In 1872 a ship was found drifting, empty. The 1913 "solution" was absurd.

According to Boing Boing, the Mary Celeste is one of maritime history's great unsolved mysteries. The ship was discovered sailing empty in eighteen seventy-two, and for decades people have been guessing what became of its crew. In nineteen thirteen, Strand Magazine decided to crowdsource the answer, inviting readers to propose their own theories. One submission came from A. Howard Linford, a seemingly authoritative figure: headmaster of Hampstead's largest prep school and a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. Linford claimed he'd inherited papers from an old servant named Abel Fosdyk, who had supposedly documented what actually happened. The magazine treated his theory seriously — though it turned out to be completely absurd.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton