By Craig Graves, Staff Writer
Amelia Earhart, Roanoke Colony, Atlantis, and the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine among others share one thing in common: they are all lost in history. Well, two things in common really: they are popular discussion topics for conspiracy theorists. Some members of this list of missing parts of history have been found, while others remain lost in the sands of time.
RMS Titanic:
Lost – 1912
Found – 1985
The RMS Titanic was lost at sea in April 1912 after it struck an iceberg and sank. According to history.com, of the 2,223 total people on board the Titanic, 706 people survived its sinking. This means that 1,517 people perished in this tragic event, and of the amount of people who perished, 333 bodies were recovered. The other 1,184 people who perished went down with the ship to never be seen again until the wreckage’s discovery. In 1985, an expedition team consisting of French researchers led by oceanic explorer Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic using a new unmanned submersible named “Argo.”
Roanoke Colony:
Lost – sometime between 1587-1590 Found –
In 1587, a group of 115 settlers landed on Roanoke Island and started up a colony. Later that same year the new colony’s governor, John White, sailed off for England to get more supplies, but a naval conflict sparked between Spain and England, and White was urged by Queen Elizabeth I to help fight the Spanish. In 1590 when White returned to Roanoke, he found it deserted and destroyed with only the word “Croatoan” etched into a post to serve as a clue to what had occurred. Many investigations have taken place to deduce what happened such as DNA testing to find relations to those settlers or the Native Americans around the area.
Croatoan” is the name of an island south of Roanoke and the Native American tribe that lived there. In 2007, the movie ‘Lost Colony’ was adapted from the story of Roanoke Colony, though the movie blamed supernatural beings called wraiths for the colony’s disappearance.
Flight 19: Lost – 1945 Found –
Flight 19 was a WWII military training flight out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL that flew over what is commonly referred to today as the Bermuda Triangle. According to the Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum, the flight consisted of five TBM Avengers carrying 14 men and was only supposed to be a navigation exercise and mock bombing. The practice was completed as planned, but the commander reported that he was lost while in transit back to the air base. Bad weather rolled in and the commander mistakenly led the other pilots out to sea where is it thought that the plane ran out of fuel and crashed. During the failed flight back to base, there were reportedly some grainy radio broadcasts from the planes that indicated navigation equipment failing and strange sensations in the crew like hallucinations. Though searches had been conducted looking for the missing flight, nothing concrete has been found of their remains.
Pompeii: Lost – 79 CE Found – 1748
Pompeii was a Roman city that was wiped off the map by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. This city, and other smaller villages, was encased in ash and soot, preserving them in about 16 feet of debris. In 1748, architect Domenico Fontana discovered the ruins of the city. According
to britannica.com, the work and excavation conducted at the sites of Pompeii and the other towns destroyed by the volcano have helped archeology become a practiced science. In the years since the discovery of Pompeii, excavation and preservation of the ruined city has provided a look at the last moments of life before the volcano claimed nearly 20,000 lives.
Amelia Earhart: Lost – 1937 Found –
Amelia Earhart is known as one of the first female aviators and the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1937, Earhart embarked on journey to circumnavigate the world, landing only to refuel and restock provisions. While on the returning leg of her flight, Earhart, her navigator Fred Noonan, and her plane disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. The U.S.
Navy and Coast Guard launched one of the most expensive rescue efforts
in American history to no avail. In the following decades, hypotheses have been proposed as to what happened to the pilot, her navigator, and the Lockheed Electra she was flying. Some say that she encountered bad weather and crashed in the ocean, others have said that she landed on
a remote island to lead a private life, and yet others have said she was shot down and taken prisoner by the Japanese to die in captivity. The official U.S. report is that Earhart and Noonan were unable to locate the fueling station and crashed into the ocean when they ran out of fuel.
Other Lost Things in History:
Atlantis: an ancient island described by Plato in his “Timaeus” and “Critias” dialogues. According to Plato, Atlantis was an advanced nation and sank into the ocean around 9600 BCE. Some scholars believe Atlantis is really the Greek island of Santorini which was destroyed by a volcano in 1600 BCE.
El Dorado: a city of Spanish legend that is supposedly made of gold or has great wealth in gold depending upon the legend. El Dorado has no set location as different stories conflict upon this information. It is because
of this contradiction and the mythic nature of El Dorado that it is considered a lost city. Many places today are named El Dorado or a variation of it.
Noah’s Ark: a massive ship of Biblical legend said to have saved a pair of every species of animal from a monsoon that lasted 40 days and nights.
According to the Bible, this ship came to rest upon the summit of Mount Ararat, but there is not enough evidence to prove this as Mount Ararat is not a hospitable place for people to be looking for ancient arks.
