THE DANCING PLAGUE OF 1518

ORIGIN: A Real Life Event In France

The Dancing Plague of 1518 is one of history's most bizarre (call it weird) and mysterious real life records of events. 

It happened in July 1518 in the city of Strasbourg, then part of the Holy Roman Empire (which is now modern-day France). 

The strange 'outbreak' began when a woman named Frau Troffea suddenly started dancing uncontrollably right in the middle of the streets. 

She danced for days without resting or stopping for even one minute, and soon, others joined her as well.

This went on for days and weeks, and within a month, the number of dancers had grown to around 400.

By that time, many of them had collapsed from exhaustion, suffered heart attacks, and some even died from the physical strain.

Historical records confirm that the local authorities, believed that the strange phenomenon was a medical condition.

So because of this believe, they the dancers to Keep dancing as a supposed cure. 

They even hired musicians and built a stage, thinking all the 'afflicted' would dance until they recovered. 

But nstead, this only made the situation worse.

The cause of the Dancing Plague remains a mystery. 

Some historians theorize it was a mass psychogenic illness— a form of mass hysteria that came as a result of extreme stress —- (Since the region was as of then plagued by famine and disease).

Many others reasoned that maybe the dancing was due to ergot poisoning, which was caused by a hallucinogenic mold found in rye bread.

This they thought may have triggered hallucinations and thus the compulsive dancing movements.

Though the dancing eventually stopped— with a lot of deaths caused by it— the event remains one of the strangest recorded instances of collective hysteria in human history.