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Gallery 08

Bodies, bones and burials

Grief. The law it tested: who controls the remains.

316 storiesGriefWho controls the remains
The Funeral of Shelley, painting by Louis Édouard Fournier
The Funeral of Shelley. Louis Édouard Fournier, 1889date QS:P571,+1889-00-00T0. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

What did these cases decide about who controls the remains?

A will that sets payment in installments and an age for a minor's share controls the money long after the funeral is over. Families can sue the government over how it treats a body, and a jury will value that privacy in millions. Ashes divided among many hands become property that heirs can fight over; a will should say who holds them and where they go.

Stories
316
Years
40000 BCE to 2024
Main subjects
Egypt and Africa, Literature and art, Music and sport
Main regions
Europe, North America, Middle East
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in this gallery, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

AI illustration: Ptolemy's cavalry turn Alexander the Great's funeral carriage toward Egypt, 321 BC323 BCE · BabylonAlexander the Great left his empire "to the strongest", and his general Ptolemy hijacked his bodyAlexander died in Babylon aged 32, on 10 or 11 June 323 BC by a Babylonian astronomical diary. He ruled from Greece to India and left no adult heir. Arrian records that his Companions asked who would get the kingdom.Wikisource (primary text) and 3 moreDavid Bowie: Singer-songwriter David Bowie in Chicago during the Heathen Tour, 2002.2016 · New York CityDavid Bowie was cremated two days after he died with no one present, and his will asked for his ashes to go to BaliDavid Bowie signed his will on 25 August 2004 under his legal name, David Robert Jones. It was filed in Manhattan Surrogate's Court on 29 January 2016. Reports valued the estate at about $100 million; one report said $230 million.ultimateclassicrock.com and 4 moreKobe Bryant: Kobe Bryant Dec 20142020 · Calabasas, CaliforniaDeputies and firefighters shared photos of Kobe Bryant's remains, and his widow won $28.85 million from Los Angeles CountyKobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others died when their helicopter hit a hillside in fog.etonline.com and 2 moreMarlon Brando: Marlon Brando publicity for One-Eyed Jacks2004 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaMarlon Brando's $21.6 million will left out one child, and a son's girlfriend scattered part of his ashesMarlon Brando died at UCLA Medical Center on July 1, 2004, at 80. His will, signed on August 28, 2002, and filed on July 9, 2004, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, valued his estate at $21.6 million.Los Angeles Times and 1 moreNatalie Wood: Natalie Wood Allan Warren1981 · Catalina Island, CaliforniaNatalie Wood drowned off Santa Catalina Island in 1981, and in 2012 the Los Angeles coroner changed her death certificate to "drowning and other undetermined factors"Natalie Wood, 43, was last seen on the yacht Splendour, anchored off Catalina Island, with her husband Robert Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the boat's captain, Dennis Davern. Her body was found in the water the next morning.The Hollywood Reporter and 4 moreAnna Nicole Smith: Anna Nicole Smith2007 · Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hollywood, Florida, UAnna Nicole Smith's body went to her 5-month-old daughter's guardian after a Florida judge wept through the ruling, and DNA named the girl's fatherAnna Nicole Smith gave birth to a daughter, Dannielynn, in the Bahamas on 7 September 2006. Three days later her son Daniel, 20, died in her hospital room. The Bahamian birth certificate named her lawyer and companion Howard K.cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov and 7 moreLayne Staley: Layne Staley July 2, 19892002 · Seattle, WashingtonLayne Staley's mother was paid his Alice in Chains share for ten years, then sued his bandmates when they ended itLayne Staley died of heroin use in his Seattle home at 34. His body was not found until 20 April 2002, about two weeks later. His mother, Nancy McCallum, became the person who collected his share of Alice in Chains income.blabbermouth.net and 3 moreFreddie Mercury: Freddie Mercury performing in New Haven, CT, November 19771991 · Garden Lodge, Kensington, LondonFreddie Mercury left his house and half his fortune to his ex-girlfriend, who buried his ashes in a place only she knowsFreddie Mercury died of AIDS-related pneumonia at 45. His estate was valued at about £8 million. His will left Garden Lodge, its mews and 50 percent of his privately held shares to Mary Austin, his girlfriend in the 1970s.The Independent and 1 moreHunter S. Thompson: Hunter S. Thompson, Las Vegas 19712005 · Woody Creek, ColoradoHunter S. Thompson's ashes were launched from a 15-story tower at his ranch in August 2005, and a lawsuit later put the cost at $3 million paid by Johnny DeppHunter S. Thompson died at his Owl Farm home in Woody Creek, Colorado, in February 2005 by gunshot. His widow, Anita, said he left no suicide note.espn.com and 3 moreSid Vicious: Sid Vicious 1978 (cropped)1979 · 63 Bank Street, Greenwich Village, New YorkSid Vicious asked to be buried beside Nancy Spungen; her mother said no, and his mother scattered his ashes on the grave anywaySid Vicious, born Simon John Ritchie, was charged with murdering his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, who was found stabbed at the Chelsea Hotel in October 1978. Virgin Records paid his legal fees.The Independent and 3 moreTruman Capote: Truman Capote by Jack Mitchell1984 · Bel Air, Los AngelesTruman Capote's ashes were divided, stolen at a party, returned in a garden hose, and auctioned in 2016Capote died at the Bel Air home of his friend Joanne Carson, Johnny Carson's former wife. The coroner listed liver disease complicated by phlebitis and multiple drug intoxication.Wikipedia (English)L. Ron Hubbard: L. Ron Hubbard in 1950 (cropped 3x4)1986 · Creston, San Luis Obispo County, CaliforniaL. Ron Hubbard was cremated and his ashes scattered at sea within a day of his death in January 1986, after his son had sued to have him declared deadL. Ron Hubbard had not been seen in public for six years when he died of a stroke at 8 p.m. on 24 January 1986, in a motor home on his ranch near Creston. He was 74. In November 1982 his eldest son, Ronald DeWolf (born L.cs.cmu.edu and 4 moreZsa Zsa Gabor: Zsa Zsa Gabor - 19592016 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaZsa Zsa Gabor's husband ran her estate as conservator and moved most of her ashes to BudapestZsa Zsa Gabor married nine times. Her last husband, Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, married her in 1986 and became conservator of her estate.tmz.com and 3 moreJudy Garland: Judy Garland publicity photo1969 · Cadogan Lane, Belgravia, LondonJudy Garland's fifth husband buried her in New York; 48 years later her children moved her to HollywoodJudy Garland died at 47 of an accidental barbiturate overdose, three months after marrying nightclub manager Mickey Deans.CBS News and 3 moreFrank Lloyd Wright: Frank Lloyd Wright portrait1959 · Phoenix, ArizonaFrank Lloyd Wright's grave in Wisconsin was emptied 26 years after his burial, and his body was cremated for ArizonaWright was buried in Wisconsin, near Taliesin, his home and school at Spring Green, beside members of his family. His third wife, Olgivanna, led the Taliesin Fellowship after his death.arabnews.pk and 4 moreDennis Wilson: Dennis Wilson 1982 (portrait crop)1983 · Marina del Rey, CaliforniaDennis Wilson's estranged wife had him buried at sea with White House help, against his brother's plan to bury him beside their fatherDennis Wilson drowned at 39 while diving in the marina for objects he believed were on the bottom. His blood alcohol level was 0.26. He had lost his boat, the Harmony, had no car, and had been without a home for about a month.reaganlibrary.gov and 2 moreJim Thorpe: Jim Thorpe 1913b-cr1953 · Lomita, CaliforniaJim Thorpe's widow sold his body to two Pennsylvania towns, which renamed themselves after himJim Thorpe, a Sac and Fox citizen, won the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympics. He died in California in 1953 and was due to be buried in Oklahoma.penntoday.upenn.edu and 3 moreLiberace: Liberace 18 Allan Warren1987 · The Cloisters, Palm Springs, CaliforniaLiberace's doctor signed a death certificate that hid AIDS; the coroner pulled his embalmed body back for an autopsyIn 1982 Scott Thorson, Liberace's former chauffeur and live-in companion, sued him for $113 million in what was reported as palimony. Liberace said under oath in 1984 that Thorson was never his lover.Los Angeles Times and 5 moreCharlie Chaplin: Charlie Chaplin portrait Getty 17394119521977 · Corsier-sur-Vevey, SwitzerlandTwo men stole Charlie Chaplin's coffin for ransom, and his widow refused to payCharlie Chaplin moved to Switzerland after the United States revoked his re-entry permit in 1952. He died at home in Corsier-sur-Vevey on Christmas Day 1977, aged 88. He left more than $100 million to his widow, Oona.history.co.uk and 3 moreGary Coleman: GaryColemanE3May052010 · Provo, UtahA Utah judge ruled Gary Coleman's ex-wife was not his common-law wife; his ashes were locked in a vaultGary Coleman starred as a child in "Diff'rent Strokes." In 1989 he sued his adoptive parents and a former adviser for misusing his trust fund and won a $1.28 million judgment in 1993.CNN and 1 moreCasey Kasem2014 · St. Anthony's Hospital, Gig Harbor, WashingtonCasey Kasem's wife and children fought over his care until he died, then she took his body to NorwayCasey Kasem, host of "American Top 40", had Lewy body dementia in his last years. His second wife, Jean, and his three children from his first marriage, Kerri, Julie and Mike, fought over his care.abc7.com and 3 moreGram Parsons1973 · Joshua Tree Inn, Yucca Valley, CaliforniaGram Parsons' road manager stole his body from Los Angeles airport and burned it in Joshua TreeGram Parsons died at 26 of a morphine and alcohol overdose at the Joshua Tree Inn. His stepfather, Bob Parsons, arranged a private burial in New Orleans.americansongwriter.com and 3 moreTammy Wynette: Tammy Wynette 1977 (cropped)1998 · Nashville, TennesseeTammy Wynette's daughters sued her husband for $50 million, and her body was exhumed for an autopsyTammy Wynette died at 55 at her Nashville home. Her physician, Dr. Wallis Marsh, gave a blood clot as the cause. No autopsy was done. Her husband and manager, George Richey, controlled her affairs.mtv.com and 2 moreJuan Gabriel: Juan Gabriel in 1985 (cropped)2016 · Santa Monica, CaliforniaJuan Gabriel left everything to one son, and a man claiming to be another son asked a court for part of his remainsJuan Gabriel, born Alberto Aguilera Valadez, wrote more than 1,800 songs. He died of a heart attack in Santa Monica at 66. His son Iván Aguilera was named sole beneficiary.loeb.com and 2 moreTed Williams: Ted Williams (cropped)2002 · Inverness, Florida, USATed Williams's will asked for his ashes to be scattered at sea, two of his children had him frozen in Arizona, and an ex-employee said his head was severedTed Williams, the Boston Red Sox hitter, died of cardiac arrest in Inverness, Florida, on 5 July 2002, aged 83.Internet Archive and 14 moreSuicide of Christine Chubbuck: Christine Chubbuck 1974 (HQ)1974 · Sarasota, FloridaChristine Chubbuck shot herself on live television in 1974, and her station's tape has been held privately sinceOn 15 July 1974 Christine Chubbuck, a reporter and host at WXLT-TV in Sarasota, spoke on camera about an attempted suicide after a film reel failed. She shot herself during Suncoast Digest.aol.com and 2 moreF. Scott Fitzgerald: Photo portrait of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald used in a year-long print advertising campaign for the Woodbury Soap Company, in which Fitzgerald featured as one 1940 · Los Angeles, CaliforniaF. Scott Fitzgerald left an estate of about $35,000 in 1940, and the Catholic church refused his burial plot until his daughter petitioned in 1975F. Scott Fitzgerald died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on 21 December 1940, aged 44. Gatsby had sold fewer than 23,000 copies by the end of 1925, and his book royalties were $80 in 1936.blogs.library.duke.edu and 3 moreJohn Entwistle: John Entwistle-12002 · Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas, NevadaJohn Entwistle's executors sold his guitars, his cars, his house and its last 700 lots within three years of his death; his ashes stayed in the groundsJohn Entwistle, the Who's bassist, died at 57 in a Las Vegas hotel room after taking cocaine, on the eve of an American tour.Internet Archive and 5 moreCharlie Parker: Portrait of Charlie Parker in 19471955 · New YorkCharlie Parker's wife, his partner and his mother fought over his body, and he was buried where he asked not to beCharlie Parker died at 34 in the New York hotel suite of jazz patron Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter. He had separated from his legal wife, Doris, in 1950 and lived with Chan Parker, to whom he was never married.Internet Archive and 3 moreSherman Hemsley: Sherman Hemsley The Jeffersons 19782012 · El Paso, TexasSherman Hemsley's body stayed in a funeral home refrigerator for months while a half-brother contested his willSherman Hemsley played George Jefferson on "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons." He died of lung cancer at his El Paso home on July 24, 2012, at 74.CNN and 2 moreDiego Maradona: Argentina celebrando copa (cropped)2020 · Dique Luján, Tigre, Buenos Aires provinceDiego Maradona left five recognised heirs, more paternity claims, and two trials over his death and his nameDiego Maradona died at 60 in a rented house in Tigre and was buried at Jardín de Bella Vista cemetery. In December 2020 a court ordered his body preserved because a woman, Magalí Gil, claimed to be his daughter.lacapital.com.ar and 3 moreRobert Johnson1938 · near Greenwood, MississippiRobert Johnson died in 1938 with nothing, and a Mississippi court found his heir 62 years laterRobert Johnson recorded 29 songs in 1936 and 1937 and died at 27, owning almost nothing. Three graves in Mississippi claim his body.The Seattle Times and 3 moreNikola Tesla: A photograph image of Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) at age 34.1943 · Hotel New Yorker, New York City, USAThe US government sealed Nikola Tesla's papers after he died, his nephew took them to Belgrade, and the church and scientists later fought over his ashesNikola Tesla died alone in Room 3327 of the Hotel New Yorker on 7 January 1943, aged 86. The Office of Alien Property took his property, sealed it and moved it to a Manhattan warehouse, though Tesla was a US citizen.Cornell Law School, LII and 4 moreLeona Helmsley: Leona Helmsley cropped mug2007 · Dunnellen Hall, Greenwich, Connecticut, USALeona Helmsley left $12 million in trust for her dog Trouble and nothing to 2 grandchildren, and a judge cut the dog's trust to $2 millionLeona Helmsley, a hotel operator and real estate investor, was convicted of federal income tax evasion in 1989. She died of congestive heart failure on 20 August 2007 at Dunnellen Hall, her home in Greenwich, Connecticut, aged 87.NBC News and 14 moreRudolph Valentino: Rudolph-Valentino-by-Donald-Biddle-Keyes-19221926 · New York City, New YorkRudolph Valentino's will gave his ex-wife $1, and his body went into a borrowed cryptRudolph Valentino, born Rodolpho Guglielmi, died on August 23, 1926.Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School and 2 moreBuffalo Bill: Portrait of William F. Cody (aka) "Buffalo Bill"1917 · Denver, ColoradoBuffalo Bill's 1913 will gave everything to Louisa; Denver newspaper owners held his $20,000 debt, and Wyoming has claimed his body since 1917William F. Cody's 1906 will asked for burial on Cedar Mountain, above the town of Cody, Wyoming, which he founded. He changed the will in 1913 after reconciling with his wife Louisa, and she inherited everything.cowboystatedaily.com and 2 moreMaria Callas: Maria Callas 19581977 · Paris, FranceMaria Callas died without a valid will, her estranged husband and mother split her $8 million, and her ashes were stolenMaria Callas died in her Paris apartment at 53. She left no signed later will, so her estate, reported at $8 million, would pass to her mother, Evangelia, and sister, Jackie, from whom she had long been estranged.The Independent and 4 moreZelda Fitzgerald: Zelda Fitzgerald (1923 Portrait) Retouched1948 · Asheville, North CarolinaZelda Fitzgerald died locked in a fifth-floor room when fire destroyed Highland Hospital in 1948; nine women died and no one was chargedZelda Fitzgerald, 47, was a patient at Highland Hospital, a sanatorium that Duke University's neuropsychiatric department took over in 1939.dncr.nc.gov and 2 moreÉdith Piaf: Studio photo1963 · Plascassier, Grasse, FranceEdith Piaf's body was driven secretly from Grasse to Paris so her death could be announced there, and her husband inherited her debtsEdith Piaf died at 1:10 pm on 10 October 1963 in Plascassier, near Grasse, at 47. She had asked to die in Paris.pariszigzag.fr and 4 moreRobert Maxwell: Robert Maxwell 1989 (3x4 cropped 2)1991 · Atlantic Ocean, off the Canary IslandsPublisher Robert Maxwell went overboard from his yacht, and his sons inherited companies that had used the staff pension fundsMaxwell was last in contact with the crew of his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine, at 4:25 a.m. He was reported missing that morning, and his naked body was recovered from the sea.The New York Times and 4 moreBenny Hill: Benny Hill. Waxwork of Benny Hill in character as Fred Scuttle on The Benny Hill Show.1992 · Teddington, LondonBenny Hill left an estate of 7,548,192 pounds to seven nieces and nephews, and his grave was broken into in 1992 over a rumour of buried goldBenny Hill died on 18 April 1992, aged 68, in an armchair in his Teddington flat. He was found two days later.probatesearch.service.gov.uk and 3 moreEdward Abbey: "Black Sun", by Edward Abbey (cropped)1989 · near Tucson, ArizonaEdward Abbey wrote instructions to be buried without a coffin or permit, and friends buried him in the Arizona desert two days after he diedEdward Abbey died at home near Tucson on 14 March 1989, aged 62, after four days of esophageal bleeding. He left a wife, Clarke Cartwright, five children and a father.abbeyweb.net and 3 moreMata Hari: MataHari151917 · Vincennes, near ParisMata Hari's body went unclaimed after her 1917 execution, and the embalmed head kept in a Paris anatomy museum was found missing in 2000Margaretha Zelle, known as Mata Hari, was convicted of treason by a French military court and shot by firing squad on 15 October 1917. No relative claimed her body, so it was handed over for medical study.library.georgetown.edu and 3 moreBarbara Hutton: Barbara Hutton on a ship (cropped)1979 · Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, USABarbara Hutton inherited the Woolworth fortune at 21, married seven times, and died with $3,500 in the bankFrank W. Woolworth opened his first successful five-and-dime store in 1879. His daughter Edna married Franklyn Hutton. Edna died at The Plaza hotel on 2 May 1917, aged 33.legacy.suntimes.com and 2 moreAI illustration: A small churchyard at Laugardælir, Iceland, in winter light, 20102008 · Reykjavík, IcelandIceland exhumed Bobby Fischer to test a girl's paternity claim, and the DNA said noBobby Fischer became world chess champion by beating Boris Spassky in Reykjavík in 1972. Wanted in the United States for playing a 1992 match in Yugoslavia, he was given Icelandic citizenship in 2005.UPI and 4 moreAI illustration: A typed will with a forged signature on a doctor's desk in Hyde, 19981998 · Hyde, Greater ManchesterA forged will leaving £386,000 to Dr Harold Shipman exposed Britain's worst serial killerKathleen Grundy, 81, a former mayoress of Hyde, died at home. Her GP, Dr Harold Shipman, signed the death certificate and gave "old age" as the cause.