On the beaches of the Great Barrier Reef, the first turtle hatchlings emerge from their shells and make a run for the ocean. Almost immediately, aerial and aquatic predators appear, hoping for an easy meal.
Long-tailed macaques spend much of the day frolicking on tropical sands and taking a dip in the ocean to cool off. And when it's time to eat, they prove surprisingly adept at cracking open the clams and oysters nearby.
Just because the country had voted to outlaw alcohol, didn't mean that people would comply. The legal case wasn't much helped by a quirky loophole which allowed people to drink existing supplies at home.
Scientists are exploring a bold new plan that could help protect the world's coral reefs. Using selective breeding, they aim to produce a new strain of coral that can withstand climate change.
Residents of the valley of Vajont in Italy had reservations about a new hydroelectric dam--especially when cracks began to appear in the nearby mountain. Their worst fears were soon to be confirmed.
Thanks to the use of a specialized infrared camera, we're now able to witness a never-before-seen phase of clownfish development: the nighttime hatching of larva from their eggs.
On April 6, 1944, U.S. marines faced a battle unlike any they had faced before: the Japanese intentionally crashed over 1,900 planes in suicide kamikaze dives on them.
The skyscrapers of Manhattan needed a new, bolder type of construction worker. They got them in 'roughnecks' - hardened men who worked without safety harnesses, hard hats or even bathroom breaks.
Many attribute the spread of Christianity in Ireland to St. Patrick. But Medieval history and scientific evidence dating back to 540 A.D. hint at a more cosmic reason.
Like Jackie and Dolley before her, Nancy Reagan brought her own unique style to the White House. But economic times were tough, and what was seen as stylish in one era was now viewed as extravagant.
In South Dakota, thousands of fireflies, in the midst of a mating ritual, compete against the bright stars that light up the dark skies of the Badlands. Often, it's hard to tell one from the other.
Golden lion tamarins have evolved a clever way to keep their population size steady in the face of predation. They almost always give birth to twins.
Dolley Madison, the First Lady of president James Madison was a Jackie Kennedy of her time. Her refined taste and elevated social graces brought an unprecedented sense of style to the White House.
In ring-tailed lemur society, it's the females who call the shots. They live in groups of up to 30 members and the alpha female will fight hard to protect her territory.
By all accounts, Roman gladiators were the rock stars of their day, performing in a packed coliseum to a crowd of thousands. But evidence suggests they experienced extremely malnourished childhoods marked with high levels of stress.
Franz Oppenhoff was installed as the mayor of Aachen, Germany, after it was taken by Allied forces. Little did he know, guerrilla Nazi assassins who called themselves "Werwolves" had him in their crosshairs.
A scientist's visit to a Shuar elder in Ecuador reveals the secrets of the ceremonial tradition of head shrinking. Now the scientist has set himself a gruesome goal to do it himself.
An estimated 25% of all elephants born in Burma are captured and sold into the tourism trade. What's worse: They must be broken in first.
A scientist sets about to recreate a Stone Age funeral pyre. Astonishingly, and using nothing but resources from that era, the makeshift pyre achieves the same high temperatures as a modern crematorium.
Joseff of Hollywood made jewelry for many of the most important American films of the 20th century. When Doris and Shelly Lyn visit his studio, they have one goal: no drooling on the designs.
Gaboon vipers don't have the fastest strike in the snake world--but they don't need to be faster than other snakes, just their prey. In this case, a passing bird stands no chance.
Dehydrated, exhausted, and preyed upon by sharks, the surviving crew of the sunken USS Indianapolis was in a living nightmare. Thanks to Marine Captain Edward Parke's display of heroism, he gave survivors that extra push to stay alive.
When Jack Dunn brought a young George Herman Ruth Jr. to the Orioles, they became inseparable--so much so that the other players started referring to Ruth as Dunn's "babe."
Some of the most breathtaking photos of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens were taken by a graduate student camped nearby. Even more impressive, he took them while trying to outrun the enormous landslide.
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body, but it can make mistakes while interpreting the world around us. A scientist explains how Bigfoot might be one of them.
A newly coupled lion and lioness head to the relative solitude of the higher grounds in their new kingdom of Rwanda. Over the next four days, they'll mate over 100 times a day.
In ancient Japan, battle was typically reserved for male samurai. That all changed when Takeko Nakano and her sister, Yuko, decided to fight for their clan's independence after a deadly village invasion.
With budgets for space exploration falling toward the end of the 1960s, NASA began to make plans for a new kind of reusable spacecraft to save money: the space shuttle.
Steering a ship the size of the MSC Divina into a tricky port like Ocho Rios, in the western Caribbean, requires the harbor pilot on hand to assist. One problem: He's nowhere to be found.
The Oakland fire department rushed to the scene of the Cypress Freeway, after the 1989 San Francisco Earthquake hits. They were greeted by a catastrophe of collapsed concrete and trapped cars.
