Poison DVD

• Additional Details
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Rating: Not Rated
• Number of Discs: 1
• Run Time: 50 Minutes
• Region: Region 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Language: English
• Studio: History Channel
• DVD Release Date: January 5, 2005

From ancient assassinations to modern laboratories, MODERN MARVELS uncorks a fascinating look at poison.

The word evokes images of shadowy viziers plotting coups, of thousands killed in man-made disasters, of the worst excesses of wartime, of skull-and-crossbones warnings on medicine cabinet bottles. Called the "devil's bounty," poison has played an important role in human history since antiquity.

MODERN MARVELS® explores and explains the pernicious power of these potent killers. See how the ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans came to rely on their use. Historians reveal why the Renaissance is known as the Golden Age of Poison, and how it shaped the history of the Catholic Church. Investigate the gas attacks of WWI, which introduced the world to a horrific new type of combat. Examine the 21st-century threat of bioterrorism. Finally, peer into the future with scientists experimenting with poisons and venoms from the plant and animal kingdoms that may play an important part in healing diseases such as arthritis and even cancer.