Editing Time capsule

{{short description|Historic objects of goods or information}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Ypsilanti sesquicentennial time capsule.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Time capsule plaque in [[Ypsilanti, Michigan]], with instructions for the capsule to be recovered and opened upon the city's bicentennial, on July 4, 2023]]
[[File:Unrolling the contents (51362226354).png|thumb|Typewritten documents recovered in 2021 from a capsule buried in the 1940s]]

A '''time capsule''' is a historic [[treasure trove|cache]] of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future [[archaeologists]], [[anthropologists]], or [[historians]].<ref>M. Guzman, A.M. Hein, C. Welch, [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282816969_Eternal_Memory_Long-Duration_Storage_Concepts_for_Space "Eternal Memory: Long-Duration Storage Concepts for Space"], 66th [[International Astronautical Congress]], Jerusalem, Israel.</ref> The preservation of [[holy relic]]s dates back for millennia, but the practice of preparing and preserving a collection of everyday artifacts and messages to the future appears to be a more recent practice. Time capsules are sometimes created and buried during celebrations such as [[world's fair]]s or [[cornerstone]] layings for building or at other ceremonies.

== History ==
{{for timeline|Timeline of time capsules}}

===Early examples===
It is widely debated when time capsules were first used, but the concept is fairly simple, and the idea and first use of time capsules could be much older than is currently documented.<ref name="rusticstone">{{cite news|url=http://www.rusticstone.net/all-about-time-capsules-and-plaque-markers/|title="Rustic Stone" article Monday, October 1st, 2012: ''All about Time Capsules and Plaque Markers''|access-date=November 6, 2012}}</ref> The term "time capsule" appears to be a relatively recent coinage dating from 1938.<ref name="MWDict">{{cite web |title=time capsule |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time%20capsule |website=Merriam-Webster |publisher=Merriam-Webster, Incorporated |access-date=2019-04-29}}</ref> In Poland a time capsule dating to 1726 has been found.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World's oldest time capsule found hidden in church spire |url=https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/oldest-time-capsule-in-the-world-found-hidden-in-church-spire-41523 |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=www.thefirstnews.com |language=en}}</ref> 
Around 1761, some dated artifacts were placed inside the hollow copper [[grasshopper]] [[weathervane]], itself dating from 1742, atop historic [[Faneuil Hall]] in Boston.<ref name="BostonTC">{{cite web |title=A Lion, A Grasshopper And Other Boston Time Capsules |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2014/10/09/boston-time-capsules |website=WBUR 90.9 |publisher=WBUR |access-date=2019-04-29 |language=en |date=October 9, 2014}}</ref>
A time capsule dating to 1777 was discovered within a religious statue in [[Sotillo de la Ribera]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abc.es/espana/castilla-leon/abci-hallan-capsula-tiempo-oculta-talla-siglo-xviii-201711272030_noticia.html|title=Hallan una "cápsula del tiempo" oculta en una talla del siglo XVIII|date=November 27, 2017|website=abc|access-date=April 14, 2019}}</ref> 
A time capsule was discovered on November 30, 2017, in [[Burgos, Spain]]. A wooden statue of Jesus had hidden inside it a document with economic, political and cultural information, written by Joaquín Mínguez, chaplain of the [[Burgo de Osma Cathedral|Cathedral of Burgo de Osma]] in 1777.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/letters-found-butt-jesus-statue-time-capsule-spain-spd/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205100432/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/12/letters-found-butt-jesus-statue-time-capsule-spain-spd/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 5, 2017 |title='Time Capsule' Found in Jesus Statue—Where You Wouldn't Expect |date=December 4, 2017 |access-date=January 7, 2018}}</ref>
A [[Samuel Adams and Paul Revere Time Capsule|time capsule from the era of the American Revolution]], dating to 1795 and credited to [[Samuel Adams]] and [[Paul Revere]], was temporarily removed in 2014 from the cornerstone of the [[Massachusetts State House]] in Boston.<ref name="MFAshow"/> It had been previously opened in 1855, and some new items had been added before it was reinstalled.<ref name="MFAshow"/> It was ceremonially reopened in January 2015 at the [[Museum of Fine Arts Boston]], with specific restrictions on media coverage, to preserve the fragile artifacts.<ref name="MFAopening">{{cite web |title=Media Advisory: Time Capsule Unveiling at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |url=https://www.mfa.org/node/430606 |website=MFA: Museum of Fine Arts Boston |publisher=Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |access-date=2019-04-29 |language=en |date=23 December 2014 |archive-date=2018-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180908202418/https://www.mfa.org/node/430606 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The contents were displayed there briefly, and then reinstalled in their original location.<ref name="MFAshow">{{cite web |title=Inside the Box |url=https://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/inside-the-box-massachusetts-state-house-time-capsule |website=MFA: Museum of Fine Arts Boston |publisher=Museum of Fine Arts, Boston |access-date=2019-05-02 |language=en |date=23 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/11/us/boston-time-capsule-paul-revere-sam-adams/index.html|title=Paul Revere's 1795 time capsule unearthed|first=Kevin |last=Conlon|date=December 11, 2014|website=CNN}}</ref> It is the oldest known time capsule in the United States.

