Unsettling May Have Occurred
Occasionally Uncomfortable Obscure True Stories from Human History
By the editors of DamnInteresting.com
Generated 05 December 2012
Copyright © 2012 Damn Interesting, All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents
Title Page
Table of Contents
Bound By Tradition (937 AD)
Bad Rye and the Salem Witches (1692 AD)
Night Takes Rook (1699 AD)
Feral Children (1724 AD)
The Doctors' Mob Riot (1788 AD)
Liver-Eating Johnson (1847 AD)
Phineas Gage's Brain Injury (1848 AD)
Better Call Sol (1859 AD)
Eugenics and You (1865 AD)
The Forgotten Fire (1871 AD)
The Jumping Frenchman of Maine Disorder (1878 AD)
Meddle, Metal, and Mettle (1881 AD)
The Ice Worm Cometh (1887 AD)
The Tragedy of the Love Canal (1895 AD)
Sordid History of the Salton Sea (1905 AD)
Extinction of the Passenger Pigeons (1914 AD)
The Tyrant of Clipperton Island (1914 AD)
The Fall of the Eastland (1915 AD)
The Sleepy Sickness (1916 AD)
The Tragic Birth of FM Radio (1933 AD)
Monster Rogue Waves (1933 AD)
History's Youngest Mother (1939 AD)
The Man Who Started the War (1939 AD)
The Fall of Galloping Gertie (1940 AD)
The Battle of Los Angeles (1942 AD)
The Remains of Lady Be Good (1943 AD)
The B-25 that Crashed Into the Empire State Building (1945 AD)
In Soviet Russia, Lake Contaminates You (1945 AD)
Bitten by the Nuclear Dragon (1946 AD)
The Star Dust Mystery (1947 AD)
Not Your Average Summer Camp (1954 AD)
The Unfortunate Sex Life of the Banana (1955 AD)
The Gay-Detecting Fruit Machine (1955 AD)
The Whereabouts of Dr. Einstein's Brain (1955 AD)
The Windscale Disaster (1957 AD)
Project Babylon: Gerald Bull's Downfall (1958 AD)
Rider on the Storm (1959 AD)
The Pit of Life and Death (1960 AD)
The Alcatraz Redemption (1962 AD)
The Sheep Incident (1968 AD)
The Artificial Prison of the Human Mind (1971 AD)
Nineteen Seventy Three (1971 AD)
Sympathy for the Devil (1973 AD)
The "Wow!" Signal (1977 AD)
The Vela Incident (1979 AD)
Who Wants To Be a Thousandaire? (1984 AD)
Remember, Remember the 22nd of November (1987 AD)
The Mysterious Toynbee Tiles (1992 AD)
Aches on a Plane (1994 AD)
Half Science and Hafnium Bombs (1998 AD)
The Wrath of the Killdozer (2004 AD)
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Author Credits
Bound By Tradition (937 AD)
On 20 October 1998, the Zhiqiang Shoe Factory in Harbin, China sent out a press release stating that they were officially halting production of a curious variety of footwear known as “lotus shoes.” This announcement may appear pedestrian to Western eyes, but in a way it was a symbolic epitaph for a bizarre custom which had been in practice in parts of China for about a thousand years: a process known as foot binding.
Until the mid-twentieth century, a girl born into an affluent family in China was almost certain to be taken aside sometime in her first few years to begin a process of sculpting her feet into tiny, pointed “lotus” feet. This body modification was intended to attract suitors and flaunt one's upper-crusty status. The culture at large considered these reshaped feet to be beautiful, and the dainty gait that resulted from such radically reshaped extremities was seen as alluring, but the process of producing lotus feet was grisly, problematic, and led to lifelong podiatric problems.
The invention of foot binding is not well documented, but the earliest known written records of the practice date back to the Southern Tang dynasty around 937 AD. Some historians believe that the tradition arose when women started imitating the imperial concubine "Fragrant Girl" who was known for her diminutive wrapped feet; others attribute the tradition to a troupe of court dancers who pioneered the process around the same time. Regardless of its origins, these re-engineered feet became fashionable among upper-class Chinese families around a thousand years ago, and it was in practice until somewhat recently.
