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Over the course of history, customs surrounding death and burial have often been peculiar. For example, Victorian funeral portraits involved posing the deceased for a photograph. Other traditions involved preserving a part of a loved one's body as a memento or relic for veneration. Conversely, there were instances where body parts were kept to symbolically inflict torment upon the deceased. Under various strange and horrifying circumstances, numerous renowned historical figures were laid to rest without vital body parts.

Curious to find out who? And more importantly, what? Click through the following gallery to learn more about these strange and macabre journeys.

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The Buddha, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, passed away at some point between 544 and 368 BCE. Following his cremation, a disciple named Khema reportedly rescued a solitary tooth from the funeral pyre.

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The tooth was brought by Khema to the Hindu kingdom, where it was revered for countless years. Subsequently, the tooth embarked on extensive journeys. Numerous rulers desired to possess it, while others wanted to destroy it.

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The tooth was eventually transported to Kandy, a city in Sri Lanka, during the 12th century, and has remained there ever since. Despite several attempts by the Catholic Church to destroy it, they were unsuccessful. Today, it is on display at the Sri Dalada Maligawa, or the Temple of the Tooth, and can be visited by the public.

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The French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, who was exiled, passed away in 1821 on the island of St. Helena. According to the doctor who conducted the autopsy, he took a personal memento from the renowned leader's body.

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Napoleon's cherished appendage was surgically removed by a doctor who later gifted it to a priest. When the priest passed away, it was inherited by his family in Corsica. Eventually, the appendage was sold to an English bookseller, who later sold it to an American bookseller. Surprisingly, it was even exhibited at the Museum of French Art in New York in 1927. Subsequently, a reputable urologist acquired it for US$3,000, recognizing its value as a significant artefact of his field.

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While it’s hard to keep track of the authenticity of traveling body parts over centuries, it was verified that the appendage in the doctor’s possession was definitely from a human male! However, was it really Napoleon’s?

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After the death of King Louis XIV of France in 1715, his heart was preserved and exhibited alongside his father's in a Parisian church. The king's remaining body was laid to rest at the Basilica of Saint-Denis. Amidst the French Revolution, these significant remnants of the monarchy were seized and ended up in the possession of various people.

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The heart, which has changed ownership throughout the years, is rumored to have ended up in the possession of the noble Harcourt family. According to the legend, a peculiar companion of the Harcourt family ultimately acquired the heart.

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The geologist William Buckland was known for his adventurous eating habits, indulging in a wide range of animal species as part of his scientific research. As a snack, he would even enjoy mice on toast, and he didn't hesitate to taste unusual creatures like tortoises and puppies. During a visit to the Harcourts, he came across a distinctive item in their possession. “I have eaten many strange things, but have never eaten the heart of a king before.” He then allegedly proceeded to eat the piece of mummified heart!

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Throughout history, it was customary to preserve the bones and other body parts of saints, keeping them as precious relics. These relics held deep religious importance and were thought to possess miraculous powers, drawing pilgrims and bringing honor to those who possessed them.

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After St. Nicholas, the saint who served as the inspiration for Santa Claus, passed away, a significant number of his bones were preserved and exhibited in Myra, a town situated in present-day Turkey. It was a common practice for towns to orchestrate the theft of holy objects, thus Bari in Italy employed a team of thieves who successfully pilfered the bones and returned with them. To this day, the bones remain on display in the town of Bari.

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Galileo, the renowned astronomer, had the fortune of being buried with his complete body intact. Nevertheless, during the relocation of his remains to a more majestic sepulcher in Florence nearly one hundred years later, some opportunistic fans made off with a few pieces of his remains. They got away with three fingers, a tooth, and one of his vertebrae.

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A finger was acquired by an antiquarian known as Anton Francesco Gori, who responsibly preserved it. It was exhibited at the renowned Laurentian Library for a while, but eventually found its place at the Museum of the History of Science in Florence.

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The vertebrae can be traced back to the University of Padua, where it remains on display to this day. The two additional fingers and tooth were lost for many centuries, but in 2009, a jar containing those precise items was listed for auction in Italy and sold for a small amount. The purchaser then brought the bones to the Institute and Museum of the History of Science, where their authenticity was verified.

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Mata Hari, a renowned exotic dancer, was accused of espionage in World War I. She was from the Netherlands but ran away from her husband and altered her identity to pursue a dancing career in Paris.

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The French believed that she performed spy work and shared state secrets with her German lovers during the war. It is unclear whether this allegation is true or not. Nonetheless, she faced a conviction and was executed in 1917. As no relatives claimed her remains, they were given to the Museum of Anatomy.

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At the museum, her head was preserved and exhibited alongside other war criminals from that period. In 2000, archivists noticed that her head was no longer present. It had not been viewed for a considerable period, suggesting that it had been lost for many years. The prevailing theory is that it was either misplaced or stolen during the museum's relocation in 1954.

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The fame of George Washington largely revolves around his wooden teeth, but it is his hair that has endured throughout history. In his time, it was customary to exchange locks of hair as keepsakes, making these strands highly sought after following his death.

