Mysteries Unearthed with Danny Trejo - Season 2 Episode 05- Famous Finds
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00:00Mysteries can be buried anywhere, under the earth, beneath the sea, or even right under
00:14our own feet. And when we stumble upon them, sometimes what we find can change history.
00:24Tonight, famous discoveries from a missing masterpiece.
00:32Out of nowhere, members of the media begin calling Susan, asking, where did you find
00:37it? And most importantly, did she know what she had?
00:41To an incredible national treasure.
00:44As the appraiser starts reading, some familiar words start to jump out at them.
00:49But there's more, because at the bottom there's a signature.
00:51To one of the most famous lost ships of all time.
00:56This is the holy grail of found shipwrecks.
01:01People have been searching for it for over 70 years.
01:04Join us now, because nothing stays hidden forever.
01:08We've all done it.
01:20Borrowed a book and forgot to return it.
01:23For one family, this slip-up leads to finding a long-lost literary treasure.
01:30In 1990, Barbara Testa is going through some old boxes and bags in her attic.
01:39As she digs and rummages through the clutter, she comes across some old family letters and
01:45some of her grandmother's handwritten poems in an old steamer trunk.
01:48It's a sentimental and nostalgic trip through family history.
01:54But then Barbara pauses.
01:57Tucked between the familiar stories and memories are pages in a handwriting she doesn't recognize.
02:04As she's reading the pages, they appear to be a part of a manuscript, and the words are becoming more and more familiar.
02:13Right is right, and wrong is wrong.
02:15And a body ain't got no business doing wrong when he ain't ignorant and knows better.
02:21Barbara's uncovered a handwritten manuscript of Mark Twain's masterpiece,
02:26The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
02:28Barbara reaches out to Sotheby's, who sends an armored truck to her home to collect the book.
02:37Sotheby's works with the Mark Twain Papers Project at UC Berkeley.
02:42They compare the handwriting, style, and structure to other authenticated Mark Twain manuscripts.
02:49Sure enough, the handwriting matches perfectly.
02:52But there's a twist.
02:53It's only half the book.
02:56The rest is missing.
02:57So how did this part end up in Barbara's attic, and where's the rest?
03:03Barbara tells the researchers that her grandfather, James Fraser Gluck,
03:07was the curator of a library in Buffalo, New York.
03:11And the man was a zealous collector.
03:14He was collecting manuscripts from some of the world's most famous writers,
03:18people like Walt Whitman and Louisa May Alcott.
03:21And everything he collected, he donated to the library.
03:24Researchers discovered that, back in the mid-1880s, Gluck had contacted Samuel L. Clemens,
03:33better known as Mark Twain, requesting the manuscript for his collection.
03:38Twain, who was a former resident of Buffalo, New York,
03:41agreed to send Gluck the handwritten manuscript of a Huckleberry Finn,
03:44but he only finds the second half of the book.
03:47So that's what he sends over to Gluck, which remains in the library to this day.
03:51And that's where the story is thought to end.
03:54But it turns out, in 1887, unbeknownst to everybody,
03:59Twain did find the first half, and he sent it to Gluck.
04:02Except for some reason, it never makes it into the Buffalo Library's collection
04:06to join the second half of the book.
04:08We do know that Gluck died suddenly in 1897,
04:14and the whereabouts of the manuscript were unknown.
04:17It's not until Barbara's discovery, over 100 years later,
04:21that the lost half is found.
04:23One rare book collector calls it
04:26the greatest literary find of the 20th century.
04:29Twain lovers are ecstatic,
04:31and so are Barbara and her sister,
04:34who plan on auctioning it off to make a pretty penny.
04:36But before the bidding even starts,
04:39they get a notice from the Buffalo Public Library
04:42claiming they own the rights to Barbara's half of the manuscript.
04:47While Barbara wants to sell the book,
04:49the library wants to keep it with the other half in their collection.
04:54After some legal back and forth,
04:55the two sides finally reach a deal.
04:58Barbara and her sister get a finder's fee of $1 million,
05:02and the library promises to put Twain's complete manuscript on display
05:06just as her grandfather intended.
05:08So all in all, everybody ends up getting what they want.
05:12114 years later.
05:14Meanwhile, another crew isn't digging through paper.
05:18They're pulling something far stranger from the ground.
05:21It's 1872 in Los Angeles,
05:28and Major Henry Hancock has set up an operation
05:32quarrying natural asphalt from his property.
05:38Large pools of the black, sticky liquid
05:41are all over his ranch near the surface,
05:44and there's a big demand for the substance right now.
05:46It's needed to pave roads, tar roofs.
05:48Los Angeles, at this time, is a growing city.
05:54But as workers start digging out the tar,
05:57they come across a large bone.
06:00Then they find another.
06:02Then dozens.
06:04Then hundreds.
06:05Then thousands.
06:08This land used to be a Spanish ranchero,
06:11so people first assume that these are
06:15the remains of cattle or horses
06:18that accidentally stumbled into the tar.
06:20Hancock wants to know just what is going on,
06:23so he calls his geologist friend named William Denton
06:26to come and take a look.
06:28Denton looks at many of the fossil bones
06:30and starts to realize they're too large,
06:33not shaped correctly for cattle at all.
06:35Denton also finds a very large fossilized tooth,
06:41much bigger than any mountain lion
06:44or other cat native to the area.
