16 Priceless Things We've Lost Forever

[@jdfromparis6230]

I believe a first complete draft of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence was also lost on a train ride. He rewrote the whole book which is a 700 page long masterpiece.

[@franl155]

I got a hardback copy from the library decades ago. Was reading it, and there was a gap of a few lines on one page. Odd, I thought, and carried on reading. Few pages on, there was another gap, about a paragraph long. Then more and more - one gap was half down one page and the top third of the facing page. I can only assume that, just prior to publication, certain comments were objected to on security or legal grounds and, rather than reset the book to close the gaps, they just printed it with all the gaps intact - unless Lawrence wanted everyone to know that his book had been censored. ps it must have been a first edition: I imagine that the gaps were closed in reprints.

[@MajoraZ]

I'm glad to see the Maya books listed here, but it's more then that: We have NO surviving pre-contact Aztec books either due to the Spanish burning them, and there are many other major civilizations in Mexico/Mesoamerica beyond those two which also had almost all their text burnt. It's almost unfathomable It's not just like the Library of Alexandria burning down, but EVERY library across the Mediterranean, etc. We lost out on an entire third pillar of human civilization and history on top of the West and East. Nontheless, we still have more left then I think most people realize, largerly due to information being re-recording in the early colional period when Mesoamerican society was still mostly intact; which today means the issue is less not having sources left (though we would have many thousands of times more if not for the burnings) and moreso a problem of a lack of education and emphasis on this part of history. For example, while only 4 traditional Maya books survive, there are dozens of cities with surviving stone inscriptions which list the births and deaths of rulers, wars, political mariages, and other information. For the Aztec, while we have no surviving pre-contact books, there's hundreds of documents by both Aztec and Spanish auithors, both in the style of traditional Mesoamerican manuscripts and as european style books or a combination of both, which document Aztec history and society: Sahagun's A General History of the Things of New Spain has thousands of pages of information about very specific elements of Aztec society, such as figures of speech, cultural norms, specific medical treatments, metallurgical techniques, etc; while Duran's similarly titled A History of the Indies of New Spain has hundreds of pages of history down to the specific reigns of different kings, wars, the actions of generals in battles, even the specific speeches made by politicians, though obviously these documents are a mix of both history, propoganda, legends, and have some Spanish distortion mixed into them due to being written under their rule. There's also notable 8 suriving Mixtec books which document similar information to the surviving Maya inscriptions, and a few colional era documents similar to the Aztec ones for other civilizations such as the Purepecha or specific towns with the Relacion de Geograficas. Bottom line, the loss of Mesoamerican texts by the Spanish is both probably the single biggest loss of historical information in human history (just from those 8 surviving Mixtec books we have near-complete political records for the areas it covers going back 800 years; if we had hundreds or thousands of books surviving, we'd have records approaching what we have for Europe and Asia), it's also no excuse for the lack of focus they get in history classes and in general culture, where they are treated as an afterthought.

[@ryanjohnson8337]

Wind bag

[@Li.Siyuan]

I agree with you in everyway bar, perhaps, one. Perhaps we should be poking the finger of blame at religion and here specifically, Roman Catholicism?

[@BCxFOREVER]

I was also very happy to see this loss of history listed in this video ! And you bring up a very good point of highlighting what IS out there

[@nate_d376]

I really appreciate the shots of the actual things, when possible of course, instead of a bunch of random stock footage. Good job.

[@Apledore]

As a life-long New Hampshire resident, I mourned the day the Old Man fell! The state held a funeral for him, and there’s a memorial there today.

[@mint83]

I didn't know they held a funeral. That's neat (sad, but neat)

[@franciscamoena6666]

Apart from carson's early tonight show tapes that were lost, the same thing happened to the early episodes of doctor who, and around the same time, late 1960s. The BBC is still asking long time viewers if they taped for any reason those episodes

[@frankydman]

97 episodes of Doctor Who May be lost, but thanks to the work of dedicated fans- all of them survive in audio format from those who held microphones up to their television

[@JoRiver11]

Mt Rushmore was an important site to First Nations, as it already appeared to be faces. Now lost forever.

