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00:00The disappearance of an American hero shocks the world.
00:05She had reported that they were flying near Howland Island,
00:08but couldn't see it,
00:09and that their fuel was running dangerously low.
00:13After the final message,
00:15silence fell over the airwaves,
00:17and the Electra disappeared.
00:20The search for the lost treasure of Francis' emperor
00:23follows the path of his boldest invasion.
00:26The vast fortune and money and treasures
00:28his men had accumulated and carted along with them had disappeared
00:32and has not been found to this day.
00:34So what could have become of Napoleon's stolen loot?
00:40A daring explorer vanishes in the cold, unforgiving waters of the Arctic.
00:45Hudson, his son, and a few loyal men were set adrift
00:48in icy, uncharted waters.
00:50Centuries later, the question remains.
00:52Did he vanish into the Arctic's merciless expanse
00:54or somehow survive against all odds?
00:58The chain of history has many missing links.
01:02Prominent people, priceless treasures,
01:05extraordinary artifacts,
01:08their locations still unknown,
01:11lost to the fog of time.
01:15What happens when stories of the past
01:18become
01:19vanished history?
01:22Vanished history.
01:33In 1937, Amelia Earhart embarked on an audacious journey
01:38to circumnavigate the globe,
01:40piloting a cutting-edge Lockheed Electric 10E
01:43with navigator Fred Noonan.
01:46Their flight was a feat of daring and innovation,
01:49pushing the boundaries of human endurance
01:51and aviation technology.
01:54Earhart Noonan's journey began on May 21st, 1937,
01:58in Oakland, California,
02:00before heading east.
02:01By the time they reached Lai, New Guinea,
02:03on June 29th,
02:05they had traveled an astounding 22,000 miles
02:08over 21 flight days.
02:11The next leg to Howland Island was critical.
02:14It was a refueling stop on their route
02:16through the vast Pacific.
02:19Howland Island was a tiny, uninhabited coral atoll,
02:21barely a speck in the endless ocean.
02:23To help their approach,
02:25the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca
02:26was stationed nearby,
02:27emitting smoke signals
02:28and transmitting radio communications.
02:30But logs from the Itasca reveal a troubling reality.
02:34Many of their transmissions went unheard by Earhart.
02:36While her responses were occasionally received,
02:38they were fragmented and unclear.
02:41On July 2nd, 1937,
02:43at 8.43 a.m.,
02:45Earhart's final confirmed transmission came through.
02:49She had reported that they were flying
02:50near Howland Island,
02:52but couldn't see it,
02:53and that their fuel was running dangerously low.
02:57After the final message,
02:58silence fell over the airwaves
03:01and the Electra disappeared.
03:03The world was left
03:04with one of history's greatest mysteries.
03:08What happened to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan?
03:12Amelia Earhart's final flight
03:14was the culmination of a career
03:16defined by groundbreaking achievements in aviation.
03:19From setting transcontinental records
03:22to becoming the first woman
03:23to fly solo across the Atlantic,
03:26she captivated the world.
03:27Earhart discovered her passion for aviation
03:31after World War I,
03:33following a chance encounter with pilots.
03:36She moved from Kansas to California in 1920,
03:39and by 1922,
03:40she had already set the women's altitude record
03:43at 14,000 feet,
03:46showcasing her determination to push boundaries.
03:50But Earhart wasn't just a pilot.
03:52She became a symbol of possibility and empowerment.
03:57As the first woman vice president
03:59of the National Aeronautic Association,
04:01Earhart championed opportunities for women in flight.
04:05At Purdue University,
04:06she served as a professor and counselor,
04:09encouraging women to embrace engineering and science.
04:13Amelia's first attempt to circumnavigate the globe
04:15began with high hopes.
04:16On March 17th, 1937,
04:19she and her team successfully flew the first leg
04:21from Oakland to Honolulu in under 16 hours.
04:24But three days later, disaster struck.
04:26During takeoff, the electric ground looped,
04:28a maneuver where the aircraft veers uncontrollably
04:31during taxi or takeoff.
04:32As she attempted to correct a rightward drift
04:34on the rain-slicked field,
04:35her adjustments overcompensated
04:36and caused the electric to spin sharply to the left.
04:39This damaged the plane
04:40and forced the team to call off the flight.
04:42By June 1937,
04:45Earhart was ready to try again.
04:48This time, she and Fred Noonan
04:49would leave from Miami
04:50and fly from west to east.
04:52Over the next month,
04:54they traveled more than 20,000 miles,
04:58stopping everywhere from South America
04:59to Africa, India, and New Guinea.
05:03But what would become the final leg of their journey
05:06was fraught with peril.
05:08The flight from New Guinea
05:09to refuel on tiny Howland Island
05:11was 2,500 miles
05:13over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
05:17The Electra carried 1,000 gallons of fuel.
05:22That's about 20 hours' worth.
05:24But strong headwinds, overcast skies,
05:26and communication breakdowns
05:28likely reduced their margin for error.
05:32Despite their preparation,
05:33they were flying into a region
05:35where even a slight navigational error
05:37could mean disaster.
05:39When radio contact with the Coast Guard cutter Itasca
05:44fell silent,
05:45the enormity of the situation became clear.
05:48President Roosevelt ordered an unprecedented search effort
05:51spanning 250,000 square miles of ocean.
05:56George Putnam, Amelia's husband,
05:58even financed private searches.
06:00But by October 1937,
06:02all efforts had come up dry.
06:05Earhart's final radio transmission,
06:0842 days into their journey,
06:10was a faint echo lost to the Pacific,
06:13where many believe the truth behind their silence
06:15lies hidden.
06:17One theory suggests a tragic yet straightforward conclusion.
06:21Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan ran out of fuel
06:23and were forced to ditch their plane
06:25into the Pacific near Howland Island,
06:26a huge and unforgiving expanse of open ocean.
06:32Earhart's last reported message,
06:35we are on the line 157-337,
06:38suggested they were following their planned path.