06:47After further research,
06:49he determines that the tooth fossil
06:51comes from a saber-toothed cat
06:54that went extinct in this area
06:55over 9,000 years ago.
06:57The discovery is fascinating,
07:00and it's just the beginning.
07:02Over the years,
07:03more massive bones are unearthed.
07:06Then, in 1901,
07:08a geologist named W.W. Orcutt
07:11takes over,
07:12and he's determined to find even more.
07:16He sets up a major excavation
07:18and research operation
07:19to remove and catalog
07:21the thousands of bones
07:24that are still being pulled from the asphalt.
07:25Orcutt and his team
07:28find skeletons
07:29from thousands of different species,
07:32all from the Pleistocene Epoch
07:33between 10 and 40,000 years ago.
07:36These include mammoths,
07:38saber-toothed cats,
07:40dire wolves,
07:41and other massive megafauna
07:43that ruled the world
07:45during the Ice Age.
07:47The area eventually gets named
07:49the La Brea Tar Pits,
07:51and it's a gold mine,
07:52one of the biggest deposits
07:54of prehistoric bones in the world.
07:58But how did so many end up in one spot?
08:01Researchers believe that animals
08:03were lured to the area
08:04to drink from nearby streams
08:06and then would get trapped
08:07in the black, sticky substance.
08:09Researchers have even found bones
08:12from entire families,
08:14meaning they obviously got caught together
08:16and perished in this tarry trap.
08:20Exploration of the area continues for decades.
08:24Then, in 2006,
08:26another project stirs up something brand new.
08:31The Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
08:33next door to the La Brea Tar Pits,
08:35decides that they want to build
08:37an underground parking garage.
08:38They bring in these cranes
08:40and heavy earth movers
08:42to begin the task,
08:43and as soon as they do,
08:44what do they find?
08:45But, you guessed it,
08:47more bones.
08:49All together,
08:50the workers uncover
08:5116 new fossil deposits.
08:55But by far,
08:56the most important discovery
08:57is an 80% intact
09:00adult mammoth skeleton.
09:02This is the most complete
09:04set of mammoth remains
09:05to come out of the tar pits
09:06and one of the most complete
09:08adult specimens
09:09ever found
09:10anywhere in the world.
09:12The animal is given
09:13the affectionate name Zed.
09:16Researchers determined
09:17that he died
09:17around the age of 48,
09:19nearly 37,000 years in the past,
09:23probably from injuries sustained
09:24fighting over a mate.
09:26Today,
09:26you can go see Zed
09:28at the La Brea Tar Pit Museum,
09:30one of the most famous
09:31natural sites in Los Angeles,
09:33and one that attracts
09:34around 400,000 visitors
09:35every year.
09:42Antiques,
09:43old clothes,
09:44dusty heirlooms.
09:45That's all one woman
09:46thought she'd find
09:47cleaning out her dad's house.
09:49But what she had covered
09:50turns out to be worth
09:52far more than just memories.
09:54It's 2004 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
09:59and Susan Hendry-Turot
10:01is going through the belongings
10:02of her late father,
10:04Basil Hendry, Sr.
10:06They're going through antiques
10:08and old clothing
10:09and some religious artwork
10:11that he had collected.
10:12Susan keeps a few paintings
10:14that have sentimental value
10:16and then assigns the rest
10:18to a pile
10:19that she's willing to sell,
10:22including a dark,
10:24old, gloomy painting
10:26of Jesus Christ.
10:28So a year passes
10:29and Susan finally gets around
10:31to having these paintings appraised.
10:32The appraiser isn't really
10:34blown away by any of them,
10:35but he thinks that
10:36that one of Jesus
10:37could maybe get $750
10:39from the right collector.
10:40The piece has been
10:42heavily overpainted,
10:44maybe even multiple times.
10:46It looks almost cartoonish.
10:48Plus, the painting's condition
10:49is deteriorating,
10:51so Susan is eager
10:53to get rid of it
10:54and she puts it up for auction.
10:56When the painting
10:57hits the auction floor,
10:58something happens
10:59that shocks everyone.
11:01The bidding starts low,
11:03but several paddles go up,
11:05blasting past the $750 mark.
11:08They start going above $2,000,
11:12$3,000,
11:13and eventually,
11:14this painting
11:15sells for roughly $10,000.
11:19$10,000 isn't going
11:20to change her life,
11:21but it's certainly
11:22a lot more than she'd hoped
11:23to get from cleaning out
11:24some of the old family belongings.
11:26So Susan pockets the money
11:27and she really doesn't think
11:28much more about it.
11:30A few years later,
11:32Susan's phone starts
11:34ringing off the hook.
11:35Out of nowhere,
11:36members of the media
11:36begin calling
11:37Susan asking her
11:39about this Jesus painting
11:40that she sold at auction.
11:42They asked,
11:43where did you find it?
11:44Where did it come from?
11:45And most importantly,
11:47did she know
11:48what she had?
11:49To most,
11:50it looked like
11:51just another old painting,
11:52but as the new owners
11:54embark on a skilled restoration,
11:56a very different story
11:58comes to light.
11:59As they clean it up
12:01and remove the dark layers
12:03of paint on the surface,
12:05a new, different image
12:07starts to be revealed.
