Episode
Modern Marvels: Silver Mines
Overview
It was called the "mother lode", a deposit of silver so massive that it would produce $300-million in its first 25 years of operation, establish Nevada as a state, and bankroll the Union Army in the Civil War. Named after an early investor, we'll see how the Comstock Lode, discovered near Virginia City, proved to be a scientific laboratory from which vast improvements in mining technology and safety were pioneered, including innovations in drilling, ventilation, drainage, and ore processing.
Details
- Series
- Modern Marvels
- Season
- Season 3
- Episode
- Episode 6
- Air date
- 1995-10-01
- Runtime
- 44 min
Episode context
Silver Mines is Episode 6 in Season 3 of Modern Marvels. It aired on 1995-10-01. The runtime is 44 min.
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Episode 5: Oil
From the first well in Pennsylvania to the gushing Spindletop and modern supertankers, the story of oil is the story of civilization as we know it. We’ll take a look at the ingenious and outrageous men who risked everything for “black gold” and unimaginable wealth.
Episode 7: The NYC Subway
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More episodes from this season
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Episode 8: The Railroads That Tamed the West
The year was 1869 and America had just completed the greatest building achievement in its history–the Transcontinental Railroad. A thin ribbon of steel and wood now connected East and West. But the fledgling country now faced an even greater challenge–how to harness the awesome potential of the railroad to tame the still wide-open and wild West.
Episode 3: Tunnels
There is no more potent demonstration of man’s resolve than the design and construction of tunnels–avenues that slice through a conspiracy of elements in the single-minded determination to connect two points. Whether underwater, blasted through solid rock, or negotiating the shifting strata of earth’s unstable crust, we explore the design and engineering of famous tunnels…and the motivation behind them.
Episode 9: Paving America
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Episode 2: Brooklyn Bridge
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Episode 12: The Alaskan Oil Pipeline
Being starved by an OPEC embargo, America is desperate for oil, and in 1973 construction begins on a 800 mile pipeline, tapping into Alaskan oil to quench their insatiable oil hunger.
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