Whatcha thinkin' about? Instead of pennies for your thoughts, here are lists of interesting things to ponder while you gaze at your navel and explore the depths of your true self.

Things to Think About

Mysteries

In the digital age, many people across the globe have become internet sleuths, using grassroots methods (<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/mysteries-uncovered-on-reddit/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">and Reddit</a>) to find clues and raise awareness about <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-unexplained-stories-in-america/jacob-shelton" target="_blank">unsolved mysteries</a>. While many of these mysteries are true cold cases, others are markedly less sinister.&nbsp;

Is it crucial to know the identity of a topless woman featured in two frames of a 1977 Disney film? Or what happened to Cap&#39;n Crunch&#39;s &quot;lost cereal,&quot; the&nbsp;limited-edition Freedom Crunch? That may be up for debate, but these pop culture puzzlers are still keeping us up at night. Vote up the mysteries that make you want to quit your day job and spend your days as a pop culture PI hunting down archival cartoon footage.

Pop Culture Mysteries That Are Keeping Us Up At Night

General

Pop Culture Mysteries That Haven't Been Solved

Elle Tharp

Lists about real and fictional mysteries and the people who solved them—or at least tried to.

Whodunits & Whydunits & How

So many new shows, so little time. Which are worth your precious eyeballs? These list rank the best new series in each genre that have premiered since 2019, so you still have plenty of time to catch up.

New Shows to Check Out

With so many great TV series currently airing, we&rsquo;re ranking the best mystery TV shows since 2019. Our list of the highest-rated TV mysteries&nbsp;of the past few years is ranked by viewers from everywhere, so make sure you vote up the best new mystery series on television.&nbsp;What is the best new mystery TV show?&nbsp;

Featuring new <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-crime-tv-show-on-netflix-watch-instantly/lanayoshii?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Netflix mystery shows</a>, Hulu originals, critically acclaimed&nbsp;miniseries, and more, the best recent mystery shows include Home Before Dark, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, and Cruel Summer. The Netflix series Lupin is&nbsp;considered to be one of the most binge-worthy shows today, while Applet TV+&#39;s Servant and HBO Max&#39;s The Flight Attendant are known as the shows to watch now.&nbsp;

What are television&#39;s best recent mystery shows? Vote up the TV mysteries you think are the best to have premiered recently and see where your favorites rank.

The Best New TV Mysteries of the Last Few Years

TV Program

The 50+ Best New Mystery TV Shows, Ranked

Ranker TV

Practicing Medicine

Dusting for prints & pointing the magnifying glass at some of history's most persistent, fascinating, and frustrating mysteries.

History's Mysteries

While many medical conditions are well known and easy to diagnose, others remain total mysteries. Some cases might seem mundane at first, only to end up baffling doctors and other medical professionals for decades, if not centuries.

From waking up one day with a foreign accent to remaining trapped in the body and mind of a toddler even as a person ages, these weird, unexplained conditions are a reminder of how difficult it can be to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/disturbing-facts-about-our-bodies-and-diseases/will-morgan-1" target="_blank">fully understand</a>&nbsp;how the human body works. And sometimes what we do learn is disturbing - especially when there is no known cure.

We present a dozen rare medical conditions that have challenged and baffled the medical world.&nbsp;

Baffling Medical Mysteries That Defy All Logic

Medical Mysteries That Defy Logic

TGWrites

Have you ever imagined yourself as a Sherlock Holmes-level detective? If so, you probably enjoy murder mysteries. The genre has been around almost since the invention of movies, and it's proven to be extremely durable. From the films noir of the '40s and '50s, to the star-studded&nbsp;productions of the '70s, to the more recent Knives Out, audiences have long relished&nbsp;the opportunity to bring out their inner Miss Marples and solve some crimes.&nbsp;If you've seen all the usual suspects (pun intended), the following underrated murder mysteries will give you some new fodder for your detective fantasies. Many of these are true hidden gems that never quite got the attention they deserved. Others were hits - or at least hits among a target audience - upon their initial release, yet didn't quite&nbsp;break&nbsp;into the mainstream. And some are simply older films that younger people&nbsp;may not be hip to yet. Whatever the case, they offer plenty of fun and chills as you follow the clues.

