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From ancient codes and cryptic relics to vanished civilizations, history is full of mysteries that have captivated our imagination for generations. Join us as we explore 50 historical puzzles that have finally been cracked! Our countdown includes the Antikythera Mechanism, the secrets of Roman concrete, the truth behind the Bermuda Triangle, the fate of Anastasia Romanov, and so much more. Which solved mystery surprised you the most?
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00:00The thrashing survivors and bloody water no doubt attracted the sharks.
00:04The dead and injured were first to be hit.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for 50 mysteries that haunted us for generations
00:12and have today been, for the most part, solved.
00:16It's a portal into the water beneath the surface of the valley, and it's the first one we've had.
00:23Number 50, the mystery of the Lycurgus Cup.
00:25But the interesting part here is that this is a single cup, it's a dichromic cup,
00:29which means that if you shine light from the front, it's going to be green,
00:33and if you shine light from the back, it's going to be red.
00:36At first glance, the Lycurgus Cup looks like an ordinary masterpiece of Roman glasswork.
00:41But catch it in the right light, and it pulls off a trick no ordinary goblet should.
00:45This 1600-year-old artifact appears jade green when lit from the front,
00:49and a rich blood red when the light shines through.
00:52For centuries, no one could explain how.
00:54Was it magic? A lost Roman art?
00:57The astonishing answer discovered by scientists in the 1990s
01:00is that the glass contains silver and gold particles that measure around 50 nanometers.
01:05These microscopic flecks manipulate light, making the color shift possible.
01:09In other words, the Romans invented nanotechnology,
01:12more than a thousand years before modern science caught up.
01:15Number 49, the Exeter Book Riddles.
01:17I entertain men in their homes by rehearsing my whole repertoire.
01:23They sit, bow down, quiet in their houses, guess my name.
01:28They're some of the oldest brain teasers in the English language.
01:31The Exeter Book Riddles, written in Old English, date back to the 10th century.
01:35The manuscript contains more than 90 riddles,
01:37covering everything from everyday objects to clever double entendres.
01:41For nearly a thousand years, scholars and poets debated their meanings.
01:44It wasn't until the 20th century that most of the riddles were finally cracked.
01:49Using modern linguistics and fresh translations, scholars finally cracked the code.
01:53Today, most of the riddles have solutions.
01:56Some were clever plays on words, others were dirty jokes.
01:59What began as a medieval guessing game is now a mostly solved literary mystery.
02:03Who is this person that wrote this?
02:06Who is the vigorous, you know, warrior, or the striving warrior?
02:12Number 48, the True Identity of the Ivory Lady of Seville.
02:16In 2008, archaeologists found an ancient VIP.
02:20Near Seville, Spain, they discovered an elaborate tomb of a wealthy copper age man.
02:24He was buried with crystal daggers, ivory tusks, and ostrich eggs.
02:28They called the skeleton the Ivory Man.
02:30As it turns out, they were very wrong.
02:32In 2023, a protein analysis of the body's teeth proved that the Ivory Man was actually the Ivory Lady.
02:39She's believed to have been a religious or political powerhouse,
02:43who may have been running the show in southern Spain 5,000 years ago.
02:46Her grave is still the most extravagant burial from that era ever found in Spain.
02:51This copper age queen was buried with all her bling.
02:54Number 47, the Source of Stonehenge's Stones.
02:57How did they get here?
02:59Why were they picked?
03:01Thousands of years after this site was built, there is still much to be learned.
03:06For centuries, Stonehenge stood as a riddle in plain sight.
03:10How did Neolithic people drag giant stones across the English landscape?
03:14And from where?
03:15We can now answer the first question.
03:17In 2011, archaeologists uncovered ancient quarries in Wales, solving the mystery of the smaller bluestones.
03:23They'd been hauled over 150 miles from the Purcelli Hills.
03:27Why not build Stonehenge where they quarried the stones?
03:30Why move them so far?
03:32That's a really good question, and not one that we can really answer at the moment,
03:36other than to say that really Stonehenge and the whole landscape around it,
03:40which is chock full of lots of other prehistoric monuments, must have been significant.
03:44Then came the sarsens, the towering sandstone blocks.
03:47In 2020, scientists cracked that code too, tracing them to Westwoods in Wiltshire, just 15 miles away.
03:54But the biggest twist came in 2024.
03:56Researchers found that Stonehenge's altar stone, the ceremonial centerpiece, likely came from southern Scotland.
04:02After centuries of guesses and legends, we finally know where the stones came from.
04:07How do you think it'll go down in Wales?
04:09I'm not sure they'll ever talk to me again.
04:11It's a loss for Wales, no doubt, but Wales has contributed so many rocks to this monument.
04:16I'm sure Scotland can have one.
04:17Number 46.
04:18Why did Vikings vanish from Greenland?
04:20Frozen, starving, with their animals dying around them,
04:24isolated in the northern wastes behind an ever-growing wall of sea ice.
04:29Did the Vikings hang on to their old ways, trying to raise cattle and sheep as they had always done?
04:35The Vikings were the ultimate medieval globetrotters.
04:38They raided England, traded in Baghdad, founded cities in Russia, and even settled in Greenland in 985 CE.
04:45For nearly 500 years, Norse farmers lived there, raising cattle and building churches on the edge of the known world.
04:51Then, they vanished.
04:52For centuries, no one knew why.
04:54But modern research has finally given us clues that they were victims of medieval climate change,
04:59suffering from rising seas and a collapsed economy.
05:01These were the Viking sagas.
05:04In them, the Vikings, also known as the Norse,
05:08claimed to have traveled far to the west across the seas,
05:11to Iceland, Greenland, and beyond,
05:16discovering new mysterious lands.
05:18Even as Greenland got colder,
05:20rising local waters flooded once-fertile pastures.
05:23Worse, Europe stopped buying walrus ivory, the Vikings' cash crop.
05:27By the 1400s, the Norse Greenlanders were gone.
05:30Not wiped out, but frozen out.
05:42Number 45.
05:44An impossible Egyptian statue.
05:46Ancient Egypt had strict rules about art.
05:48This small statue broke all of them.
05:50Scottish archaeologists have wrung their hands over it since its discovery in the 1850s.
05:55It shows a pharaoh wearing the royal crown,
05:57sitting on the lap of a kneeling man.
05:59To Egyptologists, that was impossible.
06:02No one but the gods were allowed to hold a king like that.
06:04For years, the sculpture stumped scholars.
06:07Then, in 2023, they cracked inscriptions that revealed the kneeling figure as Ramos,
06:12a top court official.
06:13This piece was, they believe, a tribute memorializing Amenhotep I.
06:18Ramos commissioned the statue to show his loyalty in life and his grief in death.
06:22It's very important to communicate what we're finding to people who are living in the local areas
06:28because these are the people whose heritage it is,
06:31but also these are the people who have the prospect to protect them for the future.
06:36Number 44.
06:37America's oldest cold case.
06:39Not only was there rampant disease, no question about that, starvation,
06:46there was attacks from the Algonquins,
06:51but also there may have been infighting, political intrigue, certainly accidental deaths.
06:59Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America.
07:03It was also the site of the first recorded colonial murder.
07:05In 1996, archaeologists discovered a European skeleton buried beneath Jamestown's historic church.
07:12CT scans revealed a pistol shot to the leg that proved fatal.
07:16They designated the body JR102C and moved on.
07:19With the gunshot wound to the leg, you then had an artery or a major vessel that was damaged,
07:25and he died as a result of the loss of blood and died very quickly.
07:29Then, in 2013, the mystery broke open.
07:32Historical records pointed to a likely victim, George Harrison,
07:36a Jamestown colonist who died in 1624 after a duel.
07:39He had fought against a rabble rouser named Richard Stevens,
07:42who appeared to have used an illegal round.
07:45Stevens lived on, unpunished, for 12 years.
07:47But 400 years later, CSI Jamestown cracked the case.
07:51We must have order, huh?
07:53We can't have everyone running around, giving themselves airs and graces,
07:58because then, then we would have chaos!
07:59Number 43.
08:01Mona Lisa's hidden eyebrows.
08:02Perhaps one of the great burning questions of the art world is,
08:05why doesn't the Mona Lisa have eyebrows?
08:07Mona Lisa, I got to know
08:14Where the f*** are your eyebrows?
