Top 16 Tales of Unexpected Discoveries That'll Leave You in Awe!

9. A Rembrandt that was lost is found after it tumbles off a wall

Where: Rome, Italy Year Found: 2021 Approximate Value: $33.25%* Despite Rembrandt's death centuries ago, he is still regarded as one of the greatest painters of all time. A masterwork that was believed to be gone reappeared in 2021 after it fell off a wall. The painting was finished in 1632 and was owned by a family in Rome, Italy.

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After falling from a wall, a lost Rembrandt is found @thetimessunday/Pinterest | ©Antonio One/Shutterstock The family submitted "The Adoration of the Magi" to an art restorer to be fixed after it unintentionally fell from the wall. The restorer found it to be a genuine Rembrandt picture there, and she thought it was "beautiful." Shortly after its discovery, "The Adoration of the Magi" was appraised at $33.25 million.

10. At Pompeii, archaeologists discover a 2,000-year-old "Slave Room"

Where: Pompeii, Italy Year Found: 2021 Estimate. Worth: Not specified Regrettably, slavery played a significant role in the Roman economy of antiquity. These enslaved individuals worked in a variety of occupations, from manual labour to highly specialised occupations. In many cases, even doctors and accountants worked as slaves.

2,000-year-old "Slave Room" found at Pompeii by archaeologists @Reuters/Youtube The ruins of a "slave room" in a Roman villa that had been largely damaged by the 2,000-year-old volcanic explosion that buried the city were discovered by Pompeii archaeologists in 2021. Slaves who had been assigned to man the chariots were held in the slave room; the discovery was considered extraordinarily unusual by archaeologists. Thousands of years ago, it gave them access to one of the main, although cruel, pillars of the Roman economy.