As presented on this show, that year was not only the copybook date for Columbus' passage to America, but it also marked the passage of Western Europe from the old world to the new.

A re-creation of the events of 1776 that launched a world revolution. Filmed in Lexington, Concord, Boston, Philadelphia, and Williamsburg, as well as in England and France.^[2]

Highlights include the relegation of Native American Indians to reservations; European immigration; the industrialization of America; "The Gilded Age" and J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, and William Vanderbilt; the Spanish-American War; Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders; and the U.S. as a world power.^[3]

“… It is the year of our living … It is a time of problem, and crisis … During the next hour we will look at some aspects of our American life. Our focus is America, our accomplishments, but most importantly, our challenges … for we too are part of the Saga of Western Man.”^[4][5]

The life of Leonardo da Vinci, the 15th Century Italian whose all-around brilliance epitomized the Renaissance-Man. ^[6] The episode contains the first documented usage of a quote misattributed to da Vinci, "And once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you would return."^[7][8]

Chronicle of the events leading up to and including the settling of the Plymouth Colony in 1620. Program highlights include a look at the lack of religious freedom under England's King James I, and the Pilgrims' flight to Holland, trans-Atlantic voyage, and interaction with the Indians.^[9]

This program focuses on the American soldiers in "A" Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry, who were fighting in Vietnam. Highlights of this program include the U.S. Army installation at An Khe, 250 miles northeast of Saigon; Capt. Theodore Danielsen introduces himself to new company members, and advises them on how to protect themselves during their mission; diverse military activities and combat missions.^[10][11]

Includes the social climate of Vienna and Europe at the end of the 18th century, scenes of Beethoven’s natal home and the palace where his father was a musician. Beethoven’s establishment in Vienna, his gradual deafness and the music that he composed in spite of or possibly because of it. The program concludes with quotations from Beethoven about the connection between art and the human spirit. Performances by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and pianist Claude Frank are featured.^[12]

The achievements of Rome's civilization during the periods of Republic and Empire, which left a legacy of art, science and law.

Filmed in Mexico, includes history and structure of the Aztec civilization; the legend of Quetzalcoatl; the beginning of Cortez's expedition, 1519; Moctezuma; Cortez's escape from the city of Tenochtitlan in 1520; and Cortez's capture of the city of Tenochtitlan in 1521.^[13]

The problem of the increasing encroachment of the surrounding seas, and the slow but sure sinking of the city into the mud.

The expedition from Cape Evans to the South Pole.^[14]

Missionary life in the Micronesian Trust Territory and India.^[14]

The August 19, 1942, invasion of Dieppe in northern France and how the lessons of the raid's failure were used to prepare for D-Day.^[15]

Through the diaries and letters of soldier participants, the subject is the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863), which became the turning point of the Civil War. Includes life and society in 1860, slavery and the beginning of the war, military equipment and activities, the Emancipation Proclamation, eyewitness accounts of the battle, the Gettysburg Address and the Gettysburg Memorial.^[16]

Story of the Nativity filmed in the Holy Land and Rome^[17]

Includes an eyewitness account and footage of early flights of the Wright brothers; film director William Wellman on flying in World War I; planes and the postal service; Charles Lindbergh and the first solo, non-stop, transcontinental flight; aviator Jimmy Doolittle on his early flights.^[18]