===20th century===
[[File:Helium monument time capsule in amarillo texas usa.jpg|thumb|upright|The ''[[Don Harrington Discovery Center|Helium Centennial Time Columns Monument]]'' located in [[Amarillo, Texas]], holds four time capsules in stainless steel intended to be opened after durations of 25, 50, 100, and 1,000 years after they were locked in 1968.<ref name="helium">{{cite web |url=http://www.dhdc.org/index.php?page=helium-monument |title=HELIUM MONUMENT |access-date=November 30, 2008 |publisher=Don Harrington Discovery Center |location=[[Amarillo, Texas]], [[United States|USA]]}}</ref>]]
[[File:Herrick Tower Time Capsule Adrian College.JPG|thumb|right|Herrick Tower time capsule, [[Adrian College]], [[Michigan]], 2009–2059]]
In 1901, a time capsule was placed inside the head of the copper lion ornamenting the [[Old State House (Boston)|Old State House]] in Boston. It was opened in 2014, during repairs to the sculpture and building, with plans to add new artifacts and reinstall it in its original location.<ref name="LionTC">{{cite web |title=Century-Old Time Capsule From Old State House Lion Opened |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2014/10/09/boston-lion-time-capsule |website=WBUR 90.9 |date=9 October 2014 |publisher=WBUR |access-date=2019-04-29 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Detroit Century Box]], a brainchild of [[Detroit]] mayor [[William C. Maybury]], was created on December 31, 1900, and scheduled to be opened 100 years later. It was filled with photographs and letters from 56 prominent residents describing life in 1900 and making predictions for the future, and included a letter by Maybury 
to the mayor of Detroit in 2000. The capsule was opened by city officials on December 31, 2000, in a ceremony presided over by mayor [[Dennis Archer]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2008/12/oncall_request_time_capsule.html|title=On-call Requests: Time capsule questions the future|date=December 2008 |website=mlive.com|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619062052/http://www.mlive.com/living/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2008/12/oncall_request_time_capsule.html|archive-date=June 19, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://blog.detroithistorical.org/2012/10/12/future-friday-century-box-prophecies/|title=Future Friday: Century Box Prophecies|last=DHSdigital|date=12 October 2012|website=detroithistorical.org|access-date=20 July 2017|archive-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417232619/https://blog.detroithistorical.org/2012/10/12/future-friday-century-box-prophecies/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A time capsule labelled "Kan aabnes i 2012" ("Can open in 2012" in Norwegian) was sealed in 1912 in [[Otta, Norway]]. The capsule was opened as part of a ceremony 100 years later in 2012. Despite the large excitement over the capsule's opening and a preceding ceremony, its contents (which included notebooks, newspaper clippings, and community council papers) were met with disappointment.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=History Wins As Norway's 100-Year-Old Mystery Parcel Is Opened |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/08/27/history-wins-as-norways-100-year-old-mystery-parcel-is-opened/#ixzz24msCg3Qw |magazine=TIME |access-date=15 November 2021}}</ref>

The [[Crypt of Civilization]] (1936) at [[Oglethorpe University]], intended to be opened in [[9th millennium|8113]], is claimed to be the first "modern" time capsule, although it was not called one at the time.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} During the [[socialist]] period in the [[USSR]], many time capsules were buried with messages to a future [[communist]] society.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2012/07/19/time-capsule-found-under-lenin-statue-a16384 |title=Time Capsule Found Under Lenin Statue |website=The Moscow Times |date=July 19, 2012 |access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref>

