The Romanovs. The Great Sphinx. Amelia Earhart. The Dead Sea Scrolls. The Holy Grail. The Titanic. The Wandering Jew. Elvis…
…just to name a few off the top of my head. But what’s your favorite mysterious (or just plain interesting) event or legend?
My daughter loves to research over the summers, and I can call upon the expansive brainpower of the dopers out there to give me some more ideas for her.
…Besides, I’m just plain curious…
thanks,s
Jack the Ripper facinates me as a mystery.
The King Arthur legend is one of my favorites and I watch or read whatever I can on how much of that has basis in fact and how much is myth. There was just a show on cable a couple months ago hosted by Richard Harris about it taht had some interesting new ideas on the historical accuracy of the legend.
That’s all I can think of for now, but as always, I’m sure I’ll hit “Submit Reply” only to think of 5 or 6 more.
The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping.
I don’t think Bruno Richard Hauptmann killed the baby. But he may have been involved with the kidnapping. There are a ton of theories out there, including one that says Lindbergh himself killed his child after playing too roughly with him.
Actually, that’s what got us talking about historical mysteries/legends. I was telling her about Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.
And Jack the Ripper is probably one of the most interesting mysteries because the investigation was so strangely handled.
Any more?
The strange case, reported by Charles Fort, of Benjamin Bathurst, British diplomat, who disappeared in the courtyard of a German inn in 1808. Referred to as “He walked around the horses”
The science-fiction author H.Beam Piper posited a fictional explanation in his story actually titled “He Walked Around the Horses.” Told as a series of letter between British and German officials, the signature on the very last letter slays me every time. If your daughter is into historical research, she could probably easily figure out what the joke is.
I always wonder about the true personalities and behaviors of historical figures that lived thousands of years ago. Most notably some of the Roman Emperors. Were writers like Suetonius or Tacitus telling the truth or did they exaggerate in order to make the Emperor they didn’t like look bad? We’ll never really know.
Who killed William Desmond Taylor? How and why did Olive Thomas die? And Thelma Todd?
A great book to get them. I have read every single page of this book numerous times. It covers ancient history to the present.
Some of my favorite, though are some of the accounts of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient world. It is fascinating to think that no body knows how some of them were built or in some cases how they disapeared. I also love the stories of the crystal skulls and the nazca lines, both of which are featured in this book. I could go on for awhile but I am unable to think right now.
In 1918, Alan Foster Dulles, former head of the CIA, was an Army Intellience officer attached to the US Mission to the Paris WW1 Peace Confrence.
He recieved a telephone call from a man speaking with a thick Russian accent.
Dulles dismissed him as one of the many cranks among the refugees.
Dulles later learned from his secretary that the man was Lenin.
That Lenin.
What did the man who was rapidly becoming the ruler of Russia want with a junior US Army Intelligence officer?
Why not go through the State Department?
What was on his mind? What did he hope to achieve? What did we miss because Dulles blew him off as a crank?
Stalin burned Lenin’s private papers.
We’ll never know…
This is one of my favorite eras to study. Fatty Arbuckle and Mabel Normand and their interesting lives, as well.
I also went through a phase where I had to learn everything I could about the Seven Wonders…I think that was when I was about my daughter’s age. 
These are awesome…this will keep her fascinated for a long time.
Bring on more!
Whatever became of Peter The Painter after the Siege of Sydney Street (1911)?
My vote goes for Rasputin, most definitely. That guy has the creepiest eyes I’ve ever seen (in a photo, that is).
Also, “Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory makes for some interesting reading. Anyone looking to be creeped out should check out this website.
Yeah… I like creepiness, alright. 
One of my favorite local historical legends is that Ho Chi Minh was at one time employed at the Parker House Hotel in Boston as either a busboy or a bellboy (I’ve heard both). This would have been before his political career.
Malcom X also apparently worked there too. I don’t know if they knew each other.
The Romanovs (big surprise there!) Actually, any story involving royalty.
Ship sinkings, like Titanic and Lusitania.
The Mary Celeste
Jack the Ripper
Erzabet Bathory
Richard III and the little princes in the Tower
The Hope Diamond
Roanoke, the Lost Colony
Mary, Queen of Scots
ANY story involving ghosts or hauntings-I LOVE the scary. I ADORE a good ghost story!
The princes in the Tower.
Jack the Ripper
Lizzie Borden (who really killed her parents? they think it might have been the maid)
Richard III (I really think he got a bad rap)
The Lost Colony on Roanoke Island
That’s a good one, with plenty of meaty historical stuff and fictional treatments to chew over, e.g. Tey’s The daughter of time, etc.
Lizzie Borden is also fascinating, with lots of accounts available. (Check out Victoria Lincoln’s book.)
Judge Crater.
The disappearance of the priceless Russian Amber Room while in custody of the Nazis fleeing advancing Allied forces during WWII. This is a popular topic right now in fictional thrillers.
It’s more a forensic psychology thing, but Ambrose Bierce disappearing into the Mexican desert.
Very gory, so approach with discretion, but the murder of the Black Dahlia.
Veb
My favorite has always been the death of Amy Dudley.
For those of you unfamiliar with this, Robert Dudley was a favorite of Elizabeth I. They were so close that folks believed that if he weren’t already married to Amy, Elizabeth would have married him.
Amy was found dead at the foot of her staircase one day. It was determined that she had fallen and broken her neck, but questions have alwasy abounded surrounding the incident. Did an overzealous servant perhaps get rid of Amy thinking that it was what his master truly wanted? Many historians now think that Amy’s spine spontaneously snapped due to breast cancer, but there are still unanswered questions.
Another mystery that has always intrigued me: Mary, Queen of Scots and the murder of Lord Darnley (actually the title of a new book on the subject.)
I’ve also always wondered what Jeanne D’Arc said to the Dauphin which convinced him that she was sent by God.
I’m a Robin Hood fan. I actually can’t remember when I wasn’t.
I’m also totally skeeved by the Roanoke Colony. Disapperances in general kind of get to me.
Rudolph Hess and his flight to England in 1941