12:10The group takes
12:11infrared photographs
12:11to get a better look
12:12at this image
12:13that's peeking through.
12:15They see what's called
12:16a pentamento,
12:17which is basically
12:18a tracing of an earlier piece.
12:20There's a version
12:21underneath the painting
12:22where Jesus' thumb
12:24is straight
12:25instead of
12:26in a curved position.
12:27Based on this,
12:29the new owners believe
12:30they've uncovered
12:32a lost work
12:33from one of the most
12:34famous artists
12:35of all time,
12:37Leonardo da Vinci.
12:39As it's carefully restored,
12:41the piece becomes
12:41easily recognizable
12:42as a missing da Vinci
12:44known as
12:45Salvatore Mundi,
12:46which translates to
12:47the savior of the world.
12:49The revelation
12:51sparks a flurry
12:52of headlines.
12:53How did such
12:54an important work of art
12:55end up in Baton Rouge?
12:57Louisiana.
12:59Susan believes
13:01that her father
13:02acquired the painting
13:03from her aunt Millie,
13:04but no one ever mentioned
13:06that this painting
13:07was anything overtly special.
13:10With little to go on,
13:12experts dig deeper
13:14to better connect the dots.
13:16Researchers track down records
13:18from a Sotheby's auction
13:19in 1958
13:20featuring the estate
13:21of James Cook,
13:23the grandson
13:23of famous British art collector
13:26Sir Francis Cook.
13:27Sure enough,
13:29there's a record
13:29of Aunt Millie
13:30buying this painting
13:32for 45 pounds,
13:34roughly 120 bucks.
13:36Once it's fully restored,
13:38the Salvatore Mundi
13:39goes back up
13:40for auction
13:41in 2017.
13:43Sold!
13:44This time,
13:46a member of the Saudi
13:48royal family
13:49buys it
13:50at auction
13:51for $450 million,
13:55making this
13:56once-discarded painting
13:58the most valuable piece
14:00of art
14:01in world history.
14:03You'd think
14:04if you were spending
14:05almost a half a billion dollars
14:07on a painting,
14:08you'd want to show it off,
14:10but nobody's seen it
14:11since the sale.
14:12The rumor
14:13is that it
14:14is in a high-security vault
14:16somewhere in Switzerland,
14:18and with the history
14:19of the Salvatore Mundi
14:20of appearing
14:21and disappearing,
14:22you may never see it again.
14:26Or maybe we will.
14:27In 2012,
14:32another revered piece
14:33of history
14:34falls into
14:35one woman's lap.
14:39Marie Malciotti,
14:41who is a book
14:42conservation technician
14:43at Brown University's library,
14:45is going through
14:46a recent donation
14:47from the estate
14:48of Solomon Drown,
14:50who graduated from Brown
14:51in the year 1773.
14:53And while going through
14:55a book
14:56that was published
14:57in 1811
14:58called
14:58The Modern Practice
15:00of Physics,
15:01she finds something
15:03unusual.
15:05A little slip of paper
15:06is tucked in the back.
15:07She carefully unfolds
15:08the paper,
15:09and she sees a depiction
15:10of Jesus' baptism
15:12by John the Baptist.
15:13But at the bottom,
15:15she notices
15:15an inscription
15:16that says,
15:17P. Revere Sculp.
15:20Malciotti
15:21can't believe her eyes.
15:23She knows that
15:24Sculp,
15:25in a signature,
15:25stands for
15:26Sculps It,
15:27which is Latin for
15:28He Engraved It.
15:29And she sees
15:31the name
15:31P. Revere.
15:33So she started
15:33thinking to herself,
15:35there's no way
15:35that this could be
15:36THE Paul Revere
15:38from the Revolutionary War.
15:41Most Americans
15:42know from school
15:43that in April 1775,
15:45Paul Revere
15:45was responsible
15:46for warning the colonists
15:48that the British military
15:49was on their way.
15:50Less well-known
15:52is the fact
15:53that before he became
15:55a celebrated patriot,
15:57Revere made
15:58copperplate engravings
15:59for books and magazines.
16:02Arguably,
16:03his most famous engraving
16:04was the Boston Massacre
16:06in 1770,
16:07which was used
16:08as a key piece
16:10of propaganda
16:10for the American
16:12Revolutionary War effort.
16:14But this piece
16:15is a little different.
16:16This etching
16:16is of a religious nature.
16:19It depicts Jesus
16:20being fully submerged
16:22in the Jordan River
16:23by John the Baptist.
16:24The piece is titled
16:25Buried with Him
16:27by Baptism.
16:29For more insight,
16:30Malchody brings the etching
16:32to Richard Noble,
16:34the Brown University Library's
16:36rare material cataloger.
16:38Noble first examines
16:40the paper itself.
16:41He holds the paper
16:42up to the light
16:43and he sees
16:43a ribbed structure,
16:45which is a telltale sign
16:46of 18th century paper.
16:48Then Noble moves
16:50on to his next area
16:51of focus,
16:52looking at who
16:53Solomon Drowned
16:54actually was.
16:55The alumnus
16:56who owned
16:57that collection of books,
16:58it turns out
16:59that he was
17:00a contemporary
17:01of Revere's.
17:03So the age
17:04of the books
17:04as well as the etching,
17:06they both line up.
