8 Cool Time Capsules

By Shazan Qureshi

1876 Century Safe

• The world’s first planned time capsule!• Meant to celebrate the 100th anniversary of America!• Stuffed with 19th century relics!• Reopened and unlocked in July 1976

The Crypt of Civilisation

• Meant to preserve all human knowledge up to 1940!• A small underground chamber in Oglethorpe University’s administrative

building filled with 640,000 pages of microfilmed books, various technologies and a special “language integrator” to teach English to whoever finds the capsule!

• To remain closed for 6,177 years, the same amount of time it was then thought to have passed since the start of recorded history

Westinghouse Time Capsule

• Built for the 1939 New York World’s Fair!• The first time the word “time capsule” was used!• There was a second capsule built nearby in 1965!• Both are scheduled to open in 6939, 5,000 years after the first

one was buried

Detroit Century Box

• A copper time capsule sealed by the Mayor of Detroit in 1901 to not be opened for another 100 years!

• Contains several dozen letters written by business and political leaders musing about what life in the 21st century would be like

Expo ’70 Time Capsule

• A kettle-shaped capsule for the 1970 Expo in Osaka!• Contains 2,098 “culturally significant” objects!• The capsule is set to be periodically opened, inspected and

cleaned to ensure its survival once every 100 years

Massachusetts State House Time Capsule

• Originally sealed in 1795 by Paul Revere and Sam Adams!• Was reopened in 1855 for cleaning and the addition of other

objects before being forgotten!• Was discovered by a repairman fixing a water leak!• Contains a trove of artifacts from as far back as the 17th

century, as well as a silver plaque made by Paul Revere

Juneau Time Capsule

• A room-sized time capsule in Juneau’s Federal Building!• Fitted with a plate glass observation window!• First sealed off in 1994, it’s set to be reopened in New Years Eve

of 2094

The Future Library

• Starting in 2014, a different author will be invited to submit a novel, poem or other written text every year for 100 years!

• Once complete, this will all be published at once!• None of the entries will be available to read until the project is

complete, and the author’s can’t reveal anything apart from the title of the works