The unusual items America is burying in a time capsule to mark its 250th anniversary

The America250 Time Capsule team in Philadelphia before the items are buried (Picture: America250 /Cover Media)

A steel time capsule containing hundreds of artefacts, documents and cultural treasures will be buried in Philadelphia as part of celebrations to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary.

Known as America’s Time Capsule, the archive was commissioned by Congress and will be interred on July 4, exactly 250 years since the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

Among the items are bottles of Coke, fabric from the Wright Brothers’ first flight, and, bizarrely, a photograph of English golfer Aaron Rai after he became the 2026 US PGA champion.