17:07Finally,
17:10Noble discovers
17:10that there are actually
17:12four other copies
17:13of this etching
17:14attributed to Paul Revere.
17:15So he calls
17:16the American Antiquarian Society
17:18and the Worcester Art Museum
17:19to have this copy
17:21compared to the others.
17:22Sure enough,
17:23they're a match.
17:25So it's an authentic
17:27Paul Revere etching.
17:28But there is one difference
17:30between this one
17:31and the other copies.
17:32This is the only one
17:33with the full plate mark visible,
17:35making it extremely rare.
17:37The exact value
17:38of this etching
17:39isn't known.
17:41But other Revere works,
17:42including one
17:43of the Boston Massacre,
17:45have sold
17:45for over $400,000
17:47at auction.
17:49And this one
17:50is even more unique.
17:52Now,
17:52while this incredible engraving
17:53has been featured
17:54in numerous exhibits,
17:55you can actually
17:56go see it today.
17:58Whether you're
17:58a history buff
18:00or a Paul Revere enthusiast,
18:01it's at the
18:02John Hay Library
18:03at Brown University.
18:05A appointment only.
18:07Imagine it's 1799.
18:13You're a young
18:14French soldier
18:15digging near
18:16a dusty fort
18:17in Egypt
18:17when your shovel
18:19hits something strange.
18:20A stone slab
18:21covered in symbols
18:23no one can read.
18:24What it meant
18:25and who left it there
18:27puzzles historians
18:28for decades.
18:29July 1799.
18:35Napoleon
18:35and his army
18:36are marching
18:37across Egypt.
18:41Conquering
18:42everything in sun.
18:44After the army
18:45takes the town
18:46of Rashid,
18:47they begin to
18:47construct a fort
18:48laying claim
18:49to this area.
18:51Under the blazing sun,
18:53the soldiers
18:54are digging
18:54a foundation
18:55for the fort.
18:56when they strike
18:57something unexpected
19:00in the sand.
19:03A large
19:04black stone.
19:05This isn't the kind
19:08of stone
19:09that you skip
19:09across a pond.
19:11This one
19:11is almost
19:12four feet tall,
19:13two and a half
19:14feet wide,
19:14and it weighs
19:15over 1600 pounds.
19:17These soldiers
19:18have no idea
19:19what they're looking at,
19:20so they call over
19:21a superior officer.
19:23This army officer
19:24is not an archaeologist,
19:26but he notices
19:28the stone
19:29is covered
19:30in strange inscriptions.
19:31He tells his soldiers
19:34to dig it out,
19:35and they bring it
19:36straight to Napoleon.
19:38Napoleon gathers
19:39some of his best scholars
19:40to try and figure out
19:42what it says.
19:43These scholars
19:44have never seen
19:45anything like this,
19:46but what they are
19:47able to determine
19:48is that the inscriptions
19:49look like
19:50three distinct languages.
19:52One of these languages
19:53is ancient Greek,
19:55which these experts
19:56can read,
19:57and it translates
19:57to some kind of text
19:59about an ancient pharaoh's
20:01accomplishments.
20:02The other symbols
20:03look like hieroglyphics
20:05and demotic script,
20:06demotic script being
20:08a kind of ancient
20:09Egyptian language
20:10used by ordinary people,
20:11but now lost.
20:12So the scholars
20:13are able to identify
20:15what it is
20:16they're looking at,
20:17but they're not able
20:18to read it.
20:19Before Napoleon's team
20:20can decipher
20:21the mysterious writing,
20:23the British close in.
20:25On March 21st, 1801,
20:28in the Battle of Alexandria,
20:30the British defeat
20:31the French in Egypt.
20:32They seize control
20:33of Rashid
20:34and the stone
20:35right along with it.
20:36They ship it back
20:37to England,
20:37where King George III
20:39decides to place it
20:40at the British Museum
20:41in London.
20:42The British send copies
20:44of the inscriptions
20:45on the stone's face
20:46to scholars around
20:47the world,
20:47hoping someone
20:48will be able to unlock
20:50its lost languages.
20:52One of these copies
20:53lands on the desk
20:54of a young French linguist
20:56named Jean-Francois Champollion.
20:58He's a prodigy
20:59who can speak 13 languages
21:01by the time he was 20.
21:03Champollion knows
21:04the Greek alphabet,
21:06so like scholars before him,
21:07he has no trouble
21:08reading one-third
21:09of the inscriptions.
21:11The other two
21:12are going to take him
21:13some time.
21:15Based on rudimentary
21:17knowledge of hieroglyphics,
21:19Champollion can already
21:20identify where
21:21a royal name occurs.
21:24It's surrounded
21:24by an oval
21:25called a cartouche.
21:27He compares the name
21:29Ptolemaeus
21:30in the Greek text
21:31with a matching cartouche
21:33in the hieroglyphics.
21:35Then comes
21:36the key realization.
21:38All three languages
21:39have the same message.
21:42That connection
21:43helps him begin
21:44cracking the code.
21:47Not just in hieroglyphics,
21:48but in the middle script
21:50as well.
21:51Then he discovers
21:52that hieroglyphics
21:53is a hybrid language.
21:55Some symbols
21:56represent words.
21:58Others depict objects.
22:00But other symbols
22:00convey entire ideas.