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk and 3 moreChe Guevara: Ernesto Guevara. Retrato. ca.19451967 · La Higuera and Vallegrande, BoliviaBolivian officers cut off Che Guevara's hands in 1967, a minister had them smuggled toward Cuba in a jar, and his body was found under an airstrip 30 years laterErnesto "Che" Guevara was captured in Bolivia and killed at La Higuera on 9 October 1967. President René Barrientos wanted proof of identity and asked Argentina for experts to compare fingerprints with police records.pagina12.com.ar and 3 moreEAST (FRONT) ELEVATION - Henry M. Flagler Mansion, Whitehall Way, Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, FL: EAST (FRONT) ELEVATION - Henry M. Flagler Mansion, Whitehall Way, Palm Beach, P1917 · Louisville, Kentucky, USAHenry Flagler's widow left $5 million to her new husband in a codicil signed eight days before she died, and her family dug up her bodyMary Lily Kenan married Henry Flagler, co-founder of Standard Oil, on 24 August 1901. He died in 1913 and left most of his wealth to her. In late 1916 she married Robert Worth Bingham, a Louisville judge.ebsco.com and 2 moreGlenn Miller: Glenn Miller1944 · over the English ChannelGlenn Miller vanished over the English Channel; his widow licensed his name for $1, and his children lost it in courtMajor Glenn Miller's plane disappeared over the English Channel on 15 December 1944. No wreckage or body was found. He was pronounced dead a year later.cacd.uscourts.gov and 1 moreD. H. Lawrence: D H Lawrence passport photograph1930 · Vence, FranceD. H. Lawrence was exhumed in France in 1935 and cremated for a New Mexico shrine, and a scholar reported that the man who carried the ashes said he threw them awayD. H. Lawrence died of tuberculosis in Vence on 2 March 1930 and was buried in the Vence cemetery two days later.dhlawrenceranch.unm.edu and 2 morePeggy Guggenheim: Peggy Guggenheim, Lo Specchio (1958) (cropped)1979 · Camposampiero, near Padua, ItalyPeggy Guggenheim's grandsons sued the Guggenheim Foundation in Paris to undo her gift of the Venice collection and lostPeggy Guggenheim's father, Benjamin, died on the Titanic in 1912. In 1919, at 21, she inherited $2.5 million. From 1949 she showed her collection at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni in Venice.hyperallergic.com and 6 moreThomas Hardy: Thomas Hardy Restored Portrait 1910–1915 (3x4 cropped)1928 · Max Gate, Dorchester, EnglandThomas Hardy's heart was buried in his first wife's grave and his ashes in Westminster Abbey after his executor overruled his wish; a legend says a cat ate the heartThomas Hardy died at Max Gate just after 9 p.m. on 11 January 1928. He wanted burial at Stinsford, Dorset, in the grave of his first wife, Emma.archive.spectator.co.uk and 3 moreDavid Carradine: David Carradine at the premiere of Polanski Unauthorized2009 · Swissotel Nai Lert Park, BangkokDavid Carradine was found dead in a Bangkok closet in 2009; Thai police said suicide, the family's pathologist said accident, and his widow sued the film companyDavid Carradine arrived in Bangkok on 31 May 2009 to shoot Stretch. He missed a meal on 3 June and was found dead on 4 June in a hotel closet, aged 72.abcnews.com and 3 moreÉmile Zola: Nadar (atelier de) - Emile Zola, 13-5565351902 · Paris, FranceA 1953 newspaper said a chimney sweep blocked Émile Zola's flue in 1902, and the Panthéon ceremony for his remains ended with a gunman wounding DreyfusÉmile Zola died in his Paris apartment on 29 September 1902, aged 62, of carbon monoxide from a chimney that was not drawing. The death was ruled accidental.historytoday.com and 3 moreErwin Rommel: Erwin-Rommel-19411944 · In a car between Herrlingen and Wippingen, WürttembergRommel took poison on 14 October 1944 in exchange for a state funeral and pensions for his familyFrom October 1943 Erwin Rommel's family lived at Wippinger Steige 13 in Herrlingen. Until 1939 the house had belonged to a Jewish boarding school run by Hugo Rosenthal.ifz-muenchen.de and 3 moreMary Shelley: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley title QS:P1476,en:"Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley "label QS:Len,"Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley "l1822 · at sea off Viareggio, ItalyShelley's father would fund his widow only if she published no biography, and she kept the remains of his heart in her deskPercy Bysshe Shelley drowned when his sailing boat sank in a storm near Viareggio. His body washed up about ten days later and was cremated on the beach. His father, Sir Timothy Shelley, controlled the family estate.mentalfloss.com and 3 moreFederico García Lorca: Lorca (1914)1936 · Alfacar, near Granada, SpainFederico García Lorca was shot with three other men in August 1936, and a 2009 dig at the supposed grave in Alfacar found no remainsFederico García Lorca was 38 when he was shot at dawn on 18 August 1936, at the start of the Spanish Civil War.foroporlamemoria.info and 4 moreFrançois Mitterrand: President François Mitterrand in 1983 (cropped)1996 · ParisFrançois Mitterrand's secret daughter walked behind his coffin after the state had paid to hide herFrançois Mitterrand died of prostate cancer in Paris eight months after leaving office. On 11 January 1996 there were two ceremonies: a mass at Notre-Dame in Paris and a burial at his hometown, Jarnac.fr-academic.com and 3 moreJosé Carreras: 27.02.1972. Don Carlos avec José Carreras. (1972) - 53Fi4217 (cropped)2019 · Miami, Florida, USA; buried in Mexico City, MexicoJosé José's older children searched Miami hospitals and funeral homes for his body, and two wills name different heirsJosé José, the Mexican singer known as the Prince of Song, had pancreatic cancer. In February 2018 his youngest daughter, Sarita Sosa, took him to live with her in Miami.hola.com and 2 moreMap of New York, marked on the globe1995 · New York, New York, USASeymour Durst passed over his eldest son, the family bought Robert out for about $65 million, and Robert died a convicted murdererRobert Durst, Seymour Durst's eldest son, was originally designated to manage the family's wealth, held in trusts that own extensive Manhattan real estate.pressdemocrat.com and 2 moreEva Perón: Evita (cropped)1952 · Unzué Palace, Buenos AiresArgentina's military seized Eva Perón's embalmed body and buried it in Milan under a false nameEva Perón, wife of President Juan Perón, died of cancer at 33. The anatomist Pedro Ara embalmed her body. In 1955 the military overthrew Perón.Il Post and 3 morePredappio, cimitero di San Cassiano (01): Predappio, cimitero1945 · Milan; Cerro Maggiore; Predappio, ItalyPartisans shot Mussolini, fascists stole his body from an unmarked grave, and the state hid it in a monastery for 11 years before trading it for votesPartisans shot Benito Mussolini and Clara Petacci on 28 April 1945. Their bodies were dumped in Milan's Piazzale Loreto, abused by the crowd and hung by the feet from the girder of an unfinished service station.panorama.it and 2 moreEnrico Caruso: Postcard of Enrico Caruso, ca. 19101921 · Hotel Vesuvio, NaplesEnrico Caruso's body lay in a glass-topped coffin in Naples for years, and his estate was split by a Naples decree that two New Jersey courts reopenedEnrico Caruso died at 48 in Naples.case-law.vlex.com and 2 moreSaddam Hussein: Saddam Hussein in 19982006 · Baghdad; al-Awja, near Tikrit, Salahuddin, IraqSaddam Hussein was buried in his own mausoleum, the mausoleum was destroyed, and no one will say where his body isSaddam Hussein was hanged at dawn on 30 December 2006. President George W. Bush authorised moving the body by US military helicopter to Tikrit.kuwaittimes.com and 3 moreCollyer Bros Park jeh: Looking northwest from 5th Avenue at en:Collyer brothers Park on a cloudy late afternoon.1947 · 2078 Fifth Avenue, Harlem, New York City, USAThe Collyer brothers died in their inherited Harlem house under more than 100 tons of hoarded goods, and 56 people claimed the estateHerman Collyer, a Manhattan gynecologist, and Susie Collyer, a former opera singer, were first cousins. In 1909 they moved with their sons, Homer and Langley, into a four-storey brownstone at Fifth Avenue and 128th Street.messynessychic.com and 2 moreVictor Hugo: Portrait photograph of Victor Hugo published in the widely distributed serial publication entitled Galerie contemporaine, littéraire, artistique. Issued in parts from 1885 · Paris, FranceVictor Hugo left 50,000 francs to the poor and asked for their hearse; France gave him a state funeral that drew more than two million peopleVictor Hugo died of pneumonia on 22 May 1885, aged 83. His five-sentence will said, "Je donne cinquante mille francs aux pauvres," and asked to be carried to the cemetery in the paupers' hearse.deslettres.fr and 2 moreJuan Perón: Official photo of President of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón, using the presidential sash.1974 · Buenos Aires, ArgentinaThieves cut the hands off Juan Perón's body in 1987 and demanded 8 million dollars, and the judge investigating died in a car crashPerón died in office on 1 July 1974 and lay in the family vault at the Chacarita cemetery from 1976. In June 1987 the Justicialist Party received an anonymous letter saying his hands had been taken, with his military cap and sword.pagina12.com.ar and 3 moreMap of Illinois, marked on the globe2012 · Chicago, Illinois, USAA Chicago man died of cyanide the day after his $1 million lottery check was issued, and his widow and siblings fought over the estateUrooj Khan, 46, owned dry-cleaning businesses in Chicago. In June 2012 he won $1 million on a scratch-off ticket bought at a 7-Eleven. He took a lump sum; the state's check after tax was $424,449.NBC News and 2 moreNelson Mandela: From Wash D.C. Longworth building October 4, 1994. Mandela's first trip to the United States.2013 · Qunu and Mvezo, Eastern Cape, South AfricaNelson Mandela's grandson moved three of Mandela's children's graves to his own village, and 16 relatives won a court order to return them to Qunu in 2013Three of Nelson Mandela's children were buried in the family graveyard at Qunu, his childhood village in the Eastern Cape: his daughter Makaziwe, who died as an infant in 1948; his son Madiba Thembekile, killed in a car accident in 1969; and his eldest son Makgatho, who died in 2005.mg.co.za and 4 moreThomas Paine: Thomas Painetitle QS:P1476,en:"Thomas Paine"label QS:Len,"Thomas Paine"1809 · 59 Grove Street, Greenwich Village, New YorkThomas Paine's bones were dug up by an admirer, shipped to England and lostPaine signed his will on 18 January 1809.American Heritage and 3 moreFela Kuti: Fela Kuti circa 19861997 · Lagos, NigeriaFela Kuti's brother announced he died of AIDS, he was buried in his own courtyard, and his estate signed with WME 26 years laterFela Anikulapo-Kuti married 27 women publicly and supported a household of more than 100 people. He died in a Lagos hospital at 58.ipsnews.net and 5 more301-es parcella 1988: 301-es parcella (1988)1958 · Budapest, HungaryHungary hanged Imre Nagy in 1958 and buried him face down under a woman's name, and over 200,000 people came to his reburial in 1989Imre Nagy was Hungary's prime minister during the 1956 revolution. After Soviet troops crushed it, János Kádár's government tried him in secret for treason.301.nori.gov.hu and 2 moreVíctor Jara: Photograph of the Chilean singer-songwriter Víctor Jara performing in Helsinki at a protest against the war on Vietnam.1973 · Estadio Chile, Santiago, ChileSoldiers shot Víctor Jara 44 times, his widow buried him in secret, and 50 years later Chile jailed his killers and Florida deported the last oneAfter the coup, soldiers held Víctor Jara at Estadio Chile and tortured him for days. His body was dumped near the Metropolitan Cemetery. His British widow, Joan Jara, identified him at the morgue.ice.gov and 6 moreRobert Walser: Robert Walser, in Zürich, around 1900.1956 · Herisau, SwitzerlandRobert Walser was found dead in the snow in 1956 after 23 years in an asylum, and his guardian Carl Seelig controlled the microscripts until 1962Robert Walser entered the Herisau asylum in 1933 under a diagnosis of schizophrenia. On 25 December 1956 children found his body in the snow on one of his long walks. He was 78.vqronline.org and 4 moreFrancisco Goya: Spanish: El pintor Francisco de GoyaPortrait of Francisco de Goyatitle QS:P1476,es:"El pintor Francisco de Goya"label QS1828 · Bordeaux, FranceGoya's grave in Bordeaux was opened in 1888 and his skull was missing; he was reburied in Madrid in 1919 without itFrancisco de Goya died in Bordeaux on 16 April 1828, aged 82. He was buried in the Grande Chartreuse cemetery in the Muguiro family mausoleum, beside his friend and in-law Martín Miguel de Goicoechea.Smithsonian Magazine and 2 moreAdolphus Busch: Adolphus busch21913 · Villa Lilly, Bad Schwalbach, Germany; St. Louis, Missouri, UAdolphus Busch's widow stayed in Germany during World War I, and the US Alien Property Custodian took her share of the brewery until she came homeAdolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, died at Villa Lilly, his estate at Bad Schwalbach in Germany, on 10 October 1913. His estate was valued at up to $60 million. His body was shipped to St. Louis for burial.missourioverthere.org and 3 moreJumbo: Jumbo and his keeper Matthew Scott1885 · St. Thomas, OntarioJumbo the elephant was killed by a train in 1885; his skeleton, hide, heart and ashes went to four different ownersIn 1882 the London Zoo's superintendent, Abraham Bartlett, sold Jumbo to P.T. Barnum for 2,000 pounds (US$10,000). A lawsuit claimed the sale broke zoo bylaws, the zoo tried to back out, and the court upheld the sale.tufts.edu and 3 moreWestminster Abbey, where the story took place1904 · LondonStanley was refused burial beside Livingstone in Westminster Abbey, and his papers were sold to Belgium in four partsHenry Morton Stanley was baptised John Rowlands at Denbigh in 1841, the illegitimate son of Elizabeth Parry, then 18.africamuseum.be and 6 more2012 Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hanoi.1969 · Hanoi, VietnamHo Chi Minh's will asked for cremation and his ashes split three ways; the Politburo embalmed him, cut the request from the published will and moved his death date by a dayHo Chi Minh began his testament in 1965 and revised it until 1969. The 1965 text asked that his remains be cremated and the ashes buried on a hill.Internet Archive and 3 moreNational Palace, Addis Ababa, where the story took place1975 · Jubilee Palace, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaEthiopia's Derg said Haile Selassie died after prostate surgery, and his bones were found under his palace office 16 years laterEmperor Haile Selassie was deposed by the military committee known as the Derg on 12 September 1974 and held in the palace. On 23 November 1974 the Derg executed about 60 former officials without trial.Wikipedia (English) and 1 moreSergei Rachmaninoff: Sergei Rachmaninoff cph.3a405751943 · Beverly Hills, CaliforniaRussia's culture minister demanded Rachmaninoff's remains back from New York, and his descendants said noSergei Rachmaninoff left Russia in 1917 after the Bolshevik revolution. He became a US citizen shortly before he died of cancer at 69. He was buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, with his wife and daughter.Smithsonian Magazine and 3 moreHarry Houdini: Harry Houdini1926 · Detroit, MichiganHoudini's great-nephew and two authors announced a 2007 plan to exhume his body to test for poisonHarry Houdini died at 52 on 31 October 1926. The accepted account is that a punch to the stomach in Montreal on 22 October ruptured his appendix, causing peritonitis. No autopsy was performed.wildabouthoudini.com and 2 moreNikolai Gogol: NV Gogol1852 · Moscow, RussiaGogol burned the second part of Dead Souls nine days before he died; in 1931 his coffin was opened, and legend says the skull was missingOn the night of 24 February 1852 Nikolai Gogol burned manuscripts containing most of the second part of Dead Souls. He later called it a mistake and said the Devil had played a joke on him.weekend.rambler.ru and 3 moreMeriwether Lewis: Meriwether Lewis-Charles Willson Peale1809 · Grinder's Stand, Natchez Trace, TennesseeMeriwether Lewis died insolvent with his drafts refused by the War Department, and 198 relatives have not been allowed to exhume his bodyThree years after the expedition, Meriwether Lewis was governor of Upper Louisiana and owed money. On 16 June 1809 he drew an $81 bill on the Secretary of War, William Eustis.US National Park Service and 7 