The Great Broom-Closet Heist: The Day the Mona Lisa Went 'Missing'

On August 21, 1911, the Louvre museum in Paris realized it was missing a very specific lady with a very mysterious smile. An Italian handyman had spent the night in a broom closet, waited for the museum to open, and simply walked out with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa hidden under his clothes On This Day - What Happened on August 21. The most hilarious part? Nobody noticed she was gone for over 24 hours! Guards and visitors just assumed the wall was empty because the painting had been taken to the photography studio for a quick 'glamour shot.' It took a full day for a visiting painter to point out the empty hooks, leading to a worldwide search that eventually made the painting the most famous piece of art in the world Today in History: August 21, total eclipse captivates the U.S.. Talk about a successful 'out of office' reply!