A fantastic collection of fossils, collected by Charles Darwin and colleagues was discovered abandoned in an old cabinet in a dusty corner. This has to be everybody's dream to find something of value (not necessarily monetary) in a dusty attic, garage or storage room. Wow!

You can read the story here. Though I should note that I'm pretty sure Darwin's great friend "John Hooker" was Joseph Dalton Hooker.

Darwin fossils found

Thank you so much for the post, Mona!

Not surprising! I did some work for a natural history museum in Genoa, Italy and was amazed at all the valuable collectibles just lying around. And in Geneva, at the museum there they had tons of stuff just lying around the basement. August Forel, who was an ant taxonomist and on the money in Switzerland, had his whole collection of botanical specimens and drawings just shoved into a cabinet - things that were very valuable. Someone put Darwin's stuff aside and things probably just piled up around it and it was forgotten until now. Great article, thanks!