History books can make the past seem surprisingly tidy. A king died, an empire collapsed, an expedition vanished, and a few paragraphs later the story moves on.
Reality is usually much messier.
Some of history’s biggest mysteries have survived for centuries because the evidence disappeared with the people involved. Others have produced mountains of evidence, but still lack the one discovery that would settle the argument for good.
In a few cases on this list, historians and scientists now have a very good idea of what probably happened. But “probably” is not the same thing as knowing. Missing bodies, undeciphered writing, unidentified killers, unexplained artifacts, and lost ships continue to leave important questions unanswered.
Here are 15 historical mysteries we still haven’t completely solved.
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