Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could hold an
actual piece of history in your hands? Time capsules are a great way to preserve
artifacts from a bygone era in the hopes of finding a new audience in the modern world.
Let’s travel back in time and check out the 10 Most Amazing Time Capsules in the World!
What’s up, fact-natics! This is Discovery Amuse, serving up your daily dose of the most
outrageous, outlandish and out-of-this-world fun facts!
Watch ‘til the end because our number one pick is considered the largest time capsule on the planet!
Let’s go back to the future!
#10: The Crypt of Civilization
It may sound like the title of a John Grisham novel,
but the Crypt of Civilization is definitely not a work of fiction.
Hiding in the basement of Oglethorpe (OH-gul-thorp) University north of Atlanta
is this subterranean chamber that aims to be a snapshot of 1930s America. At least that was
the goal of historian Thornwell Jacobs when he built this 2,000-cubic foot time capsule, which
he filled with artifacts ranging from historical manuscripts to ordinary items like typewriters,
radio, and mannequins. He also threw in some microfilms of classic literature pieces and
religious texts for good measure, along with voice recordings of world leaders
and other prominent personalities, before the crypt was welded shut on May 25, 1940.
So when will the chamber be unsealed? Good
luck seeing the contents of this time capsule within your lifetime because
Jacobs set the date of the reopening on the year 8113. Yes, we’re not even halfway there.
Stay tuned because you won’t have to wait a millennium to unravel the
mysteries of our number one entry! It’s opening sooner than you think!
#9: Steve Jobs Time Capsule
This one almost didn’t see the light of day,
but thanks to a TV show, the time capsule was finally unearthed.
The 13-foot long time tube was completed during the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen,
Colorado. Attendees of the event contributed items like Rubik's cube, nametags and a Moody Blues
album. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who spoke at the conference, also pitched in and contributed
the mouse to his Lisa computer. Since then, it was known as the “Steve Jobs Time Capsule.”
The supersized canister was to be excavated in the year 2000. But because of a re-landscaping
of the area, the organizers couldn’t identify the exact spot it was buried in! The tube remained
hidden for 30 years, until a crew from National Geographic’s show “Diggers,” found it in 2013!
Aside from the coveted Steve Jobs mouse, the crew was happy to see
a surprise inside the tube -- a six-pack beer! Turns out, the conference president
included it because he knew the diggers would be sweaty and will appreciate a beer.
Ale in a day’s work!
#8: Oldest American Time Capsule
In 2014, an engineering firm was surveying the Massachusetts State
House with a ground radar for a construction project,
when they stumbled upon a metal container buried within the building’s cornerstone.
Turns out, the 10-pound box was planted in 1795 by then-Governor Samuel Adams,
and his fellow Revolutionary era patriot and silversmith, Paul Revere. The brass
box--considered as the oldest known American time capsule--contained newspapers from the late 18th
century, a silver plate, a copper medal and some coins, including a rare 1652 Pine tree shilling.
It was reportedly first opened in 1855, and was reburied with a few additional items. In 2015,
the items were tucked back into the container together with our present-day objects,
and it was returned inside the cornerstone,
where it will sit until a future generation re-discovers its throwback treasures.
#7: Old-school Methods
In 2015, while the Bahr Treatment Center in Indianapolis as being demolished to
make way for commercial development in the area, workers dug up this pod that was buried on July
23, 1958. It contained video clips of the mental facility and a message
for the future psychiatrists from two of the mental facilities’ officials.
The doctors in the video wondered about future treatments for mental conditions.
They also mentioned the use of electroshock therapy and insulin coma therapy, which was
a rather dangerous treatment for patients with schizophrenia as it involved inducing comas with
large doses of insulin. Thankfully, this crazy method was discredited in the late 1950’s.
Too bad the audio got cut off when they speculated about the future of Psychiatry!
Now their predictions are buried in the past and we’ll never know if they indeed got it right!
#6: MIT’s Time Glass
In 1957, the MIT or Massachusetts Institute of Technology President
James Killian Jr., together with electrical engineering professor Harold Edgerton,
commemorated the opening of a new laboratory by creating an air-tight glass cylinder and filling
it with documents and mementos describing the state of MIT’s science and technology at the time.
The time capsule was recovered in 2015, and although the note says that it is
not to be opened until the year 2957 or 1,000 years after it was buried,
one can see its contents through the glass -- a letter from President Killian, a mug,
a tonic bottle, newly-minted coins from the First National Bank of Boston and synthetic penicillin.