moreHawley Harvey Crippen: Dr crippen1910 · Hilldrop Crescent, London, UKDr Crippen was hanged for killing his wife, and the court refused to let his mistress take the wife's estate through his willCora Crippen was last seen at about 1 a.m. on 1 February 1910, after a dinner party at the house in Hilldrop Crescent, London, that she shared with her husband, Hawley Harvey Crippen.The National Archives, Find Case Law and 3 moreCounty Mayo - Moore Hall - 20181027163650: County Mayo, Moore Hall.1933 · Moore Hall, Carnacon, County Mayo, IrelandAnti-Treaty IRA men burned Moore Hall in 1923 because a Moore brother backed the Treaty, and the novelist's ashes lie on Castle Island in Lough CarraGeorge Moore made a fortune in the wine and brandy trade at Alicante and came home to Mayo in the 1790s with £200,000. He built Moore Hall from 1792 to 1795.con-telegraph.ie and 3 moreJacques-Louis David: French: Portrait de l'artiste Self-portraittitle QS:P1476,fr:"Portrait de l'artiste "label QS:Lfr,"Portrait de l'artiste1825 · BrusselsFrance refused to take back Jacques-Louis David's body in 1825, so he lies in a Brussels cemetery under an obeliskJacques-Louis David voted for the execution of Louis XVI in 1793 and later became Napoleon's first painter. After 1815 he lived in exile in Brussels. He died there in December 1825.patrimoine.brussels and 2 moreAnita Mui: Avenue of Stars, Anita Mui (Ank Kumar)2003 · Hong KongAnita Mui put her estate in a trust to keep it from her mother; the mother sued for 20 years, went bankrupt, and died in 2026 after Mui's ashes went missingAnita Mui died of cervical cancer in December 2003, aged 40. Shortly before, she signed a will that put most of her estate in a trust administered by HSBC International Trustee.taipeitimes.com and 5 moreAI illustration: An empty, broken-open mausoleum by the Wörthersee in Carinthia, 20082006 · Auen, Wörthersee, Carinthia, AustriaThieves stole the coffin of Friedrich Karl Flick, heir to a Nazi-era fortune, from his Austrian mausoleumFriedrich Flick's companies used an estimated 48,000 forced labourers in the Second World War.sueddeutsche.de and 6 moreMobutu Sese Seko: Mobutu (cropped)1997 · Rabat, MoroccoSwitzerland released Mobutu Sese Seko's frozen money to his heirs, and his body stays in RabatMobutu Sese Seko ruled Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, until rebels forced him into exile in May 1997. He built a palace at Gbadolite, his home town. He died in exile in Rabat on 7 September 1997, aged 66.swissinfo.ch and 7 moreRobert Mugabe: Robert Mugabe Official Portrait (4x5 cropped)2019 · Kutama, Zvimba district, ZimbabweRobert Mugabe left about $10 million and no will, and a village chief fined his widow five cows and ordered his body dug upRobert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years until a coup in November 2017. He died in Singapore on 6 September 2019, aged 95.Al Jazeera and 2 moreJames Cook: Captain James Cook, 1728-79 title QS:P1476,en:"Captain James Cook, 1728-79 "label QS:Len,"Captain James Cook, 1728-79 "1779 · Kealakekua Bay, HawaiiCaptain Cook's body was returned in pieces, and his widow outlived all six children and destroyed his letters before she died in 1835James Cook married Elizabeth Batts on 21 December 1762. In 17 years of marriage they lived together about four years. Cook was killed at Kealakekua Bay on 14 February 1779.register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk and 6 moreVoltaire: French: Portrait de Voltaire (1694-1778) en 1718 Voltaire the age of twenty-four (?)title QS:P1476,fr:"Portrait de Volta1778 · Paris, FranceVoltaire was refused a Paris burial in 1778, buried in secret, moved to the Panthéon in 1791 with his heart kept apart, and a legend says his bones were thrown away in 1814Voltaire returned to Paris in February 1778 for the opening of his tragedy Irène and died there aged 83. Because he had not retracted his criticism of the Church, he was denied a Christian burial in Paris.jackboulware.substack.com and 3 moreRyszard Kukliński - Cmentarz Wojskowy na Powązkach (8): Warszawa, Powązki Wojskowe2004 · Tampa, Florida, USA; Warsaw, PolandPolish colonel Ryszard Kukliński passed 40,000 pages to the CIA, was sentenced to death in absentia, and lost both sons within months in 1994Ryszard Kukliński was a colonel on the Polish General Staff.eng.ipn.gov.pl and 2 moreSalvador Dalí: Salvador Dalí 19391989 · Figueres, Catalonia, SpainA Madrid judge had Salvador Dalí exhumed for a paternity test 28 years after his death, and the DNA said noDalí died of cardiac arrest at 84 and was buried in the crypt under the stage of his own Theatre-Museum in Figueres. His wife Gala had died in 1982. They had no children. Dalí left his estate to the Spanish state.The Art Newspaper and 4 moreFerrari 330 America fl: Ferrari 330 America1977 · Beverly Hills, California, and San Antonio, Texas, USAA Beverly Hills oil widow's will told her brother-in-law to bury her in her Ferrari or lose his inheritance, and a court held her to itSandra Ilene West was a Beverly Hills socialite and the widow of Texas oilman Ike West. She died in California in 1977 at about 38.jalopnik.com and 2 moreAlbert Einstein: Albert Einstein Head cleaned1955 · Princeton, New Jersey, USAEinstein gave his Nobel money to his first wife and asked to be cremated in secret, and the pathologist kept his brain for decadesOn 12 June 1918 Albert Einstein signed an agreement with his first wife, Mileva Marić.nationalgeographic.com and 3 moreJoseph Merrick: Joseph Merrick carte de visite photo, c. 18891890 · Whitechapel, London, England, UKJoseph Merrick's manager stole his savings, the London Hospital took him in, and after his death it kept his skeleton while his flesh went to an unmarked graveJoseph Merrick was born in Leicester on 5 August 1862. Growths on his body worsened over time. His family left him in the Leicester Union Workhouse in 1879.londonmuseum.org.uk and 2 moreFriedrich Schiller: Portrait of Friedrich Schillerlabel QS:Len,"Portrait of Friedrich Schiller"label QS:Lfr,"Portrait de Friedrich Schiller"1805 · Weimar, GermanyWeimar buried a skull as Friedrich Schiller's in 1827; DNA tests in 2008 showed it and the skeleton were not hisSchiller died on 9 May 1805 and was buried three days later in the Kassengewölbe, a common vault in Weimar's Jacobs cemetery.NBC News and 2 moreReza Pahlavi: رضا پهلوی در گفتگو با سیامک دهقانپور از صدای آمریکا، تیر ۱۴۰۳ 02 (cropped)1944 · Johannesburg, South Africa; Cairo, Egypt; Rey (Tehran), IranRevolutionaries demolished Reza Shah's mausoleum in 1980 and could not find his body, and a mummified body turned up on the site in 2018Reza Shah ruled Iran from 1925. He became the richest man in the country through forced sales and confiscations of estates, and on abdication he reportedly left his heir about £3 million and more than 3 million acres.Encyclopaedia Britannica and 3 moreAI illustration: The Croisette at Cannes at night, 20042004 · Cannes, FranceThe 10th Earl of Shaftesbury was strangled by his wife's brother in Cannes, and his heir died six months laterAnthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, owned more than 9,000 acres in Dorset, the family seat of St Giles House and the bed of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland.france24.com and 4 moreMinik Wallace: Minik in New York1898 · New York; Pittsburg, New HampshirePeary brought six Inuit to New York in 1897, and the museum faked a funeral and kept Minik's father's skeleton until 1993In September 1897 Robert Peary brought six Inughuit from northwest Greenland to New York. The American Museum of Natural History studied them, and visitors paid to see them. Peary had promised they could go home within a year.nunatsiaq.com and 3 moreFather Damien's grave in 1907: Father Damien's grave in 1907, during Jack London's visit to Kalaupapa.1889 · Kalawao, Molokai, Hawaii, USA, and Leuven, BelgiumFather Damien was buried on Molokai where he had served leprosy patients, Belgium took the body in 1936, and Hawaii got back his right hand in 1995Joseph De Veuster was born in Tremelo, Belgium, on 3 January 1840, took the name Damien and landed in Honolulu on 19 March 1864.US National Park Service and 2 moreKen Takakura: 国際情報社『映画情報』第31巻1月号(1966)より高倉健2014 · Keio University Hospital, Tokyo, JapanKen Takakura's adopted daughter cremated him before his family knew he had died, and inherited his estate and film rightsKen Takakura, born Oda Takeichi, made 205 films. In 2013 he adopted Takatsuki Oda, a former actress 33 years younger who had lived with him since 1997. As his adopted child she became his heir.friday.kodansha.co.jp and 3 moreIlia Chavchavadze: Ilia Tchavtchavadze1907 · Road from Tbilisi to Saguramo, near Mtskheta, GeorgiaIlia Chavchavadze was shot dead on the road to his Saguramo estate in 1907, and the Georgian church made him a saint in 1987Chavchavadze, a Georgian poet and public figure, was killed on the road from Tbilisi to his estate at Saguramo. Wikipedia and OrthodoxWiki date the killing to 28 August 1907; the Orthodox Church in America says 30 August.oca.org and 3 moreSarah Baartman: Saartjie Baartman (portrait)1815 · Paris, FranceFrance passed a law in 2002 to return Sarah Baartman's remains to South AfricaSarah Baartman was born about 1789 near the Gamtoos River in today's Eastern Cape, South Africa. On 29 October 1810 she was said to have signed a contract with the surgeon William Dunlop, though she could not read.sahistory.org.za and 4 moreMap of Hawaii, marked on the globe1905 · Kawaihae, Hawaii, USAThe Bishop Museum lent 83 burial objects to a Hawaiian group for one year, the group sealed them in a cave, and a federal judge jailed its leader until they came outIn 1905 David Forbes, a district judge, took 83 objects from a lava burial cave in Honokoa Gulch, Kawaihae, on Hawaiʻi Island. The Bishop Museum acquired them in 1907.archive.archaeology.org and 4 moreHideki Tojo: Hideki Tojo Portrait 1941 (3x4 cropped)(2)1948 · Sugamo Prison, TokyoUS Army papers show Hideki Tojo's ashes were scattered over the Pacific in 1948Hideki Tojo and six other Class A war criminals were hanged at Sugamo Prison on 23 December 1948. Their caskets left the prison by truck for the Kuboyama crematorium in Yokohama.wjla.com and 4 moreCyrus Teed: Cyrus Teed1908 · Estero, Lee County, Florida, USACyrus Teed's followers watched his body waiting for him to rise, until the county health officer ordered him buried; a hurricane later took the tombCyrus Teed, who called himself Koresh, moved his followers from Chicago to Estero, Florida, in 1894.wrldrels.org and 2 moreRobert Burns: Robert Burns, 1759 - 1796. Poet title QS:P1476,en:"Robert Burns, 1759 - 1796. Poet "label QS:Len,"Robert Burns, 1759 - 11796 · Dumfries, ScotlandRobert Burns's widow died in 1834, and local men opened his tomb at night to cast his skull for a phrenologistBurns was buried in St. Michael's Churchyard, Dumfries, in 1796. In 1815 his body was moved to a mausoleum in the same churchyard.Project Gutenberg and 3 moreAI illustration: A white stucco townhouse on Cadogan Place, Belgravia, London, 20122012 · Cadogan Place, Belgravia, LondonA Tetra Pak heir kept his wife's body in their London house for two monthsRuben Rausing founded Tetra Pak in Sweden. His sons Gad and Hans ran it together. Hans moved to Britain in 1982 to avoid Swedish tax. In 1995 Hans sold his half to Gad for an estimated $7 billion. Gad died on 28 January 2000.Forbes and 7 moreMiguel de Cervantes: Portrait of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra commonly said to be that which, according to the prologue to Cervantes' "Exemplary Novels", was painted by Juan de Jáu1616 · Madrid, SpainSpain announced in March 2015 that it had found Cervantes among bones of 15 to 17 people in a Madrid convent, with no DNA to confirm itMiguel de Cervantes died in Madrid on 22 April 1616 and, as his will directed, was buried in the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians, the order that had paid his ransom from captivity in 1580.Internet Archive and 3 moreJeremy Bentham: Jeremy Bentham title QS:P1476,en:"Jeremy Bentham "label QS:Len,"Jeremy Bentham "label QS:Lbn,"জেরেমি বেন্থাম"1832 · Queen's Square Place, Westminster; University College LJeremy Bentham willed his body to be dissected and displayed, and students stole his head in 1975Jeremy Bentham signed his will at Queen's Square Place, Westminster, on 30 May 1832. It gave his body to his friend Dr Southwood Smith.ucl.ac.uk and 3 moreMap of South Korea, marked on the globe2008 · Seoul; grave at Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province, South KoreaChoi Jin-sil's ex-husband regained rights over her children the day she died, and a fan stole her ashes from her graveThe actress Choi Jin-sil divorced the baseball player Cho Sung-min in 2004. He signed a contract giving up custody and the right to manage his two children's property in exchange for Choi paying off his debts.The Korea Times and 6 moreLaurel Hill Cemetery Advertisement (1904): Laurel Hill Cemetery Advertisement (1904) From "Philadelphia: The Birthplace of the Nation, The Pivot of Industry, The City of Homes" by 1930 · Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USAHenrietta Garrett died in 1930 with $17 million and no will; more than 25,000 people claimed to be her kin, ten went to jail, and three cousins she never met inheritedHenrietta Garrett was a childless widow who lived almost as a hermit in Philadelphia. She died on 16 November 1930 with no will and a residuary estate of about $17 million.legalgenealogist.com and 2 moreIshi: Ishi portrait1916 · San Francisco, California, USAIshi asked to be cremated by Yahi custom, and the university sent his brain to the Smithsonian, which returned it 84 years laterIshi was born about 1860, a Yahi, a branch of the Yana people of northern California. On 29 August 1911, starving, he walked out of hiding near Oroville and was held in the local jail.hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu and 2 moreGeronimo: Geronimo (Goyathlay), a Chiricahua Apache; full-length, kneeling with rifle1909 · Fort Sill, Oklahoma, USA; the Tomb, 64 High Street, New HaveGeronimo's descendants sued Skull and Bones in 2009 for the skull a member's 1918 letter says was taken from his grave, and a federal judge dismissed the caseGeronimo, a Chiricahua Apache leader, surrendered in 1886 and died a prisoner of war at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in February 1909. He was buried in the Apache cemetery there.historynewsnetwork.org and 5 moreAI illustration: Rhodes's grave on the granite dome of World's View in the Matopos hills, 19021902 · Muizenberg, Cape ColonyParliament cancelled the Kaiser's 15 Rhodes Scholarships in 1916, and Zimbabwean officials called for Rhodes's body to be removedCecil Rhodes signed his eighth and final will on 1 July 1899 and added codicils until March 1902. The will created 60 Oxford scholarships and left £100,000 to Oriel College.Internet Archive and 5 moreSimón Bolívar: Simón Bolívar. Toro Moreno, Luis. 1922, Legislative Palace, La Paz1830 · Santa Marta, ColombiaSimón Bolívar's will left only the Aroa copper mines, his sisters sold them in 1832, and Hugo Chávez had his bones dug up in 2010Bolívar was born into a rich creole family of Caracas. In 1663 the Spanish king had granted the Aroa mines, about 9,000 hectares west of Caracas, to Francisco Marín de Narváez, his great-great-grandfather.es.wikisource.org and 4 moreJulia Pastrana: Julia Pastrana1860 · MoscowJulia Pastrana's husband sold her embalmed body after she died in 1860, and it was exhibited, stolen and stored in Oslo until Mexico buried it in 2013Julia Pastrana, born in Sinaloa, Mexico, toured Europe and America with her husband and manager Theodore Lent, whom she married in Baltimore on 10 November 1855.publicdomainreview.org and 3 morePablo Neruda, escritor y poeta entregando papeles a un hombre1973 · Santiago, ChileChile dug up Pablo Neruda 40 years after the 1973 coup, and scientists found botulism bacteria in his toothNeruda died in a Santiago clinic 12 days after the military coup. The regime's version was prostate cancer. His family and Chile's Communist Party said he was killed by state agents.jurist.org and 3 moreGal Costa: Gal Costa e André Midani (Década de 1970) (cropped 2)2022 · São Paulo, BrazilGal Costa's adopted son asked to exhume her and challenged her widow's claim to half the estate, then settled for an equal splitGal Costa died on 9 November 2022, aged 77. Her death certificate gave a heart attack and cancer of the head and neck. No autopsy was done. In 2007 she had adopted Gabriel, then about two, from a shelter in Rio de Janeiro.cnnbrasil.com.br and 4 moreMutiny on the Bounty: The Mutineers turning Lt Bligh and part of the Officers and Crew adrift from His Majesty's Ship the Bounty, 28 April 1781817 · Bond Street, LondonBounty mutineers' descendants argued in 2004 that burning the ship in 1790 put Pitcairn outside British law, and the Privy Council rejected it in 2006On 28 April 1789 Fletcher Christian took HMAV Bounty and set William Bligh adrift in the ship's launch with 18 loyalists. Bligh sailed 3,618 nautical miles to Timor. The mutineers settled on Pitcairn and burned the ship in 1790.search.sl.nsw.gov.au and 4 moreGebhard Leberecht von Blücher: Field Marshal Prince von Blucher1819 · Krieblowitz, Silesia (now Krobielowice, Poland)Soviet soldiers emptied Blücher's mausoleum in 1945, and his family lost the Silesian estateIn 1814 Frederick William III created Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher Prince of Wahlstatt and gave him the Krieblowitz estate near Breslau. Blücher died there on 12 September 1819. His embalmed body was placed in a church crypt.tvn24.pl and 3 moreAlexei Navalny: Alexey Navalny 2018 (cropped)2024 · Penal Colony No. 3, Kharp, Russia; Salekhard, Russia; MoscowNavalny died in an Arctic prison colony, and the state held his body for eight days while investigators pressed his mother to agree to a secret burialAlexei Navalny died on 16 February 2024, aged 47, at Penal Colony No. 3 in Kharp, in the Russian Arctic. The authorities kept his body.globalnews.ca and 1 moreJosé Eduardo dos Santos-16062014-edit: Dilma recebe o presidente de Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos2022 · Barcelona, Spain, and Luanda, AngolaAngola's former president died in Barcelona, a