Before the Mongol Empire dominated the Asian Continent, there was no empire to speak of, only nomadic tribes in perpetual battle. That is, until a precocious teenager with a knack for strategy forged a dynasty that reshaped the entire world in his own image. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Peeling a banana uncovers much more than a tasty fruit, it reveals a fraught history riddled with violent coups, espionage, political assassinations and international wars. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A goal of helping to fight against the Nazis during World War II leads a Hollywood star, known as the "most beautiful woman in the world," to invent the technology which changes the world. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The assassination of Julius Caesar left an enormous power vacuum in Rome, thrusting his successors into an epic, intercontinental battle for control of the empire that reshaped the future of the modern world. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

How did modern medicine become modern? It was thanks, in part, to a renegade doctor who pushed the boundaries of experimentation - and ethics. And it all began with a bang, from the barrel of a shotgun. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

World War I was known as the War to End All Wars due to its scale and loss of life. At the height of the fighting, when American soldiers on the front lines longed for home, an unlikely beacon of hope arrived. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 1605, a plot to kill the King of England was underway, and the man who attempted it, along with his name, would go down in infamy. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What if a seemingly unremarkable choice could have prevented one of the most infamous disasters of all time? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Adolf Hitler's rise to power and the devastation that followed in his wake was hardly inevitable. In fact, if not for a single split-second decision by a woman you've probably never heard of, we might not know the name Hitler at all. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Mobsters, shootouts, and petal-to-the-metal police chases. This is prohibition-era America – a time when a group of adrenaline-fueled outlaws and their need for speed paved the way for a modern American pastime. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

During the Gilded Age in New York City, the horrors of mental health care are exposed in explosive fashion, forever changing the way stories are uncovered. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Why do Americans measure things in inches and pounds while the rest of the world uses centimeters and kilograms? The answer becomes clear when George Washington and Thomas Jefferson’s vision for the future clashes with a band of marauding pirates. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

New York City in the mid 1800s was run by violent gangs, corrupt politicians, and grifting opportunists who operated with no fear of punishment. It was like a powder keg ready to blow, and all it took to light the fuse, and change the future of law enforcement, was a performance of Shakespeare. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

If not for inventor Thomas Edison's iron grip over the nascent film industry, and a few defiant trailblazers, movies as we know them might have never come to be. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War remains the bloodiest day in American history. That day, and the future of the United States, could have turned out very differently, if not for a single note and three cigars. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

 In 1910, a brutal murder in London sparks a transatlantic manhunt and the rise of a cultural obsession. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The course of history never follows a straight line. These are the epic stories that have shaped the world we now live in. From Ballen Studios, join us - for the most heart pounding podcast in history.  New episodes every Wednesday. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.