In 1961, newspaper headlines across America were dominated by the story of the mysterious disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, the youngest son of Nelson Rockefeller, off the coast of New Guinea. Enthralled by the war-like Stone Age tribes living there, Michael had journeyed into the country's formidable interior to document their disappearing way of life and to assemble a museum collection of their extraordinary artifacts. He never returned -- drowned after capsizing in a canoe or, perhaps, killed by local tribesmen. His death remains a mystery to this day.

At the time Napoleon began systematically stripping Egypt of its magnificent treasures, former Circus strongman Giovanni Belzoni found his purpose in life. Blessed with considerable engineering skills, the flamboyant showman was asked by the British consul in Cairo to outflank the French and secure what artifacts he could on behalf of England. With the aid of accomplished tomb robbers, he did so, becoming the first man ever to set eyes upon the extraordinary tomb of Sethi I in the Valley of the Kings and maneuver the labyrinths of the second exploits, which scholars had attempted to do for generations. He succeeded in lifting the seven-ton head of Ramses II onto a raft.