[@achecase]

Perhaps there's an old trunk out ther with Hemingway's lost writings.

[@WeChallenge]

Best case , they were hoarded away by some eccentric as happens with fine art that is stolen, hidden away, now in a place lost to time, waiting to be rediscovered. Worst case, they were discarded, burned, etc. because the thief only wanted the satchel and didn't know the contents value.

[@BlankBrain]

His son Patrick helped publish "True At First Light," an unfinished draft of his time in Africa.

[@mayorb3366]

One of the most substantial losses was the burning and decline of the Library at Alexandria in Egypt. No telling how much more advanced we'd be if all that brilliant information hadn't been lost.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@Mayorb I appreciate your positivity, but I'm certain we would've been as backassward as we are currently. We may know more, but that doesn't mean humans would be better.

[@mayorb3366]

@@St.Linguini_of_Pesto Yup. there's no way we can really tell. But I think scientifically we'd be much further ahead. But it seems to me that advances in technology have lead to social strife. How did this happen? Maybe for the better that the library was destroyed. Technology was supposed to make our lives easier, less complicated. It has not done that, quite the opposite. My guess is that it's going to get worse. I'm glad I'm old.

[@egmviola]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could never pass up a good fart joke. In fact, he even wrote a few. His father was always aghast over this, but who was he to complain? Leopold Mozart wrote a piece of music titled: "Schlitten Fahrt." (Sleigh Ride) Thanks to the late great Victor Borge for informing me on this in his book, "My Favorite Intermissions."

[@KarimTheilgaard]

Victor Borge was a comic and musical genius! There’s a square named after him with a statue around the corner from me.

[@eledatowle7128]

My husband and I were together for nine years before we got married. My mother used to joke that the mountains would move before we got married. The Old Man fell the first day of our honeymoon. The coincidence wasn't lost on our family, who found it hilarious, even though as Mainers, we do mourn the loss of the icon.

[@dadoctah]

Classic work of literature that was lost before the author had a chance to finish writing it down: in 1797, Samuel Taylor Coleridge awoke from an opium-influenced dream with the plan of a long poem he called "Kubla Khan", about the eastern king's palace at Xanadu. After writing down a small part of the work, he was interrupted by a visitor from Porlock. Once the interloper was dealt with, Coleridge returned to his desk to find than he remembered only a few scattered lines of the original idea.

[@Hoteldeathcats]

Having had a colostomy some fifteen years ago, I learned that drinking lots of cranberry juice coctail (with at least 27% juice) daily removes the smell of gas...handy when you have to "burp" a bag that hangs bellow your nose.

[@vylet2292]

The more you know 🌠

[@seastarcrunchies]

I'm surprised you left off the loss of the original lunar landing tapes!

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

When someone farts - "Sounds like someone is talking shit behind your back."

[@John-iy5bf]

Anyone else finding it difficult to not look at the blue tile?

[@mojosbigsticks]

The man who farted for a King: Roland the Farter was ordered to perform, every year, 'a whistle, a tumble and a fart' for King Henry II. In return he was granted a manor house and 30 acres of land. I want that job!

[@grainsintherain]

You forgot to mention that the Amber Room was restored from scratch so you can see it again. Some people say it looks even better than the original one