06:41But navigational miscalculations
06:42could have led them astray,
06:44and overcast skies could have obscured
06:47their view of Howland Island,
06:49which is just a tiny atoll.
06:51Critically low on fuel,
06:53they would then have had no choice
06:54but to try an emergency landing at sea.
07:00The Pacific near Howland Island
07:02is one of the most remote
07:03and inaccessible regions on Earth.
07:07Its ocean floor plunges to depths
07:08exceeding 17,000 feet,
07:11with powerful currents
07:12constantly reshaping the seafloor,
07:15making any recovery effort
07:16an extraordinary challenge.
07:18In 2009,
07:21a non-profit group
07:22called the Waite Institute
07:23used deep-sea robots
07:25to search thousands of square miles.
07:28The missions did expand
07:30our understanding of the seafloor,
07:32but they didn't find the Electra.
07:35The crash and sank theory
07:37offers a logical explanation
07:39for their disappearance,
07:41but the complete absence of wreckage
07:44raises questions.
07:45Could the vastness of the ocean
07:48conceal their fate,
07:50or does the lack of evidence
07:52suggest there's more to the story?
07:55Other theories propose
07:57Earhart and Noonan
07:58may have found refuge
08:00far from Howland Island,
08:02only to face
08:02an entirely different fate.
08:06Nikuma Roro,
08:06a remote coral atoll
08:08in the Phoenix Islands,
08:09sits along the 157-337 line of position
08:13mentioned in Earhart's final transmission.
08:15As fuel dwindled
08:17and their view of Howland Island
08:18remained obscured,
08:20Earhart and Noonan
08:20may have followed
08:21the 157-337 line southeast
08:24towards Nikuma Roro,
08:26hoping to find refuge
08:28on the coral atoll
08:29surrounded by deep ocean.
08:32This wasn't a random heading.
08:34The 157-337 line
08:35was a precise navigational strategy
08:38calculated from the rising sun
08:39using celestial navigation.
08:42Fred Noonan,
08:42a master of this technique,
08:43would have plotted this line
08:44well in advance.
08:46After their disappearance,
08:48hopes were sparked
08:49by reports of a series
08:51of faint radio transmissions.
08:54121 distress signals
08:56were received by radio operators
08:58over the next 10 days,
09:00and it was thought
09:01that at least 57 of them
09:03could potentially
09:04have come from the electric.
09:05Decades of investigation
09:09have uncovered compelling clues
09:11suggesting that Nikuma Roro
09:12may be the electric's
09:14final resting place
09:15and the site
09:16of a desperate struggle
09:18for survival.
09:20In 1940,
09:21a British colonial officer
09:23made a chilling discovery
09:25on Nikuma Roro,
09:26a human skull and bones,
09:29along with remnants
09:29of a woman's shoe
09:30near what appeared
09:31to be a makeshift camp.
09:33Subsequent investigations
09:35uncovered bottles of cosmetics,
09:37a sexant box,
09:38which is an essential tool
09:39for navigation,
09:40and shells and bones
09:41from fish, turtles,
09:42and birds
09:42that appeared to have been eaten.
09:44These clues hinted
09:45a resourceful survivor
09:46struggling to endure
09:47on this isolated adult.
09:48The initial analysis
09:50of the human bones
09:51found they belonged
09:52to a short European man.
09:55But while they've since been lost,
09:57a more recent re-evaluation
09:58of the measurements
09:59using modern forensic software
10:02suggests they're actually
10:03more likely to belong
10:04to a tall European woman
10:06right around the same height
10:08and build as Amelia Earhart.
10:11Yet despite years
10:13of investigation,
10:14no evidence conclusively
10:16ties Earhart or Noonan
10:18to Nikuma Roro
10:19or to the human remains
10:21discovered there.
10:22As the search for answers
10:25moves beyond Nikuma Roro,
10:27the trail leads to a theory
10:29that shifts the focus
10:30to a possibility rooted
10:32in the shadowy waters
10:33of the Pacific
10:34and the tumult
10:35of pre-war tensions.
10:38It's possible
10:39that Earhart and Noonan,
10:40unable to locate
10:41Howland Island,
10:42may have veered off course
10:43and flown north
10:44toward the Japanese-controlled
10:45Marshall Islands.
10:47Eyewitness accounts
10:48passed down
10:48through generations
10:49of Marshallese locals
10:50tell of a silver plane
10:52landing on the remote shores
10:53of Millie Atoll.
10:56In 2017,
10:58interest was reignited
11:00in this theory
11:01by a photograph
11:02discovered
11:02in the U.S. National Archives.
11:06The grainy photos
11:07seem to show
11:08a man and a woman
11:09resembling Noonan
11:10and Earhart
11:11sitting on a dock
11:12at Jelluit Atoll
11:14with what looked like
11:15the Electra nearby.
11:17It sparked speculation
11:18that the Japanese Navy
11:20had captured them
11:22and taken them
11:22to Saipan.
11:24But the story
11:25fell apart
11:25when researchers
11:26discovered the photo
11:27in a 1935 Japanese
11:29travel book
11:30two years before
11:32Earhart vanished.
11:34Still,
11:35advocates of the
11:36Marshall Islands theory
11:37point to other
11:38intriguing clues.
11:40It's been proposed
11:41that Earhart
11:41had a contingency plan,
11:43a plan B,
11:44to head for the
11:45Marshall Islands
11:46if Howland Island
11:47could not be located.
11:49Some suggest
11:50her radio silence
11:51was deliberate,
11:52masking an intelligence
11:53mission to scout
11:55Japanese installations
11:56in the Pacific.
11:58Without concrete evidence,
12:00no wreckage,
12:01no documents,
12:01no records,
12:02the claim
12:03is impossible
12:04to prove.
12:05But some people
12:06still find
12:07the Marshall Islands
12:08idea compelling,
12:09another theory
12:11looking to provide
12:12an answer
12:12to one of the world's
12:14great mysteries.