The [[1939 New York World's Fair]] [[Westinghouse Time Capsules#1939 Time Capsule I|time capsule]] was created by [[Westinghouse Electric (1886)|Westinghouse]] as part of their exhibit. It was {{convert|90|in|m|abbr=off}} long, with an interior diameter of {{convert|6.5|in|cm}}, and weighed {{convert|800|lb|kg}}. Westinghouse named the copper, chromium, and silver alloy "[[cupaloy]]", claiming it had the same strength as mild steel. It contained everyday items such as a spool of thread and doll, a book of record<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://archive.org/details/timecapsulecups00westrich |title=The book of record of the time capsule of cupaloy, deemed capable of resisting the effects of time for five thousand years, preserving an account of universal achievements, embedded in the grounds of the New York World's fair, 1939 |last1=[Westinghouse electric corporation] |last2=Frederic W. Goudy Collection (Library of Congress) DLC |date=April 14, 2019 |magazine=New York |access-date=April 14, 2019 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> (description of the capsule and its creators), a vial of [[staple food]] crop seeds, a microscope, and a 15-minute [[Pathé News|RKO Pathé Pictures newsreel]]. [[Microfilm]] spools condensed the contents of a [[Sears Roebuck]] catalog, dictionary, almanac, and other texts.

The 1939 time capsule was followed in 1965 by a [[Westinghouse Time Capsules#1965 Time Capsule II|second capsule]] at the same site, but {{convert|10|ft}} to the north of the original. Both capsules are buried {{convert|50|ft}} below [[Flushing Meadows Park]], site of the Fair. Both the 1939 and 1965 [[Westinghouse Time Capsules]] are meant to be opened in [[7th millennium|6939]].

There is documentation of at least three physical time capsules at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], as well as a "virtual" or digital time capsule.<ref name="BostonTC"/>

{{asof|2019}}, four time capsules are "buried" in space. The two [[Pioneer Plaque]]s and the two [[Voyager Golden Record]]s have been attached to spacecraft for the possible benefit of spacefarers in the distant future. A fifth time capsule, the [[KEO]] satellite, was scheduled to be launched in 2015–16.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.keo.org/Alerte.html |title=Les dates de KEO |access-date=December 7, 2014}}</ref> However, it has been delayed several times and an actual launch date has not been given. After launch, it will carry individual messages from Earth's inhabitants addressed to earthlings around the year 52,000, when it is due to return to Earth. {{asof|2019|07}}, the satellite had not been launched.

The [[International Time Capsule Society]] was created in 1990 to maintain a global database of all known time capsules. The [[NotForgotten Digital Preservation Library|Not Forgotten Digital Preservation Library]] maintains a current map and register of domestic and commercial time capsules.

===21st century===
"Earth's Black Box"—a city bus-sized structure with steel walls, battery storage and solar panels located at remote site in Tasmania—will accumulate and electronically store comprehensive climate research and related data, including land and sea temperature changes, [[ocean acidification]], atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, human population, energy consumption, military spending, and policy changes.<ref name=CNN_20211207/> The box was conceived to tell future civilizations how humankind created the [[climate change|climate crisis]], and how it failed or succeeded to address it.<ref name=CNN_20211207>{{cite news |last1=Ramirez |first1=Rachel |title=A giant 'black box' will gather all climate data for future civilizations to learn from |url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/07/world/earth-black-box-climate-change/index.html |work=CNN |date=December 7, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207093825/https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/07/world/earth-black-box-climate-change/index.html |archive-date=December 7, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On February 22, 2024, the [[Arch Mission Foundation]] landed the Lunar Library on the Moon, containing the English Wikipedia and other content, with the [[GLL Lunaprise mission]], on the [[Intuitive Machines]] IM-1 mission.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Galaxy Legacy Archive: Legacy Across The Galaxy |url=https://www.archmission.org/galactic-legacy-archive |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240830201054/https://www.archmission.org/galactic-legacy-archive |archive-date=2024-08-30 |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=Arch Mission Foundation}}</ref>

