World's oldest message in a bottle found by beachwalker in Australia - Sensationalist Headlines

[URL]https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/06/worlds-oldest-message-bottle-western-australia-wedge-island[/URL] [QUOTE]The world’s oldest message in a bottle has been found on a beach in [URL="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/western-australia"]Western Australia[/URL] by a couple who thought it might “look good on a bookshelf”. Tonya Illman found the 132-year-old gin bottle in the dunes near Wedge Island in January. Her husband, Kym Illman, told Guardian Australia she initially thought it was rubbish but picked it up because it had distinct, raised lettering and would be at home on their bookshelf. Inside, she found a roll of paper printed in German and dated to 12 June 1886, which was authenticated by the Western Australian Museum. “It was an absolute fluke. It won’t get better than than this,” said husband Kym Illman. The bottle had been thrown overboard from the German sailing ship Paula in 1886 as it crossed the Indian Ocean, 950km from the Australian coast, according to Ross Anderson, the museum’s assistant curator of maritime archaeology. At the time, German ships were conducting a 69-year experiment that involved throwing thousands of bottles into the sea to track ocean currents. Each message was marked with the ship’s coordinates, the date, and the name of the ship, which Anderson used to verify the message. His finding was confirmed by experts at the German Naval Observatory. The previous record for oldest message in a bottle was 108 years. Kym Illman said that after bringing it home the damp and ancient paper was put in the oven for five minutes to dry it out. He added: “I have a basic understanding of German and it said could the finder please plot the coordinates it was found, and the date it was found, and send it back.” Of the thousands jettisoned, 662 other messages from the same German experiment have been found and returned before the latest discovery. The most recent was found in 1934.[/QUOTE]

I sure hope it didn't arrive too late

[QUOTE]Of the thousands jettisoned, 662 other messages from the same German experiment have been found and returned before the latest discovery. The most recent was found in 1934.[/QUOTE] Hell if they add this new bottle to the data, it might technically beat the Pitch Drop experiment in age :v:

I wonder how many of these bottles have washed ashore but have gone unnoticed.

Had pretty surreal moment finding an actual message in a bottle when I was vacationing in Vancouver years ago. From the condition of the bottle and paper it was at least a couple months old. Inside was a beautifully written love letter to the author's ex-boyfriend expressing a mountain of remorse and regret. It had instructions to leave it leaning against a specific tree in the Stanley park flower garden. So I wrote a little note of best wishes to the author, biked over there, and left it where they'd instructed. Hope it made it to the right person. The feeling of finding it though... man, it was akin to finding buried pirate treasure, what a trip.

[quote]At the time, German ships were conducting a [i]69-year[/i] experiment that involved throwing thousands of bottles into the sea to track ocean currents.[/quote] nice

[QUOTE=Sleepy Head;53182850]nice[/QUOTE] you mother fucker i blew air out of my nose much faster than normal after i read ur post

Hmmm... Looks like garbage. This will suit my bookshelf perfectly.

[QUOTE=DrMonumbo;53182841]Had pretty surreal moment finding an actual message in a bottle when I was vacationing in Vancouver years ago. From the condition of the bottle and paper it was at least a couple months old. Inside was a beautifully written love letter to the author's ex-boyfriend expressing a mountain of remorse and regret. It had instructions to leave it leaning against a specific tree in the Stanley park flower garden. So I wrote a little note of best wishes to the author, biked over there, and left it where they'd instructed. Hope it made it to the right person. The feeling of finding it though... man, it was akin to finding buried pirate treasure, what a trip.[/QUOTE] Good on you for actually doing what it said. Not many people would actually do so.

This made me flashback to at least 16 years ago when my parents came up with the idea of us throwing a message in a bottle when we were on a very long ferry trip (about 8 hours). One way to prevent me and my brother from getting bored, I guess. The funny thing is is that we wrote our address where we were living our whole lives, until our parents divorced a year or so later. The address just so happens to be down the road from us today. Wonder whereabouts the bottle could be now :v: