mysteries

From the tattered pages of our ancient past to the headlines of today — and from the study of archaeology to the investigation of true crime — mysteries have shaped much of human history.

Starting thousands of years ago, mysteries of the ancient world began to captivate scholars and laypeople alike — and many of these mysteries remain baffling to this day. For instance, who built the Pyramids of Egypt and how did they do it? Meanwhile, similar questions apply for everything from Stonehenge to the moai statues of Easter Island to the Nazca Lines of Peru. And it’s hardly just the landmarks of the ancient world that are defined by the mystery surrounding them. Humanity’s distant past is marked by legends of entire civilizations whose stories are shrouded in mystery, from the sunken city of Atlantis to the lost continent of Lemuria. Even the very core of Christianity that has informed a great deal of Western civilization is mired in mystery, from who wrote the Bible to where Jesus was buried.

In the modern era, the nature of our mysteries may often be different, but we nevertheless remain captivated by enigmas that keep us guessing into eternity. Whether it’s podcasts, movies, or documentaries, today’s pop culture is dominated by stories of unsolved murders and mysterious disappearances, including the saga of the Somerton Man, the tragedy of the Dyatlov Pass Incident, and the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann. But even before true crime hit the zeitgeist, people around the world were captivated by questions like who was Jack the Ripper, who killed John F. Kennedy, what happened to Jimmy Hoffa, and what explains the events inside the Bermuda Triangle.

From the long-gone past to the present day, delve into some of history’s most baffling mysteries with the stories below.