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A skilled kayaker and his friends decided to try out a new route on the Ohio river one summer day, and it turned out to lead them to the discovery of a lifetime. Find out what historical artifact this group accidentally unearthed on an ordinary day on the water...
A Quiet Day on the River
James Malott, an avid kayaker, was out paddling with a group of friends one day as they usually did during the summer. Little did they know, when they reached the end of their route they were going to discover a 110-year-old historic relic. He recounts the adventure as "something incredible..."
Surprises Around Every Corner
James knew that no two days on the river were ever the same. The water speed, rushing rapids, and weather could change in an instant, so he always had his wits about him. That day, everything seemed to go according to plan until their final moments on the route...
The Secret of the Ohio River
James and his friends kayaked frequently as an excuse to unwind after work. They lived in the Ohio River Valley, so they had access to open waters whenever they wanted. They never knew that the river held a particular secret that they were about to uncover...
A Boat Left Behind
When they reached a bend in the river, they realized that they found something that didn't seem to belong. They'd never taken this particular route before, and it was relatively empty out on the water. Before them, wedged against the riverbank, was an abandoned boat...
Had To Check It Out
James and his friends immediately pulled off course and checked out the boat. They couldn't just pass it by without seeing what the wreck was all about. James climbed onboard and determined that it was sturdy enough for the rest of his friends to join him...
An Overgrown Wreck
In order to explore every angle of the boat, they had to climb out of the riverbank and hike through the swampy waters and plants around it. The boat seemed to be abandoned for decades. They struggled to get their footing, but once they did, they were in awe by what they found...
How Had Nobody Found This?
James guessed that whoever owned this boat didn't want it to be found considering it was hidden on one of the most untouched river routes. Why did they want the boat to be a secret? After they continued to explore, James determined why this was such a big deal...
A Secret Hideaway
This looked like it could be the set of a horror movie considering the level of decay and rust. The deeper James explored, the more freaked out he got. Then suddenly, he revealed a major mystery onboard...
Broken Down Engine
James knew his way around boats because he was certified to captain various other vessels that were much bigger than kayaks. He recognized the make of the engine, so he took a closer look. He realized the ship was over 100 years old and had some historical significance...
A Moment In Time
After their exploration, James went home and looked up the name of the ship, The Celt. He learned that it was commissioned as a luxury yacht in 1902. It was built in Wilmington, Delaware by Pusey and Jones, and it earned a five-star status until one day something terrible happened...
Sailing Through Wars
Unfortunately, The Celt's time as a yacht was short-lived because it was eventually commissioned as a warship during WWI. It was a small, fast-moving boat, perfect for the Navy. Renamed the USS Sachem, the ship became one of the deadliest vessels on the seas...
A Historic Relic
WWI wasn't the only reason The Celt was famous. It also played a key role in creative innovation. Thomas Edison was a frequent passenger when he traveled back and forth from New York to conduct various experiments. When WWI ended, the USS Sachem was sold to Roland L. Taylor, a banker from Philadelphia...
Innovation After Innovation
After the war came the Great Depression. Current captain of the SS Sachem, Jacob Martin had bought the vessel for a bargain. It was now used for chartered fishing expeditions for $2 a person, though this particular venture didn't last long...
Life of the Party
Captain Martin was known for his wild celebrations. Eventually, people paid the $2 fee just to take the ride and not even to fish. Martin caught on to this trend and decided to end the charter business and turn the ship into a party boat...
Business as Usual
WWII saw the end of Martin's partying. It was commissioned by the Navy for a second time in 1941, this time named the USS Phenakite. It was a coastal patrol ship through the Florida Keys, but there were still more adventures in store for the vessel...
New York, New York
Martin was given his ship back in 1945 when the war ended. He didn't have a use for it anymore so he sold it to Circle Line, a New York sightseeing company. It ferried tourists through all the biggest attractions the city had to offer. It enjoyed a 40-year long career in the tourism industry before retiring in the 1980s...
Famous Faces
One day while the boat was undergoing routine maintenance, a limo pulled up to the dock. Who other than Madonna steps out and asks if she can use the ship in a music video. The Queen of Pop used the boat in her 1986 hit video, "Papa Don't Preach..."
One Last Ride
Now called Circle V, the ship embarked on one last impressive journey following its stint in a Madonna video. It sailed from New York to the Great Lakes and then to the Mississippi River. After 100 years on the water, it was finally ready to end its journey. It docked in Northern Kentucky in 1986...
One Last Restoration
Because of the ship's rich history and connections to popular culture, many people want the ship to be restored. James agreed that it would make an incredible museum exhibit. But will it ever happen?
Finally Laid to Rest
Despite the want for a museum exhibit for the ship, it still sits exactly where James and his friends found it. However, he isn't the only one who has accidentally stumbled upon a historical relic...
The Lascaux Cave
In 1940, a group of French teenagers were exploring the forests near Montignac when their dog started sniffing for something unfamiliar. After upheaving a loose stone shaft, they discovered an underground cavern with massive painted walls. They explored the cave in secret first, and then reported what they'd found to historians who determined that the cave paintings were between 15,000-17,000 years old...
Xian Terra Cotta Army
In 1974, a group of Chinese farmers happened upon an incredible discovery: the tomb of the first emperor of China's Qin Dynasty. The farmers were digging a well when one of their shovels struck something in the dirt. Later on when archaeologists took a closer look, they discovered around 8,000 life-sized terra cotta soldiers from 3rd century B.C...
Venus de Milo
The world's most beloved sculpture was once buried on a Greek island. It was only recovered in 1820 when a peasant named Yorgos Kentrotas accidentally came upon it while searching for marble blocks from a pile of ruins. Once unearthed, the statue was presented to King Louis XVIII and donated to the Louvre...
Derinkuyu Underground City
It's a known fact that Turkey's Cappadocia region is famous for its hand-carved underground cities. This one in particular, the Derinkuyu city, was found by accident as recently as 1963. A local man was renovating his home and knocked down a wall that led to a passageway of tunnels...
The Rosetta Stone
Napoleon Bonaparte failed his mission to search for relics in Ancient Egyypt, and if he hadn't overlooked the Rosetta Stone, he would have realized what an important discovery he'd made. An institude examined the stone with several different languages of writing on it and determined that it was the starting place to study linguistics....
The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls hold some of the earliest known Biblical writings. It was discovered in 1947 by a group of sheepherders who were chasing a lost goat that had discovered a cave. The goat knocked over what sounded like a clay pot, and the herders discovered the scrolls had been hidden there. The scrolls are considered to be one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century...
Uluburun Shipwreck
In 1982, a diver was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea when he discovered a 50-foot-long sunken ship off the coast of Uluburun. Once discovered, it took more than 20,000 dives for experts to fully unearth the whole ship. It held a treasure trove of Late Bronze Age relics...
Frozen Body in the Alps
In 1991, German tourists found a body frozen in a glacier on the Oztal Alps. Though at first they thought the death was recent, experts traced the body back to 5,300 years ago. The mummy has been studied so much that technology even allowed anthropologists to reconstruct his face...
Ancient Roman Coins
In 2009, a hiker found a stash of Roman coins buried inside a clay pot in Shropshire, U.K. Turns out, those coins dated back tot he Dark Ages and were found on a farmer's field. They were valued at $1 million...
2,000 Year Old Roman Shipwreck
In 1986, a group of divers found a shipwreck off the coast of the small Italian town of Grado. At 55 feet long and 16 feet wide, the boat was determined to be a trade vessel. Experts who studied the ship realized that the ancient engineers had built in a hydraulic system so the ship could carry a live aquarium.