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

The BBC used to record over used audio _and_ video tapes up till the mid-late 20th century. A lot of people had used, eg in the audio realm, reel to reel tape decks like "The Elizabethan" that we had when I was tiny, to record their favourite shows. They'd place a separate microphone near the radio to get as good a sound as you were ever going to get over longwave! Some shows were really funny ones, particularly from the 50-60s, so how they managed to do it without spoiling the recording by laughing I don't know! Many old tape reels have been found all over the world and sent to Auntie Beeb, and their amazing techs and audio engineers have cleaned them up and they've been rebroadcast! I'm a huge fan of the various series where Kenneth Horne was the "ringmaster" (more appropriate a title than you might think). The latter two series, Beyond our Ken (a beautiful pun) & Round the Horne (a bit more obvious but still neat) contained some sketches that were beyond risqué. Bear in mind that *every* show, play, TV programme (drama, comedy, even documentaries I believe - definitely the first two) had to get past a really conservative board of censors, so to have entendres which weren't just double, but downright out there, it shows how clever they were. Marty Feldman wrote for them, among other comic geniuses. In Round the Horne, Kenneth Williams and Hugh Paddick, both gay during a time when it was illegal, created Julian and Sandy, two outrageously camp characters who spoke Polari (look it up, it'll take too long to explain). They got away with things that today's producers might think twice about, especially as it was a family show. The audience would shriek with laughter, completely missing why it was really funny. Maybe you could (if you haven't already done - I'm a recent sub so still catching up) do a video on Polari? It's a fascinating subject, even if you're not a linguist! Then see what they got away with. Maybe running some shows (I think you can get them on DVD now) past people of that time? 😂 Re farts, if your dog smells worse than you'd expect, especially if they're inconsistent regarding a more... _physical_ output, it could mean your dog is glucose and/or lactose intolerant. I only wish I'd known that with our previous dogs over the decades. Except maybe the first one, his stomach was cast iron! We changed our latest boy's food (even treats) to gluten free and though he still farts (he's a greyhound, it comes with the territory), everything else is a lot better!

[@elliotthughes2382]

Mental Floss, you need to do more research. While a lot of the early hominid fossils from China were lost, not all of them were. Some originals still exist. Check out the documentary series called "The Incredible Human Journey" by Dr Alice Roberts. The one episode focuses on how humans migrated into Asia, and in it she actually gets to see some of those fossils you claim were lost.

[@jamgall1010]

The oldest joke was a fart joke. 1900BC It is a saying of the Sumerians, who lived in what is now southern Iraq and goes: "Something which has never occurred since time immemorial; a young woman did not fart in her husband's lap."

[@amandacunningham359]

My daughter - who is 7 years old - for a while did not know the name for “fart”. So, for quite a while now, she has referred to her farts as “butt burps”.

[@ScottieD813]

I hail from NH and you're not wrong, I still miss The Old Man of the Mountain! I'm just lucky enough to have seen it several times before it collapsed

[@wezul]

My high school calculus teacher used to say "it's just a fart in the wind" for moot points. :)

[@Loafy23]

I would say that the staggering loss of the natural world that man has perpetuated tops all these "priceless" things.

[@PeacefulPagoda]

Man, that "Forever" gave me flashbacks to big dogs and baseballs. Sheesh.

[@Everfrost1000]

You play ball like a girl

[@DrChimRichells]

and big dog balls

[@oddjob914]

Everfrost1000 You take that back!!!

[@grillburgerdaq5121]

The first comedic fart in film came from Mel Brook’s Blazing Saddles. Brooks was pressured by the studio to remove the scene or at least make the farts more quiet but since he had final cut rights he didn’t have to do what they wanted. The scene was edited for TV by replacing the fart noises with horse noises.

[@johnutsler1517]

I believe the first cinematic "fart joke" is usually considered to be from Charlie Chaplin's film "Modern Times", where the Little Tramp finds himself sharing a bench with a woman suffering from loud borborygmus.

[@grillburgerdaq5121]

John Utsler that’s a silent film. Not that that makes you wrong. Maybe I should’ve said “audible fart”

[@mistergrandpasbakery9941]

A good fart euphemism is referring to it as a barking spider. 😂

[@bartlettmeeks]

Fart Fact: The Vaudeville era Frenchman Le Petomane was a "fartist". Mel Brooks character of "The Gov" in Blazing Saddles was named in honor of him. Speaking of "Blazing Saddles" the TV safe version edited out the sound of a bunch of cowboys farting, but kept the scene.

[@suenichols7047]

I've "experienced" the Campfire scene unedited--in all it's glory! I was hysterical, screaming with laughter! My ribs actually hurt by the time it was all over. 😫 😆

[@onlyrick]

This is useful to know - you can deny a loud fart by blaming it on a "Barking Frog". This has worked well for me, though admittedly people who know me have low expectations.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

LMMFAO, @Rick Malchow my husband and I have a number of running jokes in relation to that particular action. We usually ask one another "is there a yeti at the door". Sometimes we lay blame on a train.. due to the proximity of the tracks in relation to our residence.

