This next part of the Il était une fois series on George Stephenson deals with the Rainhill Trials, a competition that determined what kind of trains (steam engines or locomotives) would be used on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

The series Il était une fois… les Amériques: Les premiers Américains (Once Upon a Time… the Americas: The First Americans) relates American history from the very beginning up to the twentieth century. Enjoy the opening song about the making of America and its first settlers...

Finding food was often difficult for the earliest settlers of the Americas. Luckily for the characters in this video, there's enough berries to go around.

Since all the animals have moved away from their area, these early Americans are forced to follow in their paw prints... otherwise they'll have no food!

The series Il était une fois... les Amériques: Les premiers Américains (Once Upon a Time... The Americas: The First Americans) relates American history from the very beginning up to the twentieth century. In this episode, hunters boast about their day chasing after a huge animal.

In this segment of the Il était une fois episode on the Americas, a group of hunters go across what is now known as the Bering Strait in search of game. Little do they know that, by doing so, they'll become the first settlers of North America!

This tribe of hunters must use whatever they can find to nourish themselves and survive. Luckily, two of their children stumble across a pond full of fish after the ice melts, giving them plenty more to eat.

Food is scarce, too many men, not enough game to kill. What are they to do? The explorers setting foot on the Americas are having a tough time.

This new episode of "Il était une fois..." covers Cortés and the Aztecs. The story starts in 1519, when Ferdinand Magellan attempts to circumnavigate the earth. His ship makes it as far as Brazil.

The Maestro recounts the events just before Ferdinand Magellan's untimely death in 1521, only a year after he discovered the passage that would allow him to circumnavigate the globe.

The Aztecs are apprehensive about the arrival of the white men. It is a bad omen. Spanish conqueror Cortés is appointed Captain and will be heading toward new territories.

November 18, 1518... Cortés, the ambitious adventurer, sets out to discover and conquer the unknown empire of Mexico at daybreak before Velasquez has a chance to stop him.

Cortés is negotiating with the friendly natives of Mexico with the help of his interpreter, who had been shipwrecked in a previous expedition and speaks Mayan. They are offered a young woman slave, Malintzin, who speaks Mayan and Aztec.

Cortés exchanges gifts with the Aztec Emperor, Montezuma. An excellent diplomatic move on both sides!

Tension is building between the Aztecs and the Spaniards, not to mention within Cortés's own ranks. Despite this, the conquistador rallies his troops to conquer Mexico.