Curated playlist
Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- George H. W. BushAfter being shot down in 1944, George H. W. Bush asked why he alone had been spared. Both of his crewmates died.
- Mohammad Reza PahlaviOn his first day at a Swiss boarding school, Iran's crown prince got beaten up.
- Nicholas IINicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, carried a large dragon tattooed on his right forearm. The artist was Hori Chiyo, and the tattoo was a souvenir of the young heir's visit to Japan. That same journey nearly ended in disaster. At…
- Dwight D. EisenhowerEisenhower wrote a note taking all blame if D-Day failed. He drafted it on the eve of the June 1944 landings.
- Chiang Kai-shekWestern observers once called Chiang Kai-shek the Red General. In 1927 he purged thousands of suspected Communists.
- François MitterrandFrançois Mitterrand, who ended France's death penalty, once urged rejecting mercy in 80% of cases.
- Douglas MacArthurDouglas MacArthur came up with his own field marshal title. Philippine President Quezon conferred it in 1936.
- Archduke Franz Ferdinand of AustriaArchduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was shot in Sarajevo wearing a coat that his own aides could not open. When they tried to loosen it, they discovered that they needed scissors. The outer lapel had been sewn to the inner front of the…
- Mobutu Sese SekoMobutu renamed his country Zaire, its cities and himself. He also banned Western suits and European baby names.
- Abdullah II of JordanIn 1996, a man who would become King Abdullah II of Jordan appeared on screen in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager titled Investigations. At the time he was a prince commanding his country's Special Forces, and his part had no lines. He was…
- Hassanal BolkiahHassanal Bolkiah, the sultan of Brunei, has held his throne since 1967. That makes him the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state anywhere in the world. He is also counted among the few absolute…
- HirohitoEmperor Hirohito's first radio broadcast announced Japan's defeat.
- Josip Broz TitoTito once wrote to Stalin: stop sending assassins to murder me. He said five had already been caught.
- Pope Leo XIVBefore the 2025 conclave, the future Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, explained his chances to a friend by text message. "I'm an American, I can't be elected," he wrote. He was elected anyway. This documentary follows a path…
- Urho KekkonenOpponents once removed the chimney from a photo of Urho Kekkonen's birthplace. They wanted him to look poor.
- Archduke Charles, Duke of TeschenArchduke Charles of Austria beat Napoleon in 1809 at Aspern-Essling. It was Napoleon's first big pitched-battle loss.
- Gebhard Leberecht von BlücherAt 74, Blücher marched through mud to rescue Wellington at Waterloo. Days earlier, cavalry horses had trampled him.
- Haile SelassieIn 1992, the bones of Haile Selassie I were found beneath a concrete slab on the grounds of a palace. The man buried there had been born Tafari Makonnen. He had ruled Ethiopia as emperor from 1930 to 1974. How does a ruler of such rank end…
- Michael Andreas Barclay de TollyRussians called Barclay de Tolly a coward and rumored he was Napoleon's agent. His retreat in 1812 was later vindicated.