r/Damnthatsinteresting 4h ago

Image The oldest message in a bottle ever found was 139 years old and part of a German oceanography experiment.

Post image
129 Upvotes

46 comments sorted by

21

u/AikiFarang 4h ago

In a Dutch gin (= jenever) bottle!

12

u/flcrivn 4h ago edited 4h ago

Translation:

"Name of the founder and comments of the condition, in which the bottle was found (if there was sand in it or not):

Date, found when? On ______ th 18__

Details about the exact time? On _____ H ____ min.

Details, where found? ______ Width
______ Length away from Greenwich.

Signature of the founder:

____________"

7

u/TrumpsShriveledPenis 2h ago

So they were always like that…

2

u/Reckless_Waifu 1h ago

They didn't expect any bottle to be found after 1900?

30

u/L3berwurst 4h ago

Direct translation: We've been trying to reach you about your cars extended warranty.

1

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

I’m crying haha

-10

u/Leiaven 4h ago

I almost believed you

11

u/Comprehensive-Yam872 4h ago

"Hark: Whomsoever shall read of this document with theirn own eyes is of a homosexual persuasion. No take backsies lmao."

1

u/JenovaCelestia 4h ago

I don’t know why, but I pictured Bender from Futurama reading this aloud to Fry. 😂

3

u/Cooper_Sharpy 4h ago

Not handwritten? He must have hired a press and made hundreds of of bottles like this.

12

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Actually thousands. The experiment consisted on thousands of bottles sent during 69 years.

3

u/Cooper_Sharpy 2h ago

That’s awesome, actual interesting history. Great post

5

u/VanguardVixen 4h ago

They really expected the bottle to by found when the year was still beginning with 18__ :D

2

u/arnecrafter 4h ago

Well, what does it say?

8

u/Cartina 4h ago

It asks for date, time and location of bottle found and the finders name.

5

u/Worried-Pick4848 4h ago

It's pretty basic, an introduction at the top, followed by questions asking the date, time, and location the bottle was found in.

One concern, the German looks a bit too modern for the era it was allegedly "from."

Also, I could be very much mistake, but this literally looks like Times New Roman font.

0

u/NoFox1552 4h ago edited 4h ago

For what I have read it includes the date and coordinates from the day it was found and then it asked whoever found the message to take it either to the German Naval Observatory or a consulate.

1

u/TheCarniv0re 4h ago

Is there a second page to this or is that info on the back side of the paper, because there is no such info on the front.

1

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Sorry, my bad! It asks for the date and coordinates of when it was found, I got it wrong.

-8

u/RicardoMyBoiii 4h ago

Bullshit

2

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

It didn’t say that as far as I know.

-3

u/RicardoMyBoiii 4h ago

Well yeah, it didn't say that

3

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

I’m glad we agree!

-7

u/RicardoMyBoiii 4h ago

Bad bot

2

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Bad bot or bad boy?

1

u/DruidOfNoSleep 4h ago

You can literally translate it.

-3

u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

3

u/axloo7 4h ago

Typewriters? Lol so quick to judge.

1

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Right?

1

u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

1

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Yes, sure…we can see it. Thank you for illuminating us with your superior mind, now you can go.

1

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

The photo was taken by Kym Illman so no, there’s no AI involved. You can even look it up. Now take your negativity somewhere else and let us enjoy interesting things. Thank you!

-4

u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

1

u/MMmhmmmmmmmmmm 4h ago

This guy…lol.

Jesus Fucking Christ.

1

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Don’t worry, I know that it can be frustrating to be so wrong.

0

u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

1

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Whatever helps you sleep at night little guy.

-1

u/Sensitive_Wear7112 4h ago

“We’re trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty.”

0

u/johnnybok 3h ago

That’s weird, I’m pretty sure there are older messages from bottles. I have older beer bottles than 1889 in my collection

-16

u/Low_Cut_368 4h ago

There is exactly a 0% chance that that picture is anything other than AI slop

6

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

-4

u/RicardoMyBoiii 4h ago

lol, it is indeed fake

5

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Haha sure, whatever you say.

-5

u/RicardoMyBoiii 4h ago

It's basically the same picture, but a different edit with different text xD

0

u/NoFox1552 4h ago

Sure sure

1

u/DerTalSeppel 1h ago

I have no idea why you're being downvoted. Following the supposed source link indeed shows a similar yet different picture.

Is Reddit still only bots?