08:20I really wanna know
08:21Did da Vinci forget them?
08:23Did he never paint them in the first place?
08:24Was it a renaissance beauty trend?
08:26In 2007, a high-resolution scan settled the debate.
08:29Experts found traces of both eyebrows and eyelashes.
08:32It was empirical proof that da Vinci did paint them.
08:35Suddenly, she doesn't look like the submarine goddess.
08:39She looks as if she's in the fresh air, which is just terrific.
08:42They were just victims to the rigors of time.
08:44Most likely, the details either faded
08:46or were accidentally scrubbed off during early cleanings.
08:49The Mona Lisa's blank stare wasn't intentional,
08:52just a potential casualty of restoration.
08:54Pascal's work has revealed, for the first time in 500 years,
08:59a detailed earlier portrait by Leonardo da Vinci.
09:03It's the same size as the face we see now,
09:07but turned by 14 degrees.
09:10Number 42.
09:11The Lost Crew of the Mary Celeste
09:12Mary Celeste was hauling 1,700 barrels of raw alcohol to Genoa, Italy.
09:20Like all good captains, Benjamin Briggs kept a log.
09:24When the Mary Celeste was found adrift in 1872,
09:27it became one of the creepiest mysteries in maritime history.
09:30The ghost ship's cargo was untouched, and the crew's belongings still in place.
09:34Half-eaten breakfasts were even left on the table,
09:37but the crew had vanished without a trace.
09:39For over a century, theories ran wild,
09:41such as pirates, sea monsters, and alien abductions.
09:44I'm trying to understand why an experienced captain would do the one thing
09:48that really is unthinkable,
09:49which is to leave your vessel.
09:51Experienced person would do it only if he thought the vessel was going down.
09:54Then in 2006, scientists offered a strange, feasible solution.
09:58The ship carried 1,700 barrels of industrial alcohol,
10:01some likely leaked,
10:02filling the hold with flammable vapor
10:04that could have triggered an explosion from a single spark.
10:07It'd be loud enough to panic the crew into abandoning ship,
10:09and fast enough to leave no fire damage behind.
10:12Oh, whiskey makes my nose so red.
10:15Oh, whiskey's gone in.
10:17When I drink too much, I go to bed.
10:20Oh, whiskey's gone without it.
10:22Number 41, a pirate treasure lost for centuries.
10:26How did the ship then end up here in Cape Cod?
10:29This was one of the worst storms of record,
10:31and it was in April of 1717.
10:34It drove the ship right up onto a sandbar
10:36within probably 500, 600 feet from shore.
10:39The discovery of the Witta Galley was like a real-life Goonies.
10:43Originally a slave ship,
10:44it was captured in 1717 by the pirate Black Sam Bellamy.
10:48He loaded it up with gold, silver, and his vast ill-gotten riches.
10:52Then his luck ran out.
10:53A sudden storm sank the Witta off the coast of Cape Cod,
10:56dragging 4.5 tons of treasure to the ocean floor.
11:00The sinking of the Witta wasn't just the end for Bellamy and his crew.
11:04It sounded the death knell for the golden age of piracy.
11:06For over 260 years, the wreck became a pirate legend.
11:11Then, in 1984, explorer Barry Clifford discovered the wreck.
11:15To this day, the Witta Galley is the only authenticated pirate treasure ever discovered.
11:20More than 200,000 artifacts have been recovered, from gold coins to weapons.
11:24Look at that.
11:25That's an escutcheon plate, I believe, from a pistol.
11:30Wow.
11:31Number 40, the identity of the man in the iron mask.
11:34It was said that the man in the iron mask was kept in solitary confinement for most of his life,
11:40and he wasn't allowed to come into contact with anyone but a select few,
11:44including his musketeer guards.
11:46For centuries, the man in the iron mask was one of France's greatest mysteries.
11:50He was imprisoned for decades, with his face always obscured by a velveteen mask.
11:55Was he a royal twin?
11:56Some guessed a political rival or even the king's father.
11:59But modern historians believe they have unmasked him.
12:02Records point to Eustache Daugé, a minor government official caught up in a political scandal.
12:07No one must be allowed to see that prisoner without my express permission,
12:13or on orders of the king.
12:15As for him, he must never leave this island.
12:21Records link him to widespread sales of poisons,
12:24and accusations of devil worship involving the king's own mistress.
12:28Daugé was a liability to the crown.
12:30What he knew made him too risky to release, and too risky to kill.
12:34He was shuffled between prisons under strict orders.
12:37No one was to speak his name or see his face.
12:40He was afraid to kill you, for his whole claim of power rested on the sanctity of royal blood.
12:46So instead, he devised a way to keep you forever hidden.
12:54Number 39.
12:55The identity of the Somerton Man.
12:57One minute he was well enough to light up a cigarette,
13:00and halfway through the cigarette he was dead.
13:03In 1948, a well-dressed man was found dead on Somerton Beach in Australia.
13:08There was no ID, no labels in his clothes, no obvious cause of death.
13:13All investigators found was a tiny scrap of paper in his pocket that read,
13:17Persian for it is finished.
13:18For decades, the case became Australia's most famous mystery.
13:22His wallet was missing.
13:24The labels had been removed from his clothing.
13:27Somerton Man had been stripped of any clues to his identity.
13:31Spy theories, secret codes, and poison rumors ran wild.
13:35Then, in 2022, researchers used DNA from the man's hair
13:39to identify Melbourne electrical engineer Carl Charles Webb.
13:42After 74 years, the Somerton Man finally got a name.
13:46The meaning of the strange note, however, remains a mystery.
13:49There's a lot of backstory there that's going to be really fun to work on
13:53in the coming months and years.
13:55Number 38.
13:56The Zodiac Killer Cipher.
13:58The Zodiac Killer seems to crave publicity.
14:01He sent letters and cryptograms to newspapers and the police,
14:05recounting his crimes, threatening more murders,
14:07and making Bay Area residents very edgy.
14:11In 1969, the Zodiac Killer sent a bizarre coded message to the press.
14:15It was a 340-character cipher filled with strange symbols,
14:20misspellings, and mind games.
14:21For decades, no one could crack it.
14:24This is the Zodiac speaking.
14:26By the way, have you cracked the last cipher I sent you?
14:29That changed in 2020,
14:31when a team of amateur codebreakers finally solved the puzzle.
14:34They used Mathematica software and pattern recognition to build an algorithm.
14:38They ran thousands of simulations testing possible solutions.
14:41Then, the message clicked into place.
14:43It was finally revealed.
14:45It said, quote,
14:46I hope you're having lots of fun in trying to catch me.
14:51It wasn't a confession so much as it was a taunt.
14:53The Zodiac declared he had no fear of execution,
14:56but envisioned a disturbing afterlife where he'd continue tormenting his victims.
15:00It was a wild breakthrough in a dark American story.
15:03Being able to play a role in this is fantastic.
15:06You know, I hope this decryption may lead to, you know,
15:12better narrowing down who this person is.
15:14But I guess we'll have to wait and see.
15:16Number 37.
15:17King Tutankhamen's cause of death.
15:20I will be forgotten in the sand in time.
15:28You'll be remembered as a pharaoh.
15:32For decades, no one knew what killed King Tutankhamen,
15:36Egypt's boy king, who died at the age of 19.
15:38Early theories blamed everything from murder to chariot crashes.
15:42Then, modern science stepped in.
15:44CT scans and DNA tests revealed that Tut suffered from multiple genetic disorders,
15:48likely caused by generations of inbreeding.
15:51All we know is that King Tut was alive,
15:54and at the age of 19,
15:56he was being mummified.
15:58He had a club foot, a cleft palate, and fragile bones.
16:02He was a frail young man put in danger on a daily basis.
16:05Researchers now believe his death was triggered by a broken leg
16:08and a severe case of malaria.
16:10The infection likely overwhelmed his already weakened body.
16:13There was no palace intrigue,
16:14only a rough family history.
16:17These bone fragments lying loose within the skull cavity.
16:22Meaning what?
16:23Meaning that these bone fragments got inside after mummification.
16:27Number 36.
16:29The Shroud of Turin.
16:30We can see the most important thing,
16:32the double human image.
16:35Here we can see the face,
16:37the chest,
16:38the hands,
16:39and the legs.
16:40A linen cloth bearing the faint image of a crucified man
16:43is one of the most famous relics in religious history.
