By the time John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood become immersed in the study of the Mayans no one thought that the Mesoarmericans were capabile of creating such an advanced civilization.

There is much speculation as to the location of the Ark of the Covenant, but according to ancient scripture Jeremiah took it to a mountain and hid it in a cave before the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem.

A Frenchman claiming to be the grandson of LeBlanc, who was part of the original party that legend claims found a mother lode of gold on Treasure Mountain, returns with a detailed map to recover the stash.

Belize, 1924. Anna Mitchell-Hedges claims to find an extraordinary object under a collapsed altar. It's a beautiful skull from a single block of pure quartz crystal, that took generations to make which Mayan priests used for "esoteric rites."

Empress Helena makes a pilgrimage in search of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified, even resorting to torture in the quest for the holy relic.

Veterans and footage from the invasion of Normandy provide the details as to just how treacherous the initial landings and fierce the German defenses were their with underwater mines, 88-milimeter artillery rounds and machine gun emplacements.

Private Hal Baumgarten and his fellow GIs are victims of a deadly German ambush as they advance inland from the beach at Normandy. As he is about to be evacuated a sniper hits him, then gets "exterminated" by an unexpected friend.

A formidable German defense in Caen forces the Allies to unleash a massive aerial bombardment on the key city, with both the enemy and allies forced to seek cover.

As Lance Cpl. Stan Matulis is moving house to house clearing out the Germans in the Falaise pocket during the Battle of Normandy he and his comrades take a break in a home. After passing a window a couple of times he is shot in the neck by a sniper.

As the Germans were withdrawing from Normandy and Belgium many regrouped in Holland and attacked the Allies, inflicting many casualties. As the body count grew so did the letters that had to be written to family members of the deceased.

Besides the cold and lack of supplies and onrushing German forces soldiers of the 101st Airborne had to contend with the fear of the unknown, and fear of letting your fellow soldier down during the harsh Siege of Bastogne.

Airman Leonard recounts the chaos and cruelty of nighttime bombing raids over Berlin in a Lancaster and how he and his crew had to crash-land their disabled aircraft on one particular sortie.

By October 1939 after the Soviets and Nazis had partitioned Poland the Gestapo and Soviet secret police were looking for ways to increase and render more effective their collaboration

During a trip to Moscow in December 1941 British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden learns of Stalin's desire to hold onto eastern Poland after the end of the war.

Despite the massive loss of life of his own people Stalin is viewed in the US as a hero by the end of 1942.

As German forces gradually retreat from the Eastern front and Soviet forces wait just outside Warsaw the Polish resistance rises assuming that Stalin will come to their aid.