We've seen it in movies, and we've read about it in our favorite novels. A character is searching for something in the attic or the basement when he suddenly discovers a great treasure. It's a classic plot starter to many adventure flicks and books. But what would you say if we told you that great treasures don't only appear in the movies and that ordinary people everywhere have found the most exciting things in their homes?

Whether our list will inspire you to search your home's attic for lost artifacts or not is only up to you. But we're pretty sure that the interesting finds in our list will at least get your undivided attention. From surprising old photographs of your grandfather to the funniest of objects, these finds will make you laugh, think about history, and look at the old junk in your home's drawers in a completely different way.

Grandma's Cousin & His Buddy Albert

Just imagine—you're browsing through some old photos of your grandma to see what things were like back in the day. And then, out of nowhere, you stumble upon a couple of pictures of a certain Albert Einstein!

It turned out grandma's cousin was friends with the one and only Einstein and that the two enjoyed spending vacation time together. These old and previously unknown pictures of the iconic scientist behind the general theory of relativity are a treasure to be cherished and show Einstein at his very best: he's boasting his trademark smoking pipe, a casual look, and a couple of very fashionable sandals.

From the 1800s, With Hate

When we think of old objects from the 19th century, we don't usually think of embroidered jokes. But alas, here's what's very likely one of the oldest memes ever made by humankind.

We get it. Needlework takes a lot of patience, and it's the sort of task that suits some people better than others. But this embroidery piece, found at a local estate sale, has got to be one of the funniest objects on our list. And the most surprising thing is the date: we never thought people were this hilarious back in 1811.

A Well-Deserved Roast

Wartime objects like this World War II jacket are a priceless piece of history. But sometimes, the historical object itself contains a deep, fascinating secret. A man was inspecting his grandfather's old wartime jacket when he realized a piece of paper was in one of the pockets. When he opened it, he couldn't believe it.

The paper, depicting four pigs, instructs the user to fold along the puzzle's dotted lines. If there's a man in history who deserves a good old-fashioned roasting, that's Adolf Hitler. But having your face made out of four pigs is perhaps a bit much. After all, pigs are lovely animals and don't deserve this kind of treatment!

Great-Great-Grandad Was a Hunk

A Reddit user was exploring the attic at his grandma's house when he stumbled upon this invaluable piece of family history. These documents show the man's great-great-grandfather looking quite handsome in his passport picture, but there's also a ticket to the U.S. that was dated precisely a century later.

The passport is Italian, and the ticket is French, but the history these papers tell is an all-American one. Countless American families have some kind of European ancestry, but only a selected few are lucky enough to find actual evidence of it.

This Vineyard Gives More Than Just Good Wine

Besides being the site of Romeo and Juliet's story, the Italian city of Verona is filled with ancient vestiges of the glorious Roman Empire. But few are as impressive as this near-intact Roman mosaic, which was discovered at a local vineyard.

The intact mosaic was uncovered by a team of baffled archaeologists, who were able to trace it back to the 3rd century! According to the experts, it belonged to an old Domus, which was the name the Romans gave to the big houses where the upper-class citizens used to live.

A Box of Money From All Over the World

A jogger was running down an old dirt road when he stumbled upon a wooden box. People throw stuff out all the time on that very same road, but this old-looking box stood out from the rest. And when the jogger took it home to open it, he couldn't believe what was inside.

This box of treats came with lots of money, including many foreign currencies. Most envelopes date from the 18th to early 20th centuries, and there was even an old coin from 1621. To make it more interesting, the envelopes come from around the world, including countries that no longer exist.

Why Read When You Can Have a Drink?

It's easy to look at somber old pictures and assume that our ancestors had no sense of humor. But the reality is very different. Well-put jokes and irony are far from being a 21st-century invention, and this unique find is here to prove it.

Disguised as a very austere book, this undercover flask is, ironically, an object you might use to avoid reading. It's a perfect comedy piece that seems to be from France originally and must be at least 100 years old. We can imagine an old dandy using this flask to pretend he was studying while, in fact, he was not! The flask's "title" translates as "the ancient thirst for reading."

History Is All Over

History isn't just in books and museums. It's all around us. And if you're lucky enough, you may get the chance to find an actual piece of history in an old book you may have in the house. That's precisely what happened with this fascinating bookmark, which turned out to be something completely different.

This seemingly unimportant piece of paper is a voting ticket, dating from the American Civil War. It was discovered in the pages of an old William Shakespeare book, and it makes for one of the most interesting finds on our list.

A Sign of the Times

Time capsules are still popular today, but they made for a common fad in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Considering that, it's no wonder some people have discovered tiny time capsules in the most unexpected places, including their own backyards.

This 100-year-old time capsule was discovered in the back of someone's house and contained some fascinating items. There's an old Christmas postcard showing one of the biblical Magi, a tiny metal elephant, three rusty old coins, and a very interesting picture of a group of friends hanging out.