16:46The Catholic Church encouraged the belief
16:47that it was the burial shroud of Jesus himself.
16:50For nearly a thousand years,
16:52Christians around the world flocked to pay homage
16:54to the shroud at its home in Turin.
16:55This linen cloth has bloodstains on it.
16:59And these bloodstains form two images of a dead man
17:01who was crucified,
17:03who went through an ordeal that corresponds
17:04to what we know about the passion of Christ.
17:07The mystery of the shroud sparked debates,
17:09pilgrimages,
17:10and endless speculation.
17:11Was it a genuine piece of biblical history
17:13or the world's most convincing fake?
17:16In 1988,
17:17radiocarbon dating revealed the cloth
17:19was actually made between 1260 and 1390,
17:22right towards the end of the Middle Ages.
17:24Some have tried to challenge the results,
17:26but no scientific study has overturned them.
17:29And then they announced,
17:31with a 95% degree of certainty,
17:34that the shroud was medieval.
17:37And, uh, wow,
17:39that's a tremendous blow
17:40to everybody who thought
17:42that the shroud might be real.
17:44Number 35,
17:45the Bosom Head.
17:46There have always been interesting relics in the UK,
17:48revealing the island's past
17:49as a protectorate of Rome.
17:51One of the most mysterious Roman artifacts
17:53was discovered in the early 1800s.
17:55A severely weathered,
17:56crumbling stone head
17:57was dragged from the mud
17:58near Chichester.
17:59Locals knew it was Roman,
18:01but no one could say
18:02who it was supposed to be.
18:03Hold the circle!
18:05Hold on!
18:06Hold on!
18:06Hold on!
18:07Hold on!
18:08Hold on!
18:09Hold on!
18:09Hold on!
18:10Hold on!
18:10Hold on!
18:11Hold on!
18:12Hold on!
18:12Hold on!
18:13It took more than 200 years
18:15to get an answer.
18:16In 2013,
18:17researchers used 3D laser scanning
18:19to reconstruct the damaged face.
18:21The features matched other pieces
18:22depicting Emperor Trajan,
18:24Rome's military superstar
18:25and builder of the empire at its peak.
18:28The Bosom Head was likely part
18:29of a massive harbor statue,
18:31reminding Britons exactly who was in charge.
18:34Number 34,
18:35the Antikythera Mechanism.
18:37It upsets all our ideas
18:40about what the ancient Greeks
18:42were capable of.
18:43It rewrites the history of technology.
18:46It tells us that things were going on
18:49in 2nd century BC Greece
18:51which we had no idea about.
18:54In 1901,
18:56a band of adventurous divers
18:57was combing a Roman-era shipwreck.
18:59What they discovered there
19:00made no logical sense.
19:02It looked like a lump of corroded bronze
19:04but contained a complex mechanism of gears.
19:06It was centuries older
19:07than anything similar.
19:09Generations of scholars
19:10tried to decode the device
19:11now known as the Antikythera Mechanism,
19:14the world's first known analog computer.
19:17We knew now
19:17what all the numbers
19:19in the tooth counts were
19:20which had been a complete mystery before
19:23and not understood.
19:25And it was just
19:26a quite incredible moment.
19:29In 2024,
19:30a new breakthrough came
19:32from an unexpected source,
19:33YouTuber Chris Budeselik.
19:35His mechanical reconstructions
19:36helped researchers decode
19:37the device's hidden functions.
19:39Recent studies suggest
19:40the mechanism was a complicated
19:42lunar and planetary calendar.
19:43The Antikythera device
19:45may be decoded,
19:46but it's still an outlier
19:47in the timeline of human technology.
19:49That dial is a forced deck.
19:51It doesn't take us anywhere but here.
19:52He built it to get help.
19:54Well, we just scared off
19:55the entire Roman Navy,
19:57so I think we've helped enough.
19:58Number 33.
19:59Was Umbrella Man involved
20:00in the JFK assassination?
20:02You can see him
20:03in the certain frames
20:05from the Zapruder film
20:06standing right there
20:07by the Stemmen's freeway sign.
20:08There are other still photographs
20:13taken from other locations
20:15in Dealey Plaza
20:15which show the whole man
20:17standing under
20:18an open black umbrella.
20:20The first time most Americans
20:22saw the Zapruder film,
20:23they noticed something strange.
20:25It was a sunny November day
20:26in Dallas.
20:27So why was one man
20:28standing near the motorcade
20:29holding an open umbrella?
20:31That man was Louis Stephen Witt,
20:33now known as the Umbrella Man.
20:35Conspiracy theorists
20:36have speculated for decades
20:37that he was signaling
20:38other shooters
20:39that the Umbrella
20:40was actually a wacky
20:41Cold War era gadget.
20:42Even Oliver Stone's film
20:44JFK leaned into the mystery.
20:46The guy couldn't do the shooting.
20:48Nobody could.
20:50And they sold this lemon
20:51to the American public.
20:53But when Witt testified
20:54before Congress in 1978,
20:56he claimed it was
20:57just a political protest.
20:58The Umbrella was meant
20:59to criticize JFK's
21:00father Joseph
21:01for supporting
21:02Neville Chamberlain's
21:03appeasement policies.
21:03The excuse may sound thin,
21:06but to this day,
21:07no one has disproved it.
21:08As I recall,
21:09the motorcade
21:09had already made the turn
21:12and was coming down
21:14Elm Street
21:14going west on Elm
21:17before I became aware
21:18that it was there.
21:20Number 32.
21:21The Atlantis of the Sands.
21:23So how the hell
21:24did you find me
21:25all the way out here?
21:25I had some help.
21:27Salib.
21:28Sullivan.
21:30We haven't much time.
21:31We cannot allow them
21:32to reach the city.
21:33On the Arabian Peninsula,
21:35legends long spoke
21:36of a lost city
21:36buried in the desert.
21:37The Quran called it
21:38the Iram of the Pillars,
21:40linked to power and wealth.
21:41Western society
21:42called Iram
21:43the Atlantis of the Sands.
21:44Some thought it was
21:45just a myth,
21:46like El Dorado
21:46or Camelot.
21:47Then,
21:48in the 1990s,
21:49satellite imaging
21:50and archaeological digs
21:51uncovered a collapsed
21:52settlement
21:53in southern Oman.
21:54Researchers identified it
21:55as the lost city
21:56of Ubar,
21:57a once thriving
21:58trading hub
21:58that dealt in
21:59frankincense,
22:00gold,
22:00and spices.
22:01They immediately
22:02linked it to stories
22:02of Iram.
22:03It wasn't destroyed
22:04by magic,
22:05but likely collapsed
22:06into a massive sinkhole.
22:07The myth was real,
22:08and it was hiding
22:09under the desert
22:10all along.
22:11Number 31.
22:12Roanoke.
22:13The most tantalizing clue
22:14in centuries
22:15to the colonist's fate
22:16was found on this
22:18watercolor map
22:18of the coast.
22:20When English settlers
22:20vanished from Roanoke Island
22:22in the late 1500s,
22:23they left behind
22:24just one clue,
22:25the word
22:26Croatoan
22:27carved into a post.
22:28It was theorized
22:29that they were wiped
22:30out by hostile tribes
22:31or starved
22:32or even abducted
22:33by aliens.
22:34Recent research
22:35points to a much
22:35simpler answer,
22:36relocation and assimilation.
22:38A replica of the kind
22:39of ship they arrived on
22:40is now docked close
22:42to where they made
22:42their historic landing.
22:45But after they arrived,
22:46the men clashed
22:47with Native Americans
22:48and started running
22:49out of supplies.
22:51Archaeologists have
22:52found artifacts
22:52from Roanoke settlers
22:53mixed with Native American
22:55items on Hatteras Island,
22:56once called Croatoan.
22:57This provided evidence
22:59of British blacksmithing
23:00when and where
23:01it should not have existed.
23:03Other evidence suggests
23:04some colonists moved inland,
23:05joining friendly tribes
23:07near the Chawan River.
23:08The lost colony
23:09was never truly lost,
23:10they just blended in.
23:12After the seven colonists
23:13bury the remains
23:14of their peers,
23:15Dare writes that
23:16she's inscribed their names
23:17on a grave marker somewhere,
23:19along with further details
23:20of recent events.
23:22In other words,
23:23there may be a second
23:24hand-carved message
23:25with more answers.
