I Lost My Mind but It Always Finds Me Again
Every day, nosotros exit our wallets on coffee store counters, forget our phones in Lyfts, and dump out the contents of our numberless before realizing, yes, the car keys were in our pockets the whole time. But some things that have been lost over the years aren't then mundane—or replaceable. From stolen artworks and disappeared writings to destroyed places, we're counting downwards 30 of history'southward almost devastating losses.
The Amber Room
Fabricated from several tons of the titular gemstone, the Amber Room has been dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World." Six tons of amber, precious stones and gold leafage made this 180-square-foot room worth an estimated $142 million. Originally built in 1701, the Prussian-built Amber Room was somewhen installed at Catherine Palace in Pushkin by Czarina Elizabeth.
But simulated wallpaper wasn't plenty to hibernate the room from the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. Nazis packed it into 27 crates and shipped it to a castle museum in Königsberg, Germany. 2 years later, the Amber Room was packed abroad again, just before a serial of bombings. And that's where the trail goes cold.
No one has seen it since. For now, the curious can visit an $11 million replica just outside Leningrad.
Born in 1855, Ned Kelly became Australia's near famous bushranger. Known to many as an Aussie Robin Hood, he became a bonafide legend but before his death and, in doing so, the perfect subject for the world's first feature-length motion-picture show.
Infamously, Kelly and his gang ended up in a standoff with the constabulary in 1880. Kelly fashioned himself a suit of armor and snuck up on the police surrounding the town he'd taken earnest.
In 1906, manager Charles Tait shot the silent picture The Story of the Kelly Gang in Melbourne. The end outcome? A reel that measured iv,000 feet and a moving-picture show that clocked in at a niggling over an hour. This made information technology the longest narrative—and outset feature-length—film in the world. Over the years, bits of the lost film have been cobbled together into a 17-minute fragment.
Library of Alexandria
Alexandria's library was the greatest archive of knowledge in the world—until it vanished. Historians guess the library housed over half a million documents from Assyria, Arab republic of egypt, Greece, India, and Persia. Though many attribute the Library's destruction to a fire, the truth is shrouded in mystery.
Some pin the crime on Julius Caesar, while others arraign violence that broke out between the Christians, Pagans, and Jewish people inhabiting the city. Some don't recollect there was a catastrophic fire at all—just slow dissolution over time.
Stranger still, no architectural remains that can exist definitively attributed to the Library take ever been establish.
FIFA'southward Jules Rimet World Cup Trophy
You lot'd be hard pressed to find an award with a better Hollywood backstory than the original Jules Rimet World Cup Trophy. Get-go handed out in 1930, the Jules Rimet Trophy was fabricated of gold-plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli. And more than just footballers were eager to merits it.
During World State of war 2, Ottorino Barassi, the president of the Italian Football game Federation, smuggled the trophy from a banking concern and into his apartment. Nazi soldiers tracked the trophy to Barassi's home, but failed to open the maximum security shoebox stashed nether his bed.
Years later, the bays was stolen while on display in England, but an intrepid dog named Pickles discovered it in some bushes within days of the theft.
After Brazil won the trophy for a third time in 1970, it was displayed in Rio de Janeiro backside bullet-proof glass. Despite these precautions, it was stolen on December 19, 1983. Well-nigh people believe information technology was melted downwardly into golden bars.
Honjō Masamune
The almost respected Japanese swordsmith was Goro Nyudo Masamune. He saw the rising of the samurai class'south power during what's known as the Kamakura Period (the late 13th and early on 14th centuries). Fifty-fifty today, his blades are highly sought after for their quality and rich history. But perhaps none is more than renowned than the lost Honjō Masamune.
The Honjō Masamune received its name from one of its beginning owners, Honjō Shigenaga, a general who fought another ranking officer during a battle in 1561. Shigenaga's helmet was fissure in two by his opponent, but the general withstood the blow and killed his foe.
As was customary, he took his fallen opponent'due south weapon—a Masamune blade. The Honjō Masamune was sold and passed downwards for years, until the Tokugawa family claimed it as a symbol for their shogunate.
