Built of stone and glass, persistence and prayer, gothic cathedrals are an epiphany of imagination and an articulation of joy featured are such masterpieces as Chartres, Notre Dame and the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.
From ancient solutions to the development of modern water and sewer services, plumbing helped to make civilization possible.
Explore basements from Pompeii to Pittsburgh ancient Hittites, Phrygians, and Persians carved subterranean rooms for storage and shelter, Greeks and Romans valued them, Renaissance architects hid kitchens there, and Colonial Americans expanded use.
More than two million people die in the U.S. annually, creating 5,500 daily burials with 80 percent choosing caskets and 20 percent cremation explore dealing with death throughout centuries and today's $20-billion funeral industry.
A survey of torture devices employed throughout history, ranging from the ancient Greeks' Brazen Bull to the Spanish Inquisition's elaborate mechanisms.
Egyptian mummies speak from graves through state-of-the-art CT-scanning technology explore 2,000-year-old child mummy, 70-day mummification process, King Tut's mysterious death investigation, and nitrogen-filled conservation cases preventing decay.
The sugar industry developed through Caribbean slavery and British control desires sugar played critical roles in American independence while modern Hawaiian plantations process cane stalks into raw sugar, corn syrup, and various sweetener forms.
Nuts range from pea-sized to bowling ball-sized as nutritional staples since time began sustained Roman and Chinese armies, English and Spanish navies, American tribes, while today UNICEF uses peanut products to reverse child malnutrition quickly.
Beans converting soybeans into vegetable oils, flour and soy meal Nebraska's Kelley Bean Co. cleans 80,000 pounds of dry beans daily New England baked beans made by B&M Italian chef Cesare Casella uses heirloom beans hummus.
Rice is the world's most versatile grain there are over 140,000 types - white, brown, long-grain, wild, short-grain, jasmine, Arborio, Basmati, black Thai, sweet, sticky - enough to satisfy any discerning palette.
Corn is the largest agricultural crop in the world, and it is used in more than 3,000 diverse items, ranging from food to the plastic wrap for packaging it.
The versatile and nutritious potato the potato's mysterious origins in South America's Andes potato knishes in New York City farming exotic potatoes in Maine large-scale potato production in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
Different cultures' history, production and consumption of bread reveal its variety of forms, ranging from baguettes to pita, corn bread, and flour tortillas.
Each year in the U.S., 280 million hens lay 80 billion eggs, one of the world's most affordable sources of protein charting an egg's journey from the henhouse to the breakfast table how powdered eggs are manufactured.
The sugar industry developed through Caribbean slavery and British control desires sugar played critical roles in American independence while modern Hawaiian plantations process cane stalks into raw sugar, corn syrup, and various sweetener forms.
Nuts range from pea-sized to bowling ball-sized as nutritional staples since time began sustained Roman and Chinese armies, English and Spanish navies, American tribes, while today UNICEF uses peanut products to reverse child malnutrition quickly.
Beans converting soybeans into vegetable oils, flour and soy meal Nebraska's Kelley Bean Co. cleans 80,000 pounds of dry beans daily New England baked beans made by B&M Italian chef Cesare Casella uses heirloom beans hummus.
Rice is the world's most versatile grain there are over 140,000 types - white, brown, long-grain, wild, short-grain, jasmine, Arborio, Basmati, black Thai, sweet, sticky - enough to satisfy any discerning palette.
Corn is the largest agricultural crop in the world, and it is used in more than 3,000 diverse items, ranging from food to the plastic wrap for packaging it.
The versatile and nutritious potato the potato's mysterious origins in South America's Andes potato knishes in New York City farming exotic potatoes in Maine large-scale potato production in Iowa and Pennsylvania.