40 Personal Belongings Of Legendary Historical Figures That Still Exist Today
1.George Washington's dentures, circa 1789–1799
The United States' first president had problems with his teeth throughout his life. The common belief that his dentures were made of wood isn't true, though — these were made of lead, human teeth, cow teeth, and elephant ivory.
The dentures are on display in the museum located at Mount Vernon, Washington's former home and plantation located in Fairfax County, Virginia.
2.Jane Austen's writing table, circa early 1700s
The small writing desk is on display at Jane Austen's House — the former home of Austen and now a museum dedicated to her — in Hampshire, England.
Austen wrote classic novels like Emma and Sense and Sensibility while seated at the surprisingly small desk. Austen likely chose the unassuming desk because she was private about her writing and didn't want those outside her orbit to suspect she was a writer.
3.Napoleon Bonaparte's bicorne black beaver hat, circa early 1800s
Napoleon wore the distinctive hat sideways to be recognizable in battle. He owned about 120 of these hats during his career, but only 20 or so remain.
The hat seen above sold at auction for 1.9 million euros in November 2023 to an unidentified private collector, but another one of Napoleon's hats can be seen on display at the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin, Germany.
4.The contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets on the night he was assassinated, April 14, 1865
Lincoln had two pairs of glasses and a lens polisher, a pocketknife, a watch fob, a handkerchief, a wallet (containing a five-dollar Confederate note), and newspaper clippings, many of which touted his successes.
These items are on display at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
5.Mary Todd Lincoln's dress, 1861
It was most likely made by Elizabeth Keckley, an African American dressmaker whose creations the first lady wore often.
The piece of history was recently shown at an exhibit at the Met Museum in New York City and likely can still be seen there.
6.John Wilkes Booth's boot worn the night he assassinated Abraham Lincoln, April 14, 1865
Booth broke his leg leaping from the balcony to the stage of Ford's Theatre after shooting Lincoln. Later, Dr. Samuel Mudd cut off the boot to treat Booth's leg, and stashed the boot under the bed. It was later found by authorities and helped lead to Booth's capture.
The boot can be seen at the Ford's Theatre National Historic Site in Washington, DC.
7.Tutankhamun's gold dagger and sheath, circa 1370–1352 BC
Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922. In it, the sword and sheath were found close to the pharaoh's body.
You can see these and more items from the tomb at the Egypt Museum located in Cairo, Egypt.
8.Ted Bundy's Volkswagen Beetle, circa 1970s
The serial killer used this car to terrorize and murder women, and it played a role in his first arrest (his victim's hairs were found in the car).
You can see the vehicle at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
9.Jeffrey Dahmer's prison glasses, circa 1992–1994
The glasses of Dahmer — who murdered 17 boys and men and often ate their corpses — are on display at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
10.Albert Einstein's brain tissue, 1879–1955
Einstein's brain was removed shortly after his death and dissected into about 240 blocks for study.
The glass plate seen above — containing a microscopic section of Einstein's brain tissue — is on display at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
11.Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic couch, circa 1890–1930s
A patient gifted Freud the famous couch in 1890, and Freud used it for the rest of his career in Vienna and London.
The couch can be seen at the Freud Museum London, located in his final home in London, England.
12.Jackie Robinson's Dodgers' jersey, 1947
The jersey of the baseball legend — who broke the color barrier in 1947 and became the first African American in Major League Baseball — is viewable at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
13.James Naismith's original rules for basketball, 1891
The inventor of basketball typed the 13 original rules for the game on two 10-by-8-inch pages and signed them (he also wrote "Basket Ball" atop the first page).
The rules were bought at auction in 2010 for $4.3 million by David and Suzanne Booth, who put them on public display at the DeBruce Center on the campus of the University of Kansas.
14.Harry Houdini's straitjacket, circa 1915
The legendary magician and escapologist was famous for hanging upside down while wearing a straitjacket (as seen below) and somehow escaping in under three minutes.
The straitjacket — which no one knew about until it appeared in an episode of Pawn Stars — was sold in 2011 at a Christie's auction to a private buyer for $46,980.
15.Mary Queen of Scots's lock of hair, circa 1580s
The one-time Queen of Scotland was 44 when she was beheaded on Feb. 8, 1587, for her role in a plot to overthrow her cousin Elizabeth I, the Queen of England and Ireland.
Her lock of hair, mounted on top of a jewelry box, sold at auction to a private buyer in 2008 for £7,200.
16.Queen Victoria's wedding dress, 1840
The Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called her wedding day "the happiest day of my life."
The dress is part of the Royal Collection Trust, and has been displayed at Kensington Palace and the Museum of London.
17.Anne Frank's diary, 1942–1944
The Diary of a Young Girl (commonly referred to as The Diary of Anne Frank) has sold over 30 million copies in 70 languages.
You can see her original diary at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
18.Mahatma Gandhi's bedroom, 1948
The bedroom of the Indian lawyer — who used nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence — has been preserved exactly as it was at the time of his assassination. In it you can see his walking stick, glasses, spinning wheel, sandals, utensils, a rough stone for washing, a simple mattress on the floor, and a low wooden desk.
You can see the room at the Gandhi Smriti Museum in Delhi, India.
19.Patsy Cline's pink performance outfit, circa 1958
The country music icon's famous pink suit, made by her mother Hilda, featured record patches of her hit songs (seen above by her shoulders).
You can see the outfit at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.
