Random Important Historical Artifacts That Are Still Missing (14 items)

(#12) Three-Quarters Of The World's First Feature-Length Film Got Blacklisted From History

There is a robust list of missing films from cinematic history, but arguably the most historically significant item was The Story of the Kelly Gang, a 1906 silent motion picture widely recognized as the world's first ever feature-length narrative film.

The Australian movie told the story of Ned Kelly and his mischievous crew, and it was a smash success despite its apparent runtime being over an hour long. Unfortunately, all records of the film became lost by the mid-1900s. In the decades since its disappearance, some fragments of the film have emerged, which adds up to about 25% of the entire movie; these parts are available for public viewing. The rest of the film remains lost.
(#11) A Camera Could Reveal If George Mallory And Andrew Irvine Made It To The Top Of Everest, But It's Never Been Found

In 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made an ill-fated attempt to become the first explorers to reach the top of Mount Everest. Mallory's remains were recovered in 1999, but Irvine's is still missing. As a result, nobody is sure whether or not the men ever reached the peak.

According to Howard Somervell, a member of Mallory's climbing team, Mallory borrowed his camera before he and Irvine departed on their final journey. Somervell's camera never turned up afterward. Some believe if the camera were found and its images got developed, this could prove once and for all if Mallory and Irvine were the first to master Everest.
(#10) An Entire William Shakespeare Play Is Lost To The Annals Of Time

William Shakespeare isn't simply the most renowned playwright of all time, he's also one of the most prolific. Most of Shakespeare's work has survived centuries and readers can still read his plays today - but the major exception seems to be Cardenio, an apparent full-length play that scholars are only aware of due to bureaucratic records. Some scholars believe the play, sometimes referred to as The History of Cardenio, was based on the story of Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote.

No pages of Cardenio is known to exist today, but some literary historians surmise that a later production, Double Falsehood, is a close adaptation of it.
(#14) NASA Accidentally Got Rid Of The Controllers That Steered 'Apollo 11'

The Apollo 11 mission that landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon is among the most important endeavors in human history. Unfortunately, someone at NASA erroneously ordered three command-module hand controllers used to steer the Apollo 11 to be thrown out. The employee tasked with the controllers' disposal chose to sell them to an anonymous buyer instead.

Thus, the whereabouts of the controllers are still a mystery to this day.
(#6) The Sarcophagus From The Smallest Pyramid Of Giza Sank Into Obscurity

The smallest of the Great Pyramids of Giza houses the tomb of Pharaoh Menkaure - far from a household name to most, but he is perhaps one of the most celebrated figures by Egyptophiles. Over the centuries, tomb raiders took most of the statues, artifacts, and treasure buried with Menkaure, including his mummy.

When British soldier Richard Vyse discovered Menkaure's sarcophagus in 1837 - with a fake replacement mummy inside - he tried to have it shipped back to London before it, too, went missing. Unfortunately, the ship carrying it sank on the journey - no one has found the sarcophagus after this incident.
(#8) The Honjo Masamune Sword Didn't Make It Through WWII

Goro Nyudo Masamune was a storied Japanese swordsmith, and the Honjo Masamune was arguably his finest work. The legendary katana supposedly emerged around the 13th century, with famed samurai Honjo Shigenaga wielding it. Generations of shoguns handed down the sword, which served as a powerful symbol of Japanese leadership.

The blade became an official National Treasure of Japan in 1939, but it did not survive the next six years of conflict. After Japan surrendered to the United States at the end of WWII, the US government demanded Japanese families relinquish personal arms, which included the Honjo Masamune. It remains unknown where the sword is now located.