12:15For decades,
12:17the disappearance
12:18of Amelia Earhart
12:19and Fred Noonan
12:20has captivated
12:21the world,
12:22inspiring relentless
12:23investigations
12:24on countless theories.
12:27The crash
12:28and sank theory
12:29offers a simple
12:31and tragic conclusion.
12:33An aircraft
12:33lost to the vast Pacific,
12:35swallowed by
12:36an unforgiving sea.
12:38But without wreckage
12:39or definitive proof,
12:41the mystery lingers,
12:42keeping doubt alive
12:43even today.
12:45The Nikuma-Roro theory
12:47paints a vivid picture
12:48of survival.
12:50A plane stranded
12:51on a coral reef,
12:52faint radio signals
12:54calling for help,
12:55and traces
12:56of a makeshift camp.
12:58But the clues,
12:59while compelling,
13:00remain frustratingly incomplete,
13:03leaving us
13:04with a puzzle
13:05where the pieces
13:05don't quite fit together.
13:08In the end,
13:08we may never know
13:09what happened.
13:10Amelia Earhart
13:13once said,
13:14adventure
13:14is worthwhile
13:16in itself.
13:17Her life,
13:18her journey,
13:19and her disappearance
13:20remind us
13:21that sometimes
13:22the pursuit
13:22of the extraordinary
13:23is its own reward.
13:25by 1812,
13:36French Emperor
13:37Napoleon Bonaparte
13:38had already conquered Europe
13:40from Portugal to Poland,
13:42from the Baltic Sea
13:43to Italy.
13:44But to get at the powerful
13:45British Empire,
13:47he had to defeat Russia,
13:48a feat he estimated
13:50he could achieve
13:51within a few weeks,
13:52backed by an army
13:53of over 600,000 strong.
13:56At first,
13:57Napoleon seemed
13:58to have the upper hand.
14:00His gondamé
14:01chased the Russians
14:02eastward
14:03as they retreated.
14:04The soldiers
14:05would collect
14:06huge amounts
14:07of loot
14:07and treasure,
14:08everything from
14:09priceless religious icons
14:11to gold and silver
14:12that Napoleon hoped
14:14to use
14:14to fund future campaigns.
14:17There are stories
14:17of thousands
14:18of cartloads
14:20filled with riches.
14:22But by the time
14:24Napoleon had abandoned
14:25his Russian conquest
14:26and the remnants
14:27of his broken army
14:28had returned
14:29to Western Europe,
14:30the vast fortune
14:31and money
14:32and treasures
14:32his men had accumulated
14:34and carted
14:34along with them
14:35had disappeared
14:36and has not been found
14:37to this day.
14:39So what could have become
14:40of Napoleon's
14:41stolen loot?
14:45Napoleon's invasion force
14:46was the largest
14:47in European history
14:48and with an army
14:49that size,
14:51delivering a constant
14:52supply of food
14:53can be a daunting challenge.
14:55But one of Napoleon's
14:56guiding principles was
14:57the army feeds itself.
15:00Well, the army
15:01didn't exactly feed itself.
15:03That was a nice way
15:04of saying that his army
15:05plundered riches
15:06and food
15:07from whatever area
15:08they were marching through,
15:10providing money
15:10to fund his current
15:12and future campaigns
15:13and food to sustain
15:14the troops each day.
15:16For Napoleon,
15:17it simplified things greatly.
15:20On June 22nd, 1812,
15:22Napoleon and his Grand Army
15:23crossed the Neman River
15:25and marched on to Vilnius,
15:26expecting their first battle,
15:28but there was no fight.
15:29The Russian army
15:30had already withdrawn,
15:31so the chase was on.
15:32Tsar Alexander I
15:35responded to Napoleon's strategy
15:37with a brutal,
15:39scorched-earth campaign,
15:40destroying roads,
15:41bridges,
15:42livestock,
15:43and food supplies
15:44in the places
15:45where his own people lived,
15:48leaving almost nothing behind
15:50for Napoleon's army
15:51to live on.
15:53Throughout that summer,
15:54there was no way
15:55for Napoleon
15:56to properly supply his forces
15:58as they chased
15:59the rapidly-withdrawing Russians.
16:00Even before fighting
16:02any of their battles,
16:03they'd started dying
16:04by the thousands
16:05of thirst,
16:06starvation,
16:07disease,
16:08and heat exhaustion,
16:09and were losing
16:10about a thousand horses a day
16:11to the same things.
16:14On September 14th, 1812,
16:17Napoleon and his army
16:18reached Moscow,
16:20ready to negotiate
16:21Tsar Alexander's
16:22peaceful surrender
16:23or to take the city
16:25by force.
16:26But the Tsar wasn't there,
16:28nor his army.
16:29Moscow had been abandoned
16:31and set aflame,
16:33as per Alexander's orders.
16:35The Grand Army
16:36looted the city
16:37of its riches
16:38while Napoleon waited
16:39for the Tsar to give in.
16:41All the while,
16:42his troops' supplies
16:43of food and water
16:44grew lower and lower
16:46because the Russian command
16:47had ordered
16:48the city's food stores
16:49to be destroyed
16:50before its evacuation.
16:52Napoleon waited 36 days.
16:55Finally,
16:56on October 18th,
16:57he ordered his army
16:57to retreat
16:58and they left Moscow
16:59with 50,000 carts
17:00and wheelbarrows
17:01loaded with loot
17:02and gold bullion.
17:03They even took things
17:04like the massive crucifix
17:05from Ivan the Great's cathedral,
17:06which they displayed
17:07as a symbol of victory
17:08as they retreated.
17:10It was a catastrophic retreat.
17:14That fall rain
17:15turned roads into mud.
17:17In November,
17:17the temperatures plummeted
17:18as low as minus 22 Fahrenheit.
17:22The men suffered frostbite
17:24and snow blindness.