[@godnoble]

Ben Franklin wrote an essay called "Fart Proudly".

[@nightangeldk8967]

My favorite fart fact is that farting herrings in 1980's and 90's almost caused a diplomatic accident between Sweden and Russia, because, starting in 1982 Sweden recorded what was called "Typical sounds", which had been used to find submarines during prior. The swedish asked Russia several times whether they had submarines in swedish waters, they refused. In 1994 the swedish prime minister sent the russian president an angry letter. Then a danish scientist was hired to get to the bottom of it. It turned out the swedish had used herring farts to find submarines, and when the war ended and submarines dissapeared, other things made the herring fart loudly. There is a TED talk made on it

[@mantunes339]

yay! the amber room!

[@tommyjones7096]

My favorite family-friendly cuss word is "poodlefarts." As in, "Poodlefarts! I spilled the milk."

[@samuelplyler1511]

I don't wish to be featured but some euphemisms I know for Passing Gas are... 1. Tooting 2. Tooting/Blowing your own horn 3. Breaking Wind 4. Gassing the house (not my favorite one but I have heard others use it) 5. Crop Dusting (farting while walking across a room or hallway) 6. Sound of the Low Flying Duck 7. Sounding the alarm 8. Releasing a stinky/gassy 9. Passing gas (obviously, as I used this one already) Those are about all the ones I have heard that I can think of at the moment, I never really gave thought of just how many sayings people around me use for passing gas

[@TheOneAndOnlyTorford]

My family called farts, “barking spiders”

[@timd8912]

Great job Erin.....

[@moneyman1995100]

Benjamin Franklin wrote an entire essay on farting as a joke to the royal academy due to how stuck up they were.

[@heathermedling1313]

When it came to my Dad's farts he would always blame them on either "barking spiders" or he stepped on a duck. The "barking spiders" was always my favorite one he said.

[@not_an_undercover_cop]

“Farding” means to put on makeup. My wife takes forever farding before our date night.

[@ayyKatx]

I greatly appreciate the Sandlot reference.

[@BlankBrain]

In 1957, Celilo Falls was flooded by The Dalles Dam on the Columbia River. It had been continuously inhabited for 15,000 years, the longest in North America.

[@jackzaccardi1896]

She is no John Greene

[@andrewgehl5913]

The longest fart according to Guinness book of world records is 2 minutes and 42 seconds

[@kevind6723]

God those Hemingway manuscripts could be out there somewhere! Crazy to think about.

[@lesliebehringer2372]

The blue unicorn on your bookshelf is in an unfortunate place, and appears to be just above the various graphics. It makes it look like the graphics refer to the unicorn.

[@spacemansabs]

Nice sandlot reference, Smalls

[@starkravenmadd]

Parrots don't fart. I think on the whole most birds don't. (all birds?) Reference: "Does it Fart" series by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti. Also, I farted so badly once I made my brother-n-law's nose bleed. Long story....

[@debjyotibanerjee6382]

Nobel prize awarded to Rabindranath Tagore in 1913 got stolen...none has clue where or in which state it is...

[@johnwhite8535]

It's odd that most of Carson's early Tonight Shows are lost yet almost all episodes of the game show What's My Line from 1949 to 1967 exist and are on KZbin.

[@janineharrison5186]

We lived in NH for many years. We took many pictures of the 'Old Man'....it was a sad day when he fell.

[@amydraycott817]

Growing up a phrase that my mum often said for asking if someone farted was 'who let polly out of prison'

[@Hoteldeathcats]

My childish and childhood favorite adage..."A burp is just a breath of air coming from the heart, when it takes the lower route it becomes a fart".

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Reminds me of a childish rhyme I taught my kids and now grandkids (they're so young, burps and farts are still the height of sophistication). "Pardon me, it was not me, it was my tea! First it came to say hello, now it's gone back down below." Don't ask _why_ they find it funny, they just do!

[@NoActuallyGo-KCUF-Yourself]

Why fart and waste it, when you can burp and taste it.

[@WordUnheard]

I'm trying to think of a flatulent fact, but I'm having a brain fart.

[@nerdommeetsboy]

Erin has a good taste in Blu-rays

[@ValliW]

You left out 6 of the 50 Fabergé Eggs. 3 of which we don't even have photos of.