20 Underrated Murder Mysteries That Make Us Feel Like Master Detectives

Film

Mike McGranaghan

Because historical documentation is grounded in dates, places, events, and outcomes, it's tempting to believe it consists of concrete subject matter with easily traceable, identifiable answers to every <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/wwii-q-and-a/gordon-cameron">question posed by history enthusiasts</a> and curious readers. If a solution isn't immediately evident, we assume that time will reveal the truth.In reality, history is <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/unsolved-historical-mysteries/setareh-janda">full of mysteries</a> and, contrary to logic, sometimes the answers become more elusive as time passes. As the years erode evidence and real unsolved cases evolve into mythological tales, these baffling stories threaten never to be solved.Still, that doesn't keep us from wanting to know more about them and pondering their possible explanations. From strange medieval illnesses that remain unidentified to enigmatic orphans who left us with more questions than answers, this list features <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/unsettling-unsolved-mysteries-from-history/christina-chilin">unsolved mysteries from history</a>.

12 Unsolved Mysteries From History

Unsolved Mysteries From History

Lauren Glen

As they pique our curiosity and allow us to submerge ourselves into the often dark and creepy unknown, many of us can't get enough of a good mystery. History is full of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/unsolved-historical-mysteries/setareh-janda">bizarre unsolved tales</a>, providing us with a seemingly endless amount of peculiar content to practice our sleuthing skills and share with our equally intrigued friends.Despite our inquisitive nature and efforts to solve the eerie stories, we sometimes don't truly want to know the answer to the most <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-12-most-convincing-real-life-ghost-stories/wavy-gravey">perplexing paranormal experiences</a>. While we hope that unknown killers are eventually caught, and that missing people turn up alive and well, we also can't help but feel a little snubbed when the answers to the cases aren't nearly as complex - or even real - as we assumed or were led to believe.For better or worse, some mysteries turn out to be not so mysterious after all.

11 Mysteries That Turned Out To Be Not So Mysterious

Mysteries That Turned Out To Be Not So Mysterious

We fall into a certain order in our lives, completing the same tasks day to day, assuming we know what's coming and having the peace of mind that we know what to expect.&nbsp;When <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-unsolved-mysteries/olivia-pasquarelli">the unexplainable happens</a>, it can become a point of obsession. We must know all the pieces of the puzzle, and why. Over the last year, we've discovered many unexplainable mysteries - some with the pieces revealed, while others remain hidden.&nbsp;These are the most compelling mysteries we saw in 2022.

Mysteries We Just Learned About In 2022

Will Morgan

Entertainment

One of the most popular genres of film and TV since their mediums' foundation is that of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/mystery-movies-that-dont-have-detectives/tyler-mitchell">mystery</a>. There is and always has been a long list of shows and movies starring detectives who are solving cases and uncovering truths in each episode or film, but oftentimes these kinds of programs can blend in with one another and fall into the category of forgettable quite fast. One component that does help some stick out, however, is when their protagonists are not a detective or policeman, but instead regular citizens.Maybe they bore witness to something and haven't been able to let it go or stop thinking about it since, or possibly they are attempting to uncover dark truths and mysteries entangled with their own lives.&nbsp;It is always a case-by-case basis with movies that find themselves in this specific subgenre of mystery. Maybe it is a murder mystery like Glass Onion in which the results could be life or death, or maybe it's a neo-noir film like Under the Silver Lake which features a protagonist who simply cannot let a weird event go and must find the answer to it.&nbsp;While the characters on this list lack any sort of formal police training, the various personal skills they use and take into their investigations oftentimes are used to add their own distinctive flare to their inquiry. These kinds of quirks and unique methods range anywhere from using a magic severed hand to tail suspects to digging deep in a photographic memory bank for details on a dish served to you over a decade previous. So, as you can tell, there are many different approaches while working on uncovering a mystery, and the way these characters are able to do so in an entertaining and effective manner makes them some of the best amateur detectives out there.&nbsp;

