Smithsonian Channel TV Schedule

Combat Ships

Series • 2023

Season 4 • Episode 8

Examining some of maritime history's most effective and deceptive lightning strikes.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

TV Movie • 2021

Yeager and his aircraft pushed flight science forward and proved humanity could break through.

Investigators try to determine what a brand new airliner fell out of the sky on a clear day.

A trip aboard one of the world's most expensive and sought-after train rides.

A plan suffers an in-flight separation of its two right engines while en route to Kano, Nigeria.

Investigators try to solve the mystery of a plane whose captain and co-pilot are missing.

A flaw on the infamous DC-10 airline causing two midair crashes in the early 70's.

Showcasing bridges and other structures that pushed structural concrete engineering to its limits.

8:00 AM

Series • 2024

Season 1 • Episode 5

An airliner dodges thunderstorms; aerial firefighters cross the country to battle infernos.

Season 18 • Episode 8

A plane crashes during a thunderstorm, but investigators don't believe weather caused the crash.

History's most terrifying air disasters, and the investigations that followed, are revisited and reexamined.

6:00 AM

Breaking the Sound Barrier

TV Movie • 2021

Yeager and his aircraft pushed flight science forward and proved humanity could break through.

7:00 AM

Memphis Belle in Color

Special • 2019

Air Warriors

Series • 2021

Season 8 • Episode 1

The inside story of the F-86 Sabre, one of America's first fighter jets, and its epic battles.

5:00 PM

Air Warriors

Series • 2018

Season 6 • Episode 3

The inside story of the F-4 Phantom, the U.S. military's go-to fighter for more than four decades.

6:00 PM

Air Warriors

Series • 2021

Season 8 • Episode 5

The most-produced bomber in US history, used during World War II by the American military.

Air Warriors

Series • 2022

The greatest military planes of World War II, including the Japanese Zero and the Nazi ME 109.

Air Warriors

Series • 2022

A countdown of the most influential and impactful military planes of the Cold War.

Battle of Little Bighorn

Special • 2020

The events leading up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn as well as its impact on history.

A Colorado commuter flight crashes five miles short of the runway.

One hundred and forty-eight tornadoes are recorded over an 18-hour period in 1974.

6:00 PM

Make It Out Alive

Series • 2017

Season 1 • Episode 3

On the evening of May 3, 1999, the residents of Oklahoma City were hit with a devastating tornado.

Asian Tsunami: The Deadliest Wave

Special • 2014

Eyewitness accounts and home videos of the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Nepal Quake: Terror on Everest

Special • 2015

Footage on the Nepal earthquake of April 2015.

Ten Steps to Disaster

Series • 2023

Season 2 • Episode 5

Revisiting the Mount St. Helens eruption and revealing ten failures that escalated the catastrophe.

Volcanoes: Dual Destruction

Special • 2019

The eruptions of two different volcanoes, Guatemala's Fuego volcano and Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.

11:00 PM

Yellowstone Supervolcano

Special • 2015

A supervolcano brewing beneath Yellowstone National Park could be the worst natural disaster.

A cross-country flight over the nation's sites that attract adventurers and tourists.

WWII Battles in Color

Series • 2021

Season 1 • Episode 1

Rare archive footage charts the German Army in 1940 as it unleashes a new Blitzkrieg tactic.

The Blitz: Days That Changed WWII

Special • 2020

Nazi Germany's assault on Britain's major cities and how the resilience of its citizens became news.

History's most terrifying air disasters, and the investigations that followed, are revisited and reexamined.

Season 2 • Episode 2

The Royal Clipper is the largest sailing cruise ship in the world, with masts nearly 200 feet high.

A Manhattan high-rise; an Athens cultural center; a Singapore university.

10:00 AM

How Did They Fix That?

Series • 2023

Season 2 • Episode 8

In Philadelphia, Mike Davidson is on streets, in tunnels, on tracks & in trolley restoration garages - working shoulder-to-shoulder with the team that keeps one of America's largest & oldest mass transit systems running smoothly and on time.

11:00 AM

How Did They Fix That?

Series • 2023

Season 1 • Episode 3

A million-dollar freight run across four European countries and those who keep the train running.

12:00 PM

How Did They Fix That?

Series • 2023

Season 2 • Episode 3

Diving into the world's only underwater habitat, where NASA astronauts train for space missions.

1:00 PM

The Lost Tapes

Series • 2018

Season 2 • Episode 6

One hundred and forty-eight tornadoes are recorded over an 18-hour period in 1974.

2:00 PM

Make It Out Alive

Series • 2017

Season 1 • Episode 3

On the evening of May 3, 1999, the residents of Oklahoma City were hit with a devastating tornado.

3:00 PM

Asian Tsunami: The Deadliest Wave

Special • 2014

Eyewitness accounts and home videos of the 2004 Asian tsunami.

4:00 PM

Nepal Quake: Terror on Everest

Special • 2015

Footage on the Nepal earthquake of April 2015.

5:00 PM

Ten Steps to Disaster

Series • 2023

Season 2 • Episode 5

Revisiting the Mount St. Helens eruption and revealing ten failures that escalated the catastrophe.

6:00 PM

Volcanoes: Dual Destruction

Special • 2019

The eruptions of two different volcanoes, Guatemala's Fuego volcano and Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.

Yellowstone Supervolcano

Special • 2015

A supervolcano brewing beneath Yellowstone National Park could be the worst natural disaster.

WWII Battles in Color

Series • 2021

Season 1 • Episode 1

Rare archive footage charts the German Army in 1940 as it unleashes a new Blitzkrieg tactic.

The Blitz: Days That Changed WWII

Special • 2020

Nazi Germany's assault on Britain's major cities and how the resilience of its citizens became news.

Series • 2019

Season 13 • Episode 6

A commercial airliner crashes minutes after taking off from an airport in Bucharest.

6:00 AM

WWII Battles in Color

Series • 2021

Season 1 • Episode 1

Rare archive footage charts the German Army in 1940 as it unleashes a new Blitzkrieg tactic.

7:00 AM

The Blitz: Days That Changed WWII

Special • 2020

Nazi Germany's assault on Britain's major cities and how the resilience of its citizens became news.

8:00 AM

WWII’s Most Daring Raids

Series • 2016

Season 1 • Episode 3

WWII Battles in Color

Series • 2021

Season 1 • Episode 5

The US military's bloodiest battle on the European front in World War II.

11:00 PM

WWII Battles in Color

Series • 2021

Season 1 • Episode 6

Never before seen archive footage of WW2 which has been colorized for the first time.

A passenger plane comes in like a fighter jet and crashes, killing 51 of the 71 people aboard.

Saturday, May 11

Series • 2021

Season 7 • Episode 5

The discovery of 51 strangely shaped skulls at a 1,600-year-old Hungarian gravesite.

11:00 PM

Secrets

Series • 2021

Season 7 • Episode 6

The Sphinx, the Shroud of Turin, El Dorado, and other ancient mysteries.

The stories and sights of Hawaii's major islands.

Battle of Midway: The True Story

Special • 2019

Archival footage captures the history of America's first victory in the Pacific during World War II.

Battle of Okinawa in Color

Special • 2017

Military cameramen's footage of the Battle of Okinawa shows the intensity of the battle.

2:00 PM

Air Disasters

Series • 2023

Season 19 • Episode 6

After pilots miraculously land an out-of-control plane in Portugal, investigators must determine how the freshly serviced aircraft was released with a fatal flaw.

3:00 PM