17:25For food,
17:26some were left to broil
17:27and eat their own dying horses
17:30seasoned with gunpowder
17:32or cats,
17:33handles,
17:34axle grease.
17:36Some even resorted
17:37to cannibalism.
17:38By mid-November,
17:39the 600,000 men
17:42of the Grand Army
17:42were down
17:43to only about 36,000.
17:47Some speculate
17:48that the bulk
17:49of Napoleon's treasures
17:50from Moscow
17:51never made it
17:52to more than a quarter
17:53of the way
17:53back to Paris.
17:55At the end of November
17:57with the Cossacks,
17:58who were politically
17:59independent fighters
18:00cooperating with Russia,
18:02chasing and firing on them,
18:04the French scrambled
18:05to build two bridges
18:06across the Berezina River
18:07in a desperate attempt
18:09to get away.
18:10And that might be
18:11as far as Napoleon's
18:12loot traveled.
18:14It's possible
18:15that untold amounts
18:16of Napoleon's gold
18:17and other booty
18:18lie deep under the silt
18:20of the Berezina River.
18:22That river crossing
18:23was chaotic
18:24and absolutely hellish.
18:26This wasn't an orderly retreat
18:28by any means.
18:29With the Russian artillery
18:30bombarding them,
18:31people panicked
18:32and trampled one another
18:33to get on the bridges,
18:34which repeatedly collapsed
18:35under the immense weight,
18:37killing around 15,000
18:38soldiers and civilians.
18:40The wagons of treasure
18:41would have sunk
18:42straight down.
18:42Once Napoleon
18:44and his main force
18:45were across the river,
18:47he ordered the bridges burned
18:49to keep the Russians
18:49from following.
18:51Tens of thousands
18:52of stragglers
18:53were left on the other bank
18:55to be captured
18:56or killed
18:57or to drown
18:58as they tried to swim
18:59through the freezing water.
19:02If any amount
19:03of the treasure
19:04survived beyond
19:05the Berezina crossing,
19:07those who carried it
19:08may have reconsidered
19:09its value,
19:09from more booty
19:11to make them rich
19:12to something that might
19:14just get them home
19:15alive.
19:17Those of Napoleon's men
19:18that managed to travel
19:19the 200 miles
19:20to Vilnius
19:21in Lithuania
19:22may have spent
19:23much of the booty
19:24they kept
19:24on food
19:25or accommodation.
19:28Vilnius is known
19:29as the city
19:30built on human bones,
19:32and there's a grim reason
19:33for that.
19:34About 20,000
19:35of Napoleon's soldiers
19:36made it there,
19:37but they were
19:37in very bad shape.
19:38Many had frostbite
19:39and extremities
19:39that had turned
19:40gangrenous.
19:41All were starving.
19:43Starving soldiers
19:44fought over food
19:46and shelter.
19:47Many of those
19:48who didn't have gold
19:49to pay with
19:50froze to death outside.
19:52One witness
19:53described thousands
19:54of frozen corpses
19:56lining the streets,
19:58stacked three stories high,
20:00waiting to be collected.
20:03Such descriptions
20:04may be hard
20:05to imagine
20:06or believe,
20:07and it's easy to think
20:08they must have been
20:09exaggerated over the years.
20:11But with time,
20:12occasionally,
20:14comes proof.
20:16In 2002,
20:17municipal workers
20:18demolishing old buildings
20:19just outside of Vilnius
20:20discovered a mass grave.
20:22Thousands of human skeletons
20:24arranged neatly,
20:25layer upon layer.
20:27With the skeletons
20:27were buttons
20:28from military uniforms
20:29stamped with their unit numbers,
20:31scraps of blue cloth,
20:33and a crushed
20:33infantryman's helmet.
20:35None of the skeletons
20:38showed any signs
20:39of having died in battle.
20:40And aside from one gold,
20:4120-franc Napoleonic coin,
20:43no booty was found with them.
20:45By many contemporaneous accounts,
20:46people were diligent
20:47in separating the war dead
20:48from their gold.
20:50And so far,
20:51the archaeological record
20:51supports those observations.
20:54The account claims
20:55the army was still
20:56carrying chests
20:57filled with 10 million gold francs
21:00on its way to Vilnius.
21:02While under attack,
21:03a colonel gave
21:04Napoleon's treasury,
21:05the emperor's personal stash,
21:07to some nearby guards
21:09for safekeeping.
21:10But the officer claimed
21:11every coin was returned
21:13after the danger had passed.
21:15So if that's true,
21:17where are they?
21:20Some experts believe
21:21that there may not be
21:22a single place
21:23where Napoleon's lost treasure
21:25now lies.
21:26And that the key
21:27to what happened to it
21:28is in the moment
21:29the Grand Armée
21:30changed from being predators
21:31to prey.
21:34From the time Napoleon
21:35began his retreat from Moscow,
21:37his soldiers
21:38and all of his cartloads
21:39of war booty
21:40were targets.
21:41The Russian army,
21:42and especially the Cossacks,
21:44chased, hunted,
21:45and harassed them.
21:47They picked off
21:47their rear guards
21:48and stole their booty
21:49whenever they could.
21:52The Cossacks were skilled
21:53and they were relentless.
21:55Napoleon,
21:56who one might expect
21:57would be upset with them
21:58for preying on his troops,
22:00was actually instead
22:01greatly impressed.
22:02He said he could go
22:04all the way around the world
22:05if he had them
22:06in his army.
22:09Some of the soldiers
22:10who tried to carry
22:10smaller amounts of treasure
22:12in their own backpacks
22:13would have made it
22:14all the way to Vilnius.
22:16But many of them
22:17would have been overtaken
22:18by the Russians,
22:19killed or taken prisoner.
22:21The loot they carried
22:22wasn't any help.
22:23It only slowed them down.
22:25The loss of Napoleon's
22:27plundered trophies
22:28and treasure
22:29wasn't only an embarrassment
22:31or a loss of face.