23:27Number 30,
23:28the Paulding Light.
23:29Since the 1960s,
23:31an unusual light
23:32has caught the attention
23:33of many people
23:34in and around
23:35Paulding, Michigan.
23:36It's black.
23:37It's pitch black.
23:38There's nothing there.
23:39Its inexplicable nature
23:40and seemingly
23:41nightly recurrence
23:42evoked a new chapter
23:43of folklore.
23:44People came up with
23:45paranormal
23:46and supernatural explanations,
23:48such as
23:48the ghost of a railway brakeman
23:50who was killed
23:50by a train.
23:51By a train,
23:52a train conductor,
23:53and it was his lantern
23:53that was swinging.
23:54In 2010,
23:56students at Michigan
23:57Tech University
23:57hit the road
23:58in an effort
23:58to find the truth
23:59about the Paulding Light.
24:00They located
24:01the light origin area
24:02along U.S. Highway 45.
24:04Using a telescope
24:05and scientific methods,
24:07they reached
24:07a non-supernatural conclusion
24:09about what the Paulding Light
24:10really is,
24:11car headlights.
24:12It turned out
24:13the strange visual phenomenon
24:14was an optical illusion
24:16caused by atmospheric conditions
24:18and terrain.
24:19A plus.
24:19It's just like
24:20the twinkling of the stars
24:21except, of course,
24:22you're dealing with something
24:23that's actually
24:23larger and closer to you.
24:25Number 29.
24:26The Atacama Skeleton
24:27The timeless question
24:29about the possible existence
24:30of extraterrestrial beings
24:31has come up
24:32countless times,
24:33often sparked
24:34by UFO sightings
24:35and natural human curiosity.
24:37In 2003,
24:38the discovery
24:39of an abnormal
24:40mini-skeleton
24:41in Chile's
24:42Atacama Desert
24:42brought the question
24:43back into the spotlight.
24:44And it has 10 ribs
24:46when humans
24:47are supposed to have 12 ribs.
24:49With an irregular
24:50head shape
24:50and rib count,
24:51this was a true anomaly.
24:54Many people
24:54couldn't help
24:55but jump to the conclusion
24:56that the skeleton
24:57might be of alien origin.
24:59In 2018, however,
25:01DNA analysis revealed
25:02that the skeleton
25:03was actually human,
25:04a human fetus.
25:06But they're definitely
25:07still in a human being.
25:09The small skeleton's
25:10extremely rare
25:11and atypical appearance
25:12was due to mutations
25:13associated with bone diseases.
25:16While the overarching
25:16question about alien life
25:18persisted after
25:19that analysis,
25:20the mystery
25:20of the Atacama skeleton
25:21was solved.
25:23Number 28.
25:24Crop Circles
25:24in Wiltshire, England
25:25Massive, intricate patterns
25:28engraved in the ground
25:29naturally evoke questions.
25:31There are few places
25:32like Wiltshire, England
25:33when it comes to
25:34the abundance
25:34of crop circles.
25:36But how did they get there?
25:37The mystifying figures
25:38started appearing
25:39in the area
25:40in the 1970s
25:41in wheat,
25:42barley,
25:42and cornfields.
25:43In the following decade,
25:44the mystery grew.
25:45In 1991, though,
25:47light was finally shed
25:49on the subject.
25:50When did you start
25:50making crop circles?
25:52Well, the late 70s
25:52and about 1978.
25:54Most of the crop circles
25:55in the area
25:56were not caused
25:56by UFO landings
25:58as some had theorized.
25:59It's just a bit of fun
26:00and I mean,
26:01it's flattened corn.
26:02They were the work
26:03of two men
26:04who admitted to crafting
26:05the patterns with tools,
26:07debunking any other
26:08worldly explanations,
26:10at least for these
26:10specific crop circles.
26:12We wanted to make
26:13the UFO society
26:14think that a UFO
26:14had landed, you see.
26:16Number 27,
26:17Crystal Skulls.
26:18Indiana Jones
26:19embarks on a journey
26:20to find a magical
26:21crystal skull
26:21in the franchise's
26:22fourth film.
26:23Ah,
26:24believable.
26:27The object represents
26:28a fascinating
26:28cultural phenomenon
26:29that started
26:30in the 19th century.
26:31Crystal skulls
26:32surfaced in different
26:33parts of the world,
26:34raising questions
26:35about their origins.
26:36People claimed
26:37they dated back
26:38to ancient
26:38Mesoamerican civilizations.
26:40But today,
26:41mainstream scientists
26:43argue they are
26:44all modern creations.
26:46Some believed
26:47the skulls possessed
26:48mystical powers,
26:49as depicted in
26:50Indiana Jones
26:50and the Kingdom
26:51of the Crystal Skull.
26:52Studies in the late
26:531990s and early 2000s
26:55made things crystal clear.
26:57These skulls are
26:58nowhere near as old
27:00as previously claimed.
27:01The ancient
27:02Mayan crystal skulls
27:03were in fact
27:04modern pieces.
27:06Research concluded
27:06they were crafted
27:07during the 19th century.
27:08They still belong
27:10in a museum, though.
27:11I'm really interested
27:12in them as
27:13the fakes that they are.
27:15Number 26.
27:16The Herculaneum Scrolls
27:17One might think
27:19the eruption
27:19of Mount Vesuvius
27:20in 79 CE
27:22would have burned
27:22a set of ancient
27:23scrolls to a crisp.
27:25And, well,
27:25it kind of did,
27:26but not exactly.
27:27The Greek philosophical
27:28texts known
27:29as the Herculaneum Papyri
27:31were uncovered
27:32in the 18th century
27:33and, unsurprisingly,
27:34were in poor condition.
27:36Entombed in volcanic ash
27:38for hundreds of years,
27:39these papyrus scrolls
27:40were carbonized
27:41but intact.
27:42Deciphering these
27:43surviving scrolls
27:44is challenging,
27:45as unrolling them
27:46could destroy them.
27:48Despite their charred
27:49and fragile state,
27:50hope wasn't lost.
27:51A historic breakthrough
27:52came in 2023,
27:54when University of Nebraska
27:55computer science student
27:57Luke Ferreter
27:57used artificial intelligence
27:59to detect the first word
28:00from these ancient scrolls
28:01during an organized
28:02Vesuvius challenge.
28:03Fifteen columns of text
28:05in ancient Greek
28:06seen for the first time
28:07in almost 2,000 years.
28:09Since then,
28:10AI has aided researchers
28:12in deciphering
28:13several passages
28:13from these damaged
28:14but not destroyed texts.
28:16The new technology
28:17will now help to decipher
28:19hundreds of scrolls.
28:20Number 25.
28:21The Lost City of Haliki
28:22There's been considerable
28:24speculation about the locations
28:25and reasons behind
28:26historical lost cities.
28:28The ancient Greek city
28:29of Haliki
28:30is an extraordinary example
28:31of one such city
28:32with answers to those questions.
28:34In 373 BCE,
28:36it disappeared overnight.
28:38The cause,
28:39we now know,
28:40was that an earthquake
28:41and tsunami
28:41destroyed and submerged the city.
28:43According to ancient texts,
28:45Haliki and all of its people
28:47were swept to the bottom
28:48of the sea,
28:49never to be seen again.
28:50For over 2,370 years,
28:54Haliki's exact whereabouts
28:56remained unknown.
28:57However,
28:58in 2001,
28:59the Lost City
29:00was rediscovered
29:01beneath a lagoon.
29:02Excavations and analysis
29:03unveiled alignments
29:04with historical accounts
29:05of the city's demise.
29:06This glaze is typical
29:07of the time
29:08when Haliki disappeared.
29:10Evidence supporting
29:10the identification
29:11of this site
29:12as Haliki
29:13became even more convincing
29:14about 11 years later
29:16when archaeologists
29:17unearthed ancient artifacts.
29:19Dora and Stephen
29:20had done it.
29:21The papers said it all.
29:23Number 24.
29:24The Downfall
29:24of the Nazca Civilization
29:26The driving force
29:27behind the end
29:28of the ancient Nazca society
29:29is just one
29:30of the many mysteries
29:31surrounding the civilization
29:33that resided
29:33in modern-day Peru.
29:35Strong evidence exists
29:36about Nazca people's methods
29:37in creating the Nazca lines,
29:39but plenty of mystery remains
29:41when it comes
29:41to their meaning
29:42and purpose.