Generations of trial and error led practitioners of foot binding to master the craft of twisting and reshaping a young girl's sole. Foot binding was usually conducted in winter months so that the cold could be used to help numb the injuries and prevent infection. Sometime after a daughter of the well-to-do turned 2 years old, and generally before they turned 5, the young girl and her malleable skeleton were taken aside by an elder female family member or a professional foot binder to initiate the foot-altering process. Though there was an old saying that a mother couldn't love her daughter and her daughter's feet at the same time, the procedure was seldom carried out by the mother personally because she would likely find it difficult to ignore the child's considerable distress.
To begin the foot binding process, the foot binder would gently soak the child's feet in a solution of animal blood and herbs. Her toenails were trimmed and groomed, and her feet were thoroughly massaged. Once the skin was softened and the muscles were relaxed, the foot binder would curl the child's toes down towards the sole of the foot as far as the bones would allow. The binder would then curl the toes farther than the bones would allow, snapping the toddler's phalanges and forming a kind of twisted foot-fist. No manner of pain relief was employed during this process, so the binder was required to disregard any agonized screams. Next, the arch was broken.
The girl's foot--now a suitably sculptable sack of bones--was wrapped in long bandages which had been soaked in the secret recipe of herbs and bloods. With each winding the bindings were pulled as tightly as possible, drawing the ball and the heel of the foot increasingly closer and tapering the end of the foot into a point. The wrappings were then thoroughly stitched and allowed to tighten as they dried. Then on to the other foot.
Afterwards, the girl's feet were periodically unwrapped to clean the crevasses, trim the the oddly oblique toenails, and remove any dead flesh. The foot maintainer might opt to peel the toenails off altogether if they were becoming sites for infection. Sometimes a toe or two would fall off during this process, leaving even more room for reshaping. The girl's feet were then re-wrapped even tighter than before, causing her footprint to shrink further as the bones slowly fused into their new configuration. Occasionally girls' feet would fester, and blood poisoning from gangrene could be a cause for concern, but an estimated 90% survived the process.
Once the feet reached their target petiteness of 7.5 centimeters (about 3 inches), the unsightly bindings were adorned with embroidered silk slippers. When a perfectly lotus-footed lady was inserted into society she became a sought-after mate. Her reconfigured feet were made obvious by her distinct manner of walking: a swaying shuffle which came to be known as the Lotus Gait. Bound feet were considered to be sexually exciting to men, and girls who had them were much more likely to land a prestigious marriage. Sex manuals described numerous erotic acts married couples could perform involving lotus feet, but men were warned never to look upon the feet without their shoe
s and bindings, lest the aesthetic be destroyed forever. Moreover, unwrapped lotus feet were said to have a powerful and disagreeable odor owing to the accumulation of bacteria among the unnatural folds of the deformed feet. Dainty is dandy, but necrotic is not erotic.
Although the practice was initially limited to upper-crust families, people of lesser prestige soon began to conform with the tradition. A lotus-footed wife was not only coveted for her signature locomotion, but her injuries also tended to keep her from wandering far from home. Such women tended to forego participation in society and politics owing to their restricted mobility, and they became dependent upon their husbands and families for the rest of their lives. In spite of their high cultural status their existence consisted of little more than domestic seclusion.
Foot binding remained a popular practice in parts of China until efforts to ban it arose around the turn of the twentieth century. Anti-footbinding reformers educated the populace regarding the outside world's view of foot binding as barbaric, and taught the practical advantages of unmangled feet. Fear of international ridicule was a powerful motivator, and in a single generation the practice was almost eradicated, yet some stubborn families continued the tradition until it was prohibited by the new Communist government in 1949. Enterprising citizens invented a hobbling shoe that mimicked the trademark shuffle of bound feet, thereby providing an alternate route to social standing, but the stigma overpowered the appeal. Finally, after a millennium of misguided tradition, all Chinese citizens would be on equal footing.