daughter fought to bury him in Spain, and a Spanish court sent the body to his widow in LuandaJosé Eduardo dos Santos ruled Angola for 38 years. In 2017 he stepped down and handed power to João Lourenço, the successor he had picked. He moved to Spain in 2019.voaafrica.com and 5 moreAI illustration: The Klein Matterhorn glacier and cable car above Zermatt2021 · Klein Matterhorn, Zermatt, SwitzerlandTengelmann chief Karl-Erivan Haub vanished near the Matterhorn, and his brother bought out his widow and childrenKarl-Erivan Haub, born 1960 in Tacoma, Washington, ran the Tengelmann retail group from 2000 and co-owned it with his brothers Christian and Georg.orf.at and 7 moreYves Saint Laurent: Graphite and Egg Tempera on Canvas2008 · Paris, FranceYves Saint Laurent signed a civil union days before he died, and his collection sale included two bronze heads looted from Beijing in 1860Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé founded his couture house and were partners for 50 years. Days before Saint Laurent died in Paris on 1 June 2008, aged 71, the two men signed a PACS, a French civil partnership, at his home.lalibre.be and 7 moreBundesverfassungsgericht - Karlsruhe: Bundesverfassungsgericht - Karlsruhe1994 · Cologne court district, North Rhine-Westphalia, GermanyA German mother disinherited the son who attacked her, he killed her a month later, and two courts still awarded him his compulsory shareA widow had two sons. In 1982 her will named one of them sole heir. The other son had a schizophrenic psychosis and lived with her in her house. He attacked her repeatedly.servat.unibe.ch and 3 moreAI illustration: A white exhumation tent among the graves of Père Lachaise cemetery at night, 19981991 · Senlis, FranceA French court declared Yves Montand a girl's father after his death, and his body was exhumed to test itYves Montand, born Ivo Livi, was one of France's biggest singing and film stars. He died of a heart attack at Senlis on 9 November 1991, aged 70, and was buried at Père-Lachaise beside his wife Simone Signoret.The Irish Times and 2 moreRaul Gardini1979 · Romagna, Italy (plane crash); Milan (Gardini)Raul Gardini ran his in-laws' Ferruzzi group, was voted out in 1991 and shot himself in 1993 as it collapsed with 31,000 billion lire of debtSerafino Ferruzzi founded a grain-trading firm in Ravenna in 1948. By 1976 he had put the shares in his four children's names: Arturo 31%, Idina, Franca and Alessandra 23% each.Treccani and 6 morePatrice Lumumba, 1960: Portrait of Patrice Lumumba1961 · Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Brussels, BelgiumA Belgian police officer kept Lumumba's tooth after dissolving his body in acid; Belgium returned it in 2022, and the last suspect died before trial in 2026Patrice Lumumba was the first prime minister of independent Congo. In January 1961 he was killed in Katanga by a Belgian-backed secessionist group, with his allies Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito.NBC News and 6 morePhilippe Pétain: Pétain - portrait photographique1951 · Port-Joinville, Île d'Yeu, FrancePétain's property was confiscated in 1945 and his coffin was stolen from Île d'Yeu in 1973The High Court tried Philippe Pétain from 23 July to 15 August 1945. It sentenced him to death, national indignity and confiscation of his property. De Gaulle commuted the sentence to life imprisonment on 17 August 1945.ina.fr and 3 moreMolière: French: Molière Molièretitle QS:P1476,fr:"Molière "label QS:Lfr,"Molière "label QS:Len,"Molière"1673 · Paris, FranceMolière died in 1673 after collapsing in his own play; priests refused him last rites, and Louis XIV allowed a night burialMolière collapsed during a performance of his play Le Malade imaginaire, first staged on 10 February 1673, and died a few hours later at home, aged 51. He died without receiving the last rites.Encyclopaedia Britannica and 2 moreLuis Barragán House and Studio Street view: Luis Barragán House and Studio Street view1988 · Mexico City, MexicoLuis Barragán's archive was sold in 1995 and kept closed in Switzerland, and an artist made a diamond from his ashes to trade for itBarragán won the Pritzker Prize in 1980 and died in Mexico City on 22 November 1988. His house and studio became a museum co-owned by the State of Jalisco and a private foundation, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.barragan-foundation.org and 4 moreAI illustration: William the Conqueror's funeral at Caen, 1087, stopped by a man claiming the church stood on his father's land1087 · Priory of Saint-Gervais, RouenWilliam the Conqueror's funeral stopped when a man said the church stood on his father's stolen landWilliam was injured against the pommel of his saddle while taking the town of Mantes in July 1087.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 moreLouis XVII: Louis XVII title QS:P1476,en:"Louis XVII "label QS:Len,"Louis XVII "1795 · Temple prison, Paris, FranceA doctor stole the heart of the boy king Louis XVII, and DNA in 2000 ended 200 years of impostorsLouis-Charles, son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, became Louis XVII to royalists when his father was executed in 1793. He was held alone in the Temple prison and died there on 8 June 1795, aged ten, of tuberculosis.Journal article (DOI) and 1 moreWalter Raleigh: Walter Ralegh title QS:P1476,en:"Walter Ralegh "label QS:Len,"Walter Ralegh "1618 · Old Palace Yard, WestminsterJames I gave Walter Raleigh's Sherborne estate to his favourite over a missing phrase in a trust deed, and Raleigh's widow kept his embalmed head for 29 yearsElizabeth I gave Walter Raleigh the lease of Sherborne in Dorset in 1592 and the freehold in 1599. Raleigh put the estate in trust so it would pass to his eldest son, Wat.Smithsonian Magazine and 5 moreGrave of Vlad III the Impaler: Interior view of the Snagov monastery, where Vlad III the Impaler is supposed to be graved. The monastery is located in an island of the Lake Snagov,1476 · Snagov and Comana, RomaniaVlad III Dracula's head was sent to the sultan, and the grave at Snagov opened in 1933 held no bodyVlad III, called Țepeș, the Impaler, spent part of his childhood as a hostage at the Ottoman court with the future Mehmed II.research.library.kutztown.edu and 5 moreВременный деревянный мавзолей: Временный деревянный Мавзолей Ленина, 19241924 · Red Square, Moscow, RussiaLenin's widow opposed embalming him and gave the party his letter asking it to remove Stalin; the party put the body on display and kept the letter from the congress floorBetween 23 December 1922 and 4 January 1923 Vladimir Lenin, disabled by strokes, dictated letters to the next party congress that became known as his testament.marxists.org and 5 moreIpatjew-Haus2: Das Ipatjew-Haus in Swerdlowsk, in dem die Zarenfamilie erschossen wurde. Abgescannt von einer sowjetischen Postkarte von 1928.1918 · Yekaterinburg, Russia; Peter and Paul Cathedral, Saint PeterRussia buried the last tsar's family 80 years after the shooting, the Church has not accepted the bones, and two of the children's remains have been in archive boxes since 2007On the night of 16 to 17 July 1918 Bolshevik agents shot Nicholas II, his wife, their five children and four servants in the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. The bodies were reburied at a second site.meduza.io and 3 moreHerero chained: Herero chained during the 1904 rebellion.1904 · Shark Island, Lüderitz, Namibia, and Berlin, GermanyGermany sent the heads of Herero and Nama prisoners to Berlin for race research, and the Charité returned 20 skulls to Namibia in 2011Between 1904 and 1908 German forces put down a Herero and Nama uprising in German South West Africa. About 65,000 Herero and 10,000 Nama were killed. Prisoners were held in a camp on Shark Island, off the coast.thenationalnews.com and 2 moreTheodor Herzl: Theodor Herzl (3x4 cropped)1904 · Vienna, Austria; Bordeaux, France; Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, IHerzl's testament asked for his children to lie beside him; Israel buried his suicide son and his daughter there 76 years after their deathsTheodor Herzl led the movement for a Jewish state in the 1890s. He spent most of his personal fortune on it. He died in 1904 and was buried in Vienna.hnn.us and 2 moreBurton Tutankhamun tomb photographs 1 009: Harry Burton: Tutankhamun tomb photographs: a photographic record in 5 albums containing 490 original photographic prints ; representing 1923 · Valley of the Kings, Luxor, EgyptEgypt kept every object from Tutankhamun's tomb and paid the Carnarvon heirs their costs in 1930Lord Carnarvon paid for Howard Carter's excavations in the Valley of the Kings under a concession from Egypt's Antiquities Service. Carter found Tutankhamun's tomb in November 1922.archive.aramcoworld.com and 6 moreLouis Le Prince: Louisleprincerestored1890 · Dijon, FranceLouis Le Prince filmed moving pictures in 1888, vanished from a train in 1890, and his son died after testifying against EdisonLouis Le Prince, a Frenchman working in Leeds, received a US patent on 10 January 1888 for a 16-lens camera and projector, with matching patents in Britain and France.museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk and 4 moreAlexander Turney Stewart: Alexander Turney Stewart1876 · New York City, New York, USAThieves stole A. T. Stewart's body from his New York vault, and his widow paid $20,000 for a satchel of bonesAlexander Turney Stewart opened his first dry goods store on lower Broadway in 1823 and became the largest retailer in the world. He died at his Fifth Avenue marble mansion on 10 April 1876, worth up to $50 million.cambridge.org and 2 moreMap of Nigeria, marked on the globe2023 · Lagos, NigeriaMohbad's father has kept the singer unburied for nearly three years until a court-ordered DNA test shows whether his grandson is his son's childThe singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, known as Mohbad, died on 12 September 2023 and was buried the next day. Police later exhumed the body.radionigerialagos.gov.ng and 3 morePlaya Hermosa. Puntarenas. Costa Rica (3): Playa Hermosa. Puntarenas. Costa Rica.2021 · Playa Hermosa, Garabito, Puntarenas, Costa RicaBitcoin pioneer Mircea Popescu drowned off Costa Rica, and no heir or keyholder has come forward for coins said to number up to a millionMircea Popescu was a Romanian-born early investor in bitcoin. He ran his own exchange, MPEx, which charged 30 bitcoin to register.teletica.com and 2 moreAlfredo Stroessner: Alfredo Stroessner at desk (1cropped)2006 · Brasília, BrazilStroessner's family wealth was never prosecuted, and human bones were found in his former house in 2019Alfredo Stroessner ruled Paraguay from 1954 until a coup on 2 to 3 February 1989. He went into exile in Brazil on 5 February 1989.NBC News and 5 moreCantinflas: Cantinflas en 1967 (cropped)1993 · Mexico City, MexicoCantinflas's son and nephew fought over his films on the strength of a deathbed paper, and the family crypt was broken open in 2018Mario Moreno, known as Cantinflas, died in Mexico City on 20 April 1993, aged 81. His ashes went to the family crypt at the Panteón Español.eltiempo.com and 2 moreSolomon-linda: Solomon Linda in 1941 (color corrected version)1962 · Johannesburg, South AfricaSolomon Linda sold "Mbube" for 10 shillings, and his daughters seized Disney's South African trademarks to win a share of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"In 1939 Solomon Linda, a Zulu migrant worker, recorded "Mbube" in Johannesburg's first recording studio. He assigned his worldwide copyright to Gallo Record Company for 10 shillings.wipo.int and 4 moreAI illustration: Soldiers guard the gates of a confiscated Trujillo family estate, Dominican Republic, 19621961 · Near Santo Domingo, Dominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic confiscated the Trujillo family's property by law in 1962, and his remains lie in a cemetery near MadridRafael Leónidas Trujillo ruled the Dominican Republic from 1930 until he was shot on 30 May 1961. A September 1961 CIA document, as reported by Dominican Today, says his widow María Martínez left for Paris with about US$46 million.memoriahistorica.senadord.gob.do and 6 moreCasa escuela rural de Montegrande: This is a photo of a national monument in Chile:1957 · Montegrande, Coquimbo, ChileGabriela Mistral left her South American royalties to the poor children of her village, and Pinochet's government let anyone publish her work in Chile from 1979Gabriela Mistral grew up in Montegrande in the Elqui valley and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945.chile.justia.com and 5 moreEdward IV: Edward IV Plantagenet1483 · Tower of London, EnglandParliament declared Edward IV's sons illegitimate, they vanished in the Tower, and two child skeletons found in 1674 have never been DNA-testedEdward IV died on 9 April 1483. His son Edward V was 12 and his younger son Richard, duke of York, was 9. Their uncle Richard, duke of Gloucester, lodged them in the Tower ahead of the coronation. The coronation was postponed.westminster-abbey.org and 3 moreFrédéric Chopin: Frederic Chopin photo1849 · Paris, France; heart at Holy Cross Church, Warsaw, PolandChopin's sister smuggled his heart into Warsaw, an SS officer took it in 1944, and scientists examined it in 2014 without opening the jarFrédéric Chopin died in Paris in 1849. He feared being buried alive and wrote that since "this cough will choke me", he wanted his body opened. He asked that his heart be taken to Poland.Smithsonian Magazine and 1 morePortrait of Niccolò Paganini1840 · Nice, Kingdom of SardiniaThe Church refused Paganini burial, and his embalmed body was moved from cellar to cellar for 36 yearsNiccolò Paganini was the most famous violinist in Europe and was rumoured to have sold his soul to the devil. He died in Nice in 1840 without receiving the last rites.hekint.org and 3 moreJoseph Haydn: Portrait of Joseph Haydn1809 · Vienna, AustriaPhrenologists stole Haydn's head after burial, and it was reunited with his body 145 years laterJoseph Haydn died in Vienna while French troops occupied the city. He was buried in the Hundsturm cemetery.classical-music.com and 2 moreMap of New York, marked on the globe1826 · Canandaigua and Batavia, New York, USA; Fort Niagara, New YoMasons took William Morgan from a New York jail in 1826 to stop his exposé, and a stranger's body was buried in his nameWilliam Morgan of Batavia, New York, planned a book revealing the rituals of Freemasonry with publisher David C. Miller. On 11 September 1826 he was in the Canandaigua jail over a small tavern bill.history.nycourts.gov and 3 moreDemasduit: Description: Demasduit (1819)DESCRIPTION: Portrait of Demasduit (Mary March) 1819 watercolour on ivory USE/REPRODUCTION: Copyright: Expired Credit: Library and Archives 1820 · Red Indian Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador, CanadaSettlers seized Demasduit to recover stolen property and killed her husband; their remains sat in Edinburgh until 2020In 1818 Beothuk took property belonging to John Peyton Jr. at the mouth of the Exploits River. Governor Sir Charles Hamilton authorized an expedition to recover it and to make friendly contact.Dictionary of Canadian Biography and 2 moreIvan VI of Russia: Ivan VI Antonovich (Oranienbaum)1774 · Kholmogory, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia; Horsens, DenmarkIvan VI's brothers and sisters were born in prison, held at Kholmogory for 36 years, and sent to Denmark in 1780 on a Russian pensionWhen Elizabeth seized the throne in December 1741, she arrested the infant emperor Ivan VI with his parents, the regent Anna Leopoldovna and Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick, and their baby daughter Ekaterina.ru.wikisource.org and 4 moreHelmuth von Moltke the Elder: Portrait of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder (by Carl Günther) - BNF Gallica (cropped)1891 · BerlinMoltke bought Kreisau with his 1866 war grant; his great-grandnephew was hanged in 1945 and the family lost the estateAfter the 1866 war the Prussian state gave Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke a cash grant. He bought Gut Kreisau in Silesia, about 500 hectares, on 1 August 1867.krzyzowa.pl and 4 moreAI illustration: Soldiers blast open the Qing imperial tombs at the Eastern Qing Tombs, 19281967 · Beijing, ChinaChina's last emperor kept his title and palace after abdicating, and soldiers blew open his ancestors' tombsPuyi became emperor at two in 1908. On 12 February 1912 the Empress Dowager Longyu signed his abdication.Wikipedia (English) and 2 moreOliver Cromwell's head, late 1700s: A sepia drawing of the head of Oliver Cromwell, from a copy of Pennant's London1658 · Westminster Hall, London, England; Sidney Sussex College, CaEngland dug up Oliver Cromwell, hanged his corpse and put his head on a pole, and collectors sold the head for 300 years until a college buried it in secret in 1960Oliver Cromwell died on 3 September 1658 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Charles II returned in 1660.olivercromwell.org and 2 moreEmpress Dowager Cixi: The Ci-Xi Imperial Dowager Empress (9.2)1875 · Beijing and Jizhou (Tianjin), ChinaCixi made her sister's son emperor, an official killed himself to object to the adoption, and the emperor died of arsenic in 1908The Tongzhi Emperor died in the twelfth month of the lunar year in early 1875 with no son. The empresses dowager Ci'an and Cixi chose Zaitian, aged three, son of Prince Chun and of Cixi's younger sister.zh.wikisource.org and 4 moreMap of Argentina, marked on the globe1947 · Buenos Aires, ArgentinaBolivia seized the tin king's mines in 1952, and his heir offered the government a 5 million dollar loan for a law that would let him divorceSimón Iturri Patiño built Bolivia's largest tin business and in 1924 merged his mines and railways into Patiño Mines and Enterprises Consolidated, a Delaware company.Time and 3 moreTomb of The Mahdi (8626640228): The Mahdi, a Sudanese religious and military leader who defeated the English in 1885, is buried in this tomb at Omdurman. The British blew up the or1885 · Omdurman, SudanKitchener had the Mahdi's tomb destroyed in 1898 and his skull taken, and Parliament debated it before the skull was buried at Wadi HalfaMuhammad Ahmad, who proclaimed himself the Mahdi, died of typhus in June 1885. His chief deputy, the Khalifa