Subject: History's Mysteries
Posted by: Cymruambyth
Date: Feb 19 09
There are many unresolved mysteries in history. For instance, who really killed the princes in the Tower (my money is on Henry VII)? What happened to the Roanoke settlers? Where exactly did Judge Crater get to? What would you like to see resolved?
Posted by: Cymruambyth
Date: Feb 19 09
There are many unresolved mysteries in history. For instance, who really killed the princes in the Tower (my money is on Henry VII)? What happened to the Roanoke settlers? Where exactly did Judge Crater get to? What would you like to see resolved?
136 replies. On page 1 of 7 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Rowena8482 
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I'd quite like to know exactly what did happen to the IX Legion of the Roman Army - they "marched into the fog" of a cold Scottish morning, and none of them were ever seen again.... I had a book about it as a child (Rosemary Sutcliffe iirc) and was always so taken with the story. Reply #1. Feb 19 09, 1:56 PM |
cydonia325
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The circumstances surrounding the deaths of Brian Jones, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix - too many varying accounts of the events that immediately preceded these deaths. I am not a conspiracy theorist, so the "27 club" conspiracy doesn't wash with me. However, there was sloppy investigative work post-mortem in all three cases, and as autopsies were not the norm in those times, the medical examiners issued statements that really cannot be verified. Reply #2. Feb 19 09, 2:27 PM |
mjws1968
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One mystery I really want solved (and to solve as well) is what happened to the Viking colonists in Greenland, why did they just vanish without any record as to why in the early 15th century ? How could two successful settlements with a combined population at their height of nearly 5,000 people just vanish. We know that the decline started in the 1300s with the closure of the western settlement and the loss of the bishopric, but what happened to the eastern settlement, no records exist after 1408, and the last carbon dates stretch to around 1430, but that is the last contact the people back home in Iceland and the Scandinavian motherlands had with them. Was it the mini ice age of the time causing the farms to fail, there is evidence of cannibalism on the bones that only would occur in a catholic settlement in times of extreme famine, but a definitive answer is still required. Reply #3. Feb 21 09, 1:17 AM |
Cymruambyth
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I'd really like to get a definitive answer as to how the Americas became populated. There are several different theories, including the Bering Strait land bridge from Siberia into North America and the Asian castaways in South America, but it would be good to know dfinitely! Reply #4. Feb 22 09, 9:28 AM |
borisanchovy
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I'd like to know who Jack the Ripper was. Reply #5. Feb 22 09, 11:09 AM |
daver852
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There was a documentary made about the Viking settlements in Greenland. The conclusions it reached, based on analysis of the garbage dumps that were excavated, is that the settlements died out because of climate change. It got a lot colder, and they could not grow crops or raise livestock, and grew more and more dependent on fishing as a means of survival. Eventually they just starved to death. My favorite mystery is the "vitrified" stone forts of ancient Scotland. Somehow, over 3,000 years ago, the ancient people there found a way to produce temperatures hot enough to melt huge masses of stone into glass walls around their settlements. No one has a clue as to how they did it. Modern scientists tried to reproduce the results on a much smaller scale and were unsuccessful. Reply #6. Feb 23 09, 12:38 AM |
| mjws1968
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That is a mystery that a lot of people have considered, somebody suggested an attack involving Greek Fire, but there are too many for that to be the case, another suggestion that a localised supply of the vitrified rock created by volcanic activity many thousands of years ago and was mined and moved to the various defensive forts by the mysterious civilisation that created them, that one is also dubious, moving large volumes of rock over any distance would have been time consuming and exhausting, they would have found an easier way to defend themselves. Unless any new evidence comes to light, that one will remain a mystery. The Vikings did suffer because of climate change, their dependence on static farming hastened their downfall, whilst their hunter-gatherer Inuit neighbours survived. The question is did they just die out through starvation, or did their neighbours take advantage of their weakened state to move in, eradicate the opposition and take their valuable resources, there is no evidence for this, but it is a theory that cannot be discounted, and the tool marks on the dead colonists bones leave you to wonder, did they eat each other in extremis, or did the practical Inuit refuse to waste valuable food resources in time of crisis, not being restricted by our christian prejudices against cannibalism. Reply #7. Feb 23 09, 3:41 AM |
tnrees
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Possibly why they can not reproduce a vitrified fort was they did a small scale experiment & it only works on a large scale. Aparently they are found all over the world (but not england or Wales). Reply #8. Feb 23 09, 7:10 AM |
emeney3
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I would like the truth about "The Man In The Iron Mask". I love the movie, but would like to know the whole story. Some say it is just a story, some say there is a basis of truth in it. Did King Louis really have a twin brother who supposedly died at birth? Did he really imprison him with that horrible iron mask on? Reply #9. Feb 23 09, 8:28 AM |
quickquizfun
