People Talk About The Most Interesting Historical Items That Have Been Lost Or Destroyed In History

Which historical item would you most like to be here today?

Rachel

• Published in Funny
• April 25, 2020

Museums around the world are filled with incredibly important items and art. It reflects the cultural and technological evolution of the world’s history. It isn’t always items that fit in museums, however. It also includes statues, environmental wonders and even the buildings themselves.

Unfortunately, many things are missing from these catalogues. Whether things were simply lost to time, or intentionally destroyed, I think it is safe to say the world would be a different place with them in it. History buffs probably have an abundance of answers to this question, so read on to see how some of incredibly interesting things are not with us anymore. 

"What is the most expensive or historically significant item to ever be destroyed?"

The question was posted by u/jarrydjames

Champ

quantumhovercraft:

"The Temple of Artemis was burnt down by a man named Herostratus just so that his name would be remembered.I have to commend him because it worked."

The Parthenon

LabKitty

"The Parthenon remained largely intact for about 1000 years until it was hit by an artillery shell in 1687. Ditto for the monastery at Monte Cassino, which was bombed to rubble in WW-II. The allies also bombed the Santa Maria delle Grazie church in Milan (where da Vinci painted The Last Supper) but fortunately it only resulted in minor damage.

Edit: "it resulted in only minor damage" => the bombing only resulted in minor damage to the Last Supper (although the church was not so fortunate).

Edit 2: 2000 years not 1000. (I subtracted 439 from 1687; I should have added. Derp.)

Edit 3: Apparently, it was a combination of the (Venetian) artillery shell and munitions the Ottomans were storing there that caused the damage.

Thanks everyone!"

The Golden Spruce

seabow

"The Golden Spruce. A tree on the Queen Charlotte Island that was sacred to the aboriginals and a genetic anomaly(only one ever found) was cut down by a logger. In protest of logging."

Mayan Codices

NoFlyingSolo

"Mayan Codices... The entire knowledge of a culture lost due to fear and intolerance. So sad."

Namdaemun in Seoul

TentacleFace

"something of note:

Namdaemun in Seoul. For a country that has been treated pretty badly by all of its neighbors and its own people, physical cultural pieces are few and far between. Namdaemun was one of the few really old structures left in Seoul, let alone Korea. It was burned down by a Korean man who was outraged (and rightfully so) at the gov't taking his land. That being said, its pretty fucking stupid to get your revenge on the government by burning one of the last physical heritage pieces left in your culture."

More on Korea

[deleted]:

"I was in Korea in May and was shocked that over 90% of the historical sites are rebuilt or replicas of their ancient counterparts. What wasn't destroyed by Japan (almost everything because their goal was to erase all remnants of Korean culture) was bombed during the Korean War.

It was just so...sad...A culture just as old and rich as China's with almost nothing to show for it."

Last words

ups_drug_dealer

"It wasn't really "destroyed" but the fact that Einstein's last words aren't known because the nurse that was with him didn't know German is pretty sad."

Old trees

chicitygirl46:

"The oldest tree ever found was cut down to make the process of finding out how old it was easier only to realize it is the oldest tree ever found.... Source

Edit: It was cut down without realizing it was significantly old. The guy who cut it down feels terrible. Great radiolab podcast on it! http://www.radiolab.org/story/91721-oops/"

The more you know...

religionisaparasite

"The sack of Rome in 455AD by the Vandals.

You know it's bad when the name of your tribe is used for the rest of history to describe hooligans."

Check out this list for more

[deleted]:

"Wikipedia has a good list of lost artworks"

The Old Summer Palace in Beijing

pearofperowne:

"The Old Summer Palace in Beijing was destroyed by French and British troops during the Opium War. According to one of the soldiers who took part in the destruction:

"We went out, and, after pillaging it, burned the whole place, destroying in a vandal-like manner most valuable property which [could] not be replaced for four millions. We got upward of £48 apiece prize money...I have done well. The [local] people are very civil, but I think the grandees hate us, as they must after what we did the Palace. You can scarcely imagine the beauty and magnificence of the places we burnt. It made one’s heart sore to burn them; in fact, these places were so large, and we were so pressed for time, that we could not plunder them carefully. Quantities of gold ornaments were burnt, considered as brass. It was wretchedly demoralising work for an army.""

Bamiyan Buddha statue

lagomc:

"The destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha statue by the Taliban comes to mind as a modern example."

The Isabella Steward Gardner heist

THKMass:

"Although they were not lost or destroyed but instead stolen: The Isabella Steward Gardner heist. An estimated $500 million in art stolen in 1990 and still remains unsolved. Pieces including Rembrandt's "The storm of the sea of galilee"."

The Hope Diamond

Ludendorff:

"That gigantic blue diamond that experts say was stolen, recut, and now lives in the Smithsonian. The "Hope" Diamond, it is now known as, in its smaller form.

Definitely not the most valuable in terms of practical worth, but still it hurts me in my wallet to think about mutilating one of the largest diamonds in history."

And one we're about to lose

Twilight_Flopple

"Pretty soon, the Great Barrier Reef."

Thanks Moses

danrennt98:

"Moses' reckless ass destroying the tablet with the Ten Commandments."

Arc of the Covenant

NPHMctweeds:

"Though it's still a theory, The Arc of the Covenant was most likely dismantled/destroyed. One of the most sought after and important artifacts in history."

Rachel