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Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow received a strand of George Washington's hair from his grandfather, who had collaborated with Washington as a congressman. Martha Washington presented the poet's wife with the hair, and it remained within the family. Eventually, in 1899, it was generously donated to the Maine Historical Society.

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In 2018, a archivist at Union College in New York uncovered an astonishing find - an additional piece of George Washington's hair tucked away inside a 1793 almanac. This extraordinary discovery was accompanied by a letter indicating that it originally belonged to Eliza Hamilton, the renowned Alexander Hamilton's wife.

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Oliver Cromwell, a renowned historical figure, was laid to rest without his head. In the 17th century, Cromwell courageously led an army against King Charles during the English Civil War. Following his demise, the monarchy was restored, prompting royalists to unearth his remains and relocate them from Westminster Abbey, where it had been buried.

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Rather than burying the body in a less prominent area, it was decided to hang it from the Tyburn gallows as a symbolic punishment. Eventually, his head was cut off and placed on a wooden spike outside Westminster, where it remained for possibly three decades. In the picture is his death mask.

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During a storm, the head reportedly fell off and was later taken home by a guard. In the following centuries, it changed hands several times in England, with several individuals claiming to possess it by the 1800s. One probable owner was a surgeon named Josiah Henry Wilkinson. Scientific examinations in 1934 provided evidence suggesting that the head may indeed belong to Cromwell. Eventually, the Wilkinson family accorded it a proper burial in 1960.

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Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher, supported the concept of posthumous body donation for scientific purposes. An essay penned by Bentham years prior to his demise delves into his intriguing notions about "auto-icons."

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The concept was as follows: upon death, your family would donate your body to science, yet retain your skeleton and head. Your clothes would rest upon the skeleton, cleverly filled with hay for a lifelike appearance. Your mummified head would be positioned on top, resulting in a truly frightful and true-to-life statue of your likeness!

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Although the idea is unbelievably macabre, Bentham's reasons were pretty good. For one, it meant that scientists would have plenty of cadavers to study and train with. Additionally, there would no longer be any need for expensive cemetery plots or graveyards. He also claimed that it would “diminish the horrors of death,” although some would dispute that…

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Bentham's auto-icon is currently exhibited in the student center at University College London, without his actual mummified head. Originally positioned at Bentham's feet, the head was pilfered by students from a competing college in 1975. Upon its retrieval, the decision was made to secure the head in a safe.

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St. Francis Xavier is known for his missionary work and his role in establishing the Jesuit order. Following his death in 1552, his remains were transported to Goa, India, where he had undertaken significant endeavors. This occasion garnered considerable enthusiasm, as devotees from everywhere congregated to behold the body, which supposedly hadn't decomposed at all.

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The supposed lack of decomposition is a feature common in the legends of many saints, and was believed to mean that the body was pure and incorrupt. Further evidence of his sainthood was discovered in a bizarre manner.

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According to reports, a woman who visited his body allegedly bent over and physically tore off one of his toes, resulting in fresh blood splattering all around as if he were alive. This particular toe is considered significant, symbolizing a miracle, and has been handed down through her family for many generations. The remainder of his body is exhibited as a relic; however, the aforementioned toe remains absent.

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Albert Einstein, the renowned theoretical physicist, passed away on April 18, 1955. Shortly afterward, a pathologist named Thomas Harvey conducted an unauthorized autopsy at Princeton Hospital. During the procedure, Harvey took Einstein's brain and transported it to a laboratory at the University of Philadelphia.

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Contrary to the esteemed scientist's final wishes, his body was not cremated. The scientist had apparently requested for his ashes to be scattered at a secret location to prevent idolization. A short while after the autopsy, Harvey's theft of Einstein's brain was discovered. Surprisingly, he somehow persuaded Einstein's hesitant son to allow him to keep the brain for scientific examination purposes.

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Harvey (pictured) sliced the brain into 240 pieces, preserved them in celloidin, and stored them in two jars. He distributed several pieces to different pathologists and researchers across the country. However, these jars largely remained untouched in his basement for a long time. Finally, in 1985, Harvey and the other collaborating pathologists published a study on Einstein's brain. Harvey later donated the remaining pieces to the National Museum of Health and Medicine near Washington, DC before his death in 2007.

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In 1807, the Portuguese royal family escaped the French invasion by seeking refuge in their colonized territory in Brazil. Yet in 1821, King Dom John VI departed Brazil, leaving his 22-year-old son, Dom Pedro I, to govern in his absence. Initially acting as prince regent, Pedro swiftly shifted his allegiance from Portugal to Brazil.

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In 1822, Dom Pedro declined his orders to go back to Portugal and declared Brazil as its own separate state. The independence of Brazil was formally recognized on September 7th, with Dom Pedro assuming the role of the country's first emperor. He governed for nearly ten years until he abdicated the throne to his son, Dom Pedro II, in order to assist his daughter in Portugal, where her throne had been usurped.

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Dom Pedro I caught tuberculosis and died in Portugal at the age of 35. On his deathbed, he asked that his heart be removed and sent to the city of Porto in Northern Portugal. It is kept on the altar of the Church of Our Lady of Lapa, however, it was taken on a tour of Brazil in 2022 to celebrate 200 years of independence.

Sources: (Mental Floss) (Time) (National Geographic) (BBC)