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I teach history's mysteries often. You know, there are quite a few. Mine focus on American History. Roanoke. Yes. Where did they go? I have an opinion. Was John Brown a hero? Who fired the first shot? If you ever want to chat American History let me know. Loved your quiz! I'll take it with my students on our SmartBoard! Trish Reply #10. Feb 23 09, 9:03 PM |
| Cymruambyth
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QQF, what is your theory about Roanoke? Reply #11. Feb 24 09, 2:32 PM |
raidersruleall
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I would like to know more about extraterrestrial life. Do aliens really exist? Is there life on other planets? How are crop circles formed? Reply #12. Feb 26 09, 8:27 PM |
| Cymruambyth
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And just how did they great those blinking great rocks from Wales to the Salisbury Plain to build Stonehenge. And just who were the builders of that age-old mystery, anyway? Reply #13. Feb 28 09, 5:11 PM |
martinjudo
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My mystery is whether Lord Lucan went into hiding because he killed his children's nanny or whether he was killed because he knew of the scam at the Carlyle Club. Reply #14. Mar 05 09, 11:30 AM |
| mjws1968
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The latest theory about the Bluestones is that, because Salisbury Plain was at the edge of the glacial Tees-Exe line during the last Ice Age, large boulders of the stone were carried over several centuries by glacial movement from Pembrokeshire and then dumped on Salisbury Plain as terminal moraine where the glaciers vanished, the numbers would not have been great, but it makes sense for the local people to have used all of this stone that looked so different from the native rock to make such a special monument. To move several tons of rock by any method from Pembrokeshire to Wiltshire at that time would have taken a long time, and taken too many of the adult population away from survival hunter-gatherer activities. Its a theory a lot of people have not embraced, particularly the older generation of academics, but fits what we have found a lot better. Feel free to disagree, I love a good debate. Reply #15. Mar 05 09, 1:41 PM |
supersal1
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I would like to know who was Jack the Ripper, what happened to the Princes in the Tower, what happened on the Mary Celeste and at Roanoke and yes, how on earth did they do Stonehenge? On a more trivial note, was Queen Elizabeth I really a virgin and did George III really marry Hannah Lightfoot. Reply #16. Mar 05 09, 3:22 PM |
| quickquizfun
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Concerning Roanoke. I truly believe they fled to the neighboring Cratoan Indian tribe seeking shelter, protection, and food. As a result, the young learned the ways of the Croatan and grew up as such, the single adults either inter-married or just remained single, .......... and there you go. My opininion. The latest archeoligical dig was in 1998 I think. What other option historically and scientifically is there? Reply #17. Mar 05 09, 9:18 PM |
| mjws1968
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There were rumours that Jack the Ripper was a grandson of Queen Victoria who died young, and it was swept under the carpet to save the poor old lady's dignity, it seems more likely that the culprit had some form of medical training, there have been many documentaries and expositions, but none of them have come up with the same name, its possible we will never know who he (I'm assuming its a he, which is not guaranteed) was. If you are ever in London, do the night-time Jack the Ripper guided walking tour, it really brings it to life. Stonehenge is an archaeological enigma that is very unlikely to be deciphered, the lack of writing means we are reliant totally on the physical evidence, which has been misinterpreted by lots of academics with books to sell and lunatic theories to propound. What we know is that the bank and ditch earthwork surrounding the whole site came first, dated to around 5,100 years ago by various reliable methods, the bluestones came next, but these are less easy to date, are now widely accepted to have been dumped on Salisbury Plain by glacial activity and 80 of them (43 are extant in some form) were formed into a henge monument, which may have had multiple uses, temple, also calendar, the appearance of the sun over certain stones told you when to plant, when to plough, when to harvest. The Sarsen stones came next, there is no guarantee that the bluestone structure still stood, it may well have fallen into disrepair, and the new stones were symbolic of a change of ownership. This structure dates from around 2500BC. There is evidence that the bluestones were resurrected in the Bronze Age, and burial mounds introduced, along with internments in the ditch. The site was still used in some form in Roman times. We can never be sure how it was constructed as a whole (tool marks are no help) and what it was used for (lots of theories, with no hard evidence to back them up), but it is worth a look, although nearbt Avebury is far more impressive, it is so big it contains a village, and there are a dozen associated monuments including the baffling Silbury Hill. Reply #18. Mar 06 09, 7:50 AM |
| supersal1
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mjws1968, may I compliment you on your avatar. Excellent taste. I think with a lot of these mysteries, it would be slightly disappointing to know the truth, it's probably very mundane. I think the best explanation for Stonehenge that I could find was something I saw in a cartoon. A huge mummy alien was getting back into a flying saucer and calling to her offspring "stop playing with those blocks, we've got to go now"! Reply #19. Mar 06 09, 8:35 AM |
| tnrees
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I heard it was widely accepted that glaciers did not move the bluestones - for one thing why are there not any odd bits that were not used lying about. Farming was well established when stonehenge was built. Reply #20. Mar 06 09, 11:29 AM |
136 replies. On page 1 of 7 pages. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
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