==Criticism==
[[File:1965 Westinghouse time capsule contents.jpg|thumb|Miscellaneous objects prepared for the [[Westinghouse Time Capsule]], created for the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair, intended to be opened in 5000 years]]
According to time capsule historian William Jarvis, most intentional time capsules usually do not provide much useful historical information: they are typically filled with "useless junk", new and pristine in condition, that tells little about the people of the time.<ref name=jarvis>William Jarvis (2002)</ref> Many time capsules today contain only [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifacts]] of limited value to future historians. Historians suggest that items which describe the daily lives of the people who created them, such as personal notes, pictures, videos and documents, would greatly increase the value of the time capsule to future historians.

If time capsules have a [[museum]]-like goal of preserving the culture of a particular time and place for study, they fulfill this goal very poorly in that they, by definition, are kept sealed for a particular length of time. Subsequent generations between the launch date and the target date will have no direct access to the artifacts and therefore these generations are prevented from learning from the contents directly. Therefore, time capsules can be seen, in respect to their usefulness to historians, as dormant museums, their releases timed for some date so far in the future that the building in question is no longer intact.<ref name=jarvis />

Historians also concede that there are many [[historic preservation|preservation]] issues surrounding the selection of the [[Media (communication)|media]] to transmit this information to the future.<ref name=jarvis /> Some of these issues include the obsolescence of technology and the deterioration of electronic and magnetic storage media (known as the [[digital dark age]]), and possible language problems if the capsule is dug up in the distant future. Many buried time capsules are lost, as interest in them fades and the exact location is forgotten, or they are destroyed within a few years by [[groundwater]].

==Cultural references==
The 1947 docudrama ''[[The Beginning or the End]]'' is a semi-historical account of the creation of the first atomic bomb during [[World War II]]. The film begins with staged newsreel footage of the scientists and officers involved in the project (played by actors) burying a time capsule in [[Redwood National Forest]] in [[California]]. The capsule contained a copy of the film, along with a projector to view it on, and instructions for its operation set on a metal sheet. The purpose of the capsule was in line with the film's title, about whether humanity will destroy itself now that it has the ability to, or whether it will rise above war as a whole and come together to use nuclear power for greater purposes. The film can be seen as an example of [[Cold War]] [[propaganda]].<ref name="Inc1947">{{cite magazine|title=The Beginning or The End|magazine = Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60kEAAAAMBAJ&q=the+beginning+or+the+end+time+capsule&pg=PA75|date=March 17, 1947|pages=75–|issn=0024-3019}}</ref>

The 2009 dramatic film ''[[Knowing (film)|Knowing]]'' involves a time capsule being placed in the ground by an elementary school in 1959.<ref>{{cite AV media |people=Proyas, Alex |date=2009 |title=Knowing |type=Motion picture |publisher=Paramount Pictures}}</ref>

Artists such as [[Andy Warhol]], [[Christian Boltanski]], and [[Louise Bourgeois]] are known for compiling collections of everyday artifacts that they associate with memories of the past, which are preserved in museums and archives.<ref name="Bliss">{{cite web |last1=Bliss|first1=Louise|title=Containers of remembering: the creative practices of collecting memory objects |url=https://www.academia.edu/6602915 |website=Academia.edu|access-date=2019-05-02|language=en}}</ref>

The 1955 Warner Bros. cartoon ''[[One Froggy Evening]]'' involves a singing and dancing frog extricated from (and eventually replaced within) a time capsule. [[Filmmaker]] [[Steven Spielberg]], in the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] Chuck Jones biographical documentary ''[[Chuck Jones: Extremes & Inbetweens – A Life in Animation|Extremes & Inbetweens: A Life in Animation]]'', called ''One Froggy Evening'' "the ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' of animated shorts". In 1994, it was voted {{Numero| 5}} of the [[50 Greatest Cartoons]] of all time by members of the animation profession.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beck |first1=Jerry |title=The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals |date=1994 |publisher=Turner Publishing |isbn=978-1878685490}}</ref>

==Personal and domestic time capsules==
Commercially manufactured sealable containers are sold for protection of personal time capsules; some of the more durable waterproof containers used for [[geocaching]] may also be suitable. Many underground time capsules are destroyed by groundwater infiltration after short periods of time;<ref name="Takei">{{cite web |title=A University Just Opened A 25-Year-Old Time Capsule—And The Contents Are Peak 1993 |url=https://www.georgetakei.com/shenandoa-university-1993-time-capsule-2616195374.html |website=George Takei |access-date=2019-05-02 |language=en |date=29 October 2018}}</ref> caches stored within the wall cavities of buildings can survive as long as the building is used and maintained.

