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History Detectives

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

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Airs on
WETA HD

Wed., March 17, 2010
8:00 am
(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.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Wed., March 17, 2010
12:00 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.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Thu., March 18, 2010
5:00 am
(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.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Tue., March 23, 2010
5:00 am
(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.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Tue., March 23, 2010
7:00 am
(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.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Tue., March 23, 2010
8:00 am
(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.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Tue., March 23, 2010
11:00 am
(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.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

WETA HD Logo

Airs on
WETA HD

Tue., March 23, 2010
12:00 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.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Fri., March 26, 2010
6:00 am
(60 minutes)

Sideshow Babies; Lubin Photos; Navajo Rug

A Colorado woman wonders whether her mother was an infant used at a 1933 Chicago World's Fair incubator exhibition. Also: the history of Siegmund Lubin Studios, a silent-film studio in Philadelphia; the story of a Navajo rug that may hold a taboo image.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Fri., March 26, 2010
7:00 am
(60 minutes)

Tokyo Rose Recording; Crazy Horse Photo; WWII Diary

A recording that may have been used during the trial of Iva Toguri, aka Tokyo Rose, the Japanese American woman who appeared on Japanese propaganda broadcasts during WWII; a possible photograph of the legendary Lakota warrior Crazy Horse.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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Airs on
WETA HD

Fri., March 26, 2010
8:00 am
(60 minutes)

Amelia Earhart Plane; Fillmore Pardon; Boxcar Home

The grandson of a Honolulu flight mechanic who believes he has a piece of Amelia Earhart's airplane asks for help confirming whether it is or isn't.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

WETA HD Logo

Airs on
WETA HD

Fri., March 26, 2010
9:00 am
(60 minutes)

Sideshow Babies; Lubin Photos; Navajo Rug

A Colorado woman wonders whether her mother was an infant used at a 1933 Chicago World's Fair incubator exhibition. Also: the history of Siegmund Lubin Studios, a silent-film studio in Philadelphia; the story of a Navajo rug that may hold a taboo image.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

WETA HD Logo

Airs on
WETA HD

Fri., March 26, 2010
11:00 am
(60 minutes)

Tokyo Rose Recording; Crazy Horse Photo; WWII Diary

A recording that may have been used during the trial of Iva Toguri, aka Tokyo Rose, the Japanese American woman who appeared on Japanese propaganda broadcasts during WWII; a possible photograph of the legendary Lakota warrior Crazy Horse.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

WETA HD Logo

Airs on
WETA HD

Fri., March 26, 2010
12:00 pm
(60 minutes)

Amelia Earhart Plane; Fillmore Pardon; Boxcar Home

The grandson of a Honolulu flight mechanic who believes he has a piece of Amelia Earhart's airplane asks for help confirming whether it is or isn't.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

Previously aired episodes

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Airs on
WETA HD

Thu., March 11, 2010
9:00 am
(60 minutes)

Civil War Bridge; Scottsboro Boys Stamp; Duke Ellington Plates

The possible location of a bridge Confederate forces burned in an attempt to prevent Gen. William T. Sherman and his men from crossing the Broad River in Columbia, S.C., and continuing their scorched-earth campaign.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

WETA HD Logo

Airs on
WETA HD

Thu., March 11, 2010
6:00 am
(60 minutes)

Civil War Bridge; Scottsboro Boys Stamp; Duke Ellington Plates

The possible location of a bridge Confederate forces burned in an attempt to prevent Gen. William T. Sherman and his men from crossing the Broad River in Columbia, S.C., and continuing their scorched-earth campaign.

Closed Captioning Rating: TV-G

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

 WETA TV 26WETA HDWETA CreateWETA Kids Channel
Via antenna26.426.126.226.3
Comcast26, 92220 (DC), 219 (Balt)265266
Cox26, 802726800801
Verizon FIOS26, 471526474472
RCN266133938
DirecTV 26, 26-1  
Dish Network8076