Sure, heartwarming animal stories are nice, but sometimes you crave something a bit more… visceral. History’s Most Shocking aims to satisfy that primal urge, revisiting moments of extreme peril and unbelievable survival. This week, host Tony Harris guides us through a collection of incidents that range from the terrifying to the frankly bizarre.
First up: the deep blue sea. We’ve all seen the idyllic whale-watching videos, but what happens when these gentle giants get a little too close? The episode features a harrowing encounter between kayakers and a whale, exploring the science behind these encounters and what happens when things go wrong. Don’t worry, it’s not all aquatic anxiety. The episode also examines a construction worker’s death-defying escape from a burning building, a testament to human ingenuity under pressure.
Next, Most Shocking turns its attention to a more land-based near-miss. A truck driver faces an oncoming train in a scenario straight out of a nightmare. Harris breaks down the split-second decisions and sheer luck that determined the outcome. And because history is full of surprises, the episode concludes with the tale of Franz Reichelt, a French tailor who, in 1912, decided the best way to test his new parachute suit was by leaping from the Eiffel Tower. Spoiler alert: things didn’t go exactly as planned.
Throughout the episode, experts weigh in, adding context and a dose of much-needed sanity to these unbelievable events. Most Shocking is less about morbid curiosity and more about understanding the limits of human resilience and the sometimes-unpredictable forces of nature and human error.
History’s Most Shocking airs Mondays at 9/8c on History.