14 Characters Who Are Surprisingly Good Detectives With No Formal Training

Fictional Character

Best Untrained Detective Movie And TV Characters

Griffin Peters

For all of history, humans have <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/brainteasers-adults-struggle-with/lowe-saddler" target="_blank">enjoyed a good puzzle</a>. Puzzles, codes, and ciphers have been found almost everywhere, from second-century Egypt&nbsp;to the 17th-century letters between <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-about-king-charles-i/melissa-sartore" target="_blank">King Charles I</a> and&nbsp;Queen Henrietta-Maria. Still today, crossword puzzles, Rubik&#39;s cubes,&nbsp;and Sudoku&nbsp;all remain enjoyable ways to pass the time.

But not all puzzles are simply meant for fun and leisure. Ciphers and codes are, of course, also a great way to keep a secret, such as where one <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/beale-ciphers/kellie-kreiss" target="_blank">buried some hidden treasure</a>. A well-crafted code can also inform your own military of certain movements and plans, and without revealing that information to an enemy. Many of the strongest ciphers and codes endured for decades or even centuries before finally being cracked. The following codes were called impossible, even unbreakable - until the right people came along.&nbsp;

9 Times People Broke Unbreakable Codes - And How

Times People Broke Unbreakable Codes - And How

Chrissy Rose

Weird History

Time has the power to reveal the truth - eventually. Often, we count on this notion when we're confronted with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-and-disturbing-mysteries/lauren-glen">creepy and disturbing mysteries </a>that we just can't wrap our heads around. Comforting ourselves with the knowledge that experts will certainly solve the perplexing stories we can't seem to stop thinking about allows us to sleep comfortably at night and move through our days with a little less anxiously driven inquisitiveness.However, sometimes the past leaves us with more questions than answers, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-unsolved-mysteries/olivia-pasquarelli">not all mysteries are solvable</a>, even as new technology and historical studies emerge over the years. This list features some of the most puzzling murder cases, unusual archeological finds, and elusive figures in history whose answers we're still seeking.

Mysteries We're Still Trying To Answer

History

History is rife with questions! And answers! One of the fun things about history is that people come up with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/really-answers-to-historical-questions-0621/melissa-sartore">new questions</a> all the time - inquiries about people, places, events, and everything in between.&nbsp;We wanted to know what types of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/wh-readers-q-and-a-0922/melissa-sartore">questions our readers have</a>, so we did the only thing possible - we asked. And, boy, did Weird History readers come up with some great topics to research! From mysteries about Wild West figures to teasing out rumors about militant emus, we found some <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/questions-and-answers-2022-wh/melissa-sartore?ref=profile_own">really satisfying answers</a> to the questions YOU asked.Take a look and decide which answers help take the mystery out of some of your questions about history.

Weird History Readers Asked, We Answered - 11 Unraveled Mysteries From History

Melissa Sartore

Graveyard Shift

In 2004, a group of men claiming to be the Sri Lankan National Handball Team disappeared while participating in a tournament in Germany. Unbeknownst to both the organization that sponsored the trip and the team's German hosts, Sri Lanka actually had no national handball team.Instead the men, none of whom had any <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/sports-controversy-history-moments/tracey-graham">previous handball experience</a>, had come together just a few weeks prior with a plan that would legally get them out of Sri Lanka and help them emigrate to Italy. This bizarre story became world news, and in 2008, it inspired the film Machan, a fictionalized version of the Sri Lankan handball team saga.Here are the behind-the-scenes details of how the scheme was put together and carried out, as well as the fallout when government officials - and the team's sponsor - learned of their<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/forgotten-scandals/lauren-glen"> deception</a>.

The Entire Sri Lankan Handball Team Vanished In Germany, But Did The Team Even Exist?

