 • 22 min

Profiles of U.S. generals, including Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur. Also: a look at Washington, D.C., landmarks.

Aired 28 January 2017 • 22 min

On this special edition of America: Facts vs. Fiction, we explore the myths behind extraterrestrial spacecraft and we learn the truth of two pioneering flights.

Aired 4 February 2017 • 22 min

Investigating the nation's most secret vaults to separate fiction from fact.

Aired 11 February 2017 • 22 min

Profiles of Lewis and Clark; and Pocahontas. Also: a look at the women's suffrage movement.

Aired 18 February 2017 • 22 min

The spotlight is on amusement parks and world's fairs to separate fiction from truth; explore the myths of two of our favorite holidays, Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Aired 20 February 2017 • 22 min

The birth of America and the powerful people behind it are featured.

Aired 29 July 2017 • 22 min

Hollywood's vision of the old west is explored. Included: the truth behind some of America's renowned rivalries.

Aired 5 August 2017 • 22 min

The true stories behind America's most infamous bad guys; and the truths behind America's notorious secret societies are investigated.

Aired 12 August 2017 • 22 min

The myths behind World War II are exposed. Delves into the truths that are often forgotten when it comes to America's Civil War.

Aired 19 August 2017 • 22 min

The myths surrounding popular favorite vices and the facts behind the most-liked holidays are explored.

Aired 12 October 2017 • 22 min

The myths behind some of history's most defining moments are uncovered, as well as revealing facts behind America's space explorations.

Aired 19 October 2017 • 22 min

The science in America's history is examined, including its medical history and its nuclear age.