22:32It represented the failure
22:34of the entire campaign
22:35and signaled the beginning
22:37of the end
22:38for the emperor.
22:40Napoleon tried
22:41to put a positive spin
22:42on things
22:42when he returned to France.
22:44He said,
22:45all had gone well.
22:46Moscow is in my power.
22:48Even though it was
22:49an empty, burning city
22:50when he arrived.
22:51And he said,
22:53the cold of the winter
22:54caused a general calamity.
22:57The cold of the Russian winter
22:59did make things harder
23:00for Napoleon's troops,
23:02as did the heat
23:03of the Russian summer.
23:04But what really failed them
23:06was Napoleon's planning
23:07and leadership.
23:09In the end,
23:10his philosophy
23:10that his army
23:11could feed itself
23:12was neutralized
23:13by Tsar Alexander's policy
23:15of scorching the earth.
23:17Napoleon's invasion
23:20of Russia
23:20is to this day
23:22one of the deadliest
23:23military campaigns
23:24in history.
23:26What ultimately became
23:27of the plundered loot
23:28his army hauled
23:29behind them
23:30may never be discovered.
23:32But what's almost
23:33certain to be found
23:34is more evidence
23:35of those doomed
23:36by one man's
23:38unrealistic ambitions.
23:39In the early 1600s,
23:52as European empires
23:53pushed the boundaries
23:54of their world maps,
23:56one explorer
23:56sailed into uncertainty
23:58with extraordinary courage
24:00and ambition.
24:01Henry Hudson,
24:03driven by visions
24:04of an elusive
24:04northern route to Asia,
24:06ventured through
24:07ice-choked seas
24:08and uncharted coasts.
24:10Four bold voyages
24:11carved new lines
24:13on maritime charts.
24:14But his final journey
24:16would end
24:16with a sudden betrayal,
24:18leaving behind
24:19one of history's
24:20greatest mysteries.
24:23In the early 17th century,
24:26most European trade routes
24:27to Asia
24:28required long voyages south
24:30around the tip of Africa.
24:32Hudson sought
24:33a daring alternative,
24:35a shorter northern waterway
24:37known as
24:37the Northwest Passage,
24:39a route that could change
24:40the balance of global trade
24:41forever.
24:44Hudson's groundbreaking
24:45Arctic mapping
24:46expanded the known world
24:48and opened the door
24:49for Dutch colonization
24:50in what would become
24:51New York.
24:52But his relentless pursuit
24:54of the Northwest Passage,
24:56coupled with a habit
24:57of defying orders
24:58and straining his crews,
25:00placed mounting pressure
25:01on every expedition,
25:03which set the stage
25:04for the conflicts
25:05that would mark
25:06his final journey.
25:08In 1611,
25:09after a brutal winter
25:10trapped in James Bay,
25:11the crew of Hudson's discovery
25:12reached their breaking point.
25:14Starvation, illness,
25:15and Hudson's alleged favoritism
25:17triggered a mutiny.
25:18Hudson, his son,
25:19and a few loyal men
25:20were set adrift
25:20in icy, uncharted waters.
25:23Centuries later,
25:23the question remains,
25:25did he vanish
25:25into the Arctic's
25:26merciless expanse
25:27or somehow survive
25:28against all odds?
25:30By the early 17th century,
25:33improved charts,
25:34grown maritime expertise,
25:36and the lingering promise
25:37of a shortcut to Asia
25:39only intensified Europe's hunger
25:41for a solution.
25:43Hudson entered this stage
25:44armed with lessons
25:45from the past,
25:46determined to succeed
25:47where others had failed.
25:51In 1609,
25:53Hudson was hired
25:54by the Dutch East India Company
25:56to search for the
25:57Northeast Passage to Asia
25:59by sailing through
26:00the Arctic north of Russia.
26:02He set sail
26:03on his third voyage
26:04aboard the half moon
26:05with a crew of 17.
26:08But when Ice walked his path,
26:10Hudson ignored his orders.
26:13Instead of returning home
26:14to Amsterdam,
26:15he headed west
26:17across the Atlantic,
26:19hoping to discover
26:20a different route
26:21to the Pacific,
26:22the Northwest Passage.
26:24Hudson chartered the coast
26:27of North America,
26:28navigating from Newfoundland
26:30to present-day Manhattan,
26:31before venturing 150 miles
26:33up the river
26:34that now bears his name,
26:36reaching as far as Albany.
26:38Rather than returning
26:39to Amsterdam,
26:40Hudson docked in England,
26:41where he secured support
26:43for yet another expedition,
26:44while the half moon
26:46returned to the Dutch
26:47without him.
26:48These actions angered
26:50his Dutch employers,
26:50but opened lucrative
26:52trade opportunities
26:53and solidified his reputation
26:55as an explorer
26:56willing to risk everything
26:58in pursuit of discovery.
27:02In April 1610,
27:04with the backing
27:04of the British East India Company
27:06and other influential figures,
27:09including the Prince of Wales,
27:10Hudson embarked
27:11on his most ambitious voyage yet.
27:13After leaving London
27:15aboard the 55-ton Discovery,
27:17he ventured to Iceland
27:19and the rugged coasts
27:20of Labrador,
27:22driven by the dream
27:23of finding an open passage
27:24to China.
27:27Hudson had a crew of 23,
27:29including his son, John,
27:30and lifetime associate
27:31Robert Duet.
27:33But early in the voyage,
27:34he made the controversial decision
27:36to bring aboard Henry Green,
27:38a volatile figure
27:40tasked with spying on the crew,
27:42a choice that hinted
27:44at the tensions brewing
27:45beneath the surface.
27:48Despite Fikes breaking out
27:49on board
27:50and members threatening to leave,
27:52Hudson managed to push farther
27:53than any of his previous expeditions.
27:55Eventually, he crossed the strait
27:56that now bears his name
27:57and entered the vast uncharted waters
27:59of Hudson Bay.
