WEDNESDAY, May 8, 7am

Modern Marvels: Bridges

HISTORY This episode covers types of bridges and the history of bridges worldwide, from ancient Rome’s aqueducts and arch bridges on through the Renaissance and up to 19th-century railroad spans and today’s gigantic structures. Advisory: TV-PG.

WEDNESDAYS, May 8 and 15, 10pm

Secrets of the Dead

PBS The May 8 episode, "Death on the Railroad," investigates the deaths of 57 Irish immigrants in West Chester, Pa., in 1832. Hired to work on a railroad, they all died within six weeks. The explanation given was cholera, but historical detective work studies whether bigotry-driven murder could also have played a part. In the May 15 episode, "Caveman Cold Case," scientists study 49,000-year-old Neanderthal bones from a cave in northern Spain’s El Sidron region and look for more sites at Gibraltar. Advisory: Forensic exam scenes.

THURSDAY, May 9, 11am

16th National March for Life in Canada

EWTN "On May 9, 2013, march like someone’s life depends on it!" So says the Campaign Life Coalition, the organizers of Canada’s National March for Life. EWTN will provide complete live coverage of the rally at Parliament Hill and the march through downtown Ottawa, Ontario. This year’s theme: "Female Gendercide: ‘It’s a Girl’ Should Not Be a Death Sentence." Re-airs at 1pm Saturday.

SUNDAY, May 12, 10pm

EWTN Theology Roundtable

EWTN "Hail, Mary, full of grace!" EWTN’s expert theology staffers discuss the Blessed Mother and the beauty of Catholic devotion to her during Mary’s Month. Re-airs at 6am Thursday.

SUNDAY, May 12, 10pm

10 Buildings That Changed America

PBS This new special interviews historians and architects to show how the design and construction of these 10 innovative structures impacted American culture and life. The designers include Thomas Jefferson, H.H. Richardson, Louis Sullivan, Albert Kahn, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen, Robert Venturi and Frank Gehry. The buildings range from the Virginia State Capitol (1788) to the Wainwright Building (1891) and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles (2003).

WEDNESDAY, May 15, 8pm

EWTN Live

EWTN Father Mitch Pacwa will be joined by Church historian Father Charles Connor to discuss the Second Vatican Council and introduce the North American premiere of Concilio Vaticano: The Vatican Council. This two-hour documentary, created for the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council in 1962, features never-before-seen historical footage as well as interviews and commentary. Re-airs at 8pm Saturday.

THURSDAY, May 16, 2pm

Fatima: Our Hope

EWTN This documentary chronicles the Blessed Mother’s appearances at Fatima in 1917, follows Pope John Paul II on his visit to Fatima in 1982 and explains the vital importance of Our Lady’s message of penance, reparation for sin and the necessity of conversion. Re-airs at 5am Saturday.

Saturday, May 18, 4:30pm

138th Preakness Stakes

NBC Post time will be roughly 6:20pm for the 138th running of the $1-million Preakness Stakes, the middle contest of thoroughbred horse racing’s Triple Crown. Twelve or more horses will run the track at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.