Is That A Giant Finger?

Putting dusty and historical finds aside for a moment, we need to contemplate just how tiny this frog is! Unless that's the world's most giant finger, this frog is more miniature than many creatures, and we didn't even know frogs this small existed.

Some species of frogs are so tiny they have escaped biologists for years. In 2017, NPR reported that four new species of fingernail-sized frogs were discovered. These frogs are pretty common, but they escaped unnoticed for years, mainly for being ridiculously tiny. The smallest of the four, the Robin Moore's Night Frog, is just 0.48 inches long.

Art For the Trees

Forests hide lots of unusual and ancient secrets. But they also make for the perfect artist's workshop. A person was exploring a forest when this beautiful fox appeared. Concealed in the stump of a tree, the wooden animal was perfectly carved and blended harmoniously with its environment.

This surprising find can be considered a remarkable example of environmental art: a wide range of artistic practices that take the earth as a sculptural material. We think it's brilliant to take something like a tree stump and turn it into something new and beautiful.

Hello? Is Anybody Home?

Forget about beautiful wooden foxes carved in tree stumps. Our new favorite example of nature art has got to be this tiny house, concealed within a hole in a tree. It's perfectly designed, and it even has its own postbox!

This unexpected find makes us want to leave everything behind, turn into tiny human beings, and live in the seclusion of a tree stump. It goes to show that some of the best artworks out there come from a place of passion, signed by anonymous artists who do things out of sheer pleasure.

Backyard Digging Proves Worthy

Let's face it: if most of us decided to do some amateur archaeological excavations in our backyard, we would find nothing but dirt, funny-shaped rocks, and perhaps a couple of lost items. But some people have a knack for finding extraordinary things, even when they're doing something as arbitrary as excavating their backyards.

This little statue may not look like much at all, but professional archaeologists evaluated it, and it's considered 3,000 to 4,000 years old. Not bad at all for something you've just found in your own backyard!

The Frisbee Pond

It's a sunny day, so you hit the city's park to play frisbee with some friends. But then, your frisbee falls into the nearest pond and sinks, putting an end to your fun. Unless you're brave enough to dive head-first into the mission of getting your frisbee back.

That's precisely what this man did. But the most incredible thing is that he didn't just recover his lost frisbee. Instead, he found a total of 73 frisbees in the pound, making for this colorful frisbee collection. It was an excellent move: now he has a cool story to share with his friends while helping the environment.

A Finding Expert

The next time you decide to make fun of the poor chap with a metal detector on the beach, please consider this picture. This good samaritan diver chose to explore a private lake with a metal detector, and the things he found there are just incredible.

He recovered many valuable objects, but the star of the show has got to be this beautiful diamond ring on the right. It's a wedding ring that was lost in the lake for about five years, and it's said to be worth a good $5K. So yeah, it turns out metal detectors are pretty cool after all!

Inspirational Find

A man had a lifelong passion for woodworking, closely related to a book he had as a kid. He kept this book for over 30 years, and he loved every single picture in there. One day, as he passed by a vintage store, he saw a piece for sale that reminded him of that same book.

When he bought it and took it home he couldn't believe it: by destiny or sheer coincidence, the bowl he found was the same as in one of the pictures of the book he had as a kid! There may be lots of bowls precisely like this, but this is still a twist of fate.

Bottled Universe

Bottle biospheres are very popular and can persist with minimal to no human interaction. But it's one thing to make a bottle biosphere, and another to find one that was developed entirely in nature. This alien-looking bottle was discovered in the woods, and you can tell from the outside that it's booming with life.

This bottle was probably left in the woods as litter but turned out to become something completely different. The person who found it was very lucky; this is a fascinating object containing a self-developing, fully-functional natural ecosystem.

Like a Scene From a Disney Movie

Yes, people find all kinds of elaborate, fascinating things when they're exploring the woods. But some finds are just simple and heartwarming. Take this lost jacket, for instance. Someone left it in a branch and forgot about it. But then, it became the home to a nice family of birds.

A jacket's pocket has got to be one of the best places for a bird to make a nest, and this looks just lovely. It's like a scene straight out of an old Disney movie, and it's a find that probably made this person's week.

The War is Over, Boys!

Green army men figurines were a must in every little child's box of toys. But nowadays, the green army men are not so busy with the war. Their relentless fighting skills gave way to newer and more exciting toys, including videogames and Internet apps.

So, what are they up to these days? According to this unique find, they've been chilling in the barracks and practicing some yoga. This was discovered in a rental apartment, and it shows just how much times have changed over the last 20 years or so.

Fancy a Beach Walk?

There's something therapeutic about taking a long walk at the beach. But one of the best things about the vast ocean in front of you is that you never know what it's going to bring. This exceptional rock was found at the beach by a seven-year-old, and it's the kind of find you treasure for the rest of your life.

