Famous people who are missing something

[CalliArcale]

This is an interesting and somewhat disturbing list. ;-) Great for Free Space, in other words!

The Missing Body Parts of 10 Famous People

 

[docm]

There are a ton of politicians whose brains are missing, even though they're still alive

 

[PiotrSatan]

What about Adolf Hitler? He was missing part of testicles according to Soviets, and also, it isn't sure where his cremated remains are. Well it is said that his remains scattered all over one river I forgot name of, but it doesn't quite explain it.

 

[jimglenn]

6. Saint Catherine of Siena’s Finger.

Ever think you’re going to pieces? Saint Catherine feels your pain. After the holy woman died in 1380, her body became an object of veneration. Pilgrims believed touching her miraculously unrotted flesh could heal illnesses and bring them closer to God, so they flocked to visit the body from all over Europe. Eventually, the Catholic Church laid Catherine to rest – part of her, at least. Before she was buried, one of her followers removed a finger (along with a few teeth and other various and sundry body parts). Meanwhile Pope Urban VI got a similar idea and took her head. Today, both finger and head are on display at San Domenico Church in Siena, Italy.

UNLESS these parts were pickled, or put in formeldhyde, they will rot like any animal flesh or organic material.

Miracles are not supported by science. She can give me the finger all she wants, but I do not believe.

 

[brandbll]

I'd like to add someone. Britney Spears, she lost her dignity a couple of years ago.

 

[CalliArcale]

UNLESS these parts were pickled, or put in formeldhyde, they will rot like any animal flesh or organic material.

Miracles are not supported by science. She can give me the finger all she wants, but I do not believe.

Actually, there are quite a few recorded cases of bodies failing to decompose as one might expect. There's nothing miraculous about it, though. It mostly comes down to one thing: circumstances vary, and sometimes circumstances don't support immediate putrefaction. Some of the creepier modern examples are people who die but whose relatives can't bring themselves to part with the body (either out of sentiment or a desire to keep collecting their pensions). If the body putrefies, it usually gets found out fairly quickly because nobody can stand the stench. But if it doesn't, the body may dry out and naturally mummify. Weather conditions, state of the body at the time of death, and things done to the body after death can all contribute. Very dry air is a major factor; maybe this is why it was the Egyptians who perfected mummification -- their climate gave them some early pointers. I wonder if natural mummification is more common in Egypt than in most parts of the world, and led to some Egyptians want to figure out how to get it to happen for everybody and not just a lucky(?) few.

That's not to say that non-putrefying bodies don't change in any way after death. They certainly do. I think stories like that of St Catherine of Sienna probably involve a bit of poetic license and a desire on the part of her followers to see her in the best possible light. The same thing happens in some of the dead-person-kept-by-family-for-years cases; the family can't bring themselves to see that the body isn't looking so good anymore. It's quite plausible that her body didn't putrefy; though it's not the norm, it does happen sometimes when conditions are just right.

 

[Smersh]

What about Adolf Hitler? He was missing part of testicles according to Soviets ...

Yes there's even a song about that. There are quite few variations of the song's chorus, but the one I remember is:

"Hitler, he only had one ball,
the other is in the Albert Hall,
Himmler, was very similar,
but poor old Goebbels, had no balls, at all!"

(Sung to the tune of "Colonel Bogey.")

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_Has ... t_One_Ball