Abdallahi ibn Muhammad, took over the Mahdist state. The Mahdi was buried in a tomb at Omdurman.UK Parliament, Hansard and 3 moreFrancisco Pizarro: French: François Pizarre, conquistador (1475-1541) Francisco Pizarro, conqueror (1475–1541)title QS:P1476,fr:"François P1541 · Lima, PeruPizarro's daughter and heir married her imprisoned uncle, his skull was found in a lead box in 1977, and Spain reissued his marquisate in 2019Charles V made Francisco Pizarro a marquis on 10 October 1537. In 1538 his brother Hernando executed Pizarro's former partner, Diego de Almagro, at Cuzco.Boletín Oficial del Estado and 5 moreJohn Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland: 5th Duke of Portland bust1879 · LondonA widow said the Duke of Portland had faked his own death as a London shopkeeper, and the coffin was opened to settle itWilliam John Cavendish-Bentinck-Scott, 5th Duke of Portland, never married. He built tunnels and underground rooms beneath Welbeck Abbey and was succeeded by a cousin as 6th Duke.University of Nottingham and 2 moreMessiah Stradivarius ashmolean: Photo of the Messiah - Salabue Stradivarius violin1854 · Cremona, Italy; Fontaneto, Piedmont, Italy; Paris, France; OA violin dealer was found dead on a farm with 144 Italian instruments, and his heirs sold the unplayed "Messiah" StradivariAntonio Stradivari made a violin in Cremona in 1716 and kept it in his workshop until he died in 1737. Count Cozio di Salabue bought it, probably from one of his sons.ashmolean.org and 2 moreEl Cid: Estatua del Cid (Burgos)1099 · Valencia and Burgos, SpainEl Cid's widow carried his body out of Valencia, and his bones were moved five times between 1102 and 1921Rodrigo Díaz, El Cid, took Valencia from its Muslim rulers in June 1094 and governed it. He died there on 10 July 1099, aged about 56, and was buried in Valencia cathedral. His widow, Jimena Díaz, held the city after his death.encyclopedia.com and 4 moreTomb Aurangzeb: Aurangazeb's tomb in Khuldabad1707 · Khuldabad, near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India; battle at JaAurangzeb was buried under a plain stone as he willed, and his sons fought for the throne; one said "a throne or a bier"Aurangzeb ruled from 1658 and died on a Friday, 3 March 1707, at Bhingar in the Deccan, aged 88. His son Muhammad A'zam arrived the next day.Internet Archive and 1 moreKfar Aza, January 2024 (SG4): קיבוץ כפר עזה, ינואר 20242023 · Beersheba, IsraelIsraeli troops shot hostage Yotam Haim as he fled his captors, and in 2026 a court let his mother use his sperm for a grandchildYotam Haim, 28, was abducted by Hamas-led militants from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on 7 October 2023. He was held for 65 days.timesofisrael.com and 2 moreLower Kabete road: Lower Kabete road from lower kabete to UON in kapenguria rd junction2019 · Lower Kabete (Kitisuru), Nairobi, KenyaTob Cohen's body was found in the septic tank of his Nairobi home, and his widow is on trial for his murder while his will leaves the estate to his sisterTob Cohen was a Dutch businessman who lived in Kenya for more than 30 years and ran Philips East Africa. He was last seen alive on 19 July 2019. His wife, Sarah Wairimu, was taken into custody on 28 August 2019.standardmedia.co.ke and 4 moreTokyo Detention House 01: 東京拘置所2018 · Tokyo Detention House, Tokyo, JapanJapan hanged Aum's founder in 2018, his daughters fought over his ashes, and the state refused to hand them over until a 2026 court orderChizuo Matsumoto, known as Shoko Asahara, led Aum Shinrikyo, the group behind the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack. He was hanged in July 2018 with 12 other members.english.adnkronos.com and 1 more20260722 Former residence of Kim Jong-Nam: Former residence of Kim Jong-Nam2017 · Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia; Pyongyang, NorNorth Korea's leader's half-brother was killed with VX at Kuala Lumpur airport, and Malaysia traded his body for nine of its citizens held in PyongyangKim Jong-nam was the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He lived in exile in Macau with his wife and children.foxnews.com and 3 moreFerry Sewol 1: ferry Sewol at the Port of Incheon2014 · off Jindo, South Korea, and Suncheon, South KoreaAfter the Sewol sank with 304 dead, the man prosecutors called its real owner fled, was found dead in a plum field, and the state went after his family's assetsThe ferry Sewol capsized on 16 April 2014 with 476 people aboard, most of them students from Danwon High School. 304 died. Its operator was Chonghaejin Marine.The Korea Herald and 3 moreMap of China, marked on the globe2013 · Shaanxi, China; also Shandong, Hebei and GansuChina's courts jail grave robbers who sell women's corpses as "ghost brides" for sons who died unmarriedKind 1. In the custom of ghost marriage, a family buries a son who died single with a dead bride. Chris K. K.madeinchinajournal.com and 2 moreLuzhou city: Luzhou city2001 · Luzhou, Sichuan, ChinaA dying man in Luzhou left his savings and his ashes to the woman he lived with, and the court gave everything to his wifeHuang Yongbin of Luzhou had been married to Jiang Lunfang for more than 30 years and they had an adopted son. From 1994 he saw Zhang Xueying, and from 1996 they lived together openly. He never divorced.Internet Archive and 2 moreBus Memorial to Ken Saro-Wiwa (5927206987): 9 July 2011. Ten feet high, steel sculpture of a Nigerian Bus parked behind the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Tottenham. It's a memorial to 1995 · Port Harcourt, Rivers State, NigeriaNigeria hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight Ogoni activists over oil-region protests, buried them without their families, and pardoned them 30 years laterKen Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People were convicted by a military tribunal of murdering four Ogoni chiefs. They maintained their innocence.Al Jazeera and 2 moreMariano Marcos: Mariano Marcos21989 · Batac, Ilocos Norte, and Libingan ng mga Bayani, Taguig, PhiMarcos's body lay in a glass case in Batac for 23 years until a 9-5 Supreme Court vote put it in the Heroes' CemeteryFerdinand Marcos died in exile in Honolulu on 29 September 1989. On 19 August 1992 the government of President Fidel Ramos and Imelda Marcos signed an agreement.lawphil.net and 2 moreMap of Kenya, marked on the globe1986 · Nairobi and Nyamila, Nyalgunga, Siaya County, KenyaKenya's Court of Appeal gave S.M. Otieno's body to his brother and clan over his widow's objection, and he lay unburied for 140 daysSilvano Melea Otieno, a prominent Nairobi lawyer, was pronounced dead on arrival at Nairobi Hospital on 20 December 1986. He left no will.recordoflaw.in and 4 moreElie Cohen at his Damascus residence in 1963: Elie Cohen at his Damascus residence in 1963. Elie Cohen, the Israeli spy known in Syria at the time by the alias Kamel Amin Thabit, w1965 · Damascus, Syria; JerusalemSyria hanged Israeli spy Eli Cohen in 1965 and kept his body; 60 years later the Mossad brought back his will and the keys to his Damascus flat, but not his remainsEli Cohen worked for the Mossad in Damascus under the name Kamel Amin Thaabet and reached Syria's leadership. Syrian intelligence arrested him and confiscated his belongings, including the keys to his flat.timesofisrael.com and 2 moreSiriraj Bimuksthan Museum 2023: ด้านหน้าของพิพิธภัณฑ์ศิริราชพิมุขสถานและอดีตที่ตั้งของสถานีรถไฟธนบุรี ในปี 20231959 · Bangkok and Nonthaburi, ThailandThailand executed Si Quey in 1959 and a hospital museum displayed his embalmed body as a "cannibal" for 60 years before he was crematedSi Quey was a Chinese migrant who settled in Thailand in 1946. He was arrested in Rayong in 1958 and convicted of killing seven children. Reports said he confessed to eating organs. He was shot by firing squad in 1959, aged 32.nationthailand.com and 2 moreAl-Rehab Palace, where the story took place1958 · Rihab Palace, Baghdad, IraqIraq's 23-year-old king and his family were shot in the palace courtyard, and the regent's body was dragged through BaghdadFaisal II became King of Iraq at three, after his father King Ghazi died in a car crash in 1939. His uncle Abd al-Ilah ruled as regent until 1953. In July 1958 Faisal was 23 and engaged to an Egyptian princess.Wikipedia (English) and 2 moreMap of Vietnam, marked on the globe1953 · Đồng Bẩm, Thái Nguyên, VietnamA landowner whose family gave the Viet Minh 700 taels of gold was shot as the land reform's first example in 1953, and her family found her bones in 1990Nguyễn Thị Năm ran a trading house in Hải Phòng called Cát Hanh Long and bought farmland in Thái Nguyên. In May 1945 her son carried 20,000 Indochinese piastres, then worth about 700 taels of gold, to the Viet Minh base.cand.vn and 4 moreShimizudani Refinery Ruins at Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine 001: 島根県大田市にある清水谷精錬所跡。世界文化遺産「石見銀山遺跡とその文化的景観」を構成する資産の一部。1613 · Iwami Ginzan, Ōda, Shimane, JapanTokugawa Ieyasu's mine magistrate died rich in 1613, and the shogunate made his seven sons kill themselves and seized everything he ownedŌkubo Nagayasu was born in 1545, the second son of a sarugaku performer. Takeda Shingen took him on as a retainer and set him to work on mines and taxes, including the Kurokawa gold mine.mlit.go.jp and 2 moreProbably Dorothy, Viscountess Townshend title QS:P1476,en:"Probably Dorothy, Viscountess Townshend "label QS:Len,"Probab: Probably Dorothy, Viscountess Townshend title QS:P1476,en:1726 · Raynham Hall, Norfolk, EnglandDorothy Walpole married the man her father forbade, died of smallpox at Raynham in 1726, and became the Brown Lady photographed on its stairs in 1936Kind 2, with the record. Dorothy Walpole, sister of Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister, grew up at Mannington and Wolterton near Aylsham.derehamtimes.co.uk and 2 moreRudolf, Crown Prince of Austria: Rudolf Crown Prince of Austria LOC1889 · Mayerling hunting lodge, Lower AustriaAustria's crown prince shot his 17-year-old lover and himself at Mayerling, and the throne passed to the man killed at SarajevoCrown Prince Rudolf, 30, only son of Emperor Franz Joseph, was found dead at his hunting lodge beside Baroness Mary Vetsera, 17. Rudolf had shot her and then himself. The court first announced heart failure.Wikipedia (English) and 1 moreJohn Knill: John Knill1811 · Gray's Inn, London; St Ives, Cornwall, EnglandJohn Knill's will pays ten girls to dance round his empty tomb in St Ives every five years, and they danced again in July 2026John Knill was Collector of Customs at St Ives from 1762 to 1782 and mayor in 1767. Wikipedia records that he searched near the Lizard for the pirate Henry Avery's treasure from 1779 to 1782.stivestowncouncil-cornwall.gov.uk and 2 moreEdith Pretty: Edith Pretty624 · Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, EnglandA 1939 inquest ruled the Sutton Hoo ship burial was Edith Pretty's property, and she gave it to the nationAbout 625, someone was buried in a ship under a mound at Sutton Hoo with weapons, gold and silver. A purse in the grave held 37 gold coins dated to about 625.nationaltrust.org.uk and 3 moreJean-Marie Leclair: JMLeclair1764 · Rue Carême-Prenant, Le Marais, ParisJean-Marie Leclair was found stabbed three times at his Paris door in October 1764, and his ex-wife sold his belongings and unpublished musicJean-Marie Leclair, 66, was found dead early on 23 October 1764 in the vestibule of his house on the Rue Carême-Prenant. He had three stab wounds. Wikipedia gives 22 October as the date of death.interlude.hk and 2 moreWolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Mozart familylabel QS:Lfr,"portrait de la famille Mozart"label QS:Len,"Mozart family"1791 · Vienna, AustriaMozart's widow passed off a Requiem finished by his student as his own and sold it twiceWolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at 35 with debts and was buried in a common grave at St. Marx, as the burial rules of the time required for most citizens; his body was never identified. He left an unfinished Requiem.dme.mozarteum.at and 2 moreMichelangelo: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) title QS:P1476,en:"Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) "label QS:Len,"Michelangelo B1564 · Rome, Papal StatesMichelangelo's nephew smuggled his body out of Rome to Florence in a bale of goods in March 1564, ahead of the pope's tomb planMichelangelo died in Rome shortly before 5 p.m. on 18 February 1564, weeks before his 89th birthday. Romans regarded him as theirs.dailyartmagazine.com and 3 moreHernando de Soto: De Soto by Telfer & Sartain1542 · Guachoya, on the Mississippi RiverDe Soto's body was sunk in the Mississippi, and his widow governed Cuba and fought his business partner over the estate until 1546 to 1550Hernando de Soto returned from Peru in 1536 with about 18,000 ounces of gold. Charles V made him Adelantado of Florida and Governor of Cuba.revistascientificas.us.es and 3 moreTewodros II: Téwodros II - 21868 · Maqdala, Amhara Region, EthiopiaTewodros II shot himself at Maqdala in 1868, Britain auctioned his treasury and took his son, and in 2023 Buckingham Palace refused to return the son's remainsIn April 1868 a British army stormed Maqdala, the mountain fortress of Emperor Tewodros II. As the troops advanced, he shot himself with pistols that Queen Victoria had given him.archive.archaeology.org and 8 moreEmily Ruete (Sayyida Salme), Princess of Zanzibar: Portrait of Emily Ruete (Sayyida Salme) in traditional dress as a Princess of Zanzibar.1856 · At sea between Oman and Zanzibar; buried at Zanzibar, TanzanSayyid Said died at sea in 1856, his sons split Oman and Zanzibar, and his daughter Salme was refused her inheritanceSayyid Said bin Sultan ruled Oman and Zanzibar and had 36 children. He died at sea on the passage from Oman to Zanzibar in October 1856.Wikisource (primary text) and 6 moreEliza Lynch mausoleum: Eliza Lynch mausoleum in Recoleta cemetery, Asunción, Paraguay.1870 · Cerro Corá, ParaguayEliza Lynch buried Paraguay's dictator and their son in 1870, was expelled when she came back for his lands, and Paraguay voted in 2025 to move her bones to its Pantheon of HeroesEliza Alicia Lynch was born in Cork on 19 November 1833. She met Francisco Solano López, son of Paraguay's ruler, in Paris in 1854 and went with him to Asunción.portalguarani.com and 6 moreTipu's Tiger front view 2006AH4173: Tippoo's Tiger1799 · Seringapatam (Srirangapatna), Karnataka, IndiaThe British army broke up Tipu Sultan's gold throne to divide as prize money; his sword sold for £14 million in 2023 while descendants pulled rickshawsOn 4 May 1799 the East India Company's army stormed Seringapatam. Tipu Sultan was killed, and his body was found near the Water Gate.nam.ac.uk and 6 moreRichard III of England: Richard III portrait1485 · Bosworth Field, Leicestershire, EnglandRichard III's bones were found under a car park, and his distant relatives sued the government over where to bury himRichard III was killed at Bosworth in 1485, the last English king to die in battle, and buried in the Greyfriars church in Leicester. The church was demolished after the Reformation.le.ac.uk and 1 moreMap of Japan, marked on the globe1945 · Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo, JapanWorkers in Tokyo dug up the bones of at least 62 people at the old Army Medical School in 1989, and Japan has never identified themOn 22 July 1989 workers building a Health Ministry research institute on the site of the wartime Army Medical School in Tokyo dug up about a dozen skulls, many with cuts, and other bones.CBS News and 2 moreRichard Sorge's Grave 01: Могила советского разведчика Рихарда Зорге на кладбище «Тама» в Токио1944 · Sugamo Prison and Tama Cemetery, Tokyo, JapanJapan hanged Soviet spy Richard Sorge and Moscow refused to claim him; his Japanese partner moved his body to her own grave plot and tended it until she diedRichard Sorge was a German journalist in Tokyo who spied for the Soviet Union. He was arrested on 18 October 1941 with other members of his ring, convicted of espionage and hanged at Sugamo Prison on 7 November 1944.nippon.com and 2 moreConfucius: Confucius, fresco from a Western Han tomb of Dongping County, Shandong province, China (cropped)1919 · Qufu, Shandong, China; Taipei, TaiwanConfucius's 77th-generation heir was made a duke as a baby, and Red Guards later dug up his father and hung the body from a treeFrom 1055 Chinese governments gave the title Duke Yansheng to the eldest male in each generation of Confucius's main line, with estates at Qufu. The 76th duke, Kong Lingyi, died in 1919.archive.spectator.co.uk and 5 moreBukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore - 20111210-04: A general view of tombs in Bukit Brown Cemetery, Singapore.1918 · Bukit Brown, SingaporeSingapore took the Ong clan's burial hill for a public cemetery, then dug up more than 4,000 of its graves for a highway, and unclaimed remains were to be scattered at seaThe British merchant George Henry Brown owned the hill in the 1840s. It passed to Hokkien clans, and from 1872 to 1921 it was a cemetery reserved for members of the Ong clan.wiki.sg and 2 moreBhawal prince: Photograph, circa early 1900s, of Ramendranarayan Roy, prince of Bhawal estate, (currently Gazipur District, Bangladesh)1909 · Darjeeling; Bhawal estate, Joydebpur (Gazipur), BangladeshA Bengal prince was cremated in 1909, a holy man claimed to be him, and the Privy Council confirmed it in 1946; he died two days laterThe Bhawal estate was the second largest zamindari in Dhaka district. Ramendra Narayan Roy, the second of three brothers, held a one-third share. In April 1909 he went to Darjeeling with his wife Bibhabati Devi.CaseMine and 3 moreRemains of Wigmore Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 700446: Remains of Wigmore Abbey1330 · Tyburn, London; Wigmore, Herefordshire, EnglandEdward III hanged Roger Mortimer without a trial and took his lands, and Mortimer's grandson won them back in 1354Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabella removed Edward II and ruled for the boy king Edward III. In October 1330 Edward's men seized Mortimer at Nottingham Castle.Wikisource (primary text) and 2 moreDante Alighieri: Bargello - Kapelle Fresko 2a1321 · Ravenna, ItalyFlorence demanded Dante's bones for 200 years; friars took them out of the tomb, and a worker found them in 1865Florence exiled Dante, and he died in Ravenna in 1321. He was buried in a Roman sarcophagus outside the Franciscan cloister.Wikipedia (English)Chaco Canyon Pueblo Bonito digital reconstruction: A digital model of ancient Pueblo Bonito (Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, United States) before it was abandoned.800 · Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, USAPueblo Bonito's richest crypt held one maternal line for 330 years, and scientists sequenced it without asking the Pueblo tribesIn 1896 an American Museum of Natural History expedition dug Room 33 at Pueblo Bonito, a crypt of about two by two metres. On a prepared floor lay a man in his 40s who had died from a blow to the head.par.nsf.gov and 2 moreBronzePlaque-EdictOfSecondEmperor-Qin-ROM-May8-08: Small bronze plaque containing an edict from the second emperor of the Qin dynasty. 