28:01Hudson and his crew
28:03spent months
28:04searching the shores
28:05of Hudson Bay
28:06for a route to the Pacific,
28:08and tensions on board
28:09the Discovery
28:10were growing.
28:11Eventually, his crew
28:12began openly disagreeing
28:14with his decisions,
28:16but Hudson ignored their warnings,
28:18cracked down on descent,
28:20and insisted
28:21on pushing forward.
28:25Hudson's relentless drive
28:27to push onward
28:28despite the crew's growing doubts
28:30only deepened the cracks
28:31in his fragile command.
28:35As months passed
28:36and winter closed in,
28:37they sailed south to James Bay
28:39where it became clear
28:41they'd reached a dead end.
28:42Trapped by ice
28:43on the shores of James Bay,
28:45the crew endured
28:46a brutal winter
28:47of freezing temperatures,
28:49dwindling supplies,
28:50and scurvy.
28:52By the spring of 1611,
28:54tensions aboard the Discovery
28:56were ready to explode.
28:58The crew had become suspicious
29:00that Hudson was hoarding rations
29:03for his favorites,
29:04including his son
29:05and the ship's carpenter,
29:06which deepened the divide
29:08between the captain
29:08and his men
29:10and fueled simmering resentment.
29:13And when the ice
29:14finally began to thaw,
29:16instead of keeping his promise
29:17to sail home,
29:18Hudson instead revealed
29:20plans to push further west.
29:23The crew was already weakened,
29:25demoralized,
29:26and without any faith
29:27in the vision or leadership
29:28of their captain.
29:29This final betrayal,
29:30coupled with months of hardship,
29:32sparked a full-blown mutiny.
29:34In June,
29:34the crew cast Hudson,
29:35his son,
29:36and seven loyal men adrift
29:37in a small open shallop,
29:39leaving them to the mercy
29:40of the Arctic.
29:41The Discovery sailed away,
29:42and with it,
29:43the last trace of Hudson.
29:45The Arctic's thaw
29:47brought no relief
29:48to Henry Hudson's
29:49fragile command.
29:50However,
29:51some maintained
29:52that his final moments
29:53were decided not
29:54by the biting cold,
29:56but by the hands
29:57of those who once
29:58followed him.
30:00Some think Henry Hudson
30:01might have been murdered
30:03by his own crew.
30:05After months of frostbite,
30:07scurvy,
30:07mind-numbing confinement,
30:10it might have only taken
30:11a spark to ignite
30:12a violent reaction.
30:15Although mutineers
30:16later claimed
30:17they cast Hudson
30:18and his loyalists
30:19adrift with adequate supplies,
30:22the ship's deck
30:22told another story.
30:25Dark, crusted bloodstains
30:26on the ship's deck
30:27hinted at a violent confrontation
30:29before Hudson
30:31disappeared into the Arctic.
30:32This scene would suggest
30:34that the final moments
30:35aboard the Discovery
30:36were anything but orderly.
30:41Not everyone accepts
30:42that Hudson perished
30:43amid ice and betrayal.
30:45Another theory suggests
30:46his fate led inland,
30:48weaving him into the stories
30:50and landscapes
30:51of those who called
30:52the region home.
30:55Some believe that Hudson
30:56and his men survived
30:57by forging new bonds
30:58with indigenous communities.
31:00Accounts from Cree elders
31:01describe a band
31:02of pale strangers
31:03arriving near James Bay
31:04in the early 1600s.
31:06One figure was notably red-haired,
31:08adorned with striking jewelry,
31:09and exuded authority.
31:11The Arctic's relentless conditions
31:13would have demanded
31:14ingenuity and cooperation,
31:17making cultural integration
31:18a plausible means of survival.
31:20Although there's no solid proof,
31:23a mention by explorer
31:24Samuel de Champlain
31:25of English youths
31:27in the company of the Algonquin
31:28supports this intriguing possibility.
31:31The survival theory,
31:34though fascinating,
31:35faces challenges.
31:37Without solid archaeological proof
31:39or documented encounters,
31:41the idea of Hudson's crew
31:42blending seamlessly
31:44into indigenous life
31:45seems more hopeful
31:46than certain.
31:48In a land that hides
31:50its secrets beneath ice,
31:51there may be a far
31:53harsher explanation.
31:54Not everyone believes
31:57Hudson's story
31:58ended with warm hearths
31:59and new alliances.
32:01Another theory
32:02points to a colder conclusion,
32:05shaped by the unforgiving nature
32:07of the Arctic itself.
32:09In 1823,
32:11an explorer named
32:12Douglas Clavering
32:13is said to have found
32:14some graves
32:15on the island of Spitsbergen,
32:17far to the north
32:19of mainland Norway,
32:20including one marked
32:22with the name
32:22Henry Hudson,
32:24leading to speculation
32:25that Hudson's boat
32:26could have been blown
32:273,000 miles
32:29across the North Atlantic
32:30by southwesterly gales.
32:33According to some accounts,
32:35his crew exhumed
32:36a well-preserved body,
32:37bringing it aboard the ship.
32:39However,
32:39as the warmer climate set in,
32:41the body began to decompose
32:43and they allegedly
32:43cast it overboard.
32:45This strange tale,
32:47though intriguing,
32:48was never documented
32:49in the ship's log
32:50and exists only
32:52in the writings
32:53of Archibald Smith,
32:54an associate of Clavering.
32:57Henry Hudson's legacy
32:59stands at the crossroads
33:00of ambition,
33:01exploration,
33:03and human endurance.
33:04While his voyages
33:06broadened horizons
33:07and fueled empires,
33:09clearing paths
33:09for future expeditions,
33:11whaling industries,
33:13and settlements,
33:14his disappearance
33:15proves that discovery
33:16often extracts
33:18a heavy toll.
33:20Hudson's travels
33:22helped reshape the world.