29:43The lines and shapes
29:44cover an area
29:45that stretches
29:45for hundreds of square miles.
29:46The water irrigation purposes
29:48of Pukios,
29:49which are ancient
29:50underground aqueducts,
29:52is another Nazca mystery
29:53that was unraveled.
29:54Perhaps an even bigger question
29:56associated with this
29:57ancient civilization
29:58is what led to its decline.
30:00Studies during the 2000s
30:01determined that deforestation
30:02was the principal cause.
30:04Forests had been cut down
30:06by the Nazca.
30:07Cutting down trees,
30:08likely for agricultural purposes,
30:10ended up being detrimental
30:11to the ecosystem
30:12and eventually
30:13the Nazca people.
30:14For the Nazca,
30:15it marked the beginning
30:17of the end.
30:18Number 23.
30:19Martin Bormann's Whereabouts.
30:21Hitler's private secretary
30:22Martin Bormann
30:23was sentenced to death
30:24in absentia
30:25for war crimes
30:25and crimes against humanity
30:27after the collapse
30:28of the Third Reich
30:29in 1945.
30:30Bormann was the project
30:31go-between,
30:32making sure the Fuhrer's name
30:34remained clean.
30:35But he was nowhere
30:36to be found.
30:37For decades to follow,
30:39his whereabouts
30:40remained a mystery
30:40and caused plenty
30:42of speculation.
30:43Multiple reported sightings
30:45and rumors
30:45elicited a theory
30:46that Bormann
30:47had fled abroad.
30:48Some claimed
30:49that they had escaped justice
30:50by crossing the Atlantic
30:51in submarines.
30:53Other early reports
30:54suggested he was dead.
30:55The true answer
30:56was a mystery.
30:57Years later,
30:58organizations such as
30:59the CIA
31:00and the West German government
31:01conducted searches
31:02for Bormann,
31:03but to no avail.
31:05His buried body
31:06was finally discovered
31:07in 1972,
31:08and forensic analysis
31:09corroborated
31:10the initial reports
31:11of his death
31:12in 1945.
31:14In 1973,
31:15the case of Martin Bormann
31:16was officially closed.
31:18Number 22.
31:19Ötzi the Iceman
31:20Tourists in the Ötzdahl Alps
31:22on the Austrian-Italian border
31:23opened the door
31:24to a new historical mystery
31:25when they found
31:26a frozen body
31:27in 1991.
31:28They have no idea
31:29the importance
31:30of what they've stumbled upon.
31:32Subsequent scientific analyses
31:34determined that
31:34the Iceman,
31:35called Ötzi,
31:36has been preserved
31:37in the ice
31:37for around 5,300 years.
31:39Researchers, of course,
31:41had loads of questions
31:43and were able
31:43to answer many,
31:45including his gender,
31:46age,
31:47clothing,
31:47belongings,
31:48the circumstances
31:49of his death,
31:50and even his last meal.
31:51He had wild ibex meat
31:53in his stomach,
31:53so he was clearly hunting
31:55for part of his sustenance.
31:57They also theorized
31:58about how he looked.
31:59In 2023,
32:01new DNA analysis
32:02revealed a more accurate
32:03picture of Ötzi's
32:04physical appearance,
32:05concluding that he had
32:06darker skin
32:07and less hair
32:08than previously thought.
32:09Thanks to extensive research,
32:11Ötzi is considered
32:12one of the most
32:12well-studied ancient mummies
32:14of all time.
32:15His death on the mountain
32:16would ultimately
32:18take him much farther
32:19than he could ever
32:20have imagined.
32:21Number 21,
32:23Roman concrete.
32:24At the origin
32:24of their success,
32:26innovation.
32:27With the creation
32:28of a revolutionary
32:28new material,
32:30concrete.
32:31How ancient Roman buildings
32:32could stand for so long
32:34remained a puzzle
32:34for a long time.
32:36We're talking about
32:36concrete structures
32:37that have withstood
32:38the test of time.
32:39Thousands of years
32:40worth of time.
32:41Studies starting
32:42in the 2010s
32:43began to tackle
32:44the mystery behind
32:45this impressive
32:45architectural and
32:46engineering feat.
32:47Scientists concluded
32:48that lime clasts
32:49were a crucial ingredient
32:51in ancient concrete mix.
32:52Roman concrete
32:53is a mixture
32:54of lime,
32:55sand,
32:56water,
32:57of course,
32:57aggregates.
32:58Basically,
32:59it's modern concrete.
33:00These white chunks
33:01were previously misunderstood.
33:03They functioned
33:03as self-healing mechanisms,
33:05preventing cracks
33:06in the concrete
33:07from worsening
33:07over time.
33:08Not only did this
33:09reveal the secret
33:10behind the remarkable
33:11durability of Roman
33:12constructions like
33:13the Pantheon,
33:14it also provided
33:15deeper insight
33:16into advanced materials
33:17and techniques
33:18used by early Roman
33:19engineers.
33:20Concrete definitely
33:21represents a revolution
33:22in Roman constructions.
33:24Number 20.
33:25King Tut's Tomb.
33:26This simple tomb
33:27is unlike any other
33:28royal tomb in the valley.
33:30A young man
33:32named Tutankhamen
33:32ruled ancient Egypt
33:34between 1332
33:35and 1323 B.C.
33:37You may have heard of him.
33:39By the early 20th century,
33:41experts theorized
33:41that Tutankhamen
33:42was buried
33:43in the Valley of the Kings
33:44alongside other pharaohs,
33:45but the location
33:46of his tomb
33:47remained elusive.
33:48By 1912,
33:50it was believed
33:50that every tomb
33:51had been accounted for,
33:53except for King Tut's.
33:55So where the heck
33:55was it?
33:56Enter Howard Carter,
33:58who hit the jackpot
33:59in 1922.
34:00Over 5,000
34:02priceless artifacts.
34:04Including golden statues.
34:07In the burial chamber,
34:08the pharaoh's mummy,
34:10wearing a golden death mask,
34:12was placed inside a coffin
34:14made of more than
34:15200 pounds
34:16of solid gold.
34:18Unlike other royal graves,
34:19which had been cut
34:20into the valley slopes,
34:21Tut's was dug
34:22into the ground
34:23and hidden by debris.
34:25Carter's work unveiled
34:26not only the location
34:27of King Tut's tomb,
34:28but also why no one else
34:30had been able to find it.
34:32Number 19,
34:33the Connecticut Vampire.
34:35The greater New England area
34:37suffered a vampire panic
34:38back in the 19th century,
34:39and this was exemplified
34:41through the burial
34:42of JB 55.
34:43This codename
34:44was spelled out
34:45in brass tacks
34:46on the man's coffin,
34:47and his skull
34:48and femurs
34:48were placed in the shape
34:49of a traditional skull
34:50and crossbones.
34:51Decapitating a body
34:53and arranging its bones
34:54in such a way
34:55was a historic method
34:56of burying suspected vampires.
34:58So,
34:59did we have a real,
35:00genuine one
35:01on our hands?
35:02Of course not.
35:03What happened to JB,
35:04what they did to him,
35:05ties this strongly
35:08to Europe,
35:09to Northern Europe,
35:10to Germany,
35:12to Roman Britain,
35:13to Anglo-Saxon Britain.
35:14A DNA test
35:15done in 2019
35:17identified this vampire
35:18as John Barber,
35:19aged 55.
35:21Hence,
35:22JB 55.
35:23Barber had most likely
35:24died of tuberculosis,
35:26which gives people
35:27vampiric symptoms
35:27like pale skin,
35:29red eyes,
35:30and a bloody mouth.
35:31You better hold on tight,
35:32spider monkey.
35:33Number 18.
35:35Blood Falls.
35:36Antarctica contains
35:37a startling image.
35:39Blood Falls
35:40is a bit of an obsession
35:41for a lot of people.
35:43I mean,
35:44there's nothing else
35:44like this on Earth.
35:45Well,
35:46the whole continent
35:46is pretty darn startling,
35:47but we're talking
35:48specifically about
35:49Blood Falls.
35:51Found in southern
35:51Antarctica
35:52in the Taylor Glacier
35:53is a small cascade
35:54of what looks like
35:55deep red blood.
