America’s capital, the busiest, richest, most sophisticated place in North America, is decimated by a mysterious disease. More than half flee and just about all political authority vanishes. “Fever: 1793,” produced by Sam and Phil Katz’s History Making Productions, is the story of failure, courage, and terror–an event that pushed this city to the very edge.

The half-hour film, which was written by Hidden City Daily co-editor Nathaniel Popkin and researched by our Steve Currall, is the second in a multi-part series on the essential stories in Philadelphia history.

Watch it at 7:30 Wednesday on 6ABC.

Next, the History Making team moves into the 20th century, with the story Sam Katz calls “Shakin’, Bacon, and Remaking,” Philadelphia in the post-World War II period. That film will air in June.