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Among great figures of history, whose remains would you like to see discovered, and why?

Eric Ringham February 5, 2013, 5:00 AM Feb 5, 2013

Scholars in England have identified the remains of Richard III, the king described in Shakespeare as a “pois’nous bunch-back’d toad.” Shakespeare’s version of history blames Richard for the presumed murders of the young princes in the Tower of London, among other deaths. Today’s Question: Among great figures of history, whose remains would you like to see discovered, and why?

About the blogger

Eric Ringham

eringham@mpr.org

Bob MacNeal

To satisfy my rational-leaning curiosity, I would welcome exhumed evidence adding to the body of knowledge of the evolutionary bridges between species. For example, fish to amphibians or Homo erectus and modern humans.

To satisfy my morbid curiosity, and because I dig colorful nicknames, I would welcome the discovery and exhumation of Jimmy Hoffa’s remains. Apparently Tony “The Greek” Frankos claimed Hoffa was fingered by “Fat Tony” Salerno. I suspect there’s some guy named Eddy “Two Chins” who knows where to look.

Steve the Cynic

The only remains that matter are legacies of ideas, examples, discoveries, and achievements.

Sue de Nim

Amelia Earhart.

Heidi

Rasputin – it would be interesting to find out the real story

Jim G

Alexander the Great. When he died in Persia his body was supposedly mummified and transported to Egypt by Ptolomy Soter and buried there. The sudden illness which claimed his life could have been caused by Aristotle’s poison. Modern forensic science could solve the mystery of his early death, not on the battlefield but on a palace couch in Babylon.

david

Jesus. Then all those hours spent in Sunday school wouldn’t seem like such a waste of time.

georges

Ambrose Bierce.

Eric Ringham, MPR News

Excellent. He was one of my choices too.
Jesus

Alexander or the great Khan would be fun to trace into today’s populations, but the grand daddy of them all would be Jesus! How much fun that would be to trace his relatives (and sit back and watch the reactions).
JasonB

Jesus. It could become one of the biggest religion vs. science controversies ever (if any really exist – too much there to go into right now) particularly if a DNA analysis was allowed.
Anon

Mine, a thousand years from now. A lot will be learned and new insights appreciated, contelligence creatively coinciding, sophistry synergizing synchronistically.
Ann M

You won’t find the body of Jesus. The tomb was empty when he rose from the dead.A lot of people gave their lives to witness to this truth. I think that people would like to find Amelia Earhart and Hoffa. It would be nice if they could find Jacob Wetterling alive.
- david
  
  Oh yeah, assention. How convenient.
BenK

Jesus, just to settle it once and for all.
chuky d

Adam and Eve. I’d like to have their DNA submitted to the DNA Ancestry Project.