All videos

Public videos from the channel, newest first. Each page has the story in brief and the sources we used.

• Short

  Why Did the Mongols Turn Back?

  In 1242, Mongol armies pulled back out of central Europe, and historians still debate why. This Short runs through the empire's rise and fall in under a minute.

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• 7:04

  The Man Who Found Rome's First Water

  Rome's first aqueduct, the Aqua Appia, dates to around 312 BC, and almost all of it ran underground, out of sight. This video tells the story of the two men behind it: Gaius Plautius, known as “Venox”, who found its springs, and his colleague Appius Claudius, who ended up with the credit.

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• 7:45

  The Library That Burned Twice? What Was Really Lost

  The Library of Alexandria is remembered for burning down in a single night. The record tells a slower story. This video looks first at what the library actually was, and then puts four suspects from the legend to the test: Julius Caesar, the emperor Aurelian, a bishop, and a general whose story was first written down more than 500 years later.

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• 7:25

  The Warship That Sank Within Minutes of Setting Sail

  In August 1628, the most powerful warship Sweden had ever built set sail from Stockholm in front of crowds. Within minutes, about 1,300 metres into her first voyage, she sank.

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