15. The Remains of Nicolaus Copernicus Were Found by Accident
In 2004, Polish archeologists uncovered remains in a church, but there was no grave marker. They weren’t sure who the skeleton belonged to, so they took it to forensic scientists in Warsaw. Once the reconstructed his face, they saw an old man with a broken nose and a scar above his brow. The features, along with the age of the skeleton, point to the famous astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
When you put his portrait side-by-side with the 3D image, it truly is uncanny how similar the two are. Without this new technology, modern-day scientists would have never known who he was. Because of his famous accomplishments, the church had taken special care to bury him where he was found. Without this technology, his remains may have never been identified.