Just, in the wake of World State of war II, Tokugawa Iemasa handed over his family unit'due south prized swords in 1945 to the U.s. Army, including the Honjō Masamune. Since then, the blade'south whereabouts accept been unknown.
Roanoke
Aside from its starring part in American Horror Story's 6th flavor, Roanoke is best known every bit the get-go attempt to prepare a permanent English language colony in North America. Also called the "Lost Colony," the settlement was established on Roanoke Island in 1585. But the land, which is in present-day North Carolina, shows no traces of this onetime colony.
After establishing the settlement, most of those involved with the initial settlement returned to England for more supplies, but a small-scale detachment stayed behind. When the settlers returned with supplies, they found that the contingent they had left behind was gone.
Leader John White left the 115 new settlers in Roanoke and headed back to England for assistance. Upon his return in 1590, the entire Roanoke Colony had vanished—no artifacts, no bodies. The merely inkling? The name of a nearby tribe, "CROATOAN," was carved into a tree.
Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes was erected in the city of—surprise—Rhodes to celebrate the city's victory over Cyprus. Historians believe that the statue was 108 anxiety alpine, making it the tallest (known) statue in the ancient world. And, in today'south terms, roughly the same superlative as the Statue of Liberty.
I of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Colossus was meant to be the Greek sunday god Helios. Information technology was constructed effectually 280 BCE, but toppled around 226 BCE when a massive earthquake struck Rhodes. Unlike the remnants of other lost treasures from antiquity, parts of the statue were preserved.
As of 2015, at that place are plans to build a new Colossus at the entrance to Rhodes Harbor.
Mahogany Ship
Though fishermen and traders from Indonesia, India and Red china visited the aboriginals of what is at present known as Commonwealth of australia for thousands of years, Europeans didn't ready foot on the continent until a 17th century Dutch expedition. Or and then it was thought. The discovery of a shipwreck in 1836, just off the south-western coast of Victoria, near Warrnambool, challenged this commonly-held belief.
The whalers who discovered the wreck, one-half buried in sand dunes, claimed it was made of nighttime wood. Hence the nickname the "Mahogany Ship." Simply, most significantly, the send seemed to exist of Portugese origin.
Considering the shipwreck's location was uncertain, there oasis't been many big-scale expeditions for the Mahogany Send. Withal, the Land Government of Victoria offered wreck-hunters a $250,000 reward in 1992 for the send'south recovery. Why? Well, if the ship is Portugese information technology could rewrite Australia'southward colonial history as we know it.
Parliamentary Mace (Victoria)
Despite its intimidating proper noun, parliamentary mace isn't a weapon. (Anymore.) Instead, it'southward a symbol of the Office of the Speaker and the constitutional rights of the people. That'south why the theft of the parliamentary mace from Victoria's Parliament marks one of Australia's greatest unsolved mysteries.
Fabricated of silver, plated with gold, and decorated with roses, shamrocks, and eucalyptus leaves, the mace was taken only later midnight on Friday, Oct ix, 1891. The suspects? Many think the members of the business firm responsible for locking the mace up that night nabbed it. So brought it to a nearby brothel for kicks.
To this solar day, anyone who finds and returns the mace will earn a lofty $50,000 reward. That'southward a lot of vegemite.
The Complete Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales—the bane of many a high school English language class—contains 24 stories. Amend however, the 17,000 lines of text are all written in Middle English language. (Me thynketh, no thanks.) Believe it or not, Chaucer only wrote virtually a quarter of the tales he wanted to include before his decease.
That's correct: The Canterbury Tales were essentially the Game of Thrones (or, more accurately, A Song of Fire and Ice series) of the late 1300s. The book alternates between the points of view of various pilgrims, contains a lot of walking from place to place, and its author couldn't seem to write quickly enough to close out the serial.
After a decade of writing, Chaucer penned 24 of his 100 planned stories. And, when he died, some of those tales were still fragmentary. At present, several versions of particular stories be. And nosotros'll never know the event of the pilgrims' trek.