20.Elvis Presley's King of Spades jumpsuit, 1974
Later in his career, Elvis became known for his flashy jumpsuits, especially when performing in concert in Las Vegas. Elvis debuted this one in 1974 and continued to wear it off and on for the rest of his career.
You can see it IRL at Elvis Presley’s Memphis, a museum at his former home, Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee.
21.The Beatles' pre-fame business card, circa 1960
The band members — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Pete Best (who would be replaced by Ringo Starr) — passed these cards out to prospective bookers. Notice that the manager on the card is Alan Williams and not the Beatles' famous manager Brian Epstein, who wouldn't even hear of the group for another year and a half.
You can see this card at the Liverpool Beatles Museum in Liverpool, England.
22.John Lennon's working draft of lyrics for "I'm Only Sleeping," 1966
The lyrics to the Revolver classic failed to sell at a 2005 Christie's auction and then were put up for auction again in 2010 at Bonhams with an expected sale price of £250,000–£350,000. If they sold, the news doesn't appear to have been made public. Either way, the lyrics seem to remain in a private collection.
23.Frida Kahlo's orthopaedic aids, circa 1950s
The acclaimed Mexican painter was injured in a bus accident at the age of 18, which led to lifelong medical issues.
These aids can be seen at the Casa Azul (Kahlo's former home and present museum dedicated to her life and art) in Mexico City.
24.Frida Kahlo's artist's studio, circa 1930s–1954
The studio includes Kahlo's paints, easel, wheelchair, and books.
You can enter and observe the room at the Casa Azul in Mexico City.
25.King Henry VIII of England's field armor, circa 1544
The armor — likely used during the siege of Boulogne in 1544 — was designed to accommodate the king's expanding waistline.
You can see it at Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England (20 miles away from Buckingham Palace).
26.Queen Elizabeth I's ring (known as the Chequers Ring), circa 1570s
The mother-of-pearl ring features a locket with two portraits, one of Elizabeth and the other (most likely) of her mother, Anne Boleyn.
The ring is kept at Chequers, the British Prime Minister's country home, which is not open to the public.
27.Ludwig van Beethoven's last grand piano keyboard, 1825
Beethoven commissioned this piano to be specially made so that he could hear it even though he was almost entirely deaf. Unfortunately, it didn't work as hoped, but it likely was used in some way in the composition of his final works.
You can view it at the Beethoven House (the museum in his birthplace) in Bonn, Germany.
28.Ludwig van Beethoven's handwritten partition, 1800s
The unpublished work was sold on Oct. 16, 2012, at Sotheby's auction house in Paris for $331,000.
29.Isaac Newton's self-made telescope, 1671
Newton's creation was incredibly groundbreaking, as it was the first known successful reflecting telescope.
You can see it at the Royal Society in London, England.
30.Galileo's telescope, circa early 1600s
The legendary astronomer used his telescope to discover Jupiter’s largest satellites, spots on the sun, and valleys on the moon.
You can see it in person at the Galileo Museum of History and Science, in Florence, Italy.
31.Florence Nightingale's medicines, circa 1850s
The founder of modern nursing took these medicines with her to the Crimean War, where she trained nurses and cared for injured soldiers.
You can see these at the Florence Nightingale Museum in London, England.
32.William Shakespeare's birthplace, circa mid 1500s
Shakespeare grew up in this home with his father (a glove maker), mother, seven siblings, and a rotating number of apprentices. When his father died, Shakespeare inherited the place.
You can tour the home — which is made to look like it did in Shakespeare's time — in Stratford-upon-Avon, England.
33.Also surviving? Shakespeare's will (which includes his signature seen below) signed on March 25, 1616.
The will is on display and open for all to see at the National Archives in Kew, England.
34.Martin Luther King's hotel room the night he died, April 4, 1968
The civil rights giant often stayed in Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel when he was in Memphis, and his trip there in early April 1968 was no different. Following his assassination, his room was left untouched.
You can see the room just as it was on Dr. King's final day at the National Civil Rights Museum (which was built in and around the Lorraine Motel).
35.Leonardo da Vinci's The Codex Leicester, circa early 1500s
The notebook of da Vinci's scientific writings was sold at auction to Bill Gates in 1994 for a whopping $30,802,500.
The notebook isn't on permanent public display, but Gates has allowed it to be displayed at various museums and institutions around the world.
36.Alfred the Great's jewel (aka "The Alfred Jewel"), circa 800 AD
The King of Anglo-Saxons is believed to have used the 2 1/2-inch jewel as the handle for a pointer stick for following words when reading.
The jewel is on display at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, England.
37.Orville and Wilbur Wright's Wright Flyer, 1903
The world's first successful airplane — invented, built, and flown by former bicycle shop-owning brothers — can be seen in person at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
38.Charlie Chaplin's hat, cane, and shoe (worn when playing his "Tramp" character), circa 1915–1936
Chaplin famously played "The Tramp," a good-hearted but bumbling and mischievous vagrant, in classic movies like The Kid and Modern Times.
You can see these items at Chaplin's World, a museum in Switzerland dedicated to Charlie Chaplin and his life's work, located in the home where he and his family lived from 1952 to 1977.
39.Ernest Hemingway's typewriter, circa 1930s
The influential novelist's typewriter can be seen at the Hemingway Home and Museum, a Key West, Florida museum located in the home where he lived from 1930 to 1940 and wrote part of For Whom the Bell Tolls.
40.Harriet Tubman's shawl, circa 1897
The hero of the Underground Railroad, who led so many African Americans to freedom, was given this shawl by England's Queen Victoria around 1897.
You can see it at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
