The Louisiana Purchase (History Channel)
On April 30 1803 President Thomas Jefferson completed one of the greatest real estate deals in history when he signed the Louisiana Purchase buying more than 900000 square miles west of the Mississippi from France for $15 million. The product of an unlikely chain of events born of mishap backroom bargaining and the whims of a few colorful personalities this monumental deal heralded Napoleon's downfall and the twilight of European dominance in North America and the U.S. rise in power.