Man, Moment, Machine

Seasons

2005

USA

7.7

This program discusses a specific moment in time where a person has changed history somehow with a new invention or technology.

Episode List

S1 • E1

Hunting Bonnie and Clyde

The story is about Bonnie and Clyde Barrow. The time period is the Depression The machine is the BAR machine gun used in their many Bank Robberies. The story is a blend of the 3 above hence the show titled "Man,Moment ,Machine" The success of the pair as they become notorious in their Bank Heists . The Depression has a lot to do with their notoriety, as they take from the rich (the Bank). The BAR machine gun is a foreboding weapon....Just the look of it and it's reputation ....helps Bonnie and Clyde with there occupation of robbing banks. The pursuit of them by law enforcement and the trail they leave in history is the storyline.

S1 • E2

The Great Sub Rescue

S1 • E3

Doolittle's Daring Raid

This episode revolves around the advent and use of the B25 Mitchell Bomber and the decision to strike at Tokyo in the months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec 7, 1941. The MAN involved is Lt. Col Jimmy Doolittle, the MOMENT is the decision to use aircraft carriers to launch land based bombers, the MACHINE is the B25 Mitchell Bomber.

S1 • E4

Stormin' Norman and the Abrams Tank

S1 • E5

Shot Down: The U2 Spyplane

This episode chronicles the story of Francis Gary Powers and his fateful flight over the Soviet Union, and the disastrous consequences the shoot down had on nuclear non-proliferation talks between the Soviet Union and the United States. The MAN is pilot Francis Gary Powers, the MOMENT is the targeting and destruction of his plane by a newly developed Soviet Surface to Air missile, the MACHINE is the revolutionary U2 Spyplane.

S1 • E6

Mine Rescue Mask

An episode dealing with the African American Inventor Garrett Morgan and his patented Morgan Safety Mask. His invention rose to prominence in 1916, when it was used to rescue 32 men in a collapsed tunnel underneath Lake Erie, and eventually became the basis for Air Rescue and Safety Masks used by the Military and Civilians alike.

S1 • E7

Wernher von Braun and the V2 Rocket

S1 • E8

Thomas Edison and the Electric Chair

This episode explores the intersection between the invention of the electric chair, its significant moment in history, and its inventor Thomas Edison.

S1 • E9

Howard Hughes and the Spruce Goose

Howard Hughes takes on the challenge to build an enormous flying boat capable of airlifting 750 troops and war materiel as heavy as tanks across the Atlantic Ocean in support of the Allied war effort, thus avoiding the threat of German U-boats. The project becomes the focus of Hughes OCD. Even after the project is canceled by the military his company successfully builds and Hughes personally flies the prototype dubbed by its detractors as the spruce goose.

Ultimate Weapon: Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb

S1 • E10

Ultimate Weapon: Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb

S1 • E11

The Higgins Landing Craft

S1 • E12

Dam Buster: WWII's Bouncing Bomb

S1 • E13

25,000 Miles Non-Stop: Voyager Aircraft

This is the remarkable true story of the Rutan brothers, Dick and Bert. Their dream is to design and build an aircraft that would break a world record. The plane would fly around the world (25,000 miles) without refueling. Several harrowing moments are recorded in this documentary of the trip. Starting in California flying west, takeoff of the aircraft filled with 10,000 lbs. of fuel almost costs the crew members their lives as the plane has a serious burden getting airborne. Along the way the crew encounters sleep deprivation, storms, engine problems, fuel problems, and some pilot judgement errors. On several occasions the mission seems doomed but eventually finds its way to completion and the world record.