West Point Finds a Nearly 200 Year Old Time Capsule

Tuckerfan · Aug 18, 2023

They're going to open it at the end of this month.

West Point to Open 169-Year-Old Time Capsule During Livestream On August 28

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point discovered a time capsule in the base of a monument during recent renovations. And, believe it or not, the time capsule is believed to be about 169 years old. West Point plans to livestream the time capsule ceremony on Monday, August 28, and you can bet I’ll be tuning in.

The time capsule is about one square foot, according to a press release from West Point, and was discovered in the base of a monument to Thaddeus Kosciuszko, a Polish military engineer who fought for the Americans in the Revolutionary War.

Officials at the academy believe the time capsule was placed in the base of the monument 26 years after the academy’s founding in 1828, which means it dates from about 1854. That means the time capsule was sealed about seven years before the Civil War.

West Point produced a short video about the time capsule, and has asked viewers to take a guess at what’s inside. It’s not clear if school officials have opened the capsule yet to get a preview, but here’s hoping they haven’t. It’s always more exciting when nobody knows what’s inside, even the people who found it.

Anyone who’s been a longtime reader of Paleofuture knows that I’ve been obsessed with time capsules for years. It’s a peculiar fascination, if only because time capsules tend to be really boring. More often than not, time capsules are filled with simple boring items like newspaper articles, flags, and maybe a few coins.

But every once in a while a time capsule has something really cool or unique. There was the Steve Jobs time capsule with a computer mouse, or the time capsule from a 1950s psychiatric hospital that contained a film for the future. Sometimes, time capsules also include written predictions about the future, which is what got me so interested in them in the first place.

Even when time capsules include something really interesting, the ravages of time can be brutal. Like when the people of Tulsa, Oklahoma opened a time capsule from 1957 in 2007 that included a car. Sadly, the car was completely rusted. As it turns out, burying things in the ground isn’t a great way to preserve them for future generations. Sometimes it’s just nothing but a soggy mess of garbage.

Based on the comments from school officials, it really seems like they haven’t cheated to peek yet, which means it could be a surprise for everyone. And that could be good or bad, depending on what’s inside.

“This time capsule is truly a unique discovery, and we are excited to open it and see what the cadets left us nearly two centuries ago,” U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland said in a statement published online. “The capsule’s contents will certainly add to the West Point story and is another example of past generations of cadets gripping hands with present and future generations.”

It’s also exciting that the time capsule is relatively old. There have been plenty of 10-year, 20-year, and 30-year time capsules that aren’t particularly interesting simply because very little time has past. But when a time capsule from the 1850s gets opened it really does feel special.

The livestream will be taking place at 10 a.m. ET on August 28, 2023 at West Point’s YouTube page. Here’s hoping whatever might be inside is interesting.
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Tererune · Aug 18, 2023

It's full of dildos. Old splintery wooden dildos.

I really wish people way back then had a sense of humor and filled these things with some crazy shit from their time, but the only people building time capsules were really boring people so you get what you put in.

MikeH92467 · Aug 18, 2023

Why did I immediately think of Al Capone’s vault when I saw this?

Tuckerfan · Aug 31, 2023

A couple of coins and a medal.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66667189

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West Point Finds a Nearly 200 Year Old Time Capsule

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