Skip to content

America: Facts vs. Fiction

Season 3 · 12 episodes · Oct 6, 2015

  1. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 1 still

    Episode 1

    Ike and MacArthur

    Oct 6, 2015

    The truth about America's greatest generals is obscured by myth. West Point cadet Dwight Eisenhower used an alias to hide a secret and Douglas MacArthur deserved a court-martial, not a medal, for his actions in the Philippines in World War II.

  2. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 2 still

    Episode 2

    Worlds of Amusement

    Oct 6, 2015

    Amusement parks and world's fairs are examined. Included: the history of roller-coasters and how world's fairs recalled as family-friendly endeavors actually featured nudity.

  3. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 3 still

    Episode 3

    Welcome to the Big Apple

    Oct 13, 2015

    Myths obscure the facts about two Manhattan landmarks - the Empire State Building and Grand Central. Discover why a penny tossed from the top of the skyscraper won't kill anyone, and the real story of Grand Central's "secret" train platform.

  4. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 4 still

    Episode 4

    The Princess and the Pathfinders

    Oct 20, 2015

    Myths obscure the truth about Pocahontas and America's renowned explorers, Lewis and Clark. We remember Pocahontas and John Smith as lovers - but she actually married another John. And Lewis and Clark's exploits were forgotten for a century.

  5. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 5 still

    Episode 5

    Kings of the Sky

    Oct 27, 2015

    Charles Lindburg myths and John Glenn fictions

  6. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 6 still

    Episode 6

    Top Secret Vaults

    Nov 3, 2015

    Myths surround America's most secret vaults. The interior of Fort Knox looks nothing like it does in the movie "Goldfinger" and the $250 billion of gold in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is protected by low-tech technology built in 1924.

  7. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 7 still

    Episode 7

    Not So Close Encounters

    Nov 17, 2015

    Did an alien spaceship crash in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947? Are scientists reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology in the Nevada desert's Area 51? Conspiracy theorists have no doubts. But the facts tell a very different story.

  8. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 8 still

    Episode 8

    Roads to Freedom

    Nov 24, 2015

    Myths obscure the truth about the Underground Railroad and the Women's Suffrage Movement. Black leaders, not white, dominated the system that brought hundreds of slaves to freedom. And women's fight for the vote was more violent than we remember.

  9. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 9 still

    Episode 9

    D.C. Decoding

    Dec 1, 2015

    Myths surround the landmarks of Washington, D.C. Few realize that the remains of the original White House are buried under a baseball diamond in Virginia - or that thousands of people have literally jumped over the top of the Washington Monument.

  10. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 10 still

    Episode 10

    Final Voyages

    Dec 8, 2015

    Myths cloud the facts of the Titanic and Hindenburg disasters. Few know that the Titanic nearly hit another obstacle days before it struck the iceberg - or that the radio broadcast of the Hindenburg's destruction is distorted by a technical flaw.

  11. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 11 still

    Episode 11

    The Rock and the Bridge

    Dec 15, 2015

    Myths obscure the real facts about two San Francisco landmarks: Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. If Alcatraz was so harsh, why did inmates ask to be transferred there? And why did the Navy want to paint the bridge a garish yellow and black?

  12. America: Facts vs. Fiction season 3 episode 12 still

    Episode 12

    Unwrapping the Holidays

    Dec 22, 2015

    Myths and misconceptions surround our celebrations of Christmas and New Year's Eve. Learn how the Santa we cherish is actually the product of three New Yorkers and how the Times Square Ball drop is based on a bygone system of standardizing time.