Sixty-five million years ago, a giant meteor hit the earth causing a global catastrophe that destroyed an estimated three quarters of the plants and animal species on the planet, including the mighty dinosaurs. Little was known about the survivors who lived in this post-apocalyptic world until a mining operation in Cerrejon, Northern Colombia — excavating coal cut from deep within the earth’s crust — exposed an important layer in the earth’s geological history laid down more than 10 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs. In 2003, when paleontologist professor Jonathan Bloch, University of Florida, first heard that this important layer had been exposed, he and his research team rushed to Columbia. He had spent his career studying this Paleocene period in the earth’s geological history. Could this be the lost world he’d been searching for? Alex4History's supplementary notes: From the Secrets of the Dead series Narrated by: Jay O. Sanders

What links Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and a priceless Celtic cauldron recently discovered at the bottom of a lake in Bavaria? In this film an investigation uncovers allegations of mafia involvement, an international fraud trial where millions of dollars are at stake and a forensic discovery that stuns the archaeological world and steers the mystery towards Himmler's SS shrine at Wewelsburg and Hitler's obsessive quest for the Holy Grail. This seemingly priceless and beautiful object has brought death and disaster to everyone who has attempted to own it but who did make it and why? Hosted by Shaun Dooley

In the autumn of 9 AD Roman forces occupying Northern Germany were lured into a death trap. Over 20,000 of the world's most feared troops, their families, even their animals, were slaughtered by Iron Age tribes. The bloody massacre defined forever the limits of Roman expansion and left Europe fatefully divided, yet for almost 2,000 years the exact site of this disaster was only guessed at. Then, in 1987, a British soldier made a find that suggested the true whereabouts of the 'Battle of Teutoburg'. Today a grim picture of deception, ambush and ritual slaughter is beginning to emerge.

Its army dominated the known world. Its culture forms the heart of Western Civilization. At its zenith, the Roman Empire extended from Persia to England, the Black Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. And throughout its history, its fate rested in the hands of individuals men of genius and courage, madness and ambition. Starting with Julius Caesar, this classic award-winning series takes a fascinating look at the public and private lives of six key men who ruled ancient Rome: Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero, Hadrian, Constantine and Justinian. Constantine: Bearing the Cross Constantine revitalised a fading empire and built a glittering new capital that would stand for over 1,000 years. But his strongest legacy is religious; his conversion to Christianity put an end to hundreds of years of persecution and laid the foundations for Medieval Europe. He re-unified and strengthened an empire on the verge of collapse. His conversion to Christianity helped lay the foundations for Medieval Europe. After Julius Caesar, Constantine the Great is arguably the most important ruler in Roman history. He took control of the Empire at one of its lowest ebbs and restored it for the final time to true glory. This episode explores Constantine's life and legacy through ancient art and artifacts, expert commentary and historic re-enactments. Trace his 20- year struggle to take control of the splintered empire, and see how he restored it to its former glory through masterful diplomacy and the judicious use of force. Explore the dramatic story of his conversion, and the momentous changes in the Empire and the world that resulted. And walk the streets of the city he founded as the capital of his reborn empire. This is the definitive portrait of the ruler who saved his nation and transformed the world, Constantine the Great. Chapters: Under Siege 1:20 To the Milvian Bridge 14:09 The Cross and the Sword 22:54 A New Rome 28:22 The First Christian Emperor 40:12