Several of Disney's Oswald Shorts
Before Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse debuted in Steamboat Willie (1928), the man backside the mouse worked on another animated series starring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In total, 27 one-reel "Oswalds" were produced at the Walt Disney Studio before Disney lost the rights to the character to Universal Pictures. And while things improved for Disney later the dispute, Oswald's state of affairs worsened.
For years, information technology was thought that only 19 of the Disney-produced Oswald shorts survived. In 2015, the British Pic Constitute discovered a missing Oswald short in its archives. A second "lost" Oswald drawing surfaced in Japan in 2018. Yasushi Watanabe, at present 84, had purchased the five-minute motion picture Neck 'n' Cervix (1928) decades ago for a mere 500 yen.
While these discoveries are exciting, motion picture buffs yet mourn the fact that the other missing "Oswalds" may remain lost.
Leonardo Da Vinci's Manuscripts
Leonardo Da Vinci is the Renaissance Man—artist, inventor, writer, and full general overachiever. While his Mona Lisa draws hordes of visitors to the Louvre in Paris every solar day, he's also known for several "ahead-of-his-time" inventions, including a prototype for a helicopter-like flying motorcar. And although a cracking bargain is known about Da Vinci, a great bargain of his immense body of work has as well been lost.
After his decease, Da Vinci'due south manuscripts were inherited by his student, Francesco Melzi. But when Melzi passed, the manuscripts were scattered—some were stolen, while others were given away or lost by Melzi'south son Orazio. At present, the existing manuscripts comprise but i fifth or so of Da Vinci's total trunk of work.
While fragments accept resurfaced, the works are often difficult to decipher: Da Vinci famously wrote in code and practiced "mirror writing."
Lost Dutchman'due south Gold Mine
Treasure-hunters and thrillseekers still set out to notice a treasure near Apache Junction, Arizona that was allegedly buried somewhere back in 1891. Some of these treasure-hunters don't make information technology back at all. What'southward worth risking life and limb in the Superstition Mountains? The "Dutchman'south" gilt.
German immigrant Jacob Waltz, "the Dutchman" in question, took the secret of where he hid his gold with him when he died. And why has no ane come close to digging up the mine? The Superstitions are treacherously steep and the magnetic stone messes with compasses. Worse still, summers are fatally hot; winters are fatally cold. And cell phones often fail.
So, why try? George Johnston, who worked at a local museum on the subject area, said, "If a mine produces two and a one-half ounces of gold per ton of rock, it is a bonanza. Well, the Dutchman's gilded ore that made that matchbook case assayed out to 50 ounces per ton."
For some, this potential prize outweighs the risk.
Isabella Stewart Gardner'south Art
If you caput to the Boston-based museum's website, you'll see that the investigation into the 1990 theft at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is active and ongoing. In fact, if you have any tips that lead to the rubber return of all xiii stolen works they'll reward you with a cool $10 million.
Most xxx years ago, 2 thieves disguised every bit police force officers broke into the museum and grabbed the 13 paintings from the walls. That's correct: $500 million—gone only like that. Amidst the stolen works were pieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Edgar Degas.
The heist is still known equally the largest individual property theft in American history. And, in a nod to its history, the Gardner Museum displays empty frames where the stolen works one time hung.
Sappho's Poems
The poet Sappho was dubbed "the tenth Muse" past Plato and known in the ancient world for her accomplished poesy. During the third century BCE, her poems were collected into a whopping nine volumes, which were subsequently lost or damaged.
After a parody characterized Sappho every bit a promiscuous lesbian, Pope Gregory burned much of her work in 1073. For awhile, it was thought that only one twenty-eight-line verse form had survived. Merely in 1898 that changed.
The first of her poetry fragments, written on papyrus, were discovered. Several years later, in 1914, archeologists working in Egypt found coffins made from paper scraps—and on them? More than fragmented verses that appeared to exist authored by Sappho.
