History’s greatest unsolved mysteries

The Voynich manuscript, the world’s most mysterious book, is a 15th-century cryptic work written in an unknown or coded language. It’s a mix of the elegant writing and drawings of strange plants and nude portraits, which has drawn many researchers to it. Finally, a small Spanish company will make exact replicas of the manuscript so that it’s accessible to more people. Here’s a look at some of history’s other unsolved riddles.

Mary Celeste

The Mary Celeste was an American merchant brigantine that was found adrift in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean without a crew on Dec. 5, 1872. Her lifeboats were missing, but the ship was in perfect condition and amply provisioned. None of the crew on board was ever seen again. Theories about what happened to the crew include waterspouts, attacks by deep sea creatures, pirates, and even a mutiny, but none has ever been proved.

The lost colony of Roanoke

Roanoke Island, situated off the coast of North Carolina, was established in 1587 by English settlers, led by John White. White soon departed for England for more supplies, leaving his wife, daughter, and grand-daughter Virginia Dare – the first English child born in the New World. When he got back in 1590, the entire colony was abandoned with only the word “Croatoan” carved on a post. The most popular theory is that the colonists fled to the nearby islands and assimilated with the Native American tribes.

Mohenjo Daro

The ancient Indus Valley civilization emerged around 4,500 years ago and thrived along the fertile plains of the Indus river until the civilization collapsed. Mohenjo Daro was unknown until 1911 when archaeologists first visited the city. Well-known for its drainage system and grid architecture, the destruction of the city still remains a historical puzzle. Theories abound from the river changing its course to invaders attacking with advanced weaponry.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument that took Neolithic builders an estimated 1,500 years to erect, comprises massive upright stones. Located in southern England, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While some scientists have suggested that glaciers or moving ice floes, not humans, did most of the heavy lifting, during one of the Ice Ages, the purpose for building this also remains a mystery. Popular theories call it a burial ground to a place of healing.

King Arthur

No one knows if King Arthur just belongs to Celtic folklore or if the legendary British ruler actually led the Britons against the Saxon invaders in the late 5th or early 6th century. Romance literature drawing upon the Arthurian legend, of him being the head of the kingdom of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table, performing acts of chivalry, and possessing magical powers flourished in the medieval age.

Bronze Age collapse

Just over half a century, the entire Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean Region collapsed in a violent and culturally disruptive way. Almost all the cities were destroyed and the cultural collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms brought about the so-called Dark Ages. Historians believe it might have been due to natural disasters as the area was seismically active or even attribute the fall to nomadic raiders or climate change.

Jack the Ripper

Five prostitues in Victorian London were murdered in 1888 by the “Whitechapel Murderer” and hence the mystery of Jack the Ripper was born. Even after more than 120 years, people still continue to look for the elusive serial killer who mutilated his victims’ abdomens. The term “ripperology” is now used for the study and analysis of his victims.

William Shakespeare

The English bard’s “authorship question” still continues to haunt scholars with many trying to figure out how a humble man from the countryside entered the literary world. Popular conspiracy theories suggest he was a ghostwriter or actually Sir Francis Bacon, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford or even Christopher Marlowe, another playwright from the same era.

Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin – a linen cloth bearing the image of a man- is widely believed to be the burial shroud for Jesus the Nazareth. The shroud is kept in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy and scientists have carbon-dated the cloth, studied the fiber, x-rayed the cloth, and even done DNA tests on the human blood spots on the cloth. The shroud still remains a mystery.

Antikythera mechanism

The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient analogue computer believed to have been made by Greek scientists in the 150 or 100 B.C. The computer was used to predict astronomical positions and even eclipses. It remains a mystery because the technology was not seen again until the 14th century when mechanical clocks were being made in Europe.

Area 51

Area 51 is a remote U.S. Air Force facility in Nevada commonly believed to have been the storage site of crashed UFOs. Conspiracy theories about the land abound as it borders Extraterrestrial Highway, a popular UFO sighting spot, and there are even rumors of an underground facility researching alien technology.

Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart was the first American female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She has set many other records and has published books about her flying experiences as well. However, in 1937, while flying over the central Pacific Ocean near Howland Island, Earhart’s aircraft mysteriously disappeared. The reason for her sudden disappearance is still unknown despite all the search efforts.

Dancing Plague

Frau Troffea, a resident of Strasbourg (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), suddenly took to dancing on the street in July 1518. Soon she was joined by others, all dancing uncontrollably. Within a month, 400 people were dancing in the city and many of them died from exhaustion and heart attacks. The Dancing Plague of 1518, as it came to be known, had completely died down by the mid-17th century. It’s unknown whether it was a real illness or a social phenomenon of some kind.

Loch Ness monster

According to legends, the Loch Ness monster, affectionately known as Nessie, is an aquatic creature found in Scotland in the 1930s. Some believers suggest that it’s a very large animal that represents a line of dinosaurs. The “surgeon’s photograph,” which dates back to 1934 is believed to be the first photographic evidence of the creature. Researcher Robert Rines suggested that some animals may have become extinct because of global warming.

Bermuda Triangle

Various ships and airplanes have gone missing in the Bermuda Triangle, which is located in the North Atlantic Ocean. The earliest article published about a disappearance was in The Miami Herald (Associated Press) in 1950. Although several studies and researchers have claimed that the stories revolving around the Devil’s Triangle are false, it remains a great piece of geographical mystery till date.

courtesy msn.com