Mankind takes on godlike powers: to feed billions of people, reshape the landscape, re-engineer the human body. The greatest power of all was unleashed over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.
The end of the Civil War allows Mankind to go into overdrive. This is an age of innovation, transformation and mass production. People believe that `Anything, everything, is possible.
Two great revolutions entwine. The American Revolution inspires dreams of political and personal liberty. The Industrial Revolution replaces muscle power with machines, freeing Mankind from nature's limits.
Mankind embarks on a new age of exploration and tames the wilderness. In North America, Siberia and Australia ancient traditions are swept away in the name of commerce and science.
In the Andes, the Spanish open up the largest silver mine in the world and mint millions of pesos de ocho (pieces of eight). These coins transform the global economy. They fill the treasure chests of pirates.
Gold from Africa kickstarts the rebirth of Europe. Money flows into Venice, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs willing to take risks. In China, a new weapon, the gun, allows a peasant uprising to unify the country.
When Rome is sacked by barbarians, Europe enters a Dark Age. But from the fringes of the old empire, two new forces remake the world. The Arabs, funded by a gold rush, unite under the banner of Islam.
Mankind The Story of All of Us is an epic 12-hour television event about the greatest adventure of all time—the history of the human race. It takes 10 billion years for the ideal planet to form and 3 billion more for the right conditions to emerge before it finally happens: mankind begins. From there unfolds a fast-paced story told here through key turning points—stepping stones in our journey from hunter-gatherer to global citizen. It’s a tale of connections—why some ideas take hold and spread around the globe, and how the lives of people in one part of the world are shaped by events in another.