In 2016, the art collective [[Ant Farm]] displayed a show, ''The Present Is the Form of All Life: The Time Capsules of Ant Farm and LST'', at the art center Pioneer Works, in [[Brooklyn, New York]]. The artists had previous experiences with failed time capsules, and were now exploring "digital time capsules" as a more durable form of preservation.<ref name="Budds">{{cite web |last1=Budds |first1=Diana |title=Building A Time Capsule For The Digital Age |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3063631/building-a-time-capsule-for-the-digital-age |website=Fast Company |access-date=2019-05-02 |date=13 September 2016}}</ref> They have said, "We’ve come to understand that the best way to preserve digital media is to distribute it."<ref name="Budds"/> Blockchain and cognitive learning is now used in time capsule technology.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Technology {{!}} The International Time Capsule Society|url=https://www.itcsoc.org/technology|access-date=2020-11-28|website=International Time C|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Researchers have started to study methods of preserving digital data in forms that will still be usable in the distant future.<ref name="Petrelli">{{cite web |last1=Petrelli |first1=Daniela |title=There is more in personal heritage than data |url=http://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/may-june-2013/there-is-more-in-personal-heritage-than-data |website=ACM Interactions |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |access-date=2019-05-02}}</ref>

==See also==
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<!-- * [[Shelby, Iowa#Time capsule|Time Capsule at Shelby, Iowa]] -->
<!-- * {{slink|Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant|Onkalo spent nuclear fuel repository|Onkalo waste repository}}, [[Into Eternity (film)]] -->
<!-- * [[Ol' Rip the Horned Toad]], allegedly survived 31 years entombed in a time capsule -->
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{{colbegin|colwidth=25em}}
* [[List of time capsules]]
* [[Archive]]
* [[Bracewell probe]]
* [[Builders' rites]]
* [[Clock of the Long Now]]
* [[Message in a bottle]]
* [[Mind map]]
* [[Rosetta Project]]
* [[Web archiving]]
* [[White House Millennium Council]]
{{colend}}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* William Jarvis (2002). ''Time Capsules: A Cultural History''. [[Jefferson, N.C.]]: [[McFarland & Co.]], 2003, {{ISBN|0-7864-1261-5}}
* Janet Reinhold (1993, 2000). ''A Sampling of Time Capsule Contents''. [[Covina, California|Covina, Ca.]]: Future Packaging & Preservation, 2000, {{ISBN|1-891406-30-2}}
* Larry Richard Clark (2010). "Time Capsules: the Why, the How, the Where". {{ISBN|978-1452882567}}
* M. Guzman, A.M. Hein, C. Welch, "Eternal Memory: Long-Duration Storage Concepts for Space", 66th [[International Astronautical Congress]], Jerusalem, Israel
* Nick Yablon (2019). ''Remembrance of Things Present: The Invention of the Time Capsule.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|time capsule}}
{{Commons category|Time capsules}}
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* [https://libraryrecords.not-forgotten.com/ Notforgotten Digital Preservation Library Time Capsule registration]
* [http://www.si.edu/mci/english/learn_more/taking_care/timecaps.html Smithsonian article on Time Capsules, guidelines]
* [http://heritagetimecapsules.com/about/news.php Heritage Time Capsule's Congressional Time Capsule 2009] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121229075144/http://heritagetimecapsules.com/about/news.php |date=2012-12-29 }}
* [http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/crypt_of_civilization/time_capsule_tips.asp Tips for building a time capsule] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130111655/http://oglethorpe.edu/about_us/crypt_of_civilization/time_capsule_tips.asp |date=2009-01-30 }} from the [[International Time Capsule Society]]

{{Time Topics}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Containers]]
[[Category:Time capsules| ]]
[[Category:Interstellar messages]]
[[Category:Archaeological artifacts]]