At its height the contorted tradition was practiced by approximately 50% of middle-class Chinese families, and nearly 100% of affluent families. All told, the number of Chinese girls that were subjected to foot binding is numbered in the tens of millions. There are a few hundred foot-bound women who still survive, most of them octogenarians or greater. It is easy to look back at the bygone barbarism and wonder how it was allowed to continue for so long, but it is equally easy to overlook how blind one can be to the pressures of one's own culture. Perhaps one day humanity will learn to recognize the imprudence of inflicting antiquated traditions upon those too young to make up their own minds.
Originally published 23 November 2011
http://dam.mn/bound-by-tradition/
Bad Rye and the Salem Witches (1692 AD)
In the late 1600s, the Puritan settlement of Salem in Massachusetts toppled into chaos when accusations of witchcraft began to appear. Two young girls, aged nine and eleven, were said to have fallen victim to fits "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease," including screams, strange contortions, and throwing objects. The village doctor, unable to explain the symptoms, suggested that witchcraft may be afoot in Salem. Others in the settlement began to exhibit similar inexplicable behavior, and shortly the accusations began to fly.
The infamous trials that followed left nineteen people hanged to death, and scores of others imprisoned under suspicion of supernatural wrongdoing. Today, few would suggest that those punished were actually guilty of witchcraft, but the true cause of the errant behavior in Salem's citizens is still a mystery. One theory-- perhaps the most intriguing yet offered-- suggests that the community's rye crop may have been partially to blame. Moreover, such maladjusted rye may have played a role in many of history's mysterious events.
Salem, like many other communities in the past and present, harvested rye as part of their grain crops, and it was a staple in their diet. But it turns out that rye grass is susceptible to a particular fungus called Claviceps purpurea which infects the edible portions of the plant. During the ergot stage of this fungus' development, a cocktail of interesting alkaloids are present which will cause problems with circulation and neurotransmission when ingested by humans. A woman named Linnda Caporael was the first to suggest that Ergot of Rye may have contributed to the madness in the Salem trials.
Ergot poisoning, or ergotism, can cause a distressing array of side effects. The initial symptoms are usually gastrointestinal in nature, including nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. Shortly thereafter the sufferer may experience a gamut of symptoms caused by ergot's influence on the central nervous system. These usually start with relatively benign sensations such as headaches, "pins and needles," and burning/itching sensations on the skin; but the the experience can escalate into spasms, convulsions, unconsciousness, hallucinations, and psychosis. In severe cases, the body tissues experience physical side effects such as loss of peripheral sensation, swelling, blisters, dry gangrene, and sometimes death.
This menagerie of nastiness is caused by two characteristics in the Ergot of Rye: Clavine alkaloids, which cause convulsive symptoms; and ergotamine-ergocristine alkaloids which restrict blood vessels and starve the limbs and brain of oxygen.
Ergot poisoning has been problematic throughout history. In the Middle Ages the disease was known as "St. Anthony's fire," and it was responsible for countless limbs lost to gangrene and many deaths. Entire villages were sometimes known the suffer such symptoms, and it is now believed that these outbreaks were caused when a village bakery used ergot-contaminated grain. Monks of the order of St. Anthony the Great became skilled at treating the condition with balms that stimulated circulation, and they became skilled amputators. The cause of the disease was not isolated until the late seventeenth century, and it did not become widely known until the 1800s. Before that time, epidemics of ergotism were often seen as a punishment from God.
Today historians are speculating that some other bizarre events of the past may be due to ergot poisoning. For instance, an affliction known as "dancing mania" which struck Europe from the 14th to the 17th century may have been caused by the troublesome fungus. This phenomenon caused groups of people to dance through the streets of cities-- often speaking nonsense and/or foaming at the mouth-- until they finally collapsed from exhaustion. Sufferers often described wild visions, and continued to writhe after falling to the ground. Some also suggest that Kykeon, a popular hallucinogenic drink from ancient Greece, may have been made from ergot-infected barley.
