Enjoy looking at these cool facts on Oak Island!

Here, I put together all kinds of really cool facts on Oak Island! Enjoy!

In the waters of Mahone Bay, almost 50 miles west of Halifax, near the village of Chester, lies a 144-acre island that possesses a mystery of pirate’s hidden treasure called Oak Island.

The mystery began in 1795 when a seventeen-year-old boy named Daniel McGinnis, went to explore Oak Island. He stumbled across a sawed of branch on an oak tree and a large depression in the ground. That was unmistakable evidence that someone had buried something, deep in the ground. With some of his friends, he began digging. About four feet down was flagstone. At six feet down, they found a platform of oak logs, embedded into the shaft. At thirty feet down, they found another platform of logs, but it was impossible for them to raise, so they had to give up.  In 1803, the boys returned with Simeon Lynds, a wealthy businessman, to continue the search. At ninety feet down, they found something truly awesome, a large flat stone with the inscription "Forty feet below two million pounds are buried."

Millions of dollars have been spent, and six people have lost their lives in hope of finding the booty.  In 1861, an exploding boiler scalded a man to death. In 1893, a man fell to his death after the rope holding him slipped from the pulley. On August 17, 1965, four people died in a row by drowning in the pit. Bob Restall, his son Bobby, another worker and Cyril Hiltz. To this day, no one really knows who left what on Oak Island and what it is. Is there even treasure buried there?

There are many theories to the popular question, "Who left what on Oak Island?" Who knows if there even is any treasure there. Here are some of the main theories behind Oak Island.

Captain William Kidd: Was a notorious privateer who frequently visited Oak Island for rest and relaxation and to repair his ships. Now legends have it that Kidd and his crew had a habit of burying part of their treasure. Periodically maps have been found, apparently those of Captain Kidd, showing the locations of his treasures. There are a lot of tales of old men on their deathbeds claiming to be part of Kidd’s crew and knowing where the treasures are buried. Some of these stories point towards Oak Island.

Sir Francis Bacon: Some say that Shakespeare was not educated enough to write his own plays and that someone else must have written them instead. This person is believed to be Sir Francis Bacon. He is believed to have assisted in the writing of the complete works of Shakespeare and some think he is the sole writer of the works. It could be that the concrete vault found by Fred Blair may have been a kind of “time capsule” that was placed by Bacon to hold his private papers so that others might find them at a later date. This is one popular theory since no original manuscripts of Shakespeare have ever been found. In addition, keep in mind that Bacon along with being a scientist, writer, mathematician, politician, and astronomer, he did experiments with preserving documents in mercury and a large supply of vials containing traces of mercury was found on Oak Island.

Stranded Spanish Galleon: All ships must use the Gulf Stream when travelling back to Europe from the Caribbean, and Nova Scotia is close to the Gulf Stream. It may be that a Spanish Galleon returning from Central or South America with gold and jewels may have been badly damaged in a storm and found its way to Mahone Bay. Theory has it that while some crew repaired the ship other crew buried the treasure with plans to return later with a more sea-worthy ship to retrieve their booty. It may be that their ship sunk on the return voyage to Spain, never to return for their booty.