22:03Piece by piece,
22:04Champollion maps
22:05phonetic sounds
22:06to the symbols,
22:07slowly unlocking
22:08a language
22:09that's been dead
22:10for nearly 1,500 years.
22:13Essentially,
22:14the stone reads
22:15like a resume
22:15of King Ptolemy V
22:17Epiphanes.
22:18It's a chronicle
22:19of his good deeds.
22:20Everything from
22:21tax cuts
22:22to restoring peace
22:24after a rebellion
22:25during his predecessor's ring.
22:27He wants everyone
22:28to know about
22:29his legacy
22:30and he leaves
22:31a record to prove it
22:33no matter
22:33what language
22:34you speak.
22:35It's called
22:36the Rosetta Stone,
22:38named for the town
22:39it was founded.
22:41The Rosetta Stone
22:42functions almost
22:43like a decoder ring.
22:45This allows scholars
22:48to finally read
22:49and interpret
22:50countless inscriptions,
22:51texts,
22:52and artifacts,
22:53unlocking a wealth
22:54of knowledge
22:55about one of the most
22:56significant civilizations
22:58in history.
22:59For many historians,
23:00the Rosetta Stone
23:01is the best thing
23:03to come from
23:04Napoleon's
23:04otherwise quite brutal reign.
23:06Our next great find
23:10takes us
23:10from the sands of Egypt
23:12to a Greek island
23:13where a farmer
23:15stumbles upon
23:16one of the world's
23:17most famous faces.
23:19On April 8th, 1820,
23:24a Greek farmer
23:25by the name
23:26of Georgos Kentrotas
23:27is looking for stones
23:29to help build up
23:30a retaining wall
23:31on his property
23:32on the island
23:32of Milos.
23:33And as he's gathering
23:34together all these stones,
23:35he notices that
23:36there's one that seems
23:37curiously out of place.
23:40He gets closer,
23:41brushes some dirt away,
23:42and he realizes
23:46he's found
23:47a smooth piece of marble
23:49sticking up
23:49from out of the earth.
23:51The island of Milos
23:52is known
23:53for rich mineral deposits,
23:55things like sulfur
23:56or obsidian,
23:57but not marble.
23:59As the farmer
24:00continues to look
24:01for rocks
24:01to build his wall,
24:03he finds
24:03another piece of marble
24:05and another.
24:07And before you know it,
24:08he's got a pile of marble
24:09and he can't believe
24:11his eyes.
24:12Coincidentally,
24:14a French naval officer
24:16named Olivier Voutier
24:17is exploring the ruins
24:20of an ancient theater nearby.
24:21He notices
24:22the farmer's reaction
24:24to the strange stones
24:25that he's finding
24:26in his field,
24:27and so he goes over
24:28to see what Kentrotas
24:29has discovered.
24:30The two men sort
24:32through the pile of stones
24:33and they realize
24:34that some of them
24:35actually might fit together.
24:37It takes a little trial
24:38and error,
24:39but they slowly
24:41reassemble
24:42something very surprising.
24:46In front of them
24:47is the torso
24:47of a beautiful naked woman,
24:50although they're unable
24:51to find her arms.
24:53Voutier, however,
24:54knows enough
24:54about ancient relics
24:55to recognize
24:57something valuable
24:58when he sees it,
24:58and so he contacts
24:59officials back in France
25:00urging them
25:02to purchase this piece.
25:03The French ambassador
25:06arranges to purchase
25:08the statue,
25:09and soon it's on its way
25:11to Paris,
25:11where she is presented
25:13to King Louis XVIII.
25:15The king donates
25:16the statue
25:16to the Louvre,
25:18where experts identify
25:19the statue
25:20as Aphrodite,
25:21the Greek goddess of love,
25:23who's also known
25:24as Venus
25:25in Roman mythology.
25:26This identification
25:28gives the statue
25:29her iconic name,
25:31the Venus de Milo.
25:36This masterpiece
25:37is carved
25:37from two distinct
25:39pieces of marble
25:40and then carefully
25:40joined together,
25:41and when it is,
25:43the Venus de Milo
25:43stands at an imposing
25:45six feet,
25:46seven inches tall.
25:48Today,
25:48this statue
25:49that once lay
25:50in pieces
25:51across a farmer's field
25:53is seen by about
25:54seven million people a year.
26:03You expect to find
26:04important pieces
26:05of American history
26:07in Philadelphia,
26:09Washington, D.C.,
26:10or even New York,
26:11but imagine
26:12how unexpected it is
26:14when one turns up
26:16on a quiet farm
26:17in North Carolina.
26:21In 2022,
26:23the Wood family
26:24of Edenton,
26:25North Carolina
26:25decides to sell
26:27their 184-acre estate.
26:30The property
26:30is historic,
26:32dating all the way
26:32back to the 1700s,
26:33so the state
26:34of North Carolina
26:35decides to buy it
26:36and turn it
26:36into a landmark.
26:38The house itself
26:39is old,
26:40and it has some
26:40original period items
26:41that the Wood family
26:42believes probably
26:43were worth some money.
26:44To prepare for the sale,
26:46the Woods bring in
26:47an appraiser
26:47to see what they
26:48might be worth.
26:50As the appraiser
26:51surveys a room,
26:52he spots
26:54a dust-covered
26:56metal filing cabinet.
26:57Curious,
26:58he decides
26:59to take a look inside.