[@Poop_Deck_Pappy]

The word fart is considered to be one the oldest known onamonapia to still exist in use. Tracing linguistic drift over centuries, the original reference is thought to be "perd". I'm sure I've missed a number of details, but that's what I learned from a very astute linguistics professor during my undergrad

[@Javenthatsme]

My cousin used to say "bucksnort" for passing gas. lol

[@JiveDadson]

That's an allusion to an old novelty postcard (a forerunner of internet memes). It pictures a man squatting with his pants down. He is beneath a tree that has limbs resembling antlers. On the other side of some bushes, one hunter is saying to another, "Shhh. I think I heard a buck snort."

[@tess135791]

When I was a kid, instead of saying fart, my grandparents would say crepitate. I thought it was just us, but imagine my surprise years later to see the word on urban dictionary as a term used for farting.

[@freesk8]

I can't believe you left off the list, the loss of the works of the presocratic Philosophers, some of the works of Plato, and other from Aristotle, whether in the burning of the Library of Alexandria, or at some other time in history. The loss of these great works is horrible.

[@allisonlenselink3049]

The Iowa State University Cyclone Football 'Varsity' Marching Band sousaphone section has a designated "fartmaster" whose job entails being told any time someone in the section has farted. A time honored tradition, truly.

[@eventingkate1339]

Fart fact: when Mel Brooks’ famous movie Blazing Saddles was initially aired on TV, the entire film was left uncensored, except for the fart scene which was muted when originally aired! Bizarre to think you could say the N word on TV but had to mute fart noises.

[@k3lsinat0r]

fluffing is a word i say instead of farting lol

[@nwarys_lifestyle8868]

wow that was amazing

[@theseinstrumentals]

Outside of ancestral and historical artifacts, writings and even art important to the region, and the possible extinction of animals and their home, who cares. Not everything will or even should be remembered forever and that simply doesn't matter. I'm a writer and a songwriter; I can't tell you how many things I've lost that I meant to write down or even lost physically. It's okay, that's life. We don't need every piece by Hemingway or whomever it was you said (or others). We certainly don't need every Tonight Show episode. Even the natural phenomena especially rock formations will erode, that's the Earth doing what it's done forever. People alter the world; have you cried for the destruction of earth to create the Panama Canal? Then don't worry about those waterfalls

[@hopeezcurra5377]

"Lucian Freud’s 1952 portrait of his friend and fellow artist Francis Bacon was stolen in 1988 during an exhibition at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin and has never been recovered" -José da Silva, The Art Newspaper

[@rkeefer]

After my brother was old enough to drink beer, he would often quote this short poem: "It is better to burp it and taste it Than it would be to fart it and waste it." Not sure if that will fit into your list, but it reminds me of a simpler time...

[@PledgedSage618]

My 12 year old sons favourite term is "booty toot" 🙄😏

[@newfreenayshaun6651]

Cheers to the nod to "The Sandlot"! Lol

[@DannyMcHugh]

RE: Farts- My wife's grandmother used to blame the dog for "blowin' poops"

[@PeacefulPagoda]

My favorite not-so-favorite flatus fact is the sheer amount that gets recirculated and breathed back in on airplanes. Ugh.

[@freesk8]

To Fart: To blow the brown bugle, to crease, to fluff the sheets....

[@freesk8]

One can light farts through blue jeans. I've done it. The flame is blue-green. Kids, don't try this at home.

[@tiffanym1108]

I remember the Eye of the Needle! That was horrible! I lived in Montana my entire childhood and never got to see it!

[@firstcynic92]

When are you going to return that Blockbuster video tape?

[@vylet2292]

I think it's actually a game- not like a rented game from Blockbuster but some kinda Blockbuster themed board/puzzle game. (Read this in previous video comments.) Pretty cool, I'd like to play it.

[@skimbulshanks]

We exclaim “low flying ducks” or “barking carpet spiders” when someone in our household cuts a loud one. Overall our family has accepted that passing gas is just something that is natural and should never be something to be embarrassed about. You eat veggies, you make gas.

[@willowphil582]

Came for Peking Man. Was not disappointed.

