This is an unofficial list of well-known unsolved codes and ciphers. A couple of the better-known unsolved ancient historical scripts are also thrown in, since they tend to come up during any discussion of unsolved codes.
There has also been an attempt to sort this list by “fame”, as defined by a loose formula involving the number of times that a particular cipher has been written about, and/or how many hits it pulls up on a moderately-sorted web search.
More
The Beale Codes – Were they a hoax?
The Beale Treasure
Beale Codes Broken?
The Beale Ciphers (Wikipedia)
Beale Cipher Solved
Beale Cipher Analysis
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
A federal judge must decide whether a company that retrieved hundreds of objects from the wreck of the Titanic can claim ownership of them.
Premier Exhibitions Inc. has proposed two alternatives — that it be awarded ownership of the Titanic artifacts with an agreement to ensure their perpetual preservation or that it be paid $110 million for them, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported. It is unclear what institutions or individuals would have the money and be willing to pay for the objects.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Smith began holding a hearing Monday.
The RMS Titanic sank southeast of Newfoundland on April 15, 1912, less than three hours after striking an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York. Only 705 people survived, less than one-third of the total passengers and crew on board.
The wreckage of the Titanic was discovered in 1985. The finders decided not to bring anything up but RMS Titanic Inc., a subsidiary of Premier Expeditions Inc., began salvaging artifacts and laid claim to the wreck.
The RMS Titanic (Wikipedia)
BBC Archive: Titanic, Hear the survivors describe a night they could never forget.
The Titanic Directory
The Titanic Radio Distress Page
Titanic Facts
Titanic Memorabilia Collection
Photo Gallery: Discovering The Titanic
Titanic (Three-Disc Special Collector’s Edition)
Inside the Titanic (A Giant Cutaway Book)
The Story of the Titanic As Told by Its Survivors
Raise the Titanic! (Dirk Pitt Adventure)
Percy Fawcett was a Victorian-minded explorer in the early 20th century.
Mad and manly, Fawcett was certain there was a lost civilization in the lush green hell of the Amazon rainforest. His certainty flew in the face of generations of scholars and scientists who knew there was nothing to be found in the Amazon except extremely hostile hunter-gatherer residents, huge deadly snakes, man-eating fish and insects bearing horrible diseases.
New Yorker writer David Grann’s new book chronicling Fawcett’s explorations, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, proves several things.
One, Percy Fawcett was certifiable. Two, I’m not so sure about David Grann. And three, there really was a “Lost City of Z”, but Fawcett was blinded by Victorian notions of what cities looked like and thus unable to see it when he was standing in its ruins.
A fascinating book, The Lost City of Z’s film rights have been bought by Brad Pitt, who will undoubtedly spend some horrific time in the Amazon rainforest and come back with a fabulous movie.
Saxon Hoard Farmer
The farmer who owns the land where the UK’s largest ever hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure was found has told how he tried to persuade a metal detecting enthusiast not to bother looking in his field.
“He came in very excited and said I have found a Saxon hoard. It’s better than winning the lottery. I told him not to be so bloody daft,”
Once the value of the hoard has been determined both men will split the proceeds equally.
“There are plenty of film stars and sportsmen who earn mega money and have frittered it away and ended up bankrupt. Some have even taken their own lives. I do not intend to go down that path.”
Mr Johnson said he hoped the money would not change him and said he was keen to keep farming.
More
Metal Detecting for the Beginner
You Can Find Gold: With a Metal Detector (Prospecting and Treasure Hunting)
