179 History Documentaries You Can Watch Right Now (No Membership Required)

By Andy Trimlett

February 5, 2025

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All of these programs are available to watch right now without a membership — but, bear in mind that some won’t stay free-to-watch forever, so catch them now before they’re gone.

This article was updated Feb. 5, 2025

Have you decided that it’s high time to take a step back and look at the big picture? Is your teenager sick of your attempts to remember history class in your newly-founded home school? Or are you just desperate to watch a story that doesn’t include a certain word that rhymes with Arizona? Whatever your motivation, we’ve got you covered. Here are 179 history documentaries available to watch right now without a membership. Just click the links and press play. Or better yet, find them in the free PBS Video app for your Roku, Apple TV, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV Stick, phone or tablet. Enjoy!

An African boy hauls a bag over his head. | From "Lost Boys of Sudan"

Africa

Firestone and the Warlord

Lost Boys of Sudan

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A closeup photo of a pharaoh statue.

Ancient

Nero’s Sunken City

A few men are depicted of building a dam against a backdrop of a river.

Architecture

10 Monuments That Changed America

10 Modern Marvels That Changed America

10 Streets That Changed America

10 Towns that Changed America

Hollywood’s Architect

Paul Revere Williams

The Big Picture

History Detectives

The Origin of Everything

A few people trek down a road with the Griffith Observatory in the background.

California

Before the Dodgers

Bootlegger Tunnels: A Journey Through LA’s Prohibition Lore

Building the Metropolis

Coded Geographies

Descanso Gardens

Discovering the Universe

Griffith Park: The Untold Story

Shindana Toy Company: Changing the American Doll Industry

Three Views of Manzanar: Adams, Lange, Miyatake

A street sign that says "Wall Street."

Capitalism

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

American Empire: The Rise and Reign of Jeff Bezos

The Business of Disaster

The Facebook Dilemma

Money, Power and Wall Street

The Secret History of the Credit Card

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A portrait of William Still.

Civil Rights

Memories of the March

The silhouettes of two firemen against a blazing fire.

Disasters

Fire in Paradise

A rendered image of a teenage girl from Jamestown in early America.

Early America

Ben Franklin's Bones

The Terracotta Army from China line up side by side.

East Asia

Battle for Hong Kong

Myanmar’s Killing Fields

On the President’s Orders

An image of Jacques Pepin wearing a chef's hat.

Food

Healthcare workers pile on a truck.

Health

The Age of AIDS

Flint’s Deadly Water

Portraits of four Holocaust survivors.

The Holocaust

The Last Survivors

Memory of the Camps

A long line of people petition outside the White House.

Immigration

Immigration Battle

Targeting El Paso

Marcos Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

North Korea’s Deadly Dictator

Separated: Children at the Border

An upward shot of the Supreme Court building.

Justice

American Patriot

The Gang Crackdown

Last Days of Solitary

A More or Less Perfect Union

The Mueller Investigation

Out of Gitmo/Forever Prison

Second Chance Kids

Supreme Revenge

The Trial of Ratko Mladić

A promotional banner for the PBS Video app.

An archaeologist is excavating in a dig site.

Latin America

Drug Lord: The Legend of Shorty

Thumbnail image for "Bitter Rivals: Iran and Saudi Arabia."

Middle East

Bitter Rivals: Iran and Saudi Arabia

Children of Syria

The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia

Mosul/Inside Yemen

Netanyahu at War

Saudi Arabia Uncovered

Our Man in Tehran

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Myths

Portraits of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Politics

Anti-Abortion Crusaders

The Abortion Divide

America’s Great Divide: From Obama to Trump

Hillary’s Class

Ken Burns’ The Roosevelts

Secrets, Politics and Torture

Trump’s Road to the White House

Trump’s Takeover

Trump’s Trade War

United States of Secrets

Waco: The Inside Story

A child and a woman walk through a dark hallway.

Poverty

Left Behind America

Poverty, Politics and Profit

An image of a prehistoric community.

Prehistory

Making North America: Life

Making North America: Origins

Children walk in a line outside a building with tall windows.

Race

The Eugenics Crusade

Roads to Memphis

Separate and Unequal

Two American Families

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A picture of the Vatican taken at night.

Religion

From Jesus to Christ

Secrets of the Vatican

An image of the Mona Lisa's eyes.

Renaissance

Decoding da Vinci

Vladamir Putin

Russia

Putin’s Revenge

The view of Earth from the surface of the moon.

Science

Forgotten Genius

The Gene: An Intimate History

Leonardo, the Man Who Saved Science

The Secret of Tuxedo Park

A silhouette of a man standing in front of a mic against a backdrop with many NFL logos.

Sports

Ken Burns’ Baseball

Ken Burns’ Jackie Robinson

League of Denial: The NFL’s Corruption Crisis

A man with his face masked holds a machine gun in his hand.

Terrorism

American Terrorist

Confronting ISIS

The Man Who Knew

My Brother’s Bomber

The Rise of ISIS

The Secret History of ISIS

Terror in Europe

Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald

A picture of the back of war soldiers' heads.

War and Revolution

Hallowed Grounds

The War of 1812

World War Speed

Annie Oakley poised to shoot with a double-barrelled rifle.

Wild West

The Klondike Gold Rush

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