WQED

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Latest Episode

The Smartphone - Dial in to the fascinating history of the smartphone, from its roots in Morse Code to 2007, when Apple unveiled the first-ever iPhone. Plus, see how the next generation of smartphones will allow us to communicate through them just by thinking.

All Episodes

The Smartphone

Dial in to the fascinating history of the smartphone.

The Rocket

Blast off into history to see how rockets originated not in the sky, but in a cave.

The Car

Go for a ride through the 9,000-year history of the ultimate freedom machine: the car.

The Robot

Check out the history of robots and learn how they are becoming a part of everyday life.

The Airplane

Take to the sky with the dreamers whose work gave humans the ability to fly.

The Telescope

Look back in time to see how humans invented the telescope.

About Breakthrough: The Ideas That Changed the World

Take a mind-blowing journey through human history, told through six iconic objects that modern people take for granted, and see how science, invention and technology built on one another to change everything. These are the secrets of how we got to our modern world.