Tree of Ténéré
Northeastern Niger was once home to a forest of trees. After desertification took concur, a alone acacia, known every bit the Tree of Ténéré, remained. Known as the most isolated tree in the globe, the closest copse lie nearly 250 miles away.
Dubbed a "living lighthouse" by Michel Lesourd in the 1930s, the Tree of Ténéré was considered sacred for decades by the nomadic Tuareg people. When Europeans drew war machine maps of the expanse, the acacia became a landmark. But in 1973 this changed when a reportedly drunk driver struck the tree, uprooting information technology.
To laurels the tree, a metal sculpture has been constructed where it once stood. And Niger's National Museum relocated the remnants of the Tree of Ténéré to Niamey for a brandish.
Crown Jewels of Republic of ireland
If you're anything like us, the phrase "crown jewels" immediately conjures up a movie of a fancy imperial, all decked out in furs and gemstones. Just the Irish gaelic Crown Jewels are a tad unlike. They don't take links to the monarchy, but to an aloof group chosen the Order of St. Patrick. And the guild's "M Principal" would wear the jewels—well, until the infamous theft in 1907.
Sir Arthur Vicars, who was charged with protecting the Crown Jewels, held two keys to the safe. He kept 1 of those keys at his home.
But Vicars wasn't the nearly trustworthy. Once a night of drinking led to his friends stealing his keys and pulling a prank on him. He'd also misplaced his keys a few times. All of this to say, his negligence led to the theft of jewels worth $xx million.
Amelia Earhart's Plane
Amelia Earhart famously became the first woman to complete a solo flying across the Atlantic Body of water—every bit well equally the first person to fly solo to Hawaii from the mainland United States. Her next challenge? Unfortunately, circumnavigating the globe in her twin-engine Lockheed 10E Electra didn't get likewise.
In July of 1937, Earhart just… vanished. Somewhere over the Pacific Body of water, almost a refueling stop on Howland Isle. Only 7,000 miles from Oakland, California—where she'd initially taken off. Stranger nevertheless, her aeroplane wreckage has never been recovered.
Many theories—and conspiracies—have cropped upwardly around this lost-at-sea pilot. Some believe Earhart survived for a fourth dimension on Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner Island), where a piece of Plexiglas potentially from the Electra's window was constitute.
Holy Chalice
From Indiana Jones and the Last Cause (1989) to The Da Vinci Code (2006), the Holy Chalice has been the subject of innumerable pop culture quests. The chalice is so coveted because information technology's the loving cup Jesus drank from, or served vino from, at the Concluding Supper. Others believe it was as well the vessel used to collect Jesus'due south claret at his Crucifixion.
Despite its ties to Christianity, the chalice became then sought-after due to its association with a magical item from Arthurian literature—the Holy Grail.
The interwoven stories of the Holy Chalice and Grail inspired several claims that medieval relics, such equally the Valencia Beaker and the Genoa Chalice, are The vessels in question. Nevertheless, the location—and being—of the Holy Chalice is still up for debate amongst scholars.
Peking Man
The "Peking human being" is a name given to an extinct hominin of a species you may know—Homo erectus. Back in 1927, an anthropologist identified the Peking man as part of man lineage, thanks to findings from a single tooth institute about Beijing. According to the mandibles, limb bones, and teeth uncovered by researchers, these characters walked the earth about 770,000 to 230,000 years ago. And then the fossils walked out, too.
Well, sort of. About seventy years agone, the Peking man fossils vanished. The fossils were kept at Peking Union Medical College, but in 1941 researchers feared that the Japanese invasion would put the fossils in danger.
They did what whatsoever responsible scientist would exercise: they tried to smuggle the fossils out of Red china and to the presumably safer United States. Just the boxes of bones never made their connecting flight. 1 small step for man—and 1 behemothic setback for human evolution inquiry.
Florentine Diamond
Weighing in at 137 carats, this next contender gives the (fictional) Heart of the Body of water a run for its coin. This nine-sided 126-facet double rose cut diamond is pale yellow in color and hails from Bharat. Simply despite researchers' knowledge of its origins, its path through history is merely equally nebulous as its current whereabouts.