209 BC. Cat # 931.13.195 Bishop C. White Coll210 BCE · Shaqiu (Guangzong, Hebei), ChinaThe Shiji says the First Emperor's chancellor and his seal-keeper forged his last letter, and his eldest son killed himself on the forged orderThe Shiji, completed by Sima Qian about a century later, gives this account. The First Emperor had more than 20 sons. His eldest, Fusu, had criticised him and was sent north to the army of the general Meng Tian.zh.wikisource.org and 4 moreMehmed III: Sultan and 92. Caliph of Islam,Mehmet III of the Ottoman Empire (1566–1603)1595 · Topkapı Palace, IstanbulOttoman Sultan Mehmed III had his 19 brothers strangled on the day he took the throneOttoman succession had no rule of primogeniture. Any son of a sultan could claim the throne. Mehmed II's law code in the 15th century allowed a new sultan to put his brothers to death "for the order of the world".Wikipedia (English) and 1 moreEgtved Girl: Egtvedpigen1370 BCE · Egtved, Vejle Municipality, Jutland, DenmarkThe Egtved girl was buried at 16 to 18 with a child's cremated bones, and scientists still disagree on whether she came from Germany or from EgtvedOn 24 February 1921 an oak coffin was found in a Bronze Age mound near Egtved. The tree was felled in summer, and a yarrow flower on the coffin dates the burial to summer 1370 BC.europepmc.org and 4 moreHernán Cortés1547 · Castilleja de la Cuesta, SevilleCortés's heir was tried for treason, Mexico seized and sold the estate, and Lucas Alamán hid his bones from 1823 to 1946A royal cédula of 6 July 1529 made Hernán Cortés Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. The grant gave him civil and criminal jurisdiction over about 23,000 vassals and was entailed as a mayorazgo in 1535.Boletín Oficial del Estado and 8 moreEntrance of Tomb KV5 of Ramesses II's sons: This is a view of entrance of the closed Tomb KV5 of the sons of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings.1213 BCE · Valley of the Kings, Luxor, EgyptRamesses II outlived his first three crown princes, his thirteenth son succeeded him, and his sons' tomb KV5 has more than 130 roomsRamesses II reigned from 1279 to 1213 BC. Estimates of his children run to 48 to 50 sons and 40 to 53 daughters. Four of his daughters, Bintanath, Meritamen, Nebettawy and Henuttawy, became his Great Royal Wives.kirkusreviews.com and 4 moreFace and funeral golden jewelry, 4600-4200 BC, AM Varna, Varm21: Imprint of the face and funeral golden jewelry. Predecessor of gold funerary mask? Burial place near Varna. Chalcol4340 BCE · Varna, BulgariaAt Varna on the Black Sea, one old man was buried with a third of all the gold in a 6,000-year-old cemetery, and the richest graves held no bodiesIn October 1972 an excavator operator, Raycho Marinov, found the Varna cemetery by accident. Ivan Ivanov excavated it from 1972 to 1991.journals.uni-lj.si and 2 moreMaximilian I of Mexico: Maximilian of Mexico bw1867 · Querétaro, MexicoJuárez refused to hand over Emperor Maximilian's body after the 1867 execution, and his widow's fortune went home to Belgium with her under her brother's controlArchduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria took the Mexican crown in 1864 with French troops behind him. His wife Charlotte, daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium, brought a dowry that paid for their castle of Miramare near Trieste.history.state.gov and 4 moreAnzick Site 12iv15 03a: Information as for above entry, but without the arrow.10700 BCE · Anzick site, Shields River valley near Wilsall, Montana, USAConstruction workers found the Clovis child on the Anzick family ranch in 1968, the family's geneticist sequenced him, and six tribes reburied him in 2014In 1968 construction workers Ben Hargis and Calvin Sarver uncovered a burial on land owned by the Anzick family near Wilsall, Montana.pure.psu.edu and 2 moreDingane - 'Bulalani abathakathi' - 1897: Dingane got up and yelled "Bulalani abathakathi" ("kill the magicians") and the warrior immediately killed the Boer representatives. In rea1828 · KwaDukuza (Stanger), KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaDingane and Mhlangana killed their half-brother Shaka in 1828, and their brother Mpande took the Zulu throne with Boer help in 1840Shaka ruled the Zulu kingdom. In September 1828, while his armies were away, his bodyguard Mbopha and his half-brothers Dingane and Mhlangana stabbed him near his barracks at Dukuza. His body was buried in a grain pit.Internet Archive and 5 moreHp inka12: Hp_inka12.jpg1527 · Cuzco, PeruAtahualpa's captains hanged Huáscar's wives and children on the Cuzco road, burned a dead king's mummy, and killed Huáscar so Pizarro could not free himHuayna Capac died of smallpox near Quito in 1527. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa records that Cuzco raised his son Huáscar as Inca. Another son, Atahualpa, stayed in the north and said his father had left him poor and dishonoured.Internet Archive and 3 moreCharles Byrne (giant): Charles Byrne; James Burnett, Lord Monboddo; William Richardson; John Bell; Baillie Kyd by John Kay1783 · London, England, UKCharles Byrne arranged to be buried at sea to escape the anatomists, and John Hunter got his body and displayed his skeleton for 200 yearsCharles Byrne was born in 1761 at Littlebridge, County Derry. A pituitary tumour kept him growing, to about 7 feet 7 inches. He showed himself for money in Edinburgh and London as "the Irish Giant".The Irish Times and 2 moreFat-Mats (1719, Martin Fur Copper Mine, Falun, Sweden): Fat-Mats (from Leyel, 1722 & Wiman, 1941) This is the story of Fat-Mats. It in no way counts as a story about fossils, b1677 · Falun, Dalarna, SwedenA Falun copper miner vanished in 1677, his body came out of the mine 42 years later, his old fiancée named him, and he was put on showMats Israelsson, from Boda in Svärdsjö, worked in the Falun copper mine. In 1676 or 1677 he went down to light a fire used in the mining work and did not come back. On 2 December 1719 miners found a body in a long-abandoned shaft.sok.riksarkivet.se and 2 moreDito medio della mano destra to Galileo - 2432 - Museo Galileo - Firenze: Middle finger of Galileo Galileis right hand, exhibited in the Museo Galileo in Florence.1642 · Florence, ItalyThe Church refused Galileo a tomb for 95 years, and when his body was moved in 1737 admirers cut off three fingers and a toothIn 1633 the Inquisition in Rome condemned Galileo Galilei for heresy and made him say he "abjured, cursed and detested" it. He spent his last eight years under house arrest near Florence and died on 8 January 1642.archive.archaeology.org and 2 moreBurton Agnes Hall 01: Burton Agnes Hall, Burton Agnes, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.1620 · Burton Agnes Hall, East Riding of Yorkshire, EnglandBurton Agnes Hall has passed by inheritance since 1610, and its builder's daughter is said to be bricked into a wallKind 2, with the house's ownership record. Sir Henry Griffith built Burton Agnes Hall from 1601 to 1610 to designs attributed to Robert Smythson.burtonagnes.com and 2 moreChristopher Columbus: Portrait of a Man, Said to be Christopher Columbus dead title QS:P1476,en:"Portrait of a Man, Said to be Christopher Col1506 · Valladolid, CastileSpain and the Dominican Republic both claim Columbus's body; a 2006 DNA test matched the Seville bones, and Santo Domingo refused testingColumbus was buried in Valladolid. In 1509 his remains were moved to the monastery of La Cartuja near Seville. In 1537 the widow of his son Diego sent the bones of Columbus and Diego to the cathedral of Santo Domingo.historynewsnetwork.org and 4 moreJoanna of Castile: German: Johanna die in spain (1473-1435) Portrait of Joan the Madtitle QS:P1476,de:"Johanna die in spain (1473-1435) "la1504 · Tordesillas, SpainIsabella of Castile's will made her daughter Joanna queen, and Joanna's father and son kept her locked in Tordesillas for 46 yearsIsabella I of Castile died in November 1504. Her daughter Joanna became queen of Castile. Isabella's will let Ferdinand, Joanna's father, govern if Joanna was absent or unwilling to rule, until Joanna's heir turned 20.capillarealgranada.com and 2 moreWu Zetian: 唐后行從圖 (局部) - 武則天705 · Luoyang, Henan; buried at Qianling, Shaanxi, ChinaWu Zetian deposed one son, had another forced to kill himself, made herself emperor, and was buried as an empress in her husband's sealed tombWu Zetian was empress to Emperor Gaozong. Their son Zhongzong took the throne after his father died. The Zizhi Tongjian records that early in 684 he said he could give the empire to his father-in-law, Wei Xuanzhen, if he liked.zh.wikisource.org and 5 moreArqua panorama: Panorama della zona alta dell'abitato di Arquà Petrarca da Monte Castello1374 · Arquà Petrarca, Padua, ItalyVenice gave Petrarch a house for his library, the library went to his enemies' heirs and then to France, and the skull in his tomb is a woman'sIn 1362 Petrarch offered his books to Venice. The Republic gave him a house on the Riva degli Schiavoni on condition that his works stay in Venice after his death. He left Venice and never sent the books.bnf.fr and 4 moreSpiro Craig Mound HRoe: The Great Mortuary or Craig Mound( also called "The Spiro Mound") is the second-largest mound on the Spiro site and the only burial mound. It is located abo1250 · Spiro, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, USASix men leased Spiro's burial mound for $300 from the guardian of the heirs, tunnelled in, sold the grave goods worldwide, and tried to blow up the restSpiro was built and used from about AD 850 to 1450.okhistory.org and 2 moreRamses I Mummy, caudal view: This work was uploaded within an activity of Egypt Wikimedians User Group. Feel free to drop your question on the workshop discussion page.1291 BCE · Valley of the Kings, Egypt; Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada; A mummy sold in Luxor around 1860 spent over a century in a Niagara Falls curiosity museum before it was identified as Ramesses I and sent homeRamesses I founded the Nineteenth Dynasty and reigned about two years. His son was Seti I and his grandson Ramesses II.archive.archaeology.org and 4 moreKennewick Man: Fossil - Took the picture at Natural History Museum, Karlsruhe7000 BCE · Kennewick, Washington, USAScientists and five tribes fought for 20 years over a skeleton about 9,000 years old, a court gave it to the scientists, and Congress gave it to the tribesIn July 1996 two men found a skeleton on the bank of the Columbia River near Kennewick, Washington. Radiocarbon dating put it at 8,340 to 9,200 years old, with a stone projectile point lodged in the hip.law.resource.org and 2 moreSpirit Cave Mummy: Remains of the Spirit Cave mummy still in the wrapping and cloth it was buried in. Spirit Cave is located in Fallon, Nevada. Discovered in 1940. This image was p8600 BCE · Spirit Cave, near Fallon, Nevada, USANevada held Spirit Cave Man for decades against his tribe, a judge called it arbitrary, and the tribe agreed to DNA to prove he was theirsIn 1940 Georgia and Sydney Wheeler found a man of about 40 in Spirit Cave, wrapped in a rabbit-skin blanket and reed mats and wearing moccasins. They thought he was 1,500 to 2,000 years old.scientificamerican.com and 2 moreSarcophagus of Seti I 2023-02-17d: London, United Kingdom: Sir John Soane's Museum, sarcophagus of Pharao Seti I., showing the Book of Gates1279 BCE · Valley of the Kings, Egypt, and London, EnglandSeti I's empty sarcophagus was sold to the architect John Soane in 1824, and Soane obtained an Act of Parliament so his son could not inherit itSeti I, father of Ramesses II, was buried in tomb KV17 in a sarcophagus carved from one block of calcite. Robbers smashed its lid in antiquity, and priests later moved his body; it was found in the royal cache in 1881.UK Parliament, Hansard and 5 moreSchaedel mit Nagel: Schaedel, Vitaliebruder (?), Hanse1401 · Hamburg, GermanyHamburg beheaded the pirate Störtebeker, legend put his gold in a church spire, and a skull said to be his was stolen from the city museum in 2010Klaus Störtebeker is remembered as a leader of the Victual Brothers, who seized merchant ships in the Baltic and North Seas. A Hamburg fleet under Hermann Langhe and Nikolaus Schoke sailed for Heligoland in August 1400.historynewsnetwork.org and 2 moreMap of United Kingdom, marked on the globe3700 BCE · Hazleton North long cairn, Hazleton, Gloucestershire, EnglanAncient DNA from a Cotswold tomb shows five generations of one man's family, buried by father's line, with his sons by four women in separate halvesHazleton North is a stone-built long cairn on the Cotswold Hills, excavated in 1979 to 1982 by a team led by Alan Saville; the finds went to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.ebi.ac.uk and 1 moreElisabetta Sirani: Self-portrait1665 · Bologna, Papal StatesElisabetta Sirani died at 27 in Bologna in 1665; her father charged the maid with poisoning her and then withdrew the chargeElisabetta Sirani ran her father's Bologna workshop from about 1654, after gout disabled Giovanni Andrea Sirani. Her portraits and teaching supported the household. She died in August 1665, aged 27, after severe stomach pain.theflorentine.net and 3 moreHerodes Atticus: Herodes Atticus - bust - Athens Museum177 · Marathon and Athens, GreeceHerodes Atticus paid out his father's legacy to Athens by deducting debts, gave his son only his mother's property, and the Athenians took his body from MarathonPhilostratus says Herodes's grandfather Hipparchus lost his estate on a charge of aiming at tyranny. Herodes's father Atticus found a great hoard in a house he owned near the theatre in Athens.Internet Archive and 2 moreVix krater: Châtillon-sur-Seine480 BCE · Vix, at the foot of Mont Lassois, Côte-d'Or, FranceThe Vix grave held the largest metal vessel of the ancient world, buried with a woman, and some scholars questioned whether the body was a woman'sIn January 1953 Maurice Moisson and René Joffroy uncovered a burial chamber at the foot of Mont Lassois, a fortified hilltop near Vix. It had not been robbed.musee-vix.fr and 2 moreHoward Carter: Howard carter1323 BCE · Valley of the Kings, Luxor, EgyptHoward Carter's team cut Tutankhamun's body apart to free it from his coffin in 1925, and Carter's published account left it outOn 24 October 1925 Carter's team found that Tutankhamun's innermost coffin was solid gold and fixed to the second coffin by thick resin. Resin poured over the king at his funeral had also glued the body inside.tutankhamun.griffith.ox.ac.uk and 4 moreTwin burial model - Sungir - Vladimir Palaty: Twin burial model. Sungir 2, 3.The building of the formet provincial administration – Palaty. Vladimir.32000 BCE · Sungir, near Vladimir, RussiaTwo disabled boys at Sungir were buried head to head with 10,000 ivory beads, and DNA showed they were not brothersSungir was found in 1955 in a clay pit near Vladimir and excavated over 16 seasons to 1977. It holds a man of about 40 and, in a second grave, two boys of about 10 and 12 laid head to head.cam.ac.uk and 3 moreShiraoi-upopoy 25: 北海道白老郡白老町にある「民族共生象徴空間」ウポポイ（国立アイヌ民族博物館）1880 · Urahoro, Hokkaido, Japan; Shiraoi, HokkaidoJapanese scientists dug up more than 1,600 Ainu remains for study, and Ainu groups sued universities to bring them homeFrom the 1880s to the 1970s anatomists from the universities of Tokyo, Kyoto and Hokkaido dug up Ainu graves in Hokkaido and Sakhalin to study skulls. Koganei Yoshikiyo of Tokyo took more than 160 skulls in the Meiji era.47news.jp and 4 moreDavid Livingstone: David Livingstone by Thomas Annan1873 · Chitambo's village, Ilala (now Zambia)Livingstone's heart was buried in Zambia, his body was carried 1,000 miles to Westminster Abbey, and his son died in a Confederate prison under a false nameDavid Livingstone's 1857 book Missionary Travels earned him over £8,500, his first wealth. The government gave £5,000 for his Zambezi expedition and £500 for his last journey, and the industrialist James Young added £1,000.westminster-abbey.org and 8 moreBahadur Shah Zafar: This file has been provided by the British Library from its digital collections. Links to the British Library's website may be broken as the library recovers fr1862 · Delhi, India; Rangoon (Yangon), Myanmar; Howrah, West BengalA British officer shot the last Mughal emperor's sons in 1857, and in 2025 India's Supreme Court threw out his great-grandson's widow's claim to the Red FortBahadur Shah Zafar was the last Mughal emperor. When British forces retook Delhi in September 1857, William Hodson found him at Humayun's Tomb on 20 September and brought him in under orders to deliver him unharmed.LiveLaw and 4 moreLetter of Kenesary-sultan: Письмо Кенесары Касымова Оренбургскому военному губернатору. 