HISTORY highlights January 2021

THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND

Tuesdays from 19 January at 20.30

Rick, Marty and the Oak Island team are back! Bringing with them more determination, resources and technology than ever in their quest to solve the 224-year old treasure mystery. After seismic testing conducted at the end of last season revealed a possible sunken ship buried in the triangle-shaped swamp, the team will use sonic core drilling, strategic dives and finally a historic big dig to find out what could be buried below. Now fully partnered with fellow land owner, Tom Nolan, the son of the late, Fred Nolan, Rick, Marty and Craig Tester will have unprecedented access to areas of the island that they hope will yield answers… and treasure.

The cofferdam at Smith’s Cove will be expanded to allow the team to conduct an even more extensive investigation than last year, which uncovered numerous manmade structures dating more than two decades prior to the discovery of the Money Pit in 1795. The Oak Island team will not only find more of the ancient slipway but be searching for the box drains and artifacts — like the 14th century lead cross found two years ago. They will also be drilling and digging above the beach in search of the so-called convergence point where the box drains are believed to merge into a single flood tunnel leading back to the original Money Pit.

This will lead to the biggest and most extensive digs that Rick, Marty, Craig Tester and the team have ever conducted to once and for all locate the fabled “Chappell Vault.”

The Oak Island mystery now has the greatest chance ever to finally being solved. (26x60”) Part of Mystery Season.

HISTORY’S GREATEST MYSTERIES WITH LAURENCE FISHBURNE

Mondays from 11 January at 20.30

History’s Greatest Mysteries is a series of investigative specials that take the world’s most well-known mysteries, and challenges everything we know about them. Narrated and hosted by Laurence Fishburne, the franchise will delve into a wide array of some of the most historically important mysteries of recent times: what was the true reason the Titanic sank? Where did D.B. Cooper disappear to? Did John Wilkes Booth live? Using fresh, new evidence and perspectives, including never-before-seen diaries and advanced DNA testing, History’s Greatest Mysteries will unearth brand-new information on some of History’s most famous and enigmatic chapters. (5x120”) Part of Mystery Season.

EPISODE LIST: Episode 1 – Titanic’s Lost Evidence; Episode 2 – Endurance: The Hunt for Shackleton’s Ice Ship; Episode 3 – The Final Hunt for DB Cooper; Episode 4 – The Escape of John Wilkes Booth; Episode 5 – Hunting Hitler: The Final Chapter.

ANCIENT ALIENS

Mondays from 4 January at 19.35

Ancient Aliens returns and examines 75 million years of the most credible alien evidence here on Earth, from the age of the dinosaurs, to ancient Egypt, to the skies over the western desert in the present day US. Ancient cave drawings of strange creatures, an asphalt-like substance in an Egyptian pyramid made from the remains of unidentified creatures, continued mass sightings in the USA -- these are just a few of the strange stories that will be investigated. (5x60”)

AMERICA’S BOOK OF SECRETS: SPECIAL EDITION

Tuesdays from 5 January at 21.25

While much of American history is widely available, there is another deeper history lingering in the shadows. Stories and places that have been shrouded in secrecy and hidden from public view…will once again be revealed. Each two-hour episode will give viewers secret access to some of America’s most iconic locations and organizations. Past episodes have gone inside the Pentagon, Area 51, the FBI, and even the White House. Now America’s Book of Secrets: Special Edition will go deeper, farther and wider than ever before in an unceasing effort to bring viewers the truth behind today’s all new, shocking headlines. (6x120”)

Holocaust Remembrance Day Special

ESCAPING THE HOLOCAUST: SYNDROME K

Wednesday 27 January at 20.30

Escaping The Holocaust: Syndrome K tells the story of three courageous Roman Catholic doctors who saved Jews by convincing the Nazis that these Jews were infected with a highly deadly and contagious disease that the doctors called Syndrome K.

After Mussolini was removed, and Italy signed an Armistice with the Allies, the Nazis became infuriated and occupied Rome. The Nazis deported over 1,000 Jews to Auschwitz from the Jewish Ghetto in Rome in October 1943 and most never returned. Many Jews sought refuge in the Fatebenefratelli hospital where the three doctors invented a disease to protect them, advising all patients to fake symptoms when the Nazi officers were outside the ward, and declaring it far too contagious for the soldiers to enter.

Dr Ossicini was interviewed for this film, as were survivors. The new footage amassed and combined with archives is chilling – and the secrets of their heroism is finally pronounced. This is an unbelievable, mysterious WWII story that needs to be told. (1x60”)

Followed by Cheating Hitler: Surviving The Holocaust at 21.25 as part of HISTORY’s Holocaust Memorial Day.