27:00Along with some
27:01old and insignificant
27:03stacks of paper,
27:04one thing stands out.
27:08There's a folder
27:09that's holding
27:11a very old,
27:13creased piece of paper,
27:14paper, and as the
27:16appraiser starts
27:17reading, some
27:18familiar words
27:19start to jump
27:20out of him.
27:22We, the people
27:23of the United States,
27:25in order to form
27:25a more perfect union.
27:27This is, of course,
27:28the famous first line
27:30to the preamble
27:31of the U.S.
27:32Constitution.
27:33But there's more,
27:34because at the bottom
27:34there's a signature.
27:36Charles Thompson.
27:37While Charles Thompson
27:39is not a well-known name,
27:41the appraiser
27:42knows his history.
27:43Charles Thompson
27:44is the secretary
27:45of Congress
27:47during the
27:47Constitutional Convention,
27:49when the Constitution
27:49was written in 1787.
27:52The presence
27:53of his signature
27:54on the document
27:55provides a powerful
27:56indication that
27:57this could be
27:58one of the original
27:58copies of the
27:59U.S. Constitution.
28:02So how does
28:03a document
28:04of such historical
28:05significance
28:06end up in a
28:07filing cabinet
28:08on a North Carolina
28:09farm?
28:11Back in the 1780s,
28:13before the Wood
28:14family had owned
28:15the property,
28:17it was the home
28:17of the state's
28:18governor,
28:19Samuel Johnston.
28:20After the Constitution
28:21is ratified
28:22by the U.S. Congress
28:23in June of 1788,
28:26copies of the document
28:27are sent
28:27to the governors
28:28of the 13 original
28:29colonies.
28:30One of those copies
28:31ends up at the estate
28:33on Governor Johnston's
28:34desk.
28:35When the governor
28:36passes away
28:37at his estate
28:38in 1816,
28:39all of his papers
28:40and his office
28:41is essentially
28:42turned into
28:43a storeroom.
28:45So eventually
28:45all those documents
28:46are filed away
28:47in that metal
28:48filing cabinet,
28:49only to be discovered
28:50by the Wood family
28:51appraiser more than
28:52two centuries later.
28:55Thinking that they
28:56might have something
28:56really valuable here,
28:57the family decides
28:58to put the item
28:59up for auction.
29:00The last time
29:02that an original
29:03state copy
29:04of the Constitution
29:05went up for auction,
29:06it sold for about
29:07$400 in 1891,
29:10which in today's money
29:11is about $15,000.
29:12So not bad
29:13for an old piece
29:14of paper,
29:14but it's definitely
29:15not a fortune.
29:17Now,
29:17over a century later,
29:19the Wood family
29:20hopes for the best
29:21as the auction begins.
29:24People are participating
29:26in person,
29:27by phone,
29:28and online,
29:29and the price
29:30quickly soars
29:31past $1 million.
29:33Bids begin jumping
29:34by $500,000 increments.
29:37It's a seven-minute frenzy
29:39as the family
29:39watches the price soar.
29:41When the gavel
29:42finally falls,
29:43the Woods Constitution
29:44sells for $9 million.
29:48An anonymous bidder
29:50ends up winning
29:51the auction,
29:52and according to Sotheby's,
29:53pays the highest amount
29:55ever for a book,
29:57manuscript,
29:57or text
29:58at auction.
30:00As for the Wood family,
30:02this single piece of paper
30:03earns them $3 million more
30:06than the $6 million
30:08that they earned
30:09on the sale
30:10of their entire property.
30:13Up next,
30:15a discovery
30:15on a whole different scale,
30:18and this one
30:19wasn't tucked away
30:21in a drawer.
30:21So it's 1984,
30:25it's the Reagan administration,
30:26and with renewed tension
30:28between the United States
30:29and the Soviet Union,
30:30the U.S. Navy
30:31is eager
30:32to recover the wrecks
30:33of two sunken
30:34U.S. nuclear submarines,
30:36the USS Scorpion
30:38and the USS Thresher,
30:40both of which
30:41sank in the 1960s.
30:43The officials
30:44are desperate
30:45to find
30:46these two sunken submarines
30:47to ensure
30:48that the Soviet Union
30:50doesn't get there first
30:52and discover
30:53vital nuclear secrets.
30:55The Navy wanted
30:56to know the status
30:57of their nuclear reactor,
30:59so they went to a man
31:01who was one of the most
31:02lauded names
31:02in underwater exploration,
31:05Bob Ballard.
31:05So in August of 1985,
31:09Ballard and his team
31:10set off
31:10on this top-secret mission
31:12to locate and survey
31:13the wreckage
31:14of these two missing subs.
31:16The team uses
31:17a deep-toed sonar
31:18coupled with the submersibles
31:20to search
31:21the seafloor in the grid.
31:24In the search,
31:26they find the USS Thresher,
31:28and two weeks later,
31:29they identify
31:30the wreckage
31:31of the Scorpion.
31:32Ballard and his team
31:33complete the expedition
31:3512 days ahead of schedule.
31:38They take the remaining days
31:39and they comb the ocean floor
31:40seeing what else
31:42they could find.
31:43They continue using
31:45this incredible,
31:46sophisticated
31:46underwater imaging,
31:48and on September 1st, 1985,
31:51operators in the camera room
31:53observe something unexpected.