To protect the memorabilia, the cylinder was filled with
argon gas and sealed with blowtorches. A carbon-14 sample was also placed
to allow carbon dating in case the glass cracks and documents are destroyed.
Here’s to hoping the glass survives through 2957!
#5: Parisian Apartment
A French woman named Solange inherited this Parisian apartment from her grandmother
Marthe de Florian, but was forced to abandon it in 1942 during the Second World War
She moved to the South of France and lived a quiet existence until she died in 2010.
When she passed away, her family discovered the apartment which had been abandoned for 70 years.
Investigators found the 1,500-square foot apartment in mint condition,
as if the place was frozen in time! They found books, newspapers, golden drapes,
and a fancy dresser with hairbrushes and perfumes that harken back to the early 20th century,
and reflected Marthe de Florian’s lavish lifestyle as a socialite and theater actress.
Among the greatest treasures found on the apartment was a never-before-seen
portrait of Marthe de Florian painted by none other than revered Italian artist
Giovanni Boldini. The painting was later sold at an auction,
where it fetched a cool 3 million euros or roughly 3.5 million dollars!
#4: The Westinghouse Capsules
The Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company created 2 time capsules in 1939 and 1965,
and they were built with materials designed to resist corrosion for over 5,000 years -- which
is necessary because the items are only intended for viewing in the year 6900!
The bullet-shaped pods were stuffed with contemporary articles from the 20th century,
including fabrics, metals, literature, and a microfilm which holds over ten million
words and one thousand photos. Seeds of wheat,
corn, oats, tobacco and other crops were also placed in sealed glass vials.
Let’s hope the people – or creatures?! -- of the 70th century find these things useful!
#3: Musical Time Capsules
In December of 2007, audiophiles all over the world were astonished at the discovery of a
100-year old time capsule at the sub-basement of the Paris Opera. It was buried in 1907 by
a group of men led by Alfred Clark, the head of the Gramophone Company.
24 wax records of opera arias and instrumental pieces were carefully
wrapped and sealed inside containers, and locked within a storage room.
In 1912, French authorities predicted changes in music technology, so they added a gramophone to
the trove, along with instructions and a set of spare needles. Unfortunately,
when the storage room was opened in 1989, they discovered that the gramophone was missing!
But the tables have turned, thanks to modern technology! 100 years later,
the records were cleaned, digitized and released as full-fledged records. Here’s a sample.
Now that’s music to our ears!
#2: Digital Anthropology
In 2006, internet company Yahoo! created a digital time capsule, where they asked users to contribute
what they thought would represent the thoughts and feelings of the world during that year.
They received more than 170,000 submissions of text, audio, images and videos,
and the digital collection was set to be revealed at Yahoo!’s 25th birthday in 2020.
But before the deadline, the company wanted to beam some of the featured files into space
in an attempt to communicate with extraterrestrial life! So in October of 2006,
in an event that spanned 3 days and 18 hours at the Jemez Pueblo in New Mexico,
Yahoo projected the giant digital images against an ancient red rock cliff!
As we all know, the company’s glory days have long gone, so the media assumed that the time
capsule would remain buried in the digital universe. But in March 2020, Yahoo! Inc.
reopened its time capsule during a company-wide meeting! Perhaps they wanted to reminisce the
golden age of Yahoo! before Google took the internet by storm and rendered them obscure.
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#1: World’s Largest Time Capsule
Nebraskan furniture store owner Harold Davisson wanted his grandchildren to
have a unique memorabilia of him. So, on the 4th of July in 1975,
he built his legacy through a massive time capsule containing thousands of items including letters,
tapes, fireworks, bowling pins, bikini bottoms and even a Kawasaki motorcycle! Two years later,
the Guinness Book of World Records certified it as “The World’s Largest Time Capsule”.
But the Oglethorpe University contested the Guinness declaration, saying their
Crypt of Civilization was bigger. Not one to be outdone, Davisson built a second capsule
on top of the first one. This time, in the shape of a concrete pyramid!
They are slated to open 50 years after their burial,
so that’s in 2025 --- just a couple of years from now!
I. Can’t. Wait.
So, have you ever buried your own time capsule?
Let us know all about it in the comments section below!
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Want more blast from the past? Then don’t miss our ranking of the 15
Most Incredible Recent Discoveries!
‘Til then, stay timeless, fact-natics! And see you in the next video!