26National Museum of Iraq
The Mask of Warka, the oldest discovered accurate depiction of a human face (3100 B.C.), disappeared from the National Museum of Iraq after the 2003 US invasion. A US military mission to recover lost artifacts found the mask, undamaged, buried in a farmer's backyard.
27. The ice pick used to kill Leon Trotsky is on display at the International Spy Museum in Washington, District of Columbia.
28. Painless Parker was an early 20th-century street dentist who pulled 357 teeth in 1 day (he wore them on a necklace) and ran the Parker Dental Circus. A bucket of teeth he pulled is on display at Temple’s Historical Dental Museum. The ADA called him “a menace to the dignity of the profession.”
29. Most of the rooms in ‘The National Museum of Guinea’ are empty and as of 2016. The museum of African Modern Art was empty apart from one room and the courtyard contains a buffet restaurant.
30. Leonardo de Vinci isn’t the only one who painted the “Mona Lisa.” His student Francesco painted a version of her too. Francisco’s painting has been kept in far better condition and is currently on display at the Prado Museum in Madrid.
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31Venus of Hohle Fels
The oldest undisputed known depiction of a human being, the Venus of Hohle Fels, is about 40,000 years old and made from mammoth ivory. It's on display in a museum in a small German town.
32. The Parliament building in Bucharest is so massive that even though it already contains both lower and upper houses of parliament, three museums, and an international conference center, 70% of the building is still empty. The heating and electrical bill alone amounts to $6 million a year.
33. The Metropolitan Museum’s largest room houses the Fuentidueña Apse, a section of a church that was transported brick by brick under a long-term loan from Spain, which received six frescoes to be displayed at the Prado for an equal term.
34. Showman and businessman PT Barnum was frustrated with how long people lingered in his museum’s exhibits. He posted signs that said 'This Way to the Egress'. He knew most of the visitors would follow them not knowing 'Egress' meant 'Exit'. They couldn’t re-enter without paying the entry fee again
35. P. D. Gwaltney Jr. had a pet ham (insured with today’s equivalent of $77,000, and collar attached) which he showed off publicly. It is considered to be the oldest ham in the world (“born” in 1902). It can be seen at the Isle of Wight County Museum in Virginia with the world’s largest ham.
36Gabriel Iglesias VM Museum
Comedian Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias has a private Volkswagen museum with more than 30 VW Bus models.
37. The earliest known example of telephone technology in the Western Hemisphere was created 1,200 to 1,400 years ago by the Chimu people of Peru. It comprised of two gourds connected by a 75-foot cotton-twine cord, similar to the soup-can phones children make today. It is displayed in the Smithsonian.
38. The Smithsonian Museum has over 3 million 2D and 3D images that anybody can use for free for any commercial purpose.
39. In 2016, a man left his glasses at the San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art as a prank. Shortly after, observers gathered and began taking photos thinking it was art.
40. If your name is Isabella, you have lifetime free admission to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, with 2,000 artifacts from around the world owned by a woman addicted to collecting.
