skip to main content
Butterfly Effect

Butterfly Effect

Apply for Free Membership

History is no more than a series of incredible events, and minute changes in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere. This series revisits key events in history and explores the possible effects of different outcomes, which gives a new perspective for today.

A ship sailing through the sea. Caption: sails within the sight of the mythical Galapagos.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 1
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of ancient buildings silhouetted against an amber sky. Caption. At the end of October, Alexander takes Babylon.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 2
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
A T V screen displays men walking on the moon. Caption: On the evening of July 31, 1969, the world is watching the T V.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 3
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a man wearing a crown and robe standing in a cathedral before a crowded room. Caption. The kingdom of France.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 5
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a silhouetted side profile of Confucius seated at a table and writing in an indoor space. Behind him, 2 people are working together in the faded background.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 6
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a silhouetted man on horseback with bow and spear watching a distant village burn, billows of smoke floating up into the night sky. Caption. The Mongols are feared everywhere.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 7
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of an area near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Leafless trees, homes, and power lines beneath an overcast sky. Caption. Everything is polluted and highly radioactive.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 8
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of pagodas and green trees against a partly cloudy sky during Japan's Edo period. Caption. Will lead to a united Japan and 250 years of civil peace.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 9
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of silhouetted ancient warriors charging forward on a battlefield against a vibrant red sky. Caption. The skill of their warriors is well-known to the Romans.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 11
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
An electronic machine is being operated. Caption: He then sends himself the first electronic mail.
Butterfly Effect
Season 1 / Ep 12
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of men digging and panning a river for gold in 1848 California. Caption. Are the key moments of the Gold Rush.
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 2
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Unavailable
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 3
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a young royal boy standing next to others in an indoor castle setting. Caption. Are on the point of capturing Louis the Fourteenth.
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 4
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Black and white cartoon of Al Capone in silhouette against an open prison door lined with bars.
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 5
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a woman wearing Victorian clothing looking towards the skyline in 1918 London. Caption. Have won the right to vote.
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 8
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a battleship at Dunkirk with soldiers onboard. Caption. And will determine the course of the Second World War.
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 9
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a conquistador on horseback surrounded by fire. Caption. The Aztec Empire collapses.
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 11
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Digital map of the Ottoman Empire and surrounding empires. Caption. The Ottoman Empire is in full expansion.
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 12
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
A construction sight beside a water body. Caption: In an attempt to save the threatened Aral Sea.
Butterfly Effect
Season 2 / Ep 13
25 minutes 59 seconds
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animated wide shot silhouette of a herd of camels and a few men walking alongside them across a valley. Caption. Leaves his native Great Britain for an important journey.
Butterfly Effect
Season 3 / Ep 7
26 minutes
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a man standing in front of a table holding a stone tablet. Caption. Manages to unlock the mystery of hieroglyphics.
Butterfly Effect
Season 3 / Ep 9
26 minutes
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of a full-sail Portuguese galleon sailing on open ocean. Caption. Establishing the first English penal colony in Australia.
Butterfly Effect
Season 3 / Ep 10
26 minutes
Grade Level: 10 - 12
A burning ship. Caption: On the 22nd, it sinks to the bottom of the gulf of Mexico.
Butterfly Effect
Season 3 / Ep 11
26 minutes
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of Viking warriors standing on a seashore with shields, clubs, and axes, looking at a docked Viking ship. Caption. Is the target of a raid by men from the north, the Vikings.
Butterfly Effect
Season 3 / Ep 12
26 minutes
Grade Level: 10 - 12
Animation of World War 2 Soviet commanders speaking in front of a battlefield map to a crowded room of officers. Caption. To fortify the Kursk region and to wait.
Butterfly Effect
Season 3 / Ep 13
26 minutes
Grade Level: 10 - 12