The Machines That Built America

The stories behind innovations such as TV, radio, phones, airplanes, motorcycles and power tools as well as the inventors including Nikola Tesla, William Harley,…

TV-PG • Documentary • Series • 2021 • 1 season

Start watching: S1 E1

Starring: Campbell Scott, Travis Taylor, Max Hastings

S1 E1 - Tractor Revolution
In the 1870s, harvesting crops is grueling, back-breaking work. Farmers must walk miles behind horse drawn plows to get food on American tables. But a group of dreamers--all of them rivals--has a vision that will change farming forever and create one of the world's most iconic machines: the tractor. Their quest to corner the market--worth 75 billion today--produces some of the greatest innovations and most iconic brands of all time: Caterpillar, John Deere, and Ford.
Jul 18, 2021 • 43m
S1 E2 - Plane Pioneers
In 1910, airplanes are a novelty, fragile wooden concoctions that float in the air--and crash. But that doesn't stop two young dreamers with a passion for this newfangled machine from imagining a very different future: one in which planes carry millions of passengers across the country, even across the seas. To realize that vision and create a lucrative new market, William Boeing and Donald Douglas take on automobile titan Henry Ford, infamous Dutch aviation giant Anthony Fokker--and each other.
Jul 18, 2021 • 43m
S1 E3 - Titans of Television
A ruthless mogul takes on a little-known inventor in a high stakes battle that will change the world forever, asking the question of whether a farm-boy can beat a titan with endless resources.
Jul 25, 2021 • 43m
S1 E4 - Motorcycle Kings
At the end of the 19th century, private travel means taking a walk or riding a horse. But scrappy upstarts William Harley and Arthur Davidson have a bold vision for a new form of transportation--connecting a motor to a bicycle. They'll take on George Hendee's Indian Motorcycle in a classic David Vs. Goliath battle, fighting to dominate a market valued at more than 7 billion dollars today, the rivals will push their machines to the limit and tap into the lure of the open road.
Aug 1, 2021 • 43m
S1 E5 - Telephone Wars
In the 1870s communicating with distant family requires sending a letter, and waiting days or weeks for a reply. The telegraph is faster, but too expensive for most people. When communication giant Western Union offers a colossal cash prize to anyone who can improve its network, two daring inventors go head-to-head in a fight that will forever change the way humans connect. Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray will stop at nothing to lay claim to the new technology and dominate the market.
Aug 8, 2021 • 43m
S1 E6 - Power Tool Showdown
Aug 15, 2021 • 43m
S1 E7 - Tesla vs. Marconi
Two rival inventors have the same idea for improving things: wireless communication.
Aug 22, 2021 • 43m
S1 E8 - Home Tech Revolution
With America plugging in to electric power, a flood of innovation is not only changing industry, it's revolutionizing the home; the new technology makes housework easier and gives women opportunities to work outside the home.
Aug 29, 2021 • 43m

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