Famous people have frozen themselves, rich people have tried to create their clones, and soon to come is uploading your brain into a computer to digitally live forever!
But preserved body parts are just… weird, right? Well, there are lots of reasons to keep the preserved body parts of certain people around, scientific study being the main one.
You would be surprised how many historical figures still have bits of their bodies floating around!
Let’s take a look at a few that you can still see on display…if you’re into that sort of thing.
1. Slices of Albert Einstein’s brain
Einstein died in 1955 and is considered to be one of the smartest people to ever live. His brain was donated to scientific research, and as a result, there are little slices of it on display.
Just head to the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, PA to catch a glimpse.
2. Grigori Rasputin
Rasputin was an influential man nearly 100 years ago. He advised the Czar Nicholas II of Russia in the 1900s, was known for some bizarre “miracles,” and apparently did some WILD things that combined sex and Christian ritualism.
Accordingly, his “member” was apparently preserved and is on display at the Erotic Museum in Russia. Experts debate whether or not the phallic relic belonged to him, but it is over 11 inches long!
3. Grover Cleveland’s tumor
The former US President wasn’t too keen to let the American public know that he had a large oral tumor.
In 1893, he went on a yacht where his medical team performed a secret procedure to remove it, disguising the event as a fishing trip.
You can see that tumor at the Mütter Museum.
4. Jeremy Bentham’s body
Bentham was a famous English philosopher who had a strange request. When he died, he asked that his head be preserved with his skeleton dressed up in his clothing.
Well, they tried but they messed it up, disfiguring his head in the process.
The University College London, England has his body on display, but it has a fake wax head.
But they still have the original preserved one, too!
5. Galileo’s middle finger
The man responsible for popularizing the heliocentric model of the solar system died in 1642, but someone had the bright idea to dig him up a century later and dismember him.
Those parts eventually showed up at various auctions and interestingly enough, his middle finger has been added to the History of Science Museum in Italy’s collection.
6. Charles Babbage’s brain
Charles Babbage created the first mechanical computer. That means he was REALLY smart.
He died in 1971 and decided to donate his brain to science. One half went to the Royal College of Surgeons in London, England and the other half went to the Science Museum in London.
7. Vladmir Lennon’s whole body
Lennon was the leader of the Bolshevik Party during the Communist revolution in Russia. He died in 1924 and people tried some crazy things to preserve his body.
Currently, he is in a glass case in the Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square.
8. Napoleon Bonaparte’s little Napoleon
The infamous French Emperor is still around today! Well, his *ahem* little soldier is.
It’s just under 2-inches, another reason why you shouldn’t invade Russia in the winter!
It’s not open to public viewing, but it was last sold at auction 156 years ago for $3,000 and has been passed down within the family of the urologist who bought it.
9. The Buddha’s tooth
Religious relics are big business, but most are fake (after all, how could we really know?). Just as in Christianity, Buddhism has a holy relic as well.
Gautama Buddha was a very rich and sheltered young man before he ran away from his parents’ estate in search of meaning.
He was reportedly cremated and a follower of his supposedly took one of his teeth after the process. It can be found at the Temple of Sacred Tooth Relic in Sri Lanka.
10. James A. Garfield’s spine
Garfield, a former President of the United States, was shot twice while getting on a train. He was ok, but the doctors used some tools that were a bit… dirty.
He died from infection and his spine was taken during an autopsy. It was on display until 2010 at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, but currently, it’s in storage.
11. Ho Chi Minh’s body
Ho Chi Minh was the President of North Vietnam and a rather mysterious one at that. He had between 50-200 pseudonyms, although he is internationally recognized as one of the most influential people in history.
To remember their leader, his followers memorialized him in Hanoi, Vietnam at his mausoleum.
12. John Wilkes Booth’s spine
The man who shot Abraham Lincoln will be known for thousands of years to come. There are quite a few conspiracy theories floating around about him, most of them relating to how he died.
But one thing is clear – we have his spine! The US Army took a piece of it during his autopsy. It’s not currently on display, but it’s held by the National Museum of Health and Medicine.
13. Charles J. Guiteau’s brain
James A. Garfield’s shooter was Charles J. Guiteau. He was ultimately held responsible for Garfield’s death even though it was technically an infection from a lack of medical sterilization that killed the president.
Guiteau was mentally unstable and was hanged. His brain, however, was preserved. Pieces of it are stored at both the National Museum of Health and Medicine and the Mütter Museum.
14. St. Bernadette Soubirous’ body
St. Bernadette Soubirous is known for seeing visions of the Virgin Mary when she was only a 14-years-old girl back in the late 1800s.
She died from tuberculosis and was buried, but the church ended up exhuming her. While she was said to have remained perfectly intact, her body is displayed in Nevers, France with a wax face and hands.
15. Ludwig van Beethoven’s skull
Beethoven died back in 1827, but one of his physicians snatched a few pieces of his skull as a little memento.
The bones eventually ended up on display at the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies at San Jose State University in San Jose, CA.
16. Kim Il-Sung’s body
Kim Il-sung’s grandson, Kim Jong-un, has become rather infamous recently, but we all know Kim Il-sung is the real OG.
He died in 1994 after a heart attack but his body was taken for preservation. He was mourned for 10 days and then placed in a glass coffin for viewing in Pyongyang, North Korea.
17. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s skull
The musical prodigy and savant is one of the most influential to ever live. He died at the ripe old age of 35 in 1791 and was buried.
However, Joseph Rothmayer, a gravedigger, stole his skull.
It’s currently housed at the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, Austria.
They have done some tests to determine if it’s really his skull, but it’s inconclusive.
18. Kim Jong-il’s body
Kim Jong-il, the son of Kim Il-sung, passed a few decades after his father, incidentally, from a heart attack as well.
He was taken and preserved in a similar fashion, even being placed next to his father in the mausoleum in a glass coffin.
19. Mao Zedong’s body
Mao Zedong, the first leader of communist China, is known for a great many things (including the largest mass murder in history, topping 45 million people).
He wanted to be cremated but after he died in 1976, his wife wanted to preserve him.
He can currently be viewed in a glass coffin in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
20. Abraham Lincoln’s skull and hair
Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, is one of the most revered people in history (he even has statues in Mexico, London, and more).
After his assassination, the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring, MD, was able to acquire some of his skull fragments and hair.
Whether it’s a body encased in glass or a male member on display, humans seem to like keeping a reminder of the past around.
It’s an interesting thing, but it does help us connect with history in a strange, macabre sort of way.
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