History Detectives

America's top gumshoes are back to prove once again that an object found in an attic or backyard might be anything but ordinary. A team of experts leaves no stone unturned as they travel around the country to explore the stories behind local folklore, prominent figures and family legends.

• Upcoming episodes
• Previously aired episodes
• Program description
• Channel guide
• Go to program website
• Please help support programs like this

Upcoming episodes

Airs on
WETA HD

Thu., December 3, 2009
8:00 pm
(60 minutes)

PsychoPhone; War Dog Letter; Pancho Villa Watch Fob

Season 7 gets under way with an investigation into the "Psycho-Phone," a device said to have been built by Thomas Edison that enabled communication with the dead. Also: a WWII-era letter from one soldier to another.

Rating: TV-G

Airs on
WETA HD

Thu., December 3, 2009
9:00 pm
(60 minutes)

The Manhattan Project; Galleon Shipwreck; Creole Poems

Help is given to a man who believes his father worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II. Also: the origins of a 23-pound beeswax block with strange markings and a 160-year-old manuscript of poems written in French are investigated.

Rating: TV-G

Airs on
WETA HD

Thu., December 3, 2009
10:00 pm
(60 minutes)

St. Valentine's Day Massacre; Booth Letter; Cemetery Alarm

A shotgun that may have been used in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre by a member of Al Capone's gang; a threatening letter John Wilkes Booth's father may have written President Andrew Jackson; a possible grave alarm.

Rating: TV-G

Previously aired episodes

Program description

America's top gumshoes are back to prove once again that an object found in an attic or backyard might be anything but ordinary. A team of experts leaves no stone unturned as they travel around the country to explore the stories behind local folklore, prominent figures and family legends.

History Detectives is devoted to exploring the complexities of historical mysteries, searching out the facts, myths and conundrums that connect local folklore, family legends and interesting objects.

Traditional investigative techniques, modern technologies, and plenty of legwork are the tools the History Detectives team of experts uses to give new - and sometimes shocking - insights into our national history.

The hosts of the program are a high-energy quartet of renowned experts in the world of historical investigations. Their expertise ranges from architecture, popular culture and sociology to archeology, collectibles and genealogy.

Channel guide