35:56This was discovered
35:57by the glacier's
35:58namesake,
35:59Thomas Griffith Taylor
36:00in 1911.
36:02Of course,
36:02no one genuinely
36:03believed it was blood,
36:04yet no one knew
36:05what it actually was.
36:07For a long time,
36:08the leading theory
36:09was that red algae
36:10was responsible
36:10for the distinct color.
36:12The red color
36:13is similar to
36:14in the Grand Canyon.
36:15If you've been
36:16to the Grand Canyon,
36:17you'll notice
36:17that a lot
36:18of the rocks
36:18are dyed
36:19a dark red color.
36:20And that's because
36:21there's iron
36:21in those rocks
36:22and that iron
36:23oxidizes or rusts.
36:24However,
36:25recent analysis
36:26has proven
36:26that the bold red
36:27comes from the presence
36:28of iron oxide.
36:30The iron salts
36:31inside the subglacial
36:32water oxidize
36:33when they reach
36:33the surface,
36:34changing the liquid
36:35from clear to red.
36:37Number 17.
36:39Ancient Viking Code
36:40There's a lot
36:41to find fascinating
36:42about Vikings,
36:43including their
36:44system of writing.
36:45Like many ancient texts,
36:47the Jotunvittler,
36:48a rare Norse code,
36:50which dates back
36:50to the 12th
36:51or 13th century,
36:53left experts puzzled
36:54for years.
36:55It wasn't until 2014
36:56that K. Jonas Nordby
36:58at the University
36:59of Oslo
36:59figured it out.
37:00The Jotunvittler
37:01had popped up
37:02on many rune sticks,
37:03but the one
37:04from which Nordby
37:05was able to decipher it,
37:06which he calls
37:07his Rosetta Stone,
37:08was located
37:09at Bergen Wharf, Norway.
37:10What made these runes
37:12so hard to crack
37:13was that they
37:14were coded,
37:15likely owing
37:15to their use
37:16as an educational tool.
37:18There's nothing
37:18juicy in the writings,
37:19but cracking
37:20an ancient code
37:21is still
37:21incredibly exciting.
37:23Number 16.
37:24The Starchild Skull
37:26During all my years
37:27of researching UFOs,
37:29the one artifact
37:30that keeps coming up
37:31is the Starchild Skull.
37:33I've never held
37:34the Starchild Skull
37:35in my hand,
37:36but I know
37:37that it was founded
37:38in the 1930s
37:39in a cave
37:39in northern Mexico
37:40by a teenage girl.
37:42It's amazing
37:43how often conditions
37:44and diseases
37:45are misattributed
37:46to the supernatural.
37:47We've seen it
37:48with the Connecticut Vampire
37:49and we see it again
37:50with the so-called
37:51Starchild.
37:52The distinct skull
37:53of the Starchild
37:54was obtained
37:54by paranormal author
37:56Lloyd Pye,
37:56who asserted
37:57that it belonged
37:58to a human-alien hybrid.
38:00This news captured
38:01our collective imaginations,
38:03but it's really
38:04an unfortunate labeling
38:05of a tragic reality.
38:07Tests done
38:08in the late 90s
38:09and early 2000s
38:10proved that the skull
38:10belonged to a young
38:11human male.
38:13Sorry, believers.
38:14No aliens here.
38:15Furthermore,
38:16Yale neurologist
38:17Stephen Novella
38:18attributed the cranial
38:19deformations
38:20to hydrocephalus,
38:21a condition
38:22in which cerebrospinal fluid
38:23accumulates in the brain
38:25and enlarges the head.
38:27Number 15.
38:28The Lost Army
38:28of Cambyses
38:29Serving as the second
38:32king of kings
38:32of the Achaemenid Empire,
38:34Cambyses II ruled
38:35from 530 to 522 BC.
38:38Legend has it
38:39that in 524,
38:41Cambyses sent
38:42a massive army
38:42against the Oracle
38:43of Amun
38:44in the Siwa Oasis.
38:45However,
38:46the army was accosted
38:47by a devastating sandstorm
38:49and all 50,000 men
38:50were lost.
38:51For a long time,
38:53the veracity
38:53of this tale
38:54was questioned
38:55as its primary source
38:56was the Greek historian
38:57Herodotus,
38:58who has been known
38:59to, shall we say,
39:01dramatize certain events.
39:02For the Persians,
39:03this must have been
39:04a huge burden.
39:06The logistics
39:06make it virtually certain
39:08that Cambyses' army
39:09could not have been
39:10as vast
39:10as Herodotus said.
39:12But in 2009,
39:13archaeologists
39:14Angelo and Alfredo Castiglione
39:16found human remains
39:17and Persian belongings
39:18near the Siwa Oasis,
39:20finally lending credence
39:21to the story.
39:22Many have searched
39:23for this army,
39:24but all have searched
39:25along the Oasis route,
39:27the Oasis of Dakla,
39:28Farafra,
39:29Ain Dala,
39:30then across the desert
39:31up to Siwa.
39:32We worked on
39:33a different hypothesis
39:34since these Oasis
39:35were under
39:36the Egyptian rule.
39:37However,
39:38it is important to note
39:39that some experts
39:40doubt the findings
39:41of the Castigliones.
39:45You've probably heard
39:47of the Flying Dutchman
39:47as it's been featured
39:49extensively in art,
39:50television,
39:51and film,
39:51including the Pirates
39:52of the Caribbean franchise.
39:59This is an alleged ghost ship
40:03that inspired many
40:04a tall tale.
40:05With the legend
40:05dating back
40:06to the 18th century,
40:07it's said that
40:08the Flying Dutchman
40:09floats above the water
40:10and contains a crew
40:11of cursed
40:12and undead sailors.
40:14Reports of the ship
40:15even stretched
40:15into the 20th century.
40:17And that's because
40:18optical illusions
40:19are timeless.
40:21Yup,
40:21the Flying Dutchman
40:22is not one ship,
40:24but the result
40:24of an optical illusion
40:25called Fata Morgana.
40:27Essentially,
40:28some ships
40:29on the distant horizon
40:30look like they're floating
40:31owing to how light travels
40:33through different layers
40:33of air.
40:34When there is what's known
40:35as an inversion layer
40:36in the atmosphere,
40:38typically,
40:38the temperature of the air
40:39gets cooler
40:40as you go from the ground
40:41upwards.
40:42But when there's
40:42an inversion layer,
40:43the air near the ground
40:44is coolest
40:45and there's warm air
40:46above it.
40:47Number 13,
40:48the City of Troy.
40:50And speaking of legends,
40:51it doesn't get much bigger
40:52than the Trojan War.
40:54A favorite subject
40:55of ancient Greek literature,
40:56the Trojan War
40:57details the invasion
40:58of Troy by the Achaeans.
41:00Many scholars debate
41:01the history
41:02of the war itself
41:03and for a long time,
41:05they debated
41:05the location of Troy as well.
41:07Most thought
41:08it was merely
41:08a place of legend,
41:10but that viewpoint changed
41:11thanks to Heinrich Schliemann
41:13and Frank Calvert.
41:14In 1871,
41:16the archaeologists
41:16began excavations
41:17in present-day
41:18Hissarlik, Turkey
41:19and discovered
41:20not one city,
41:21but nine.
41:23Schliemann,
41:24with his interest
41:24in Homer,
41:25was not the first
41:26in this area.
41:28Frank Calvert,
41:29a British expatriate,
41:31had been living
41:31in the area
41:32from 1845 onward.
41:34He grew up
41:35in this area
41:35and gradually amassed
41:37a tremendous amount
41:39of textual evidence
41:42for where Troy lay.
41:45Each city was built
41:46on the ruins
41:46of the last,
41:48resulting in numerous
41:49distinct layers
41:50labeled by Roman numerals.
41:52It's now widely believed
41:53that Troy VI
41:54is the one depicted
41:55in the Greek myth.
41:56History can never confirm
41:58if Homer's heroes
41:59ever lived,
42:00nor whether the legendary
42:01Trojan horse
42:02ever existed.
42:05But thanks to modern archaeology,
42:07the city in which
42:08Homer placed his heroes,
42:10the lost city of Troy,
42:13is lost no more.
42:14Number 12,
42:15the Easter Island Heads.
42:17The Moai,
42:18as they're properly known,
42:19are some of the most
42:20recognizable monuments
42:21in the world.