22 февраля 1841 г. Подлинник. ЦГА РК. Ф. 4.1847 · Keklik-Sengir valley, KyrgyzstanKenesary Khan was beheaded in 1847 and his skull sent to Omsk as a trophy; in 2021 Putin promised to return itKenesary Kasymov was a grandson of Ablai Khan and a descendant of Genghis Khan. After 1821 the Russian empire abolished the khan's government on the steppe.rferl.org and 2 moreWorld headquarter of the Bektashis: This picture is captured in the World headquarters of the Bektashis which is located in the capital of Albania (Tirana).1826 · Istanbul, Turkey; Hacıbektaş, Turkey; Tirana, AlbaniaThe Sultan abolished the Bektashi order in 1826 and gave its lodges away, Atatürk closed the rest in 1925, and in 2024 Albania proposed a sovereign state for its leaderThe Bektashi order was the Sufi order of the Janissaries. In 1826 Sultan Mahmud II destroyed the Janissary corps and banned the Bektashis throughout the empire. Many dervishes were exiled and some executed.sarakuehn.com and 2 moreNapoleon: The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries label QS:Len,"The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries"labe1821 · Longwood, Saint HelenaNapoleon's will left 10,000 francs to the man who tried to shoot the Duke of WellingtonNapoleon died a British prisoner at Longwood on Saint Helena.napoleon.org and 3 moreJoaquim José da Silva Xavier signature: Assinatura de Tiradentes (Joaquim José da Silva Xavier) no auto da devassa.1792 · Rio de Janeiro, BrazilPortugal's 1792 sentence declared Tiradentes's children and grandchildren infamous, and Brazil later paid pensions to people who said they descended from himJoaquim José da Silva Xavier, called Tiradentes, was a militia ensign in Minas Gerais and a leader of the Inconfidência Mineira, a 1789 plot to end Portuguese rule. The 1792 sentence condemned him to hang.pt.wikisource.org and 3 moreGia Long: Emperor Gia Long1792 · Phú Xuân (Huế), VietnamGia Long dug up the Tây Sơn emperors in 1802, pounded their bones and locked their skulls in a prisonThe Tây Sơn brothers overthrew the Nguyễn lords and the Lê emperors. The second brother, Nguyễn Huệ, ruled as Emperor Quang Trung and drove out a Qing army in 1789.zh.wikisource.org and 3 moreLake Mungo lunette: A section of Lake Mungo's lunette40000 BCE · Lake Mungo, Willandra Lakes, New South Wales, AustraliaMungo Man and Mungo Lady, Australia's oldest known people, came home after decades in Canberra, and their reburial split the three nations who own themIn 1968 geologist Jim Bowler found burnt bones on the dry bed of Lake Mungo. They were a woman, later called Mungo Lady, and the oldest known evidence of human cremation. In 1974 a man, Mungo Man, was found nearby.Smithsonian Magazine and 3 moreLe cadavre de Jean de Montagu détaché de la potence par son fils. G: Auteur(s): Langlois, Philibert, graveur Marck, dessinateur Autre titre: De 1226 à 1469 / De l'avènement de St L1409 · Paris and Marcoussis, Essonne, FranceFrance's grand master was beheaded and hung at Montfaucon; his son won back his name and body, then died at AgincourtJean de Montaigu rose from royal secretary to grand master of the royal household under Charles VI of France. From the income of his offices he built a fortune.herodote.net and 4 moreRaymond VI of Toulouse: Raimond6Toulouse1222 · Toulouse, FranceThe Church gave Raymond VI's county to the crusade leader and refused his body burial, and his granddaughter's childless marriage handed Toulouse to FranceThe papal legate Pierre de Castelnau excommunicated Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, in 1207, and the Council of Avignon excommunicated him again. The crusade against the Cathars took his lands.newadvent.org and 4 moreArtur of Brittany Alienor of Brittany: Artuš Bretaňský se sestrou Eleonorou1199 · Rouen, FranceRichard I's nephew Arthur disappeared in his uncle King John's prison, and Arthur's sister was held for 39 years until she diedArthur, duke of Brittany, was the son of Geoffrey, an elder brother of John. Geoffrey died before Arthur was born in 1187. In 1190 Richard I named Arthur his heir presumptive. When Richard died in 1199 he named John instead.british-history.ac.uk and 4 moreSiberian Ice Maiden inside her wooden sarcophagus (reconstruction, Anokhin Museum): Siberian Ice Maiden inside her wooden sarcophagus (reconstruction, Anokhin Museum)400 · Ukok Plateau, Altai Republic, RussiaArchaeologists flew the Ukok princess to Novosibirsk in 1993, the Altai people blamed her removal for an earthquake, and she came home to a museum mausoleum in 2012In summer 1993 a team from the Novosibirsk branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences opened a frozen burial mound on the Ukok Plateau near the Mongolian border.culturalsurvival.org and 2 morePliny the Younger - Como - Duomo - 4: Statue of Plinius Minor on the Duomo (Como)100 · Athens, GreecePliny tells of an Athens house let cheap because of its ghost; the philosopher who took it found a chained skeleton in the yardKind 2: what Pliny writes in letter 7.27, told "just as I heard it". A large house in Athens had a bad name. At night tenants heard chains, then saw the ghost of a thin old man in fetters.Project Gutenberg and 2 moreAugustus: Augustus of Prima Porta14 · Nola, Campania, ItalyAugustus's will, read to the Senate by the Vestal Virgins, barred his daughter and granddaughter from his tombAugustus died at Nola on 19 August AD 14. About 16 months earlier he had written his will in two notebooks. The Vestal Virgins, who held it, brought it to the Senate with three sealed rolls.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 moreMap of Italy, marked on the globe30 BCE · Croton (Crotone), Italy (setting of the Satyricon episode)Horace's Tiresias tells Ulysses to court rich old men's wills, and Petronius's Eumolpus wills his body to be eaten by his heirsThese are works of fiction. In Horace's fifth satire of Book II, Ulysses, back in Ithaca poor, asks the prophet Tiresias how to rebuild his fortune.Project Gutenberg and 2 moreFrench: Les Restes de Phocion title QS:P1476,fr:"Les Restes de Phocion "label QS:Lfr,"Les Restes de Phocion ": Esquisse de Charles Meynier pour le tableau "Les Cendres de Phocion" 318 BCE · Athens, Greece; burned beyond Eleusis near Megara, GreeceAthens executed Phocion at about 80, banned his burial in Attica, and Plutarch says his wife buried his bones under her hearthPhocion was an Athenian general in his eighties when the restored democracy condemned him. Nepos says he was sentenced to death without being allowed to plead.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 moreAristotle: Aristotle Altemps Inv8575322 BCE · Chalcis, Greece; Scepsis, Troad (Turkey); Athens and RomeAristotle's heirs hid his library in a trench to keep it from the kings of Pergamum, and Sulla carried it to RomeDiogenes Laertius preserves Aristotle's will. Antipater was executor. Aristotle's daughter was to marry Nicanor.perseus.tufts.edu and 2 moreSaqqara, Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II (never used), British Museum: Saqqara, Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II (never used since he left it when he fled south), British Museum343 BCE · Alexandria, Egypt, and London, EnglandThe last native pharaoh fled the Persians and never used his sarcophagus, and the British took it from Alexandria in 1801 as the tomb of AlexanderNectanebo II was the last native Egyptian king. In 343 BC the Persian king Artaxerxes III restored Persian rule. Nectanebo fled south and never regained power.Internet Archive and 2 moreCHURCH(1893) p115 THEMISTOCLES: CHURCH(1893) p115 THEMISTOCLES459 BCE · Magnesia on the Maeander, Turkey; Attica, GreeceAthens condemned Themistocles for treason, Persia gave him three cities, and his relatives buried his bones in Attica in secretThemistocles led the Athenian fleet at Salamis. He was later ostracised, and Athens turned the ostracism into a death sentence for treason when Sparta accused him of dealing with Persia. He fled and settled in the Persian empire.Project Gutenberg and 2 moreReconstruction of face from the Grave Circle B, AM Mycenae, 090994: Reconstructions of faces from the Mycenaean Grave Circle B. Arachaeological Museum of Mycenae. Skull Zeta 59 fro1550 BCE · Grave Circle B, Mycenae, Argolis, GreeceDNA showed a woman in Mycenae's royal Grave Circle B was buried beside her brother, by right of birth, not as a wifeGrave Circle B at Mycenae was used from about 1675 to 1550 BC and overlaps the more famous Grave Circle A by about 50 years. Its 35 burials held weapons, pottery, gold ornaments and an electrum face mask.manchester.ac.uk and 2 moreAmesbury Archer - Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum: The Amesbury Archer. An early Bronze Age man whose grave was discovered during excavations at the site of a new housing deve2300 BCE · Amesbury, Wiltshire, EnglandA man from the Alps was buried near Stonehenge with Britain's oldest gold; the younger man beside him shared a rare foot bone, but DNA rules out father and sonIn May 2002 Wessex Archaeology excavated a grave at Amesbury, about three miles from Stonehenge, ahead of a housing development.wessexarch.co.uk and 2 moreMap of Germany, marked on the globe2600 BCE · Eulau, Saxony-Anhalt, GermanyAt Eulau a mother, father and two sons killed in a raid were buried facing each other, the oldest family proven by DNAIn 2005 archaeologists at Eulau found four graves, dug at the same time, holding 13 people: children from newborns to about 10 and adults of 30 or more. No teenagers or young adults were among them.bristol.ac.uk and 2 morePassage leading from chamber of Newgrange passage tomb in Ireland: A section of the passage leading out from the chamber of Newgrange passage tomb in Ireland.3000 BCE · Newgrange (Brú na Bóinne), County Meath, IrelandThe man buried in the inner chamber of Newgrange was the son of a brother and sister or a parent and childNewgrange is a passage tomb built about 5,000 years ago, aligned so the winter-solstice sunrise lights its inner chamber.europepmc.org and 2 moreRicostruzione di Ötzi - Particolare del volto: Ricostruzione di come doveva essere l'aspetto di Ötzi3300 BCE · Tisenjoch (Giogo di Tisa), Ötztal Alps, South Tyrol, ItalyTwo hikers found Ötzi in 1991, a survey put him 92 metres inside Italy, and the finders fought South Tyrol in court until 2010 over the rewardOn 19 September 1991 Erika and Helmut Simon, hikers from Nuremberg, saw a body in melting ice at 3,210 metres.archive.archaeology.org and 5 moreGurgy les noisats S6 Fig: Map featuring the frequency distribution of informative haplotypes shared between Gurgy and modern populations4500 BCE · Gurgy "Les Noisats", Yonne, FranceOne founding father's bones were carried to Gurgy and reburied, and his descendants over seven generations lie around him, with almost no adult daughtersGurgy "Les Noisats" is a cemetery of more than 100 people buried between 4850 and 4500 BC, excavated by Stéphane Rottier from 2004 to 2007.europepmc.org and 2 moreCueva del miron: Hallados restos humanos en la cueva del Mirón (Cantabria, España) que podrían corresponder al primer enterramiento del Magdaleniense encontrado en la Península Ibé16700 BCE · El Mirón Cave, Cantabria, SpainThe Red Lady of El Mirón was buried behind an engraved rock, then her skull and long bones were taken away and the rest re-painted redIn 2010 the El Mirón cave team led by Lawrence Straus and Manuel González Morales looked into a gap about a metre wide between the cave wall and a large fallen block. They found most of a woman's skeleton.archaeology.org and 2 moreAI illustration: An eagle drops a tortoise over the coast at Gela, Sicily, 456 BCLegend · 456 BCE · Gela, SicilyLegend: Aeschylus died at Gela in 456 or 455 BC when an eagle dropped a tortoise on his headAeschylus returned to Sicily for the last time in 458 BC and died at Gela in 456 or 455 BC. The manner of his death is legend, not documented history.perseus.tufts.edu and 2 moreGold dinar of al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, AH 391: Dinar de ouro do califa fatímida Aláqueme Bimar Alá1021 · Muqattam hills, Cairo, EgyptSitt al-Mulk set aside the Fatimid heir after the caliph al-Hakim disappeared in 1021 and put his son al-Zahir on the throneIn 1013 the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim named his cousin Abd al-Rahim ibn Ilyas, governor of Damascus, as heir, passing over his own son Ali. His half-sister Sitt al-Mulk, daughter of the previous caliph al-Aziz, backed Ali.islamansiklopedisi.org.tr and 3 moreWang Xizhi: Portraits of Famous Men: Wang Xizhi649 · Zhaoling, Liquan County, Shaanxi, ChinaA Tang emperor sent an agent in disguise to take Wang Xizhi's Orchid Pavilion Preface from an old monk, and took it into his tombIn 353 Wang Xizhi wrote the preface to a poetry gathering at the Orchid Pavilion near modern Shaoxing.zh.wikisource.org and 2 moreMap of Turkey, marked on the globe41 BCE · Ephesus (near Selçuk, Turkey)Cleopatra's sister Arsinoe IV fought Caesar, walked in chains in his triumph and was killed at a temple on Antony's orders, and the skeleton said to be hers was a boy'sIn 48 BC, while Julius Caesar was besieged in Alexandria, Cleopatra's younger sister Arsinoe escaped the palace with her tutor, the eunuch Ganymedes, and proclaimed herself queen.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 5 moreJoseph's Tomb in Shechem: This is supposedly the location of where Joseph was buried when the Israelites brought his bones back from Egypt.1200 BCE · Joseph's Tomb, Nablus (Shechem), West BankJoseph made Israel swear to carry his bones out of Egypt; Exodus says Moses took them, and his reputed tomb in Nablus was smashed in 2022Genesis says Joseph, dying in Egypt, made the children of Israel swear: "ye shall carry up my bones from hence." He was embalmed and put in a coffin in Egypt.mechon-mamre.org and 5 moreFu Hao: Fu Hao Tomb and Statue, c. 1200 BC, Reign of King Wu Ding, Shang Dynasty (10197821303)1200 BCE · Yinxu, Anyang, Henan, ChinaFu Hao led the Shang king's armies, the oracle said her childbirth was "not good" because she had a girl, and hers is the only Shang royal tomb found intactFu Hao was one of the many wives of King Wu Ding. Oracle-bone inscriptions show her leading the king's best generals against neighbouring peoples and performing ancestor sacrifices.english.henan.gov.cn and 2 moreThai King Tomb Pagoda, Amarapura: Utumphon's tomb pagoda in Amarapura Township, Myanmar1796 · Lin Zin Gon cemetery, Amarapura, Mandalay, MyanmarBurma took Ayutthaya's former king prisoner in 1767, and in 2013 a Thai team dug up the tomb said to hold his ashesUthumphon became king of Ayutthaya in 1758 and gave up the throne after about two months to his elder brother, who reigned as King Ekathat. Uthumphon became a monk at Wat Pradu.thesiamsociety.org and 2 moreWat Intharam (Wat Bang Yi Ruea Nok) - The stupa of King Taksin (1): พระสถูปบรรจุพระบรมอัฐิของสมเด็จพระเจ้าตากสินมหาราช ณ วัดอินทาราม (วัดบางยี่เรือนอก หรือวัดบางยี่เรือใต้) แขวงบาง1782 · Thonburi (Bangkok), Thailand; CambodiaGeneral Chakri took Taksin's throne in 1782 while Taksin's son and heir was away at war, and dug up Taksin's body two years laterTaksin rallied Siamese forces after the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 and ruled as king from Thonburi. The chronicle of the First Reign of Bangkok, compiled on royal orders by Chao Phraya Thiphakorawong, records what followed.vajirayana.org and 5 moreYeongjo of Joseon: Korean: 영조 어진Portrait of King Yeongjotitle QS:P1476,ko:"영조 어진"label QS:Lko,"영조 어진"label QS:Len,"Portrait of King Yeongjo1762 · Changgyeong Palace, Seoul, South KoreaKing Yeongjo locked his heir in a rice chest until he died, and the heir's son became king and moved the body into a new fortressCrown Prince Sado was born in 1735, the son of King Yeongjo by Royal Noble Consort Yeong, and was named heir in 1736. Yeongjo rebuked him for years, and the court split between the Noron and Soron factions.encykorea.aks.ac.kr and 4 moreSeqenenre Tao-mummy-head: Mummified head of Seqenenre Tao1555 BCE · Thebes (Luxor), EgyptKing Seqenenre Tao died with his hands tied and his skull broken by Hyksos weapons, and his sons finished his warSeqenenre Tao ruled southern Egypt from Thebes while the Hyksos, a dynasty of Asian origin, held the north. A later tale, The Quarrel of Apophis and Seqenenre, describes tension with the Hyksos king Apepi.frontiersin.org and 3 moreCastillo de Huarmey: Grabado del siglo XVII que representa al Castillo de Huarmey (Guarme), costa central del Perú, actual Áncash. Es una antigua construcción preinca, centro admin750 · El Castillo de Huarmey, Áncash, PeruLooters had dug all around it, but the Wari tomb at Castillo de Huarmey held 58 noblewomen and their queens, untouchedEl Castillo de Huarmey is a hill four hours north of Lima, pitted by looters' holes.nationalgeographic.com and 2 moreReconstitution de la Dame de Cao (Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac, Paris): Reconstitution en taille réelle de la Dame de Cao datation de la tombe : 450 ap. J.-C. Culture Moch450 · Huaca Cao Viejo, El Brujo, Magdalena de Cao, La Libertad, PeThe Lady of Cao was buried with war clubs and a crown, the first Moche woman found with a ruler's emblems, with a teenage girl beside herBefore 2005 archaeologists believed only men held high rank in Moche society. In 2005 a team led by Régulo Franco Jordán, funded by the Wiese Foundation, found a burial chamber in the Huaca Cao Viejo pyramid at El Brujo.andina.pe and 3 moreTomb of the Lord of Sipan: Tomb of the Lord of Sipan250 · Huaca Rajada, Sipán, Lambayeque, PeruLooters emptied a Moche tomb at Sipán in 1987, police shot their leader, and the archaeologist called in found the Lord of Sipán untouched below itIn early 1987 a gang led by Ernil Bernal tunnelled into a mud-brick pyramid at Huaca Rajada near the village of Sipán. On 6 February 1987 they ransacked a tomb and carried gold and silver out in rice sacks, smashing pots and bones.motherjones.com and 3 morePuabi: Queen Puabi with attendants2550 BCE · Royal Cemetery, Ur (Tell el-Muqayyar), Dhi Qar, IraqQueen Puabi of Ur was buried in gold, and the attendants Woolley said drank poison were killed with blows to the headFrom 1922 Leonard Woolley dug about 2,000 burials at Ur for the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum. In tomb PG 800 lay a woman of about 40.almanac.upenn.edu and 4 moreDB320 Mummies 1881: Photograph by Émile Brugsch of the Royal Cache of mummies found in DB320 by Gaston Maspero in 1881. Taken before the mummies were unwrapped.1000 BCE · Deir el-Bahari, Luxor, EgyptThe Abd el-Rassul brothers sold royal mummies from a hidden tomb for a decade, until the eldest confessed in 1881After robbers stripped the New Kingdom royal tombs, priests moved the kings' bodies, rewrapped them and placed many in the family tomb of the high priest Pinedjem II at Deir el-Bahari, now TT320.newlinesmag.com and 4 moreMerneith stele: Detail of one of the two stelae erected in front of the tomb of Queen Mer-Neith at Abydos, Umm el Qaab, tomb Y (Tomb of Queen Mer-Neith). Now in the Egyptian Museum2950 BCE · Umm el-Qa'ab, Abydos, EgyptMerneith ruled for her young son Den, was buried at Abydos in a king's tomb ringed by servants' graves, and later king lists left her outMerneith held the titles King's Mother and Foremost of Women. Her probable husband was King Djet. When Djet died, their son Den was probably too young to rule, and she most likely governed for him.penn.museum and 3 morePtolemy VI Philometor: Ring with the engraved portrait of Ptolemy VI Philometor.204 BCE · Alexandria, EgyptCourtiers hid Ptolemy IV's death, killed his queen, read out a will naming themselves regents, and the Alexandrian crowd killed them and their familyPolybius writes that Ptolemy IV Philopator began his reign by killing his brother Magas and then neglected government for "his shameful amours and senseless and constant drunkenness." He married his sister Arsinoe III.