The first reported sighting of the Florentine Diamond dates back to the late 1400s when the Knuckles of Burgundy roughshod in boxing while wearing it. After that, the diamond made its mode to Italy: its declared owners included Pope Julius II and the Medici family.
In 1736, Maria Theresa of Austria caused it when she married the Knuckles of Tuscany, making the Florentine Diamond part of the Austrian crown jewels.
During World War I, the buying records get messy: some say the Germans stole it. Others say the purple family unit fled with it, simply to accept it stolen and sent to South America where it was presumably sold and recut.
Buddhas of Bamyan
Hewn from sandstone cliffs, the Buddhas of Bayman were two statues—one 115 feet and the other 174 feet alpine—of Gautam Buddha. Located in the Hazarajat region of Afghanistan, these monuments dated back to the 6th century. These impressive Silk Road statues survived the campaign of Genghis Khan to get a UNESCO Earth Heritage Site. Only, in 2001, the statues met a harrowing fate.
On orders from Mullah Mohammed Omar, members of the Taliban destroyed the statues in a dynamite blast. Since they were Buddha statues, the Taliban considered them "idols" and shot at them with anti-aircraft arms. The resilient statues withstood explosives and rocket launchers, before eventually falling victim to the Taliban'south iconoclasm.
Pyramid at Nohmul, Belize
Located on the Yucatán Peninsula, Nohmul (or Noh Mul) is a Maya archeological site in what is now mod-day Belize. The land is known for its lush rainforests and beautiful coral reefs, but what really put information technology on the map was that it is abode to 1 of the 15 aboriginal Maya sites in the world. Unfortunately, the site inverse dramatically in 2013.
The main pyramid (like to the i pictured above) once towered over the site, coming in at roughly lx feet alpine. But a construction visitor responsible for building nearby roads bulldozed the pyramid and other mounds in gild to utilize the gravel. Now, the primary pyramid is gone.
SInce Maya sites are protected past law, officials in Belize program to those responsible for the devastation to courtroom. Withal, the losses are irreparable.
Plato's Hermocrates
Similar every business-savvy author, Plato was in it for a 3-book bargain. Or, that is, his hypothetical dialogue Hermocrates was meant to round out the trilogy he started with Timaeus and the unfinished Critias. So, what exactly are these dialogues?
They're sort of like monologues delivered by the titular characters. For example, Timaeus is a potentially invented figure who speculates about the nature of the concrete globe. Critias is a chip more exciting: It recounts how the kingdom of Atlantis tried to conquer Athens.
Historians tin can simply speculate nearly Hermocrates. The speaker might have been the Syracusan politician and general of the same name. It might've shed light on naval powers and strategy.
Though nosotros adopt the estimation constitute in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis video game, wherein Hermocrates details the location and culture of Atlantis.
The Complete Bayeux Tapestry
This impressive tapestry dates dorsum to the 11th century and measures in at 230 feet long and 165 anxiety tall. And information technology uses all that surface surface area to depict the Norman conquest of England. For seven centuries the tapestry remained safely in the Bayeux Cathedral. In 1792, it was about cut into pieces and used as coverings for soldier'due south carts. Luckily, information technology escaped that dire fate—for a fourth dimension.
Since it's removal from the cathedral, the last panel(s) appears to be missing. Though it transferred hands several times during World War Ii—from hush-hush shelters to German research facilities and, finally, to the Louvre in Paris—it remained relatively unscathed. Nonetheless, the question of how the tapestry'southward narrative ended has puzzled historians.
A team of embroiders worked tirelessly to fill in the gaps. In 2014, they completed panels that depicted what happened later William the Conquistador won the Boxing of Hastings. And though the replica panels friction match the manner of the tapestry, we'll never know what the originals illustrated.