42:22Populating Easter Island
42:24and Polynesia,
42:24the Moai were carved
42:26in a volcanic crater
42:27called Rano-Roraku.
42:28The Moai
42:29are considered
42:31to be no more
42:32than perhaps
42:33a thousand years old.
42:35However,
42:36it has been established
42:37that some of them
42:39penetrate
42:40down into the ground
42:41by a great amount
42:44of feet
42:44to reveal
42:45the rest of the body,
42:47not just
42:47the oversized head.
42:49And the amount
42:50of patination
42:51suggests
42:53that they are
42:54infinitely older
42:56than a thousand years.
42:57They were then
42:58transported
42:58to the outer perimeter
43:00of the island,
43:01where they rested
43:01on platforms
43:02called Ahu.
43:03We don't really know
43:04how the natives
43:05moved the statues,
43:06and for a long time,
43:07we didn't know
43:08why they chose
43:09the sites they did.
43:10Well,
43:10that particular question
43:12was solved in 2019
43:13by researchers
43:14at Binghamton University.
43:16They discovered
43:17that the Ahu
43:17were placed
43:18near sources
43:18of fresh drinking water,
43:20because that's
43:21where communities
43:22were inclined
43:22to settle.
43:24It's not dramatic,
43:25but it sure is practical.
43:26Scientists
43:27are continually
43:28uncovering
43:29more of this history,
43:31but it is already
43:31clear that this
43:33was a remarkably
43:33complex society,
43:35of which the Moai
43:36were only one part.
43:38Number 11.
43:39The Classic Maya Collapse
43:40In the span
43:42of human history,
43:43the Maya Collapse
43:44wasn't all that long ago,
43:45with the last city
43:46falling to Spanish
43:47settlers in 1697.
43:49But another major
43:50collapse occurred earlier,
43:52with most of the
43:53major Maya cities
43:54being abandoned
43:54between the 7th
43:55and 9th centuries.
43:57The reason for this
43:58is one of history's
43:59greatest unanswered questions.
44:01Well,
44:01it was,
44:02until 2012.
44:04Turns out,
44:04a number of factors
44:05went into the collapse,
44:06as it so often does.
44:07They set up the city
44:09on the most fertile
44:10agricultural lands,
44:11down on the bottom lands
44:12that the river
44:13had carved out
44:14and made fertile
44:15over the centuries.
44:16By doing so,
44:17they were basically
44:18cutting off
44:19their own food supply.
44:20They weren't able
44:21to farm the best lands.
44:22They were then obliged
44:23to cut down the forest
44:24on the slopes.
44:26In doing so,
44:26that caused erosion,
44:28as they had to cut back
44:29even higher up.
44:30The Maya greatly
44:31deforested
44:32the surrounding area,
44:33which exacerbated
44:34an ongoing drought
44:35and killed all agriculture
44:37in the region.
44:38Furthermore,
44:39trade routes
44:39had changed
44:40from land to sea,
44:41impacting local economies
44:42and forcing a relocation
44:44from the southern lowlands
44:45to the northern Yucatan.
44:47Number 10.
44:48The Fate of the Franklin Expedition
44:49Captain Sir John Franklin's
44:51Arctic Exploration Expedition
44:53was lost
44:53after leaving England
44:54in 1845.
44:56Franklin was searching
44:57for a shortcut
44:57from Europe to Asia
44:59through the Northwest Passage.
45:00His ships were caught
45:01in the crushing Arctic ice
45:03and abandoned off
45:04King William Island.
45:05Over the years,
45:06many other ships
45:06set out to see
45:07if they could find out
45:08what happened
45:08to the doomed crew.
45:09The top part
45:10of a human skull
45:11and I think
45:15it's one of Franklin's men.
45:17Like, it's related
45:18to Franklin's men.
45:21So part of the skull
45:23is broken
45:23but it's the top part.
45:25While some clues
45:26were found,
45:27including grave sites
45:27of some of the men
45:28who had been aboard,
45:29it was only at the end
45:30of the 20th century
45:31that we began
45:32to get answers
45:33about what had caused
45:34Franklin and his team
45:34so much trouble.
45:36Unfortunately,
45:37we discovered
45:37that many of the crew members
45:38did not die quickly
45:39but rather succumbed
45:40to diseases like scurvy
45:42and even lead poisoning
45:43after becoming icebound.
45:44And sadly,
45:45the rumors of cannibalism
45:46were also proved to be true.
45:48The previous actions
45:49of the British crew
45:50had been erratic,
45:51even dangerous.
45:53After all,
45:54they had been eating each other.
45:56Number 9.
45:57Mysterious Notes
45:58in the Odyssey
45:59Homer's epic Greek poem
46:01The Odyssey
46:01has become known
46:02as one of the most important pieces
46:04in the history of literature.
46:05While there are many things
46:07that we still don't know
46:08about the story's creation,
46:09an extra layer of mystery
46:10was added
46:11when a copy was found
46:12with unintelligible notes
46:13in the margin.
46:14The copy belonged
46:15to the University of Chicago Library
46:17and was a Venetian edition
46:18from 1504.
46:20The library created a contest
46:21to see if anyone
46:22could crack the code
46:23and Italian computer engineer
46:25Daniele Maitilli
46:26figured it out
46:26with help from colleague
46:28Giulia Cetta.
46:29Turns out,
46:29the notes were written
46:30in a French shorthand
46:31and dated from the 19th century.
46:34Number 8.
46:34King Richard III's Death
46:36While his legacy
46:37has lived on
46:38through Shakespeare,
46:39King Richard III of England
46:40was the final English king
46:41to perish in battle.
46:42In fact,
46:43his death
46:43during the Battle of Bosworth Field
46:45is often used
46:45to mark the end
46:46of the Middle Ages.
46:47It was here
46:48in the Midlands
46:48on the battlefield
46:49at Bosworth
46:50during the War of the Roses
46:52that he fell.
46:54The hunched back
46:55so-called villain king
46:56was cut down
46:58on the pointy end
46:59of his successor's sword.
47:01But his remains
47:02were lost
47:02and only uncovered
47:03in 2012
47:04during an archaeological
47:05excavation of Leicester.
47:06The position of the spine
47:08in the grave
47:09was interesting.
47:10There was a very
47:10noticeable curve in it
47:12and that's not something
47:13that can occur
47:13just by accident.
47:14That's not something
47:15that can happen
47:16just by squashing
47:17the skeleton
47:17into the grave.
47:18The following year,
47:19the body was identified
47:20as belonging
47:21to Richard III.
47:22Ladies and gentlemen,
47:24it is the academic conclusion
47:25of the University of Leicester
47:26that beyond reasonable doubt,
47:28the individual
47:29exhumed at Greyfriars
47:30in September 2012
47:31is indeed Richard III,
47:34the last
47:34Plantagenet King of England.
47:35He had suffered
47:3611 wounds,
47:38most of which
47:38were on his skull,
47:39which suggests
47:40that he lost his helmet
47:41in battle,
47:42leading to his demise.
47:43Number 7,
47:44the Sailing Stones.
47:46Known as sailing stones
47:47or moving rocks,
47:48observers have long
47:49noticed the enigmatic
47:50phenomenon of these objects
47:52that seemingly move
47:53on their own,
47:53leaving trails in their wake.
47:55The most famous example
47:56is found at Racetrack Playa
47:57in California's
47:58Death Valley National Park.
47:59Many experiments
48:00have been undertaken
48:01in an attempt to understand
48:02how these large objects move
48:04and we now seem
48:05to have an answer.
48:06When ice breakup takes place,
48:08when the ice begins to melt
48:09just enough
48:09under the light breezes,
48:11that ice,
48:12big ice sheets
48:13drive the rocks
48:14in front of them
48:14and just plow them
48:16along the bottom
48:17of this shallow pond.
48:19On cold nights,
48:21thin sheets of ice
48:21develop under them
48:22and then float
48:23and are able to be moved
48:25by the wind,
48:26which propels the rocks
48:27as fast as 5 meters
48:28per minute.
48:29Rocks move through
48:30a combination
48:30of a shallow pond,
48:32ice,
48:33light breezes,
48:34and sun
48:34to set them in motion.
48:35Number 6,
48:36The Face on Mars.
48:38Between the Arandis Crater
48:39and the Bamberg Crater
48:40in the Cydonia region of Mars,
48:42spacecraft Viking 1
48:43captured an image in 1976
48:45that has fueled speculation
48:46for decades.
