# Famous Missing Objects **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536 "2010-10-27T15:51:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/61 "2010-10-28T22:13:57Z")
Da Vinci’s [Battle of Anghiari](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_Anghiari_%28painting%29). The original patent for the Wright Brothers’ Flyer. My sanity. Not famous, but locating it would constitute the find of the century. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/62 "2010-10-28T23:39:09Z")
It’s not missing right now, but there was a particular Colt Model 1889 revolver that happened to go down with the USS Maine when it exploded in Havana Harbor. This pistol was recovered, and was given to the Secretary of the Navy, who at that time was this dude named Theodore Roosevelt (you may have heard of him - he got a bit more famous later). Teddy brandished this particular pistol as he rallied his Rough Riders during the famed charge on San Juan Hill. After Roosevelt’s term as President, the pistol was put on display in the Sagamore Hill Museum, where it was stolen in 1963. It was recovered. However, in 1990, it was stolen again, and this time was not recovered until 2006. The pistol is now back at Sagamore Hill. If you had asked this question a few years ago, this pistol would have been on your list. It doesn’t qualify now, but the fact that this pistol nearly spent eternity at the bottom of Havana Harbor only to end up in the hands of a future president, and then has been stolen twice made me think that it at least deserved an honorable mention. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/63 "2010-10-28T23:49:58Z")
The Amber Room > **[Amber Room](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Room)** > > The Amber Room (Russian: Янтарная комната, tr. Yantarnaya Komnata, German: Bernsteinzimmer) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg. > Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and eventually disappeared during World War II. Before its loss, it was considered an "Eighth Wonder of the World". A reconstruction was made, starting in 1979 and completed and installed in... ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/64 "2010-10-28T23:58:29Z")
William Shatner’s wig(s) from the set of Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/65 "2010-10-29T04:14:29Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > The Amber Room > > [Amber Room - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_Room) See Post #8. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/66 "2010-10-29T04:36:36Z")
> [@Rain\_Soaked](#): > > See Post #8. Post #8. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/67 "2010-10-29T04:44:18Z")
The original trailer to Hitchcock’s Rope. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/68 "2010-10-29T14:37:43Z")
The gun Sgt. Boston Corbett used to kill John Wilkes Booth. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/69 "2010-10-29T16:18:09Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The [Amber Room](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_room) hasn’t been seen since the end of World War II. Along the same lines, Raphael’s [Portrait of a Young Man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_a_Young_Man_(Raphael)). ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/70 "2010-10-29T17:29:25Z")
[The Eddie Grant plaque from the centerfield wall in the Polo Grounds.](http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101027&content_id=15862348&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/71 "2010-10-29T19:14:16Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > [Ernest Hemingway’s suitcase](http://lostmanuscripts.com/2010/07/31/hemingways-lost-suitcase/), containing nearly all of his early unpublished stories. If you’re a Hemingway fan, you might like Joe Haldeman’s mind-bending sf novel _The Hemingway Hoax_, which has a very interesting explanation for the stories’ disappearance. An estimated one-third of J.S. Bach’s compositions were lost or given away over the years by his disorganized son, to whom he left his papers. Many, many Civil War dageurreotypes were lost after the war; many of the glass plates are thought to have been cleaned and reused as window panes. USS _Cyclops_, a Navy collier: [USS Cyclops - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cyclops_(AC-4)) The tramp steamer SS _Cotopaxi_, shown in the _Close Encounters of the Third Kind_ special edition: [SS Cotopaxi - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cotopaxi) Flight 19, a Navy training flight of five torpedo bombers (also shown in _Close Encounters_), and the Mariner flying boat sent out to look for them: [Flight 19 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19) Not an object, but Theodosia Burr, Aaron Burr’s lovely daughter, was lost somewhere at sea: [Theodosia Burr Alston - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodosia_Burr) **engineer\_comp\_geek** , I hadn’t heard that story, but T.R. was Assistant Secretary of the Navy, not the Secretary. ---
**Author:** ![AutumnLeaves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@AutumnLeaves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AutumnLeaves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/72 "2010-10-29T19:35:32Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > The biggest art theft in history occurred at the Isabella Steward Gardner museum in Boston in 1990. None of it has ever been seen since. I think it is kind of strange to steal famous art which is meant to be shown off but you can’t because it becomes so infamous after it is taken. I’ve always wondered about that - you can’t hang it in your foyer, and presumably you can’t insure it, you can’t let any non-criminal acquaintances you have see it… what can you do with it, other than sell it on the black market? But I read a little while ago that these expensive stolen paintings are sometimes used as collateral in drug deals, which I thought was fascinating, if true. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/73 "2010-10-29T19:37:31Z")
The True Cross. What do I win? ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/74 "2010-10-29T21:45:03Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The original film of the moon landing > [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/aug/14/20060814-124925-9491r/](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/aug/14/20060814-124925-9491r/) Actually we have it, we just don’t have the original medium it was recored on which could not be played now a days anyway ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/75 "2010-10-29T23:42:40Z")
As far as I understand, what we have is a copy of a copy, and is of poor quality. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/76 "2010-10-30T00:45:34Z")
The Gun that killed Hutler ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/77 "2010-10-30T01:09:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Many, many Civil War dageurreotypes were lost after the war; many of the glass plates are thought to have been cleaned and reused as window panes. My wife is a medievalist and she’s told me of parchment manuscripts scraped clean and used for file folders. There are actually some lost musical compositions that have been recovered by analyzing the file folders for traces of iron left behind where the notes used to be. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/78 "2010-10-30T01:48:47Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Many, many Civil War dageurreotypes were lost after the war; many of the glass plates are thought to have been cleaned and reused as window panes. Many, many Civil War photographs may have been converted into windows, but they weren’t [daguerreotypes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daguerreotypes), which are on copper sheets coated with silver. Likely they were [ambrotypes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrotype) which _were_ on glass and cheaper to boot. Ambrotypes were in turn, replaced by [tintypes](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tintype) where we’re back to metal plates – iron this time. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/79 "2010-10-30T02:23:15Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > The Gun that killed Hutler He’s dead? Did he at least get to kill off all the Jows? Also, I suspect that the gun that killed Hitler might be missing, but I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536/80 "2010-10-30T03:41:56Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > He’s dead? Did he at least get to kill off all the Jows? > > Also, I suspect that the gun that killed Hitler might be missing, but I don’t know. Damnit! :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-missing-objects/558536.md?page=5)