[@franl155]

75% of all silent comedy films have been destroyed - when sound came in, they were deemed to be worthless, and were melted down to recover the silver nitrate they contained. Source: Paul Merton, "Silent Clowns"

[@imtoooldforthisstuff]

In 1936 an American archeologist Henry Walton Jones Jr. was contacted at Princeton University about a dig being conducted in Tanis, Egypt. On the request of US Army Intelligence, Dr. Jones traveled to Egypt and helped recover the artifact, only to be thwarted by other interested parties. In a long, convoluted search that involved travel to Germany and a middle eastern region that was not disclosed, Dr. Jones and an associate recovered the artifact and with the aid of the US Government brought it to the United States sometime in 1938-39. While Princeton University did receive a large payment for securing the artifact it became lost and was never studied further. There are rumors that the item may have been mislabeled and placed in a government warehouse. Dr. Jones may have located the crate in Nevada in 1957, however, he was not able to confirm it was the artifact in question.

[@ashkicks]

Love the series, but I just wanted to know, why is the title sequence music so soft? Or am I the only one and should have my ears checked? :)

[@murdermygymsox]

I don’t mind it! I think the music used to be too loud.

[@Ethan7s]

Did you know that poop is just a fart in solid state form?

[@alg11297]

Fraz Kafka famously asked his friends to burn his works after he died. They did burn some of it which will never be recovered. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by nomadic arabs who didn't have an idea of their worth Many of the parchments were used as a fire source. Also, the Library in Alexandria may have never existed.

[@NakeshiaBeard]

Don't forget the poor Ténéré Tree 😔

[@Kiss__Kiss]

Was so mesmerized by her eyes, that I have no idea what she said.

[@frankydman]

Loss of single artifacts is one thing- but imagine losing an entire museum of artifacts That is what happened in 2016 when India’s museum of natural history was destroyed by fire; nothing survived

[@janejones7638]

I've seen Johnny Carson's appearances on I've Got A Secret. It had early appearances of Carol Burnett as well.

[@Sam-ko4sf]

I lost my food “FOREVER”

[@chrisp5095]

💩 FOUND IT! 😋

[@danteshammer]

sandlot reference!

[@otakuworldwide]

Let’s talk about the poem “Beans, Beans the Magical Fruit” and it’s origins!

[@Schming]

Euphemism from my youth in Britain - "Floating an egg sandwich"

[@user-vn7ce5ig1z]

• 9:28 - The famous arch in Malta collapse in 2017 and a sea stack in Minnesota collapsed last year. • 10:40 - Graham Island in the Mediterranean keeps rising and sinking every now and then. • 11:42 - Colonizers? Pft, Mao destroyed all of Chinese culture as "old" so that China could have a "fresh start".

[@grillburgerdaq5121]

I should also point out that one of the original internet viral videos was the “farting preacher” series where someone took clips from televangelist Robert Tilton’s show and edited farts into it.

[@ginnygriffin2148]

Fart fact! Most people don’t mind- or even like- the smell of their own farts! Has something to do with our unique gut biome I believe, but I don’t recall tbh

[@leifmessinger]

Contrary to popular belief, if you can put a price on something, it isn’t priceless.

[@dittofoster73]

My husband calls farts barking spiders.

[@seanbaugh3239]

*#1 Priceless thing I've lost forever :* My dignity, after I finished dead last in an unsanctioned "Pull My Finger" invitational. I had to toss my boxer shorts into the neighbors bushes and hose myself off with their garden hose.🤔 *The More You Know🌈🌟©* *"NUFF SAID"™*

[@gregorygarcia7807]

one reason I like Mozart is because he KNEW a fart could be funny.

[@leliadutton6350]

Poot. Poot, poot poot. That's what we always called them!

[@smunden20]

Anyone else love her eyes?

[@NickTick]

Cows produce more methane by burping than they do from farting.

[@KitKat-qb7lp]

It has been proven by science that farting in the presence of others is good for you.

[@mauino80]

Two other fart facts: - Herrings communicate using farts - James Joyce, on his private letters to his wife Nora, vividly describes his "flatulence fetish" (Eproctophilia)