- A lost limb can really take on a life of its own.
When remarkable people lose a part of their bodies, something weird happens. Often, somebody grabs the severed and goes on an odd journey to places unknown.
During their travels, some of these lost limbs, heads, and other appendages become as — if not more — famous than those to whom they were once attached to.
Here are seven examples of famous people’s body parts that took on a life of their own.
1. Stonewall Jackson’s Arm
In 1863, a jumpy Confederate soldier shot his own general, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, in the left arm. The wound was so bad that Jackson’s left arm was quickly amputated.
Unfortunately for him, that wasn’t enough to save his life, and he died a few days later. Before he died, however, his severed arm was buried with full military honors.
In 1903, a stone marker was placed approximately on the spot where Jackson’s arm lay. Whether the arm is still there is unknown, though.
According to some stories, a force of Marines, led by General Smedley Butler, exhumed the arm in 1921 and reburied it in a fancier metal coffin. However, metal detector experiments at the supposed burial site have found no such coffin.
Frankly, it’s quite likely that enterprising body snatchers, construction work, or the plain old passage time have destroyed Jackson’s arm. Yet, the legend of the limb keeps bringing tourists to its grave marker.
2. Napoleon’s Penis
Napoleon was undeniably a great man (and of average height for his time). You can’t really say the same about his penis.
After the French emperor’s death, the surgeon performing his autopsy cut off his genitals. It’s unknown whether it was on purpose or not, but the doctor decided to give the penis to Napoleon’s chaplain.
The priest was eventually murdered, and Napoleon’s ding-dong became a family heirloom until a British bookseller bought it. From there, the story gets murky, and it’s not entirely clear where the penis is right now.
Yet, if the stories are to be believed, it’s not much to look at. According to testimonies, the penis looks like a “piece of leather or a shriveled eel.”
Frankly, the tale of Napoleon’s penis is too complicated to explain here. That’s why we have a whole article about it that you can read.
3. Santa Anna’s Leg
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez was a Mexican general and the country’s 11-time president. Yeah, it was a weird time in Mexico — and the story of Santa Anna’s leg is just as strange.
He lost his left leg in a war against France in 1838. Like Jackson’s arm, the leg was buried with pomp and circumstances. However, an enraged mob dug the leg (or what remained of it) up in 1844 and dragged it through Mexico City’s streets before destroying it.
Santa Anna’s new, wooden prosthetic leg didn’t fare much better. During the Mexican-American War in 1847, Santa Anna had to flee his camp in such a hurry that he didn’t have time to attach his peg leg.
So, American troops took it as a war trophy. Today, it’s located in the Illinois State Military Museum, which has refused multiple requests from Mexico to return the prosthetic.
4. Jeremy Bentham’s Head
Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher who came up with the modern ideas of utilitarianism. Before his death, he requested that his skeleton and preserved head be mounted as a memorial to his life.
That’s… A little odd, but his friends acquiesced. Propping Bentham’s skeleton up was easy enough, but the process of preserving his head went horribly wrong.
As a result, the pickled noggin looked absolutely terrifying and was in no way fit for public display. Instead, Bentham’s friends placed his real head in a box at his feet and put a wax head on his bizarre statue instead.
Over the years, Bentham’s head box was stolen multiple times — including once when a group of university students demanded a ransom for its return. Consequently, the head is now secured in a museum, and you need a special permit to go see it.
5. Daniel Sickles’ Leg
Daniel Sickles was a Union general in the Civil War and a later congressman. During the battle of Gettysburg, a cannonball shattered his right shin and the leg was amputated.
Unlike Jackson’s arm or Santa Anna’s leg, Sickles’ leg wasn’t buried. Instead, he personally sent it to the newly opened National Museum of Military Medicine.
Sickles apparently enjoyed having his mangled leg on display. He was known to visit the leg regularly, typically with friends to whom he would tell tall tales about how he lost the thing.
Frankly, without losing his leg, Sickles would only be known for being the first person in the U.S. to successfully use the “momentary insanity” defense after he shot Francis Scott Key’s son to death for having an affair with his wife. Now, he’s famous for that and being weirdly proud about losing a leg.
6. Joseph Haydn’s Skull
Celebrated composer Joseph Haydn died in 1809. After his funeral, two of his (supposed) friends bribed the undertaker to dig Haydn’s corpse back up and bring them his head.
This dynamic duo of Joseph Rosenbaum and Johann Peter were fans of phrenology, a pseudoscience claiming that intelligence and talent depend on the shape of your skull. However, it seems they weren’t prepared to actually witness their friend’s severed head, as both reportedly threw up as the gravedigger delivered it.
Yet, after boiling, bleaching, and examining the skull, they decided to keep it. This was despite the Austrian royal family, enraged after finding out Haydn’s skull had been stolen, was hounding them.
They knew, Rosenbaum and Peter had the skull — they just couldn’t prove it. Haydn’s head changed hands several times until finally being reburied in 1954.
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
7. Rasputin’s Penis
Ra-Ra-Rasputin, the lover of the Russian queen, was famous for his claimed spiritual healing powers and being a veritable sexual tyrannosaur. The ladies he bedded claimed that his, uh, equipment was absolutely massive, and the man knew how to use it.
You can verify its size for yourself. After Rasputin’s murder, a maid reportedly salvaged his penis, and it now sits in a jar at the Museum of Erotica in St. Petersburg.
Except that whatever the jarred object is, it was likely never hanging from Rasputin’s crotch.
According to people who actually saw Rasputin’s dead body, his genitals were perfectly intact. Additionally, the museum will not allow anyone to carry out DNA tests on the thing in the jar.
Could it really be the piston of Russia’s greatest love machine? Maybe. We may never know for sure.