48:48That's because
48:48it looked for all intents
48:49and purposes
48:50like there was a face
48:51on the red planet.
48:52While people wanted
48:53to use this as evidence
48:54of an alien civilization,
48:55the actual explanation
48:57is a banal one.
49:02Yikes.
49:04Scientists have agreed
49:08that the face
49:09is essentially
49:09an optical illusion
49:10and that it's only present
49:12based on the angle
49:13from which you view it
49:14and how well lit it is.
49:16Number 5,
49:16The Location
49:17of the USS Indianapolis.
49:19The sinking
49:20of the USS Indianapolis
49:21is among the greatest tragedies
49:23that the American Navy
49:24has ever experienced.
49:25torpedoed by a Japanese submarine
49:37in 1945
49:38during a mission
49:39to deliver parts
49:40of the nuclear weapon
49:41Little Boy,
49:41there were only 316 survivors
49:44from a crew
49:44of 1,195.
49:46And I looked back
49:48at that time
49:48and she was up
49:49on her bow
49:50going down.
49:51In 12 minutes,
49:52the ship was gone.
49:54The wreck remained unfound.
49:55despite several expeditions
49:57to locate it.
49:58But in 2016,
49:59new information
50:00was revealed
50:01that gave us
50:01a better clue
50:02of where it might be.
50:03And in 2017,
50:05a team funded
50:06by Microsoft co-founder
50:07Paul Allen
50:08finally found
50:09the well-preserved
50:10remains of the ship.
50:11New images,
50:12both haunting
50:12and revealing.
50:14That's an unbelievable
50:14amount of damage
50:15from that torpedo.
50:17Show the devastation
50:18caused by two
50:19Japanese torpedoes
50:20that hammered
50:21the USS Indianapolis
50:22on July 30th, 1945
50:24while en route
50:25to the Philippines.
50:27Number 4.
50:27How the pyramids
50:28were built.
50:30The Egyptian pyramids
50:31are one of Earth's
50:31most widely
50:32recognizable landmarks.
50:34Many secrets
50:34about these
50:35magnificent structures
50:36remain.
50:37Built to withstand
50:38eternity,
50:39they seem in no hurry
50:41to reveal them.
50:42But for many years,
50:43people wondered
50:44how they were possibly
50:45built without
50:45modern technology.
50:47Was it aliens?
50:48Well,
50:49probably not.
50:50It had already
50:51been known
50:51that the Egyptians
50:52likely used wooden sleds
50:53to drag large objects
50:54across the sand,
50:55but researchers
50:56at the University
50:57of Amsterdam
50:57added a probable solution
50:59to make this even easier.
51:00They established
51:01that by wetting sand,
51:02only slightly,
51:03it would create
51:04the perfect amount
51:05of friction
51:05to carry very heavy
51:06objects easily.
51:07Wetting it
51:08with the right amount
51:08of water
51:09makes it remarkably slick.
51:11A team of 10 workers
51:12can easily pull
51:13a one-ton sled,
51:14but people always
51:15seem to forget
51:15that Egyptians
51:16had animals,
51:17like donkeys
51:18and cattle around
51:19to help too.
51:19Another ancient
51:20Egyptian mystery
51:21that has a more
51:21clear-cut answer
51:22is the hieroglyphs
51:23that seemingly depict
51:24modern helicopters.
51:26Turns out,
51:26these are a product
51:27of the stone
51:27being reused
51:28for more than one image.
51:30Number 3.
51:31What caused
51:31the Tunguska event?
51:33In a remote area
51:34of Russia in 1908,
51:35a massive explosion
51:36took place
51:37that flattened
51:37tens of millions
51:38of trees
51:39and produced
51:40an estimated
51:40185 times more energy
51:42than the atomic bomb
51:43dropped on Hiroshima.
51:44Millions of pine trees,
51:46larches,
51:46and birches
51:47are destroyed
51:48by the pressure wave
51:49and the fires.
51:51A shockwave
51:53circles the world,
51:54leaving its mark
51:55on seismographs
51:56everywhere.
51:57But no one
51:57can understand
51:58where it has come from.
51:59It inevitably
52:00left many wondering
52:01what had caused it.
52:02For decades,
52:03people have speculated
52:04that it might have been
52:05an asteroid,
52:06a comet,
52:06a clash of matter
52:07and antimatter,
52:08or even an alien
52:09spaceship landing.
52:10The night sky
52:11was illuminated
52:13for weeks after
52:14and people were able
52:15to read their newspapers
52:17in the middle of the night
52:18from London to Asia.
52:20But in 2013,
52:21it was essentially confirmed
52:22that it was,
52:23in fact,
52:24a meteor,
52:24when a team
52:25from the National Academy
52:26of Sciences of Ukraine
52:27analyzed rock samples
52:28of meteoric origin
52:29from the site.
52:30Researchers studied
52:31microscopic fragments
52:32of decayed vegetation
52:33dating back to the time
52:34of the event
52:35and discovered
52:35mineral combinations
52:36perfectly consistent
52:37with other meteorite
52:38impact sites,
52:39like the 50,000-year-old
52:40meteor crater
52:41in Arizona.
52:42Number two,
52:43the Bermuda Triangle.
52:44While some of the
52:45other mysteries on our list
52:46may not be commonly known
52:47to the general public,
52:49nearly everyone's heard
52:50of the Bermuda Triangle.
52:51For many years,
52:52people have wondered
52:53about the evils at work here
52:54that seemingly make
52:55boats sink
52:56and planes fall
52:57from the sky.
52:58Ships that have shown up
52:59absolutely empty,
53:01no sign of any struggle,
53:02and yet the crew
53:03has just vanished.
53:04But the explanation
53:05is simple and unexciting.
53:07While some may imagine
53:08the Triangle
53:08as a small and specific area,
53:10it's actually a huge
53:11and not well-defined region
53:13that is heavily trafficked
53:14by sea and by air.
53:16Bermuda is surrounded
53:16by a network of reef,
53:19like stunning reef,
53:19that come right to the surface.
53:21And when ships encounter those,
53:22they literally break them apart.
53:23If you go back in time
53:24to your old wooden ships
53:25and stuff like that,
53:26those ships had no chance.
53:27In fact,
53:28your cruise ship
53:29may have sailed right through it
53:30without you noticing.
53:31Yes,
53:32plenty of accidents
53:32have occurred there,
53:34but they largely
53:35have logical explanations.
53:36Before we continue,
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53:501. Anastasia's Escape
53:54In 1918,
53:56the Russian imperial Romanov family
53:58was executed
53:59by communist revolutionaries,
54:01but for years,
54:02rumors persisted
54:03that Tsar Nicholas II's
54:04youngest daughter,
54:05Anastasia,
54:06somehow survived an escape.
54:07So whether a sympathetic guard
54:09had rescued one of them,
54:12it's not beyond
54:13the realms of possibility.
54:15It didn't help
54:15that several women
54:16throughout history
54:17have impersonated
54:18the supposedly missing princess.
54:19The genetic testing
54:21proved beyond
54:21all reasonable doubt
54:23that Anna Anderson
54:24was not Anastasia Romanov.
54:28The whole thing
54:30was fabricated.
54:32Whoever she was,
54:33she certainly wasn't
54:35a member
54:35of the Russian royal family.
54:37These speculations
54:37were fueled
54:38when the Romanov's grave
54:39was found in 1991
54:40and two bodies
54:42were seemingly missing.
54:43But by 2007,
54:45another gravesite
54:45had been found nearby
54:46and DNA evidence
54:48conclusively proved
54:49that all members
54:50of the family
54:50are accounted for.
54:52It's a sad ending
54:52to the tale
54:53for those who prefer
54:54to hold out hope
54:55of her survival.
54:55But the DNA evidence
54:57makes it clear
54:57that's what really happened.
55:00On the night
55:01when Russia's
55:01longest-lived dynasty
55:02came to its abrupt
55:04and bloody end.
55:06Which of history's
55:07greatest mysteries
55:08has been solved
55:08to your satisfaction?
55:09Let us know
55:10in the comments below.
55:11A botched execution.
55:13Anastasia may have survived
55:15the initial gunfire.
55:16Could she really have cheated death
55:18with a gem-laden corset?
55:19To be continued...
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