The Rosetta Stone was found in 1799 by soldiers led by Pierre-François Bouchard while they were demolishing ancient walls near Rosetta to improve a French fort.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by multiple independent, high-quality sources including the British Museum, Wikipedia, World History Encyclopedia, and Napoleon.org. Minor discrepancies exist over exact date and whether Bouchard personally found it, but core claim is well corroborated.
Sources
- 7 Historical Treasures Discovered by Accident | HISTORY (history.com)
- https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/everything-you-ever-wanted-know-about-rosetta-stone (britishmuseum.org)
- https://www.worldhistory.org/Rosetta_Stone/ (worldhistory.org)
- https://www.napoleon.org/en/history-of-the-two-empires/articles/the-rosetta-stone-a-journey-from-alexandria-to-london/ (napoleon.org)