33:24He expanded Europe's
33:26understanding of it
33:26and its geography,
33:28brought news of the river
33:29that now bears his name,
33:31and set the stage
33:32for Dutch colonization
33:33in North America,
33:35pushing open doors
33:36that would enrich
33:37European empires
33:38and devastate indigenous nations.
33:40Then he charted Arctic waters
33:42no European
33:43had ever mapped before.
33:45But Hudson's unwavering hunt
33:48for the Northwest Passage
33:49came at a human cost.
33:52His disregard for orders
33:53and the uneven distribution
33:55of scarce resources
33:56stoked resentments
33:58that, in the frozen darkness
33:59of James Bay,
34:00flared into mutiny.
34:02That single desperate act
34:04left questions
34:04that still haunt us
34:06centuries later.
34:07Whether he succumbed
34:08to Arctic hardship,
34:10fell victim
34:10to his own crew's fury,
34:12or slept quietly
34:13into indigenous communities,
34:15Hudson's fate embodies
34:16the thin line
34:17between success
34:18and disaster
34:19in the golden age
34:21of exploration.
34:23Henry Hudson
34:25ventured boldly
34:26into realms
34:26few dared to navigate.
34:28His disappearance
34:29remains a testament
34:31that not all
34:32who journey
34:32into uncharted worlds
34:34return with their stories.
34:42Before 221 BCE,
34:48there was no China.
34:50But then,
34:50Zhao Zhang,
34:51a young king,
34:52rose up
34:53and by the power of will
34:55forged seven warring states
34:57into one
34:58and proclaimed himself
34:59China's first emperor.
35:02He desired to have a seal
35:03that all would recognize
35:04and none would dare question.
35:07An object of lasting permanence
35:09to sustain his dynasty
35:10for 10,000 generations,
35:13the heirloom seal
35:14of the realm.
35:17Seals had been used
35:18in that part of the world
35:19for hundreds of years before,
35:21as early as
35:22the 11th century BCE.
35:25These weren't
35:26the wax seals
35:27some might think of.
35:28These were more like stamps
35:30carved out of wood
35:31or stone,
35:33or sometimes
35:34made of bronze
35:35or copper
35:36and dipped
35:37into a thick red ink.
35:38They were used
35:41as signatures
35:41to mark contracts
35:42or to sign paintings
35:44or sometimes
35:45pressed into clay
35:46as a potter's mark.
35:47One person might own
35:48various seals
35:49for a variety of purposes.
35:51Many were small,
35:52producing an impression
35:53about the size
35:54of your small fingernail,
35:55but the largest
35:56might be about
35:57four inches square.
35:59China's first emperor
36:01ordered a seal made,
36:02only one,
36:03and that was part
36:04of its power
36:05and significance.
36:06Its name translated
36:08into English
36:08was
36:09Jade Seal
36:10Passed Through the Realm.
36:12He intended to hand it down
36:13to all those
36:14in his bloodline,
36:15and it was one of the most
36:16historically significant
36:18jade artifacts
36:18ever made.
36:20The seal did
36:22pass through the realm.
36:23It didn't just serve him,
36:24but a whole series
36:25of dynasties
36:27that followed
36:27in generations to come.
36:29But by the end
36:30of the first millennium CE,
36:32the heirloom seal
36:33had disappeared,
36:34and centuries later
36:36we're left wondering
36:37what happened to it
36:38and could it ever
36:40be rediscovered?
36:42Zhao Zhang
36:44was born in 259 BCE
36:46during the Warring States period.
36:49After his father's death,
36:50he ascended
36:50as the king
36:51of Qin State
36:52and over the next 25 years
36:55ended two and a half
36:56centuries of conflict
36:57by conquering
36:58every competing state
36:59to form
37:00a unified country.
37:01The imperial seal
37:03was then ordered
37:04to be carved
37:05for his personal use.
37:08The seal
37:09is said to have been
37:11inscribed with a sentiment.
37:13Having received
37:14the mandate from heaven,
37:16may the emperor
37:17lead a long
37:18and prosperous life.
37:20Two things there.
37:22One,
37:22that people
37:23should believe
37:25Zhao Zhang
37:25had a divine right
37:27to rule,
37:28and two,
37:30he had a preoccupation
37:31with staving off death.
37:34Zhao Zhang
37:35is said to have sought
37:36to achieve
37:37his own immortality
37:38through alchemy
37:39and magic.
37:40He had a sprawling
37:41underground mausoleum
37:42built for himself
37:43guarded by thousands
37:45of terracotta warriors.
37:46As for ensuring
37:47his dynasty's longevity,
37:49he ruled harshly
37:50and even tried
37:51to suppress opposition
37:52and subversive thought
37:54by burning books.
37:57Zhao Zhang's brutal
37:57methods
37:58weren't entirely successful.
38:00In fact,
38:01they backfired.
38:02Not only did
38:03his Qin dynasty
38:04not last
38:0510,000 generations,
38:07as was his wish,
38:08but after his death,
38:09rebellion promptly
38:10broke out.
38:11His dynasty
38:12was overthrown,
38:13and all of his
38:14surviving Qin imperial
38:15family members
38:16were systematically killed.
38:17But while the Qin dynasty
38:20fell,
38:21the heirloom seal
38:22survived.
38:23It was passed down
38:24from one emperor
38:25to the next,
38:26through the Han dynasty
38:27and beyond.
38:29It did become
38:29the symbol of stability
38:30Zhao Zhang
38:31designed it to be,
38:33at least right up
38:34until the 900s or so,
38:36when it disappeared.
38:38One theory,
38:39held by many historians,
38:41suggests the paranoia
38:43of Zhao Zhang
38:43increasingly experienced
38:45throughout his reign,
38:47and is perceived
38:47need for protection
38:48may have had
38:49some basis in fact.
38:53There's a very good chance
38:54the heirloom seal
38:55of the realm
38:56was destroyed
38:57when China's capital
38:58was looted
38:59and ransacked
39:00by rebels,
39:01or by the warlord
39:02Zhu Wang
39:03in the late 9th century
39:05at the end
39:06of the Tang dynasty.
