2024 - Top 10 Documentaries

Good morning!  It is the end of 2024 and I am doing the normal end-of-the-year review stuff and top 10 Lists.  This year is my Top 10 Documentaries for 2024.  This list will feature documentaries that were talked about in 2024 Only.  All of these documentaries were a single episode in length.  That said I did want to include the 2023 Top 10 Documentaries list just as a refresher for the year.

The usual disclaimer, this list is my opinion only and should be taken with a grain of salt.  The purpose of this list is to help teachers, substitute teachers, and continuing learning lovers to help further learning to select something to use for the classroom.

2023 Top 10 Documentaries
1. Colosseum  - YouTube (1:28:18)
2. Eva - YouTube (56:09)
3. King George III: Genius of a Mad King: YouTube (58:56)
4. The Only Empress of China - YouTube (48:02)
5. Ivan the Terrible: Russia's First Tsar - YouTube (52:23)
6. First Flight: The Race to Create the World's First Flying Machine - YouTube (52:49)
7. The Lost City of Gold - YouTube (50:15)
8. Nancy Wake - YouTube (1:07:47)
9. The Last Days of Marie Antoinette - YouTube (1:44:10)
10. Frank Lloyd Wright - YouTube (59:15)

2024 Top 10 Documentaries
1) The Mystery of the Sea Peoples - YouTube (50:14)
Modern-day Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Greece are home to some of the greatest Ancient Bronze Age civilizations.  The Hittites, Myceneans, and the Egyptian Empires were very powerful.  However, in 1200 BCE, these empires would implode and the Bronze Age would collapse.  Who or what was to blame for this collapse?  Archeologists have discovered evidence of people from the sea who invaded these empires.  Were these people responsible for the Bronze Age collapse?  *Highly recommended for both a history class and research purposes.*

2) Doggerland - YouTube (50:14)
Eight thousand years ago a paradise existed.  This paradise connected Britain and mainland Europe.  It was known as Doggerland, however, this area no longer exists.  It was wiped out by a devastating event.  What remains of Doggerland lies hidden underneath the waves of the North Sea.  However, slowly the sea is giving up its secrets.  Archeologists have slowly been revealing the Mesolithic paradise.  How did these people live?  Where did they go after their world collapsed?  *Highly Recommended for both a history and a science class.*

3) First Before Columbus The True Discoverers of America - YouTube (51:54)
There were other explorers before Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas.  They even hinted at the Americas in their maps.  Leif Erickson was one.  Legend has it that a Welsh prince-built castles along the Ohio River Valley.  An African King, who is said to have used his wealth to finance one of the world’s biggest fleets.  So was Christopher Columbus would be the first to discover America?  Or did he use oral traditions and written records to map out his voyage to the Americas?  *Highly recommend for middle school and high school classrooms.  It is a good filler for a substitute teacher.*

4) Empire of the Mongols - YouTube (48:12)
Mongols had built a large empire that claimed half the world in under a century.  This empire spanned from the Korean Peninsula to Europe.  It began with 100,000 men.  The Mongol invasion of Europe began with the fall of Kyiv and struck panic into the people.  How could such a small group of men bring Europe to its knees?  What technology was available at the time to enable such an expansion?  Who was the leader of the Mongols?  This documentary looks at the rise of the Mongol Empire.  *Recommended for a history class.*

5) They Called Her Jamila: The Mystery of Stone Age Ba’ja - YouTube (42:26)
A mysterious grave in Jordan has been discovered and it shocked the archeological world.  The grave was 9,000 years old and contained a girl.  The girl was found in a house of a Stone Age settlement and buried with high-quality and very expensive grave goods.  Who was this girl?  Why she was buried in a house?  What happened to this girl?  What does the grave reveal about the settlement she lived in?  What else do the archeologists discover about the Ba’ja site?  *Recommended for a high school history class.*

6) Skeletons of the Inca Rebellion - YouTube (44:24)
In the shadow of Lima Peru lies a graveyard containing skeletons.  Guillermo Cock, an expert in the Inca Empire was sent to the site to investigate any remains.  He is joined by fellow archeologist Elena Goycochea.   This site was going to be covered with a highway.  A test trench was built and what was found astonished Guillermo.  It would lead to a change in the understanding of Incan History.  What was found at this site?  Why would it lead to the rewriting of Incan history?  *Highly recommended for both a history and science classroom.*

7) Amelia: A Tale of Two Sisters - YouTube (44:02)
Society was changing and men were now taking to the skies in airplanes.  Women were demanding more rights and were finding achievements in aeronautics.  One such woman was Amelia Earhart.  Earhart was attracted to aviation and through determination and hard work, she would become the most famous aviator at the time.  She would inspire female aviators in future generations.  Her sister Muriel would not only champion her sister Amelia but would keep Amelia’s legacy alive.  To this day, people are still looking to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.  *Recommended for both a history class and for research.*

8) Tiny Holland, Great Holland - YouTube (47:27)
The Netherlands would rise from a humble beginning in the 16th Century.  The Netherlands, the size of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, declared independence from Spain.  Why would they declare independence from Spain?  Freedom of religion would be the national creed.  Eventually, the Netherlands would rule the oceans of the world.  How did the tiny Netherlands become such a superpower?  *Recommended for a history class and for research purposes.*

9) The Mummy Who Came In From The Cold - YouTube (53:07)
Eric Crubezy, an anthropologist has unearthed a strange tomb in Yakutia, a forgotten province in Siberia.  This tomb contained the body of a woman, with her eyes covered and clothed in a garment of pearls.  A second anthropologist, Eric Krubesi is excavating more ancient burials in the Yakuts in Eastern Siberia.  He is seeking genetic and anthropological data.  The Yakuts were a people of Eastern Siberia, and they have left few written records.  Their history remains largely unknown apart from burial sites that reveal complex burial rituals.  However, the discovery of this woman has raised questions about these ancient people.  *Recommended for a sub to show to a history class.*

10) Outlier: The Story of Katherine Johnson - YouTube (54:12)
Katherine Johnson was an African American girl-wonder who was a mathematical genius.  She loved mathematics and would count the steps going into church.  Her genius helped catapult astronauts into space.  She was an integral part of NASA and was profiled in the movie “Hidden Figures.”  Her computations were important to the first missions to space.  Who was this woman?  Why did she have such an impact on history?  This documentary features an interview with Katherine Johnson.  *HIGHLY Recommended for a history and math class.*