The tourist who opened the first attempt a safe that was closed for decades in a museum

A man in Canada has opened the safe of a small, closed museum for decades by guessing the combination the first time.

Stephen Mills was visiting the Vermilion Heritage Museum with his family when he tried to open the metal box "as a joke".

The museum, located in the province of Alberta, had already tried to open the old box several times without success.

The safe was closed since the late 1970s.

The town of Vermilion has only about 4,000 residents and the museum exhibits a historic collection of the city in a brick building that was an old school.

Mills, of Fort McMurray, Alberta, also visited Vermilion with his family for a long weekend in May.

"Every time we go camping every summer, we learn that every little town, no matter where, has something to offer," he told the BBC.

The family went to visit the museum with the children with volunteer guide Tom Kibblewhite.

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One of the objects of the exhibition was the safe which was originally in the Brunswick Hotel in the village, opened in 1906.

It is believed that the cabinet was acquired in 1907 and that it was donated to the museum in the early 90's, after the hotel's renovation after a change of ownership.

Mills commented that when they showed them the box, the whole family "was intrigued".

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As did?

Previously, the museum had hired experts to decipher the key, had tried several default combinations and had contacted former employees to find out if they could help.

Like the Mills family, other visitors to the museum got their hands dirty in an attempt to open it, to no avail.

Mills, who works as a welder, told the guide that the box seemed "an incredible time capsule". "They do not even know what's inside," he told him.

He realized that the numbers went from zero to 60 and decided to try it: 20-40-60.

"The typical combination of a key lock: three turns in the direction of the watch handles (20), two turns in the opposite direction (40), one in the direction of the watch handles (60). I turned the handle and opened, "remember.

"I realized that they had not opened it for a long time because a little dust was loose from the lock mechanism."

Kibblewhite, the guide, told the BBC that "it was exciting" when he returned and saw the door open wide.

What was there inside?

No treasure, unfortunately. It contained an old payment account and a part of a restaurant order book dating from the late 1970s.

The brochure included receipts for a mushroom burger for $ 1.5 Canadian ($ 1.12 US) and a pack of cigarettes for a Canadian dollar.

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"They really have no value, but they interest us a lot, it gives us a little idea of ​​the nature of these places in 1977-1978," added Kibblewhite.

Law of Probability

Jeffrey Rosenthal of the University of Toronto and author of "Knock on Wood: Luck, Luck and the Meaning of Everything" ("Touching wood: luck, luck and the meaning of" everything ").

He calculated the probability of finding the correct key on 1 out of 216,000. (This calculation badumes that vault numbers are from 1 to 60).

However, he pointed out that some combination locks allowed some flexibility and that if this margin had a three-digit margin, the odds would be 1 in 8,000, "which are still low," said Rosenthal.

The fact that the combination follows a specific scheme and does not appear to be a combination of random numbers could also be a factor in the calculation of probabilities, he concluded.