The Premise
"Unsolved History" revolves around interesting stories from history
that have an element of mystery about them. The producers' first
challenge for every episode is to come up with a suitable subject.
They are generally drawn to three types of episode subjects:
1) Topics with a certain amount of controversy surrounding
them
2) Topics that are misunderstood by the general public
3) Topics with big lingering questions
In the first episode, for example, the producers investigate
"Pickett's Charge," a fairly controversial event, at least among
Civil War buffs. Was Confederate Major General George E. Pickett's
infamous attack in the Battle of Gettysburg a desperate, last-gasp
failure from the out-manned Confederates (as the Northern version
of events reports), or was it a valiant, heroic last stand, as the
Southern army claimed? The "Unsolved History" crew concludes that
neither version is accurate. In another controversy-driven episode,
the researchers attempt to separate folk mythology from fact in
reconstructing what actually happened in the battle of the
Alamo.
In a later episode, the research crew gets to the bottom of a
widely misunderstood subject, the Boston Massacre. The common view
among most Americans is that British soldiers fired upon a crowd of
innocent civilian colonists, in an act of inexcusable oppression.
The evidence, according to the "Unsolved History" crew, paints a
very different picture -- they assert that the British soldiers,
backed into a corner by an angry mob, fired in self defense.
In another episode, the crew investigates a different kind of
"police incident," the famous shoot-out at the O.K. Corral. In the
popular Old West mythology, four lawmen, led by Wyatt Earp and
gunslinger Doc Holliday, valiantly protected the town of Tombstone
from a gang of villainous outlaws. The Unsolved History crew
approaches the event just as they would a police shooting today,
using modern forensic tools to determine if it was "clean" police
work or an abuse of power. Just as with the Boston Massacre, the
investigators conclude that this was not a prudent use of police
power.
The "lingering question" topics include an investigation into the
last months of Adolph Hitler's life, with a reconstruction of his
infamous underground bunker, and an analysis of the destruction of
the USS Maine. The researchers have also explored the life and
death of the Red Baron, the infamous World War I fighter pilot,
pieced together the most likely scenario for "Custer's Last Stand,"
and explored some famous mysteries associated with the White
House.
Another "lingering question" episode takes a fresh look at one of
the most important events in recent history: the assassination of
President Kennedy in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, on November 22, 1963. In
this episode, the crew uses cutting edge computer technology to
examine twelve amateur films of the assassination, revealing four
different perspectives of the fatal shot. Some of this footage has
never before been seen on national television. The crew also
revisits Abraham Zapruder's famous 8mm film of the shooting,
examining a breathtaking new transfer recently completed by the
National Archive. By cross-referencing this photographic record
with eyewitness accounts and a 3-D recreation of Dealey Plaza
exactly as it was on that day, Unsolved History investigators rule
out some prominent conspiracy theories related to the
assassination.
The show's host, Pearl Harbor historian Daniel Martinez, walks the
audience through the investigation process. Martinez holds a degree
in history from California State University, and has worked as a
ranger at various parks around the country. He has served as an
adjunct professor at Hawaii Pacific University, and as a technical
consultant for documentaries and the Michael Bay film "Pearl
Harbor." His most important job is to be the face and personality
of the show, but he is also one of the lead research historians for
the series.