Gospel of Eve
Though at that place are thought to exist around twenty "Lost Gospels," the Gospel of Eve is by far the most intriguing—and controversial. Though fragments of some Lost Gospels be, others were either completely lost to the ages or purposely destroyed by the Catholic Church building. And so, why weren't these gospels added to the Bible?
Co-ordinate to the church building, they were excluded for either A) being of unknown origin, or B) being authored by heretics. Desire to know all about Eve? Well, that'due south a bit tricky. It's unclear if a re-create of Eve'southward gospel exists these days.
The quotes we practice have from the Gospel of Eve bespeak that the text advocated for tenants of "gratis love"—from polyamory to nascence control—and mentioned (gasp) the menstrual cycle.
Bayt al-Hikmah (House of Wisdom)
The Bayt al-Hikmah, or Firm of Wisdom, could certainly challenge the Library of Alexandria for the championship of "Greatest Repository of Cognition" (Working Championship). Established in Baghdad during the eighth century, this impressive library was also a cultural center for astronomers, philosophers, mathematicians, translators and inventors.
Byzantine researchers were sent to written report at this renowned institution. Several languages, including Arabic, Farsi, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and Latin, were spoken at the facility. The House of Wisdom truly embodied the merging of intellect, traditions, and cultures from many nations.
But Bayt al-Hikmah met a tragic end when the Mongols invaded during the 13th century, killing the scholars and dumping the books in the Tigris River. It is said that the river flowed red and blackness for days from all the blood and ink.
Yongle Encyclopedia
The Yongle Encyclopedia, or Yongle Dadian, was Communist china'due south—and the world'due south—largest encyclopedia when it was finished in 1408. Arranged by subject into 22,877 juan (sections), the text was bound into a whopping eleven,095 volumes. But this beautifully illustrated collection went the way of the balance of the objects on our list.
During the 1500s, it was moved to the Forbidden Urban center for protection. The emperor ordered it copied and, not long after, the original was lost, or scattered. Some historians believe the Yongle Encyclopedia was destroyed in a burn down that swept through the Forbidden City during a rebellion. Others posit it was buried with an emperor. A 3rd theory propose information technology burned in the Qianqing Palace fire.
At present, but 400 volumes remain. And its "World'due south Largest Encyclopedia" title has been claimed by Wikipedia.
Ur-Hamlet
This above all: to thine own self exist true—unless yous tin detect a wealth of inspiration in someone else. In that case, soak in their work and fashion your own in its footsteps. Yous heard that right. William Shakespeare'southward Hamlet is non as original as your English teacher may have claimed. Starting time of all, Hamlet is based on a Norse legend. But, more than importantly, it's based on another play.
Almost researchers concur that Shakespeare based his famous tragedy on a play by Thomas Kyd, known every bit Ur-Village. Of grade, equally fate would have information technology, no copy of Ur-Hamlet exists. All we actually know is that it was performed in London, pregnant Shakespeare was (more than likely) in the know about it.
This OG-Hamlet was likewise a tragedy that contained a line shouted past a ghost. That line? "Village, revenge!" Very "brevity is the soul of summary," if you lot ask us.
Jack the Ripper's "From Hell" Letter
Jack the Ripper is London'southward near infamous—and unidentified—serial killer. He had a disturbing penchant for murdering sex workers with anatomical percision, leading to his nickname. The "Jack the Ripper" title actually originated in a letter of the alphabet from someone challenge to be the serial killer, though it was afterwards deemed a hoax. The "From Hell" letter, all the same, is thought to be authentic.
Why? When George Lusk, chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, received the letter on October xv, 1888 it didn't come with chocolates or flowers. Instead, it arrived with one-half a human kidney. For this reason, of the thousands of messages allegedly sent from Jack the Ripper to the police, "From Hell" was believed to be the real deal.
Decades later, fingerprints on the alphabetic character might've helped experts scissure the case. But some poor record-keeping procedures ruined that notion. The alphabetic character—and kidney—are lost, so don't look the cast of Criminal Minds to solve this 1 someday soon.
Source: https://www.reference.com/history/lost-things-history?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740005%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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