31:56It's a debris field
31:57on the floor
31:58of the North Atlantic.
32:00Ballard follows the debris field
32:02for roughly 2,000,
32:033,000 feet,
32:04ultimately culminating
32:06at the hull
32:08of a sunken ship.
32:10While the ocean floor
32:11is filled
32:12with thousands
32:13of shipwrecks,
32:14Ballard recognizes this
32:16as perhaps
32:16the most famous of all.
32:18Her name, of course,
32:20the Titanic.
32:23He can't believe it.
32:25This is the holy grail
32:28of found shipwrecks.
32:31People have been searching
32:32for the Titanic
32:33for over 70 years,
32:35but Ballard and his team
32:36find the Titanic
32:37almost as a footnote
32:38on a military mission.
32:39The find makes headlines
32:41around the world,
32:44makes a celebrity of Ballard,
32:46and reignites interest
32:48in this so-called
32:49unsinkable ship.
32:50In the years after
32:53the discovery,
32:54one key detail
32:55was kept under wraps.
32:57Only in 2008
32:59could Ballard
32:59finally reveal
33:00that were it not
33:02for the secret search
33:03for the thresher
33:04and the scorpion,
33:06the Titanic
33:06might never
33:07have been discovered.
33:08It's 1592,
33:17and a team
33:18in southern Italy
33:19are hard at work
33:20digging a ditch
33:21for a powerful duke
33:23when they unearth
33:24something unusual
33:26buried in the air.
33:30A team of workers
33:31are trying to excavate
33:32an underground tunnel system
33:34to bring water
33:35from the Sarno River
33:36to a town
33:37four miles away
33:38called Torre Annunziata.
33:41Workers encounter
33:41layer after layer
33:42of hardened ash
33:44compacted like cement
33:46from previous eruptions
33:47of the nearby volcano,
33:49Mount Vesuvius.
33:53One day,
33:54as workers are digging,
33:55they find pieces
33:56of what appears
33:57to be ancient frescoes,
33:59and some have
34:00inscriptions on them.
34:02They stop
34:03and grab their supervisor,
34:04and when he looks
34:05at what the workers
34:05have found,
34:06he can't believe
34:08his eyes.
34:09These seem
34:11to be ancient ruins,
34:13and upon closer
34:14examination,
34:15the architect finds
34:16ancient walls
34:18adorned with paintings
34:19and inscriptions.
34:20He petitions the duke
34:22for permission
34:23to excavate,
34:24but the duke
34:24is focused
34:25on just one thing,
34:27getting water
34:27to Torre Annunziata.
34:30The site sits
34:31untouched
34:32for the next
34:32150 years
34:34until King Charles
34:35III of Spain
34:37decides to explore
34:38it further.
34:39In the mid-1700s,
34:41we're in the middle
34:41of the Age of Enlightenment,
34:43which is a time period
34:44where rulers
34:45were literally competing
34:46with each other
34:47for knowledge
34:48and information.
34:49As part of that
34:50thirst for glory,
34:51the King of Spain
34:52wants to be the first
34:54to excavate
34:55Fontana's worksite.
34:57The site is still
34:58buried under tons
35:00of hardened volcanic ash
35:01and holds
35:02little-known significance,
35:04but they call in
35:05Swiss military engineer
35:06Carl Weber
35:07to oversee the dig anyway.
35:11As they dig deeper,
35:13Weber and his team
35:14uncover something shocking.
35:16Right there
35:18on one of these
35:18ancient walls,
35:20workers discover
35:20an inscription,
35:22Re Pubblica Pompeianorum,
35:24the Republic of Pompeians.
35:32Now, Weber knows
35:34without a doubt
35:35that they've uncovered
35:36something remarkable.
35:38It's the legendary
35:39lost city of Pompeii,
35:41missing for nearly
35:431,500 years.
35:44Pompeii was perfectly
35:46preserved by one
35:48major catastrophic
35:49event,
35:50the eruption
35:51of Mount Vesuvius
35:52in 79 A.D.
35:59This is not
36:01your average
36:01volcanic eruption.
36:03When this thing blows,
36:05experts estimate
36:06it releases
36:06thermal energy
36:08100,000 times
36:09more powerful
36:10than the atomic bombs
36:12dropped on Japan
36:12at the end
36:13of World War II.
36:16It erupts so suddenly
36:18that many residents
36:19don't have time
36:20to flee.
36:21They're preserved
36:21in the same positions,
36:23sitting, standing,
36:25hugging,
36:25that they were in
36:26at the time
36:26of the eruption.
36:28In all,
36:29most scholars think
36:30that 1,500 to 2,000 people
36:32died in the eruption,
36:34but some estimates
36:35suggest that
36:35as many as 16,000 people
36:37died.
36:37they had no chance.
36:40Everything happened
36:40so fast,
36:42so chaotically.
36:44Pompeii and its citizens
36:45are wiped off the map.
36:48Simply put,
36:49it's total devastation.
36:51With more than a third
36:52of Pompeii still buried,
36:54there's still plenty more
36:54to be discovered.
36:56And it's all thanks
36:57to workers
36:57digging a ditch
36:58in the 1500s.
37:00It took five years
37:07and many dead ends,
37:09but when one of
37:10archaeology's
37:11greatest discoveries
37:12is finally made
37:13in Egypt,
37:14it happens by accident
37:15thanks to a young
37:17water boy.
