PBS "HISTORY DETECTIVES" SEASON 10 UNLEASHES RIVETING STORIES AND A NEW ATTITUDE

Did We Find Rock Music's Long-Lost Holy Grail?

And how did a HISTORY DETECTIVES Artifact Play Center Stage in a Profound United States-Vietnam Diplomatic Exchange?

ALEXANDRIA, VA - June 28, 2012 -- PBS HISTORY DETECTIVES celebrates 10 years and 100 episodes with its best season ever, letting loose with a new energy and razor-sharp storytelling that cuts right to the 'wow' of discovery and pierces to the heart of personal connections across the centuries. Rock Music, Vietnam, the Hollywood Sign, a Confederate spy's Civil War pistols, pin-up girls, and the Ku Klux Klan; the same intriguing history, but a whole new attitude.

The popular summer series roars into its 10th season with potentially the most valuable item in the show's history. If we did in fact find the Bob Dylan Fender Stratocaster that changed Rock 'n' Roll history, our experts say the guitar could be worth as much as $500,000.

When Dylan "went electric" at the 1965 Newport Folk festival, the audience booed him off the stage; but that rebellious moment changed rock music forever. The daughter of Bob Dylan's pilot in the 60s thinks she may have that guitar along with some original song lyrics tucked inside the case.

HISTORY DETECTIVES devotes its entire first episode, July 17th, to Rock 'n' Roll history. In addition to the Dylan guitar, Tukufu Zuberi investigates two Beatles' autographs from their Miami appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. Gwen Wright tracks a piece of artwork signed "FZ." Did Frank Zappa create this collage? Could this $5 vintage store find be worth tens of thousands of dollars?

The series struck gold this season with an array of other astounding stories as well.

- Country music singer Clint Black cannot believe what Elyse Luray discovers about his 1909 Book of Rogues!

- Is a chunk of molten metal part of the B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945?

- Tukufu Zuberi makes a startling connection at the studio that made "All KKK Records" The Jolly Old Klansman and The Bright Fiery Cross.

- Did we, on the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking, find a piece of the ship's grand staircase worth thousands of dollars?

- Do we have a piece of the original Hollywood Sign?

A stirring HISTORY DETECTIVES investigation grabbed national headlines when the Pentagon asked the HISTORY DETECTIVES for permission to deliver a fallen soldier's diary back to Vietnam. In 1966, a U.S. soldier recovered a diary from the body of a North Vietnamese soldier. U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta returned the diary to Vietnam's Defense Minister in a June 4th ceremony, exchanging it for letters found on the body of a U.S. soldier. Can HISTORY DETECTIVES locate the soldier's family and return the diary to his widow and children?

"The diary and [the enclosed] photograph are small reminders that the combatants who were lost on both sides were not simply warriors, but real people who will forever be remembered by their loved ones," said Wes Cowan. See this moving tale unfold on September 25th when HISTORY DETECTIVES returns after a break for political convention coverage.

"Absolutely, this is one of our best seasons ever with regard to the investigations," says David Davis, Co-Executive Producer. "And we think viewers will love the new look of the series. It's faster paced and provocative."

PBS HISTORY DETECTIVES Season 10 premieres Tuesday, July 17 at 9/8 c.

Here's the schedule:

- Tuesday July 17 @ 9/8c

- Tuesday July 24 @ 8/7c and 9/8c back-to-back episodes including Clint Black's mystery.

- Tuesday July 31 @ 8/7c

- Tuesday Aug. 7 @ 8/7c

- Aug. 14 - Sept. 18 Repeats on only some PBS stations

HISTORY DETECTIVES returns with new episodes.

- Tuesday, Sept. 25 @ 8/7c Vietnam Soldier's Diary

- Tuesday, Oct. 2 @ 8/7c New episode.

- Tuesday, Oct. 9 @ 8/7c Repeat episode 1, All Rock 'n' Roll

Returning to HISTORY DETECTIVES this season are the series' five inquisitive sleuths:

· Wes Cowan, independent appraiser and auctioneer

· Elyse Luray, independent appraiser and expert in art history

· Eduardo Pagán, professor of history at Arizona State University

· Gwendolyn Wright, historian and professor of architecture, Columbia University

· Tukufu Zuberi, professor of sociology and the director of the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania

HISTORY DETECTIVES episodes will be available for viewing the day after broadcast on the PBS Video Portal and the PBS mobile apps for iPad and iPhone.

On the HISTORY DETECTIVES website at http://pbs.org/historydetectives view past HISTORY DETECTIVES episodes; make history come alive for students with materials for educators; and learn how to conduct your own HISTORY DETECTIVES investigation. "Like" HISTORY DETECTIVES on Facebook at and follow the detectives on Twitter.

Funding for HISTORY DETECTIVES is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Public Television Viewers and PBS.

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