Sri Lankan Handball Team Vanishing

Just because the past already happened doesn&#39;t mean we know all of its secrets. In fact, there are many enduring mysteries from history for which we still have no answers.

Like <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/unsolved-ancient-mysteries-from-around-the-world/jeffrichard" target="_blank">unsolved ancient mysteries</a>, this collection of unsolved historic mysteries includes stories of inexplicable disappearances, puzzling objects, and missing artwork. Some unsolved mysteries from the past involve mystifying&nbsp;occurrences, while others are the result of lost knowledge, paperless trails, and long-gone evidence.

Why did people abandon a Mesoamerican city? How did an entire room mysteriously disappear? Who erected a monument containing a modern-day 10 Commandments - and why? From <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/historical-figures-undiscovered-tombs/genevieve-carlton?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">lost burial sites</a> to unexplained cryptozoological phenomena, these historic mysteries prove that there&#39;s always something new to uncover about the past.

14 Historical Mysteries That We'd Really Like Answers To

Historic Mysteries That We'd Really Like Answers To

Setareh Janda

Psst! Hey, kid: wanna see something cool? Check out these lists of neato facts, pics, and vids of science working around you, all day in every way.

That's Just Science

Science has done a great deal to demystify the world. Things that would once have been ascribed to the supernatural or to gods have, thanks to the scientific method, been explained rationally (even if, all too often, some&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/most-widely-misunderstood-scientific-concepts/bruce-maisy">scientific concepts remain poorly understood</a>).Numerous <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/unsolved-ancient-mysteries-from-around-the-world/jeffrichard?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">ancient mysteries of the world</a> have been solved through experimentation - and there have been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/weirdest-scientific-experiments-that-received-funding/zack-howe">many strange and unusual examples of these</a>. However, while science has managed to discover some fascinating things about both earth and space, there are a number of surprisingly common things it has yet to fully understand.&nbsp;These aren't the “big think” mysteries like reconciling quantum physics and relativity, or understanding the fundamental nature of time itself. These are things you'd expect scientists to have a handle on - like how bicycles work, or why sand is soft. Vote up the concepts you were sure humans had figured out by now.

Ordinary Things Scientists Don't Actually Understand

Thomas West

Lists of fascinating and bizarre real cases that continue to stump detectives and amateur sleuths.

Unsolved Mysteries

Unspeakable Times

Some of the most famous true crime cases may never be solved. Even with advancements in DNA testing and forensic technology, we're still faced with seemingly unanswerable questions: Who was <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/crimes-overshadowed-by-jack-the-ripper/aspen-stevens">Jack the Ripper</a>? Who <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/elizabeth-short-black-dahlia/patrick-thornton">killed the Black Dahlia</a>? How did <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/flannan-isles-disappearance-facts/quinn-armstrong">three lighthouse keepers</a> vanish from their remote post in the British Isles?In the list below, we'll look at a few unsolved cases that occurred between the late 1800s and the mid-20th century. Although theories abound in each of these cases, an air of mystery hangs around all of them.

Unsolved True Crime Cases That May Never Be Solved

Unsolved Cases That May Never Be Solved

Patrick Thornton

Fan Theories

Fans always seem to love a good <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/list-of-all-detective-fiction-movies/ranker-film">mystery</a>, and what would a mystery be without a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-detective-characters/ranker-entertainment">great detective</a>. Detective stories have always driven the narrative in a powerful way and are the crux of any mystery.&nbsp;From unanswered questions&nbsp;to character quirks,&nbsp;some passionate fans managed to come up with&nbsp;some interesting&nbsp;theories surrounding a&nbsp;few of the most well known <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/who-would-you-want-investigating-your-murder-">fictional detectives</a>.Check out these fan theories&nbsp;about fictional <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/detective-fiction-tv-shows-and-series/ranker-tv">detectives</a>, and don't forget to vote!

22 Fan Theories About Fictional Detectives That Really Make Us Wonder

Loren O'Connell

Mysteries lists at Ranker - the ultimate source for lists and rankings in all categories