More than a fine-looking rock, this fantastic find is filled with traces of fossilized shells that make it look like a magical rune. We imagine that finding this rock is a little like stumbling upon a magical kingdom of adventure and imagination for a kid.

Not The Teeth They Had in Mind...

A man decided to take his daughter to the beach in a quest to find shark teeth. Why? We imagine it's because shark teeth are cool, and the outing makes for some excellent father-daughter bonding. But when the man's daughter finally screamed, "I found it," he couldn't believe their luck...

After seeing the teeth his daughter picked up from the sand, the man was in shock. They looked nothing like shark teeth and made for an even more unique discovery. But the real finding here is not this set of lost teeth: it's the incredible story this father and daughter will have to tell.

Something Cool To Read Tonight

Old homes come with secrets. On our list, there are many examples of people who found the craziest things in their homes. But this has got to be one of the most fascinating. A man was inspecting a ventilation cavity when he stumbled upon this pile of old love letters stringed together.

Considering the hiding place, this was probably a secret or forbidden romance, which only makes the find even spicier. That's a fascinating read for the night: it's like diving right into an old love novel nobody ever knew existed before.

A Handy Carrot

Not all cool finds will be able to resist the test of time. But fortunately, they can make for a perfect and ever-lasting picture. This hand-shaped carrot was discovered in someone's backyard, and it looks so much like a gruesome hand this guy wasn't able to resist pulling the joke.

We've seen odd-looking vegetables before, but these carrots are so perfectly shaped like a hand they could make for a horror movie prop. Maybe a movie about a killer who chokes you to death while feeding you some vital biotin, potassium, and vitamin A?

Suddenly Rich

House renovations are a perfect way of discovering exciting finds. But it's one thing to find a unique object and another to hit the jackpot completely. A man was renovating the house when he decided to inspect an old coal container. There, he found not one, not two, but a total of 83 pristine gold coins!

People say that the only way you'll never win the lottery is by not playing it. But considering how lucky this man just got, we guess you can win the lottery without ever even buying a ticket! A fortunate man indeed.

The Nostalgia Levels Are Over the Roof!

A man decided to show his old GameBoy to his three-year-old son. The idea was a nostalgic one to start with, but they got even more of a trip down memory lane. Because right there was a picture of the man's old dog, revealed by the GameBoy's display device system.

Display devices were the old-school equivalent of printing scanners, and they could turn input information into these sort of pixelized images. This old boy is probably gone by now, but his cute snout will forever be immortalized in this GameBoy color device. What a find!

New Home, Old Find

After buying a home, a man decided to remove all the heating vents in order to paint them. It was then that he stumbled upon this message from 1971, written shortly after Apollo 14's team became the third to land on the Moon, merely two short years after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's historical 1969 adventure.

It goes to show that buying a home with some history can be very rewarding. This Easter egg is precisely the kind of thing every history buff out there dreams of finding in his house.

The Lucky Oyster

We all know that pearls come from oysters, but we don't really think about it when we order seafood at a fancy restaurant. Oysters are a delectable appetizer, and that's basically all we ever ask from them. But once in a while, a lost pearl can end up finding its way to your mouth.

Yes, having tiny pearls in your food is a definite hazard. But since this man still has all of his teeth, he's probably very happy about finding a perfect-looking pearl in his oysters. It's a real beauty!

Is That Even Legal?

Not all of the finds on our list are incredible and heartwarming. Some are, albeit interesting, kind of illegal. This bottle of cocaine was spotted in the dusty drawer of a pharmacy, and it makes us go back to the days when cocaine was nothing but another type of medicine.

Still wrapped in plastic, this pristine medicine bottle looks good enough to make it to a museum. Today, cocaine is illegal virtually everywhere, and while the numbers are tough to estimate, the illicit cocaine trade market is said to be worth something between $110 and $130 billion!

A Hypnotic Find

If you can't take your eyes off of this hypnotic and near-perfect rock, you're not alone. This stunning mineral is a rare example of red fox agate, and it's said to be worth at least $500.

The best part is that a miner or archaeologist didn't discover this perfect rock. A man from Ankara, Turkey, stumbled upon it while inspecting his backyard and probably found it as stunning as we do. You never know when you're going to find something unique that's just sitting there, in the back of your own property.

Sleeping Under a Fortune

If you live in a home that used to belong to someone else, there's a good chance you're sleeping right next to a hidden fortune. This impressive collection of silver dollars was found in the crawl space above a man's bedroom, and it's got to be worth a real fortune!

So, the next time you think you know your house like the back of your hand, it's probably a good idea to double-check every little nook and cranny. While many old homes hide nothing but spider webs and piles of dust, some come with bonafide hidden treasures.