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 3 moreEgypt and Nubia: Volume III - No. 8, Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo: Egypt and Nubia: Volume III - No. 8, Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo1361 · Cairo, EgyptPlague estates paid for Sultan Hasan's Cairo mosque, a minaret fell and killed about 300, and the sultan was murdered and never buried in his tombAl-Nasir Hasan became Mamluk sultan of Egypt at 13 in 1347 or 1348. The plague of 1348 killed many of Cairo's rich. Emirs arrested Hasan in 1351 and held him for about three years before he returned to power.madainproject.com and 2 moreSeated Portrait of Emperor Song Huizong 宋徽宗坐像: Seated Portrait of Emperor Song Huizong 宋徽宗坐像1135 · Kaifeng, Henan, China; Wuguocheng (Yilan, Heilongjiang), ChiThe Jurchens took two Song emperors north in 1127; a 1142 treaty brought home the father's coffin and left the son, a crowned emperor, in captivity until he diedOn 9 January 1127 Jin forces took Kaifeng, the Song capital.zh.wikisource.org and 3 moreTamaudun 02: 沖縄県 玉陵1450 · Unten, Nakijin, Okinawa, Japan; Kyoto, JapanKyoto Imperial University took bones from a Ryukyuan royal tomb, descendants sued for them, and the university gave them to the village in 2025 on condition they never be buriedMumujana, "the tomb of many lords," is a cave tomb on a cliff above Unten port in Nakijin, Okinawa. It holds lacquered coffins and the bones of local lords of the 1400s and their families.ryukyushimpo.jp and 4 moreMap of South Korea, marked on the globe1441 · Soreung, Ansan, Gyeonggi, South Korea; Hyeolleung, DonggureuSejo dug up Queen Hyeondeok's tomb after her son's fall; the legend says her coffin was thrown into the sea, and her rank came back 56 years laterKind 1 and kind 2. Lady Gwon, daughter of Gwon Jeon, became consort of the crown prince who later reigned as King Munjong. In 1441 she gave birth to their son, the future King Danjong, and died a day later, aged about 23.ih.snu.ac.kr and 2 moreWat ratchaburana March 2025 24: Wat Ratchaburana is an ancient Buddhist temple founded in 1424. It is located in Ayutthaya Historical Park, Ayutthaya, Thailand.1424 · Than Forest Bridge (Saphan Pa Than), Ayutthaya, ThailandTwo princes of Ayutthaya killed each other on elephants in 1424, and looters robbed their crypt in 1957The Luang Prasoet version of the Royal Chronicles of Ayutthaya records that in 786 of the Chula era, 1424 AD, King Intharacha fell ill and died.vajirayana.org and 2 moreTimur: Timur reconstruction031405 · Gur-e Amir mausoleum, Samarkand, UzbekistanSoviet scientists opened Timur's tomb on 19 June 1941 over the objections of Samarkand's clerics, and the keeper who read out its warning was ordered arrestedTimur died at Otrar in February 1405. His body was embalmed, laid in an ebony coffin and buried in the Gur-e Amir in Samarkand under a large slab of jade.Encyclopaedia Britannica and 2 moreTankiziyya, before 1920: Tankiziyya, before 19201340 · Alexandria, Egypt; Damascus, SyriaThe sultan had his viceroy of Syria arrested, killed and stripped of his fortune; three years later the viceroy's grandson was sultan and his body came home to DamascusTankiz was a mamluk, a slave soldier, who served Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad from 1299. In 1312 the sultan made him viceroy of Syria, based in Damascus.sussex.ac.uk and 2 moreUP rhino: Golden Rhinoceros at w:en:Mapungubwe Collection, SA1220 · Mapungubwe Hill, Limpopo, South AfricaMapungubwe's royal dead were dug up in 1933 and reburied on their hill in 2007, but the gold rhinoceros stayed in a university museumMapungubwe Hill was the centre of a state that archaeologists date to about 1220 to 1290. The elite lived on the hilltop.repository.up.ac.za and 7 moreMahmud of Ghazni: Mahmud of Ghazni, Ghaznavid ruler, conquering Qasdar (modern Khuzdar) in India, miniature from the Jamiʿ al-Tawarikh of 1030 · Ghazni, Afghanistan; Somnath, Gujarat, India; Agra, Uttar PrBritain carried gates from Mahmud of Ghazni's tomb to India in 1842 as the stolen gates of Somnath; they were Afghan cedar and are still in Agra FortMahmud of Ghazni raided the Somnath temple in Gujarat about 800 years before the British reached Ghazni. A later belief held that he carried off its gates and set them on his tomb at Ghazni.collections.vam.ac.uk and 2 moreAnonymous-The King of Dongdan Goes Forth: The King of Dongdan Goes Forth (東丹王出行圖), scroll, light colors on silk. 146.8 x 77.3 cm. National Palace Museum, Taibei (國立故宮博物院). The pain926 · Zuzhou (Bairin Left Banner, Inner Mongolia), ChinaThe Liao History says Abaoji's widow cut off her right hand and put it in his coffin instead of following him into deathAbaoji founded the Khitan state that became the Liao dynasty.zh.wikisource.org and 2 moreA member of the Barmakid family offering gifts to the Caliph, From the Akhbar-i Barmakyan, India, Mughal, circa 1595-160: A member of the Barmakid family offering gifts to the Cali803 · al-Anbar, Iraq; Baghdad, Iraq; Raqqa, SyriaHarun al-Rashid had his vizier Ja'far killed in one night in 803, hung his body in Baghdad, and took the Barmakid fortuneThe Barmakids came from Balkh, where their ancestors led a Buddhist monastery. They ran the Abbasid government for Harun al-Rashid. Yahya ibn Khalid was his vizier, and from about 798 Yahya's son Ja'far held the post.Wikisource (primary text) and 4 moreMap of Saudi Arabia, marked on the globe632 · Saqifa of the Banu Sa'ida, Medina, Saudi ArabiaWhile Muhammad's family prepared his body, a meeting in a Medina courtyard chose Abu Bakr as successor over the people of Medina's own candidateAl-Bukhari records Aisha's account. Muhammad died while Abu Bakr was at al-Sunh outside Medina. Umar stood up and insisted Muhammad was not dead.ihadis.com and 3 moreTillya Tepe crown: Tillya Tepe crown www.flickr.com/photos/h_sinica/49049536268 www.flickr.com/photos/h_sinica/49049537778/in/album-72157... www.flickr.com/photos/h_sinica/490500401 · Tillya Tepe, near Sheberghan, Jowzjan, Afghanistan; KabulA nomad chief and five women were buried with 20,000 gold objects in Afghanistan; keyholders hid the hoard for 14 years, and in 2021 it went out of sight againIn 1978 a Soviet-Afghan team led by Viktor Sarianidi excavated six burial mounds at Tillya Tepe, the "Golden Hill," in northern Afghanistan. They held five women and one man, described as a nomadic royal and five of his wives.NBC News and 3 moreNoin-Ula carpet, fighting sceneNoin-Ula carpet, fighting scene: Noin-Ula carpet, fighting scene1 · Takhiltyn Khotgor, Mankhan, Khovd Province, MongoliaOn the Xiongnu frontier the great tombs were built for women, each flanked by commoner men in simple gravesThe Xiongnu were the first nomad empire of the eastern steppe, from about 200 BC to the late first century AD.europepmc.org and 2 more2010-06-21 06-37-33 Israel Herodium JH (52775611124): Herodium - an ancient Jewish fortress and town author: Jan Helebrant location: West Bank, Israel <a href="http://www.juhele4 BCE · Jericho; buried at Herodium, West BankHerod the Great executed three sons, changed his will in his last days, and died five days after the last execution; Augustus split his kingdom among the survivorsJosephus says Herod had his sons Alexander and Aristobulus taken to Sebaste and strangled, and their bodies carried at night to the family tomb at Alexandrium. His son Antipater was later held in chains for plotting against him.perseus.tufts.edu and 6 moreCleopatra: Kleopatra-VII.-Altes-Museum-Berlin130 BCE · Alexandria, EgyptCleopatra filled her tomb with treasure and torchwood so Octavian could not take it from her, and the tomb has never been foundPlutarch writes that Cleopatra built a tall tomb near the temple of Isis in Alexandria and filled it with gold, silver, emeralds, pearls, ebony, ivory and cinnamon, and with torchwood and tow.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 2 moreMap of China, marked on the globe59 BCE · Haihun (Nanchang), Jiangxi, ChinaLiu He was emperor for 27 days, was removed for 1,127 offences, and his gold-filled tomb was found after tomb robbers dug into itEmperor Zhao of Han died in 74 BC with no son. The regent Huo Guang chose Liu He, King of Changyi, a grandson of Emperor Wu.zh.wikisource.org and 3 morePtolemy X Alexander Tetradrachm Sear7939: Egypt, Ptolemaiovské království (Alexandrie) AR Tetradrachm RY 20 (95/4 př. n. l.) - Ptolemaios X Alexander (106-88 př. n. l.)80 BCE · Alexandria, EgyptSulla sent Ptolemy XI to marry Queen Berenice III, he had her killed within three weeks, the Alexandrians killed him, and Rome produced a will leaving Egypt to RomeWhen Ptolemy IX died in 80 BC, his daughter Berenice III ruled alone. From 101 BC she had ruled with Ptolemy X, who in 89 BC took the gold coffin of Alexander the Great to pay his troops and was killed at sea in 88 BC.University of Chicago, LacusCurtius and 4 morePiprawa vase with relics of the Buddha inscription: Piprawa vase with relics of the Buddha inscription480 BCE · Kusinara (Kushinagar), Uttar Pradesh, India; Piprahwa, UttarThe Pali canon says eight peoples demanded the Buddha's ashes; one share, found in 1898, was pulled from auction in 2025The Mahaparinibbana Sutta says that after the Buddha was cremated at Kusinara, seven claimants sent word to the Mallas of Kusinara asking for a share of the remains: King Ajatasattu of Magadha, the Licchavis, the Sakyas of…accesstoinsight.org and 2 moreSarcophagus of Eshmunazar II: Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar II525 BCE · Sidon, LebanonA boy king of Sidon cursed anyone who moved his coffin; in 1855 it was dug up, fought over and shipped to the LouvreEshmunazar II, king of Sidon, died at about 14 and had ruled with his mother, Amashtart, a priestess of Astarte. His black stone sarcophagus carries the longest Phoenician inscription then known.Google Books and 3 moreTomb of Cyrus the Great: This is a photo of a monument in Iran identified by the ID530 BCE · Pasargadae, Fars province, IranAlexander found Cyrus the Great's tomb robbed and the body thrown out, and tortured its hereditary guards, who named no oneArrian, using the account of Alexander's officer Aristobulus, describes the tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae: a golden coffin holding the body, a couch with golden feet, Babylonian tapestries, purple rugs, robes, and collars, sabres and earrings of gold and jewels.Wikisource (primary text) and 2 moreZi Chan: Zi Chan (子產, 子产), also known as Gongsun Qiao (died 522 BC), was the most outstanding statesman of the State of Zheng in ancient China during the Spring and Autumn Period. 543 BCE · Xinzheng, capital of the state of Zheng, Henan, ChinaZheng's minister was killed in the sheep market, his rivals died on the days his ghost named, and Zichan gave his son office to stop the hauntingKind 2: what the Zuo zhuan says. Liang Xiao, called Bo You, was senior minister of Zheng; his family had held power for three generations. He drank through the night in an underground room.zh.wikisource.org and 2 moreAbbottPapyrus-BritishMuseum-August21-08: The Abbott Papyrus, which is a record of an official inspection of royal tombs in the Theban necropolis-(in hieratic; note red ink, as well1110 BCE · Theban necropolis, west bank of Thebes (Luxor), EgyptEight thieves confessed to stripping the gold from the mummies of king Sobekemsaf and queen Nubkhas, and an inquiry under Ramesses IX recorded itIn year 16 of Ramesses IX, about 1110 BC, Paser, mayor of the east side of Thebes, reported robberies in the royal cemetery on the west side, which was the responsibility of its mayor, Pawero.Internet Archive and 5 moreKV 13 Bay: Isometric, plan and elevation images of KV13 taken from a 3d model1192 BCE · Thebes (Luxor), EgyptChancellor Bay put a boy king on the throne and was given a tomb among the kings, and a potsherd records that the king had him killedBay began as a scribe and royal cupbearer under Seti II and was probably of Asian origin.ifao.egnet.net and 2 moreOpening of the Mouth - Tutankhamun and Aja: Ay performing the Opening of the Mouth ceremony at Tutankhamun. Wall painting from Tutankhamun's tomb (KV 62)1319 BCE · Thebes (Luxor), EgyptAy had himself painted burying Tutankhamun and took the throne, and Horemheb then erased Ay and dated his own reign from Amenhotep IIIWhen Tutankhamun died, the general Horemheb, who had advised the young king, was campaigning against the Hittites in the north. The vizier Ay took the throne.worldhistory.org and 3 moreTheYoungerLady-61072-FrontView-PlateXCIX-TheRoyalMummies-1912: Front view of the "Younger Lady Mummy" found in tomb KV35. This image clearly displays the damage thought to be done 1323 BCE · Valley of the Kings, Luxor, EgyptDNA tests in 2010 found that Tutankhamun's parents were brother and sister, and that the two stillborn girls buried in his tomb were his daughtersTutankhamun died at about 19 with no living heir. In his tomb, KV62, Howard Carter found an undecorated wooden box and numbered it 317.jamanetwork.com and 3 moreKV55 defaced coffin: Gilded and inlaid wooden coffin from KV55 in the Valley of the Kings, now in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo. The face and the cartouche containing1336 BCE · Valley of the Kings, Luxor, EgyptA king's coffin in tomb KV55 had its gold face hacked off and its names cut out, and the gold from its base turned up in a Munich museumIn January 1907 Edward Ayrton, digging for the American Theodore Davis, opened a small undecorated tomb in the Valley of the Kings, later numbered KV55.archive.archaeology.org and 3 moreF.L. Griffith, Hieratic papyri from Kahun and Gurob.: Veterinary papyrus, LV.2. General Collections Keywords: gurob; hieratic papyri; kahun; petrie papyri; veterinary papyrus; Fran1800 BCE · Lahun (Kahun), Faiyum, EgyptAround 1800 BC an Egyptian priest left everything to his wife and named a guardian for his son, in one of the oldest wills knownTwo papyrus leaves from the workmen's town at Lahun record a family's property in hieratic script.collections.ucl.ac.uk and 3 moreKhufu: Statue of Khufu in the Cairo Egyptian Museum2580 BCE · Giza, EgyptThe hidden tomb of Khufu's mother Hetepheres held her organs in a sealed chest, but her sealed sarcophagus was empty when it was opened in 1927Hetepheres I was the wife of King Sneferu and the mother of King Khufu. On 2 February 1925 a leg of a camera tripod set up by George Reisner's Harvard and Boston expedition sank into plaster east of the Great Pyramid.giza.fas.harvard.edu and 2 moreMahmud I: 24th Sultan and 103rd Calip of Islam, Mahmud I (1696–1754).Legend · 1020 · Tus, Khorasan, IranTradition says Sultan Mahmud's gold for the Shahnameh reached Ferdowsi's town as his coffin left it, and his daughter refused itFerdowsi spent about 30 years writing the Shahnameh, the Persian national epic. The fullest account of his payment comes from Nizami Aruzi, who visited his tomb about a century later and recorded what was told at Tus.jls.um.ac.ir and 2 moreHevron e Ma'arat HaMachpela (14524916927): סיור בחברון העתיקה ובמערת המכפלה Hevron e Ma'arat HaMachpelaScripture · 750 BCE · Cave of Machpelah, Hebron, West BankGenesis says Abraham paid 400 shekels for a family tomb at Hebron; the Talmud says Esau blocked Jacob's burial there and was killed at the caveGenesis 23 says that when Sarah died, Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah and its field from Ephron the Hittite. He weighed out 400 shekels of silver, "current money with the merchant," in the hearing of the sons of Heth.mechon-mamre.org and 4 moreKabir: Kabir004Legend · 1518 · Maghar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, IndiaTradition says Hindus and Muslims fought over Kabir's body and found only flowers under the sheetKabir was a poet. The district administration of Sant Kabir Nagar says he was loved equally by Muslims and Hindus.sknagar.nic.in and 2 moreSanta Giustina (Padua) - Chapel of Saint Luke - Tomb of Luke the Evangelist (front): Churche Saint Justina of Padua in Italy. Chapel of Luke the Evangelist. Work of the Pisano-VeneLegend · 80 · Thebes, Greece; Padua, Italy; Prague, Czech RepublicChristian tradition says the body of Luke "the beloved physician" was moved from Thebes to Constantinople and Padua, and an emperor took the head to PragueThe Letter to the Colossians calls Luke "the beloved physician". Christian tradition says he died at 84 in Thebes, in Greece. In 338 his coffin was taken to Constantinople.biblegateway.com and 2 moreAntigone Gives Token Burial to the Body of Her Brother Polyniceslabel QS:Len,"Antigone Gives Token Burial to the Body of: Drawing; DrawingsLegend · 1250 BCE · Thebes (Thiva), GreeceThe plays say Oedipus's sons agreed to rule Thebes in alternate years, then killed each other, and the new king forbade burial of one of themThe tradition says that after Oedipus left Thebes, his sons Eteocles and Polynices divided the kingdom by time. The mythographer Apollodorus records that they agreed "that each should rule alternately" for a year.classics.mit.edu and 2 moreBavli Kiddushin Munich 95: העמוד הראשון של מסכת קידושין בכתב יד מינכן 95Scripture · 220 · Land of Israel (Tiberias tradition)The Talmud says a dying man left everything to his one true son out of ten, and a rabbi found him by telling the sons to beat their father's graveTractate Bava Batra 58a tells two inheritance cases brought to Rabbi Bana'ah. In the first, a dying man said: a barrel of earth to one son, a barrel of bones to another, a barrel of wool to the third.sefaria.org and 2 more