39:09The Tang dynasty
39:10had reestablished
39:11Chong'an
39:11in the country's
39:12northeast as the capital.
39:14It was surrounded
39:14by mountains
39:15as natural barriers,
39:16so it was believed
39:18to be as militarily impregnable
39:19as any city could be.
39:21Chong'an was the eastern terminus
39:23of the Silk Road,
39:25and it was a wealthy,
39:26vibrant city.
39:27It was also possibly
39:28the world's most populous
39:30at the time,
39:30with about 3 million people.
39:33This is where
39:33the imperial palace
39:35was built,
39:36and that's where
39:36the heirloom seal
39:37of the realm
39:38was kept.
39:39But in the end,
39:41the Tang rulers
39:41had committed
39:42the same fatal errors
39:44as Zhao Zhang
39:44had centuries before.
39:46They looked after themselves,
39:48not their people.
39:49There was an uprising,
39:51and Chong'an
39:51was attacked repeatedly
39:53by peasant rebels
39:54and by opportunistic warlords.
39:56When the imperial palace
39:57was seized,
39:58the last Tang emperor
39:59fled,
40:00leaving his treasures,
40:01including the heirloom seal
40:03unprotected.
40:04It was then,
40:05sometime between
40:06874 and 884 CE,
40:09that it could have
40:10been destroyed.
40:11At the very latest,
40:13the imperial seal
40:14was lost to history
40:15during the following era,
40:17the period of the five dynasties,
40:19from 907 to 960 CE.
40:22But that doesn't necessarily mean
40:23that it was physically lost
40:25by then,
40:26just that we have
40:26no records of it,
40:28so we don't know
40:29exactly when it vanished.
40:30There have been claims
40:31it even reappeared at times
40:33during the centuries since,
40:35but no historians
40:36have been able
40:36to confirm it.
40:38Some researchers believe
40:39the fact that
40:40the imperial seal
40:41of the realm
40:42hasn't been seen
40:43in all these centuries
40:44is actually a good sign.
40:47Those in the imperial palace
40:49at Chong'an
40:50knew the Tang dynasty
40:52was in danger,
40:53and they must have known
40:55that continued assaults
40:57on the palace
40:57were likely to occur,
40:59so they might have
41:00smuggled the seal
41:01to some safe place
41:02and hidden it.
41:04With those who knew
41:05the imperial seal's
41:06hiding place
41:07possibly killed
41:08during the sack of Chong'an
41:09or executed afterward,
41:12the seal may still
41:13lie safe,
41:14wherever they hid it,
41:15still waiting
41:16to be rediscovered.
41:18This practice
41:19of hiding treasures
41:20in advance
41:21of an anticipated attack
41:22and those treasures
41:24subsequently being
41:25lost to history
41:26is a fairly common occurrence.
41:28In 1970,
41:29a trove of treasures
41:30was discovered
41:31was discovered
41:31in the village
41:31of Ho Jun-kun.
41:33Silver and gold jewelry,
41:35a wine vessel
41:36carved out of agate,
41:37and all kinds of valuables
41:38from the coffers
41:39of China's elite,
41:41all of which had been
41:42hidden during a time
41:43of unrest
41:44and forgotten.
41:45If the heirloom seal
41:47of the realm
41:48was intentionally hidden,
41:50finding it
41:51would be a monumental task,
41:53a four-inch stone cube
41:55buried somewhere
41:56in China.
41:58And there doesn't even
41:59really seem to be
41:59any agreed-upon theories
42:01about where you should
42:02even start looking.
42:04One school of thought
42:06suggests that if the imperial seal
42:08has survived,
42:09archaeologists may not need
42:11to go far
42:12to find it.
42:13The last tongue emperor
42:15knew that continued attacks
42:17on Chung'ung
42:18were likely to occur,
42:19but they didn't know
42:21exactly when
42:22those attacks
42:23might happen.
42:24So it's conceivable
42:25the last assault
42:27came as a surprise
42:28and the jade seal
42:29was simply abandoned
42:31in the chaos
42:32and lost among the rubble
42:33of the imperial palace.
42:36If that theory is true,
42:38it would dramatically
42:40narrow the area
42:41that needs to be searched,
42:43so far,
42:44the seal still
42:45hasn't turned up.
42:47The heirloom seal
42:48of the realm
42:49was lost to history
42:50by the period
42:51of the five dynasties,
42:52which had succeeded
42:53the fall of the Tang.
42:55But that's not
42:56the end of the story.
42:58We don't know
42:59that the seal
43:00was actually physically lost
43:01until hundreds of years
43:03after the end
43:04of the Tang dynasty,
43:05because even at the start
43:07of the Ming dynasty
43:08in 1369,
43:09the new emperor
43:10was determined
43:11to get it back.
43:13From 1271,
43:14the Mongols,
43:15starting with Kublai Khan,
43:16ruled China.
43:17And when the Mongols
43:18were finally defeated
43:19about a century later,
43:20the first Ming emperor
43:22is said to have been determined
43:23to relocate
43:24the heirloom seal.
43:26According to one account,
43:28the Ming emperor
43:29carried out a raid
43:30and stole one
43:32of the personal seals
43:33of the Mongol emperor.
43:35However,
43:36it turns out
43:37the Mongol
43:37owned 11 seals.
43:40And the one
43:41taken from him
43:42was not
43:43the imperial seal
43:44that Zhao Zhang
43:45had made
43:45almost 15 centuries earlier.
43:48So,
43:49it's yet another dead end.
43:52The lump of jade
43:54that was once carved
43:55into the heirloom seal
43:56of the realm
43:57must certainly still exist
43:58in some form.
44:00It may one day
44:01be found intact
44:02or it may continue
44:04to lie indefinitely
44:05in one or many pieces
44:07in the earth
44:08from which
44:09it was first taken.
44:10to the end of the year.
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