HISTORY Highlights March 2020

KINGS OF PAIN

Wednesdays from 18^th March at 20.30

Caveman Rob and Adam Thorn, two of the world’s most expert animal handlers, have been bitten and stung by some of the planet’s most deadliest creatures. Journey with them to remote corners of the earth as they seek to make the world safer by experiencing bites and stings from some of the world’s most poisonous creatures - a Goliath bird-eating tarantula, a reticulated python - and then ranking them on a scientific pain scale, all in the name of science. (8x60”).

UNCHARTED MYSTERIES

Mondays from 23^rd March at 20.30

Uncharted Mysteries follows adventurer and survivalist Cliff Simon as he explores paranormal mysteries in some of the world’s most extreme and challenging environments. From the terrifying bat-winged Jersey Devil to the deadly Night marchers of Hawaii, Cliff is determined to uncover the truth behind these nightmarish myths and legends. And that means using all his skills to hike, swim, and even crawl his way into places most people wouldn’t dare go.

Along the way, scientists, shamans, historians, and witnesses all provide clues that shed light on dark secrets that often defy explanation. He consults with local guides to help plan his route. But after that, Cliff is on his own, venturing solo, deep into one extreme landscape after the other, to haunting places where the wilderness and the paranormal intersect. (6x60).

HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATION

Thursday 12^th March from 21.25

On 12 March, HISTORY will be acknowledging and commemorating the devastating events around the war and the holocaust with an evening of programming looking back at WWII.

Cheating Hitler: Surviving the Holocaust follows three Holocaust survivors with unanswered questions from their past, journey back to hometowns, killing sites, and hiding places in search for clues. Maxwell wondered what happened to a baby he saved in a forest in 1943. Helen wants to know more about the fate of her brother. Rose is given access to new artefacts that help shed light on the fate of her parents. The survivors who appear in this film came of age during the Holocaust and carry the burden of knowing they are the last living link to it. This film delivers a powerful warning from history, inspires stories of survival, and a last chance to solve lingering mysteries. Also playing as part of the commemoration are Auschwitz: Journey into Hell (12/03 at 23.15) and Heroes of War (12/03 from 24.10).

CITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD

Weekdays from 2^nd March at 18.50

In major cities around the world today, skyscrapers loom overhead, taxis honk their horns and street vendors peddle their wares. But below lies city upon city - each with its fascinating and unknown history. This series will explore these layers, which are often hundreds of feet deep, and examine a city's ancient cisterns, dank dungeons, eerie tombs, clandestine hideouts, and even underground shipwrecks that have been lost for hundreds and hundreds of years. What are the underground layers of the most populated cities on earth? And how did (and do) engineers build layer upon layer up to today's city streets? This series will reveal the technological marvels that allowed the construction of one city upon another - literally.