Missing! Lost in the Mists of Time Quiz

Answer: Flor do Mar

The Portuguese ship Flor do Mar (Flower of the Sea) was built in 1502, and was the biggest carrack built at the time. Unfortunately she was also unwieldy and difficult to handle, and had an unfortunate tendency to spring leaks. While stuck in Mozambique on only her second return voyage, bound for Portugal heavy-laden with spices, she was commandeered by Tristao da Cunha for his India Armada.

Although she was cumbersome she served during the conquests of Goa and of Malacca, until it was decided she would transport an immense treasure looted from the Sultan of Malacca back to Portugal. She was caught in a storm and sank in November 1511 in the Malaccan Strait. Many, but not all, lives were lost. The wreck and the treasure have never been recovered, but will doubtless be the subject of international disputes should she ever be located. Portugal, Indonesia and Malaysia have all lodged salvage rights for the unfortunate vessel.

A replica of the Flor do Mar has been built and is in the Maritime Museum of Malacca.

Answer: Faberge eggs

Faberge had started by crafting an Easter egg in 1885 on commission to Tsar Alexander III. Alexander's wife, Maria Feodorovna, was so enchanted by the gift that the Tsar commissioned one each year, a practice which was continued after his death by the new Tsar, Nicholas II, who started presenting eggs to both his wife, Alexandra, and to his mother.

In all, Faberge made 50 jeweled and/or enameled eggs for the Imperial family plus a number of others for aristocracy, before the Revolution forced him to flee Russia with his family.

The Royal palaces were stripped of their treasures, which were carefully catalogued and shipped to the Kremlin Armoury; however it appears that 7 or 8 of the eggs which were shipped failed to arrive.

In 1927 Stalin sold a number of the eggs, in order to subsidize the Russian treasury. In 2002 the Winter Egg sold at auction for $US 9.6 million.

Answer: Trombone

Glen Miller was 11 years old when he bought his first trombone from his earnings. After graduating High School he was determined to play in a big band, spending years working hard to "make it", playing trombone for many of the big bands, and honing his craft, arranging and composing.

Finally in 1938, the Glen Miller sound distinguished itself, and he hit the big time with hits like 'Chattanooga Choo-Choo', 'In the Mood', 'Moonlight Serenade', to name his most famous works.

He joined the American war effort in 1942, although at 38 he was deemed too old for active service. Based in England, he set about entertaining the allied forces, both live and on radio.

On December 15, 1944, he boarded a small plane for Paris, to make arrangements to move his band there. The aircraft disappeared in bad weather, and Major Glenn Miller was never seen again.

Answer: Twelve Years a Slave

Solomon Northup was a free black man living in New York State when he was offered a job as a musician in Washington, DC, where he was drugged, kidnapped and sold as a slave, then sold on to a plantation owner in Louisiana. Protests that he was a free man resulted in vicious beatings. Finally after nearly 12 years he managed to get a message out to his home in the North, and was rescued.

After returning home to his family, he wrote his memoir with the assistance of a professional writer, and started campaigning against slavery. During a campaign in Canada in 1857, he disappeared without trace; believed to have been murdered by pro-slavery sympathisers.

Answer: The Amber Room

The original Amber Room was built for the King of Prussia in the early 18th century, but was admired by Peter the Great, and given to him to help seal the Russian-Prussian alliance. It was assembled in the Catherine Palace near St Petersburg,and was added to and enhanced. When it was fully assembled it took up 590 sqft, and contained over 6 tonnes of amber.

During the brief German occupation of St Petersburg, the Nazis dismantled the room and shipped it back to Germany, where its fate is still disputed. General thought is that it was hidden in Konigsberg Castle (now Kaliningrad, Russia), and destroyed by allied bombing raids.

A reproduction of the Amber Room has been built, and was opened in 2003.

Answer: Yamashita's Gold

There is little doubt that stripping of wealth occurred in Japanese held territories during the war. The proponents of the theory claim that all levels of Japanese society were involved, from gangsters up to the Emperor's family. The story is that the stolen gold and valuables were gathered together in Singapore then shipped to the Philippines where it was hidden.

These claims were given further credence when Imelda Marcos claimed that her husband had found some of Yamashita's gold, accounting for his huge fortune. Presumably this was to take the heat off claims that the Marcos fortune was corruptly acquired while they were in power.

Answer: King John

There are not many members of British Royalty with a worse press than King John. Preceded by his illustrious father Henry II and older brother Richard the Lionheart, he does not seem to have been the subject of heroic song. To be fair, Richard did far more to deplete the English treasury with his constant foreign wars than John did.

Apparently, John was crossing a large estuary on the east coast of England known as The Wash when he misjudged the incoming tide. He and most of his retinue escaped with their lives, but the baggage animals with their precious cargo, including the Crown Jewels, were not so fortunate.

So not all things lost in the wash are the result of carelessness by the laundry!

Answer: It consisted of 4 huge steel blocks weighing 42 tons in all

Richard Serra's trademark is his massive steel sculptures. He fashioned the "Equal-Parallel: Guernica-Bengasi" sculpture after it was commissioned by Madrid's Reina Sofia Contemporary Art Museum in 1986. In 1990 it was sent to a private storage facility while the museum was undergoing renovation.

It was not until 2005 when the museum's new curator attempted to retrieve the work, that she found the storage company had ceased to exist, and the sculpture had disappeared without a trace.

All ended well, as Serra created a new identical copy, and the museum only had to pay for the foundry costs.

Answer: Harold Holt

It was a hot day at Cheviot Beach when Harold Holt and a few friends were driving. He suggested a swim, but as there was a strong swell, all but one of his companions declined, and he stayed close in to the beach. Holt swam further out and appeared to have been swiftly dragged out to sea by a strong rip, and disappeared under the waves, while his friends watched helplessly.

On that same morning, a headline in "The Australian" newspaper read, "PM advised to swim less". Ironically, a new pool complex was named the Harold Holt Swim Centre.

Answer: Michael Rockefeller

Michael, a son of Nelson Rockefeller, later to become US Vice President, had become interested in the tribespeople of remote parts of New Guinea. He had already been on a filming trip to Asmat, but returned there.

He had been out in an open boat at sea with a Dutch anthropologist, Rene Wessing, when the boat overturned. After some hours in the water, Rockefeller decided to swim for shore, at least 10 miles away. He was never seen by his family or friends again; believed drowned at sea.

In 2014, witnesses declared that he had in fact made it to shore, but that he had been attacked, killed and eaten by a native group who still practised cannibalism. The declared motive was revenge for the brutal killing of five leaders of the Asmat people.