37:19In November 1922,
37:2212-year-old
37:23Hussein Abdel Rasul
37:24does what he does
37:26every day.
37:27carries heavy jugs
37:29of water
37:30to the dig site
37:31of famous
37:32British Egyptologist
37:33Howard Carter.
37:35Carter's team
37:36has been digging
37:36at this site,
37:38known as the Valley
37:38of the Kings,
37:39on and off for years.
37:41As you can imagine,
37:42digging in the
37:43Egyptian desert
37:44is a brutal undertaking.
37:46Temperatures reach
37:47well over 100 degrees,
37:50and all the sand
37:51reflects the heat
37:52onto the workers
37:53at the site.
37:57So Carter and his team
37:58rely on water boys
38:00like Hussein
38:00to bring jugs
38:02of water
38:02to the dig team
38:03all day,
38:04every day.
38:05The Egyptian sands
38:06can often be unsteady,
38:08and so Hussein
38:08and the other water boys
38:09will often dig
38:10little trenches
38:11in order to place
38:12these jugs
38:13to ensure that
38:13they don't tip over.
38:15One day,
38:16Hussein buries
38:17a jug of water
38:18just as he's done
38:19hundreds of times,
38:20but on this day,
38:21something is different.
38:22As he digs,
38:25he hits something hard,
38:27something that
38:29shouldn't be there.
38:31He clears the sand
38:32off it,
38:33and there's the shape
38:34of a step.
38:36Now, Hussein doesn't
38:37know where this leads,
38:38but in all his time,
38:39he's never seen
38:40anything like this,
38:41and so he calls
38:42Howard Carter over
38:43to take a look.
38:44When Carter sees the step,
38:46he can't believe it.
38:47He wants to know
38:48where it leads.
38:50He brings the rest
38:51of the team over,
38:52and they ferociously
38:53dig for the next
38:54three weeks.
39:00Eventually,
39:01they discover
39:02a sunken staircase,
39:04ending at a heavy
39:06stone door.
39:09On the door,
39:10he sees something
39:11incredible,
39:12a seal with the
39:13markings of Tutankhamen.
39:16On November 24th,
39:17Carter breaks
39:18a small hole
39:19in the door,
39:20and peers inside.
39:22Then,
39:23silence.
39:24When asked
39:25if he sees anything,
39:26Carter responds
39:26in awe,
39:27yes,
39:28wonderful things.
39:31The rest of the team
39:33heads down
39:34to join him,
39:35and as they enter,
39:36they find
39:37four burial chambers
39:38filled with
39:405,000
39:41extraordinary treasures.
39:42There are gold-covered
39:45chariots,
39:46stunningly crafted
39:47jewelry,
39:49and a sarcophagus
39:50inscribed with
39:51King Tutankhamen's
39:53cartouche.
39:54This discovery
39:55is a dream
39:56come true
39:56for Carter
39:57because he's
39:58wanted this
39:58for such a long time.
40:00It also captures
40:01the public's fascination,
40:02and it leads
40:02to what many call
40:03Tutmania.
40:05Effectively,
40:05after this,
40:06King Tut
40:06becomes the first
40:08world-famous
40:08pharaoh.
40:10Archaeologists
40:10spend years
40:12cataloging
40:12and removing
40:13these fragile items,
40:15all left to honor
40:16this fallen king
40:17who ascended
40:19the throne
40:19when he was
40:19just 9 years old
40:21and died
40:22when he was 18.
40:24Perhaps the most
40:25iconic discovery
40:26of all
40:27is a solid gold mask
40:29that once covered
40:30the face
40:30of King Tut's mummy.
40:33Unfortunately,
40:34embalming agents
40:35acted like a glue
40:36to attach the mummy
40:37to the golden coffin
40:39around it,
40:39and experts
40:40have to dismember
40:41Tut's mummy
40:41to remove it
40:43from the tomb.
40:45Howard Carter
40:46goes into the history books
40:47as the discoverer
40:48of Tut's tomb,
40:50but Hussein Abdel Rasul's
40:52role in this discovery
40:53is much less known.
40:55Carter purposely
40:56leaves him
40:57out of his published report
40:58and attributes the find
41:00to his own workmen,
41:02perhaps to save face
41:03so that the world
41:04doesn't learn
41:05that this expert
41:06archaeologist
41:07was digging
41:08in the wrong place.
41:11Either way,
41:12it's fitting
41:13that the boy
41:13King's tomb
41:14is finally discovered
41:15by a 12-year-old
41:17boy himself.
41:21Some of history's
41:22greatest treasures
41:23were never meant
41:24to be found,
41:25but fate
41:26or maybe just
41:27dumb luck
41:28had other plans.
41:30I'm Danny Trejo.
41:31Thanks for watching
41:32Mysteries on Earth.
41:34the rest.
41:36You know,
41:36the time
41:38has third
41:38thing
41:38you know,
41:39the time
41:40you know the
41:40account
41:40must be found
41:41and they know
41:42shall dia
41:43have further
41:43through.
41:44We have seen
41:44a inch nessa
41:46minute long.
41:47You know the
41:47going
41:48to be found
41:49in the wrong place
41:51and might
41:52there
41:52be something
41:53interesting.
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