Given the conditions, the idea that the Salem witch trials may have been fuelled by ergot poisoning is quite plausible. The season had been warm and the growing area was swampy, a combination which creates an ideal environment for Ergot of Rye to develop. Also supporting this hypothesis is the fact that symptoms characteristic of ergot poisoning occurred in Connecticut in the same year. The ergot poisoning in Salem could not have been severe, however, otherwise more dramatic side effects would have occurred. Salem was a community stricken with inequality, fear of the native Indians, bitter disputes over land, and sexual repression; It is likely that Ergot of Rye was merely a catalyst in an already volatile situation, and mass hysteria took care of the rest.
Of course there are alternate theories regarding the cause of the Salem Witch Trials. Some have suggested that Salem residents may have suffered from a form of encephalitis spread by birds, or possibly Huntington's disease. Both are possible, though there is insufficient evidence to make any confident conclusions.
In addition to its colorful, trouble-making past, Ergot of Rye has had some influence in medicine in modern times. Because it causes strong uterine contractions in women, it has been used historically to induce abortions. Also, Dr. Albert Hofmann-- the "father" of LSD-- discovered the infamous mind-altering drug while experimenting with ergot. Although ergot itself contains no LSD, the two substances have much in common.
Originally published 27 June 2006
http://dam.mn/bad-rye-and-the-salem-witches/
Night Takes Rook (1699 AD)
Engineers need to have faith in their designs, but not many would necessarily be confident enough to put their lives at risk just to prove it. It takes a great deal of faith to design a lighthouse for the most dangerous reef in the English Channel, especially when no-one has ever built a lighthouse on the open sea before. It takes rather more to actually build it. And one approaches the shores of hubris when one decides to visit said light
house with a massive gale on the way. But when Henry Winstanley, an 18th-century English eccentric, designed and constructed the world's first open-sea lighthouse on a small and extraordinarily treacherous group of rocks fourteen miles out from Plymouth, he was so confident in his building that he blithely assured all doubters he would be willing to weather the strongest storm within its confines – a boast he had the chance to live up to when he found himself in his lighthouse as the most violent tempest in England's history approached its shores.
Likely the deadliest rock in the entire Channel, even in calm weather the Eddystone Reef is a sailor's nightmare, a jagged blade of rock surrounded by ever-churning wild waters. With four tides a day crashing up its ragged edges and a permanent turbulent swirl of waves around it, it forms the final obstacle for all ships approaching Plymouth. No-one knows just how many ships it eviscerated in the golden age of sail, be they foreign-owned vessels overladen with goods or weary native ships returning home. Nor is it known how many sailors drowned there in the brine, but at some stages it was reported to claim an average of a victim a week. What is known is that by the end of the 17th century, the sailors and shipowners of Plymouth had had enough, and petitioned for the building of a lighthouse on the Eddystone, despite general agreement that the task was impossible.
Henry Winstanley was not exactly the obvious ideal choice for building a lighthouse, particularly one likely to be the most vital lighthouse in English history. In fact he was almost ludicrously unqualified. Though deeply interested in architecture, his involvement stemmed from his work as an engraver, particularly his ten-years-in-the-making architectural study of Audley End House. His most successful work as an engraver was a best-selling pack of cards. Mostly, though, like other men of his generation he was fascinated by advances in engineering and the gadgets they produced. His home in Essex became a visitors' landmark as he accumulated a huge collection of home-made doohickeys, thingamajigs and contraptions. A showman at heart, he soon opened a museum in London, “Winstanley's Water-Works”, a perpetual show of fountains, fireworks, automata and other gimmicks that became wildly popular and remained so for decades. A later commentator hyperbolised that putting this man in charge of constructing the Eddystone lighthouse was like getting P. T. Barnum to build the Golden Gate Bridge.
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