Bizarre Historical Events That Sound So Absurd, It’s Hard to Believe They Actually Happened

The Dancing Plague of 1518 remains one of the most bizarre and enigmatic episodes in history. It unfolded in Strasbourg, a city in Alsace, when a woman named Frau Troffea began dancing uncontrollably in the streets. What started as a solitary dance quickly spread, infecting dozens of people who joined the strange and frenzied dance craze.

The afflicted danced day and night, unable to stop, and some even danced themselves to exhaustion, injury, or death. The outbreak eventually involved hundreds of individuals and lasted for several weeks. While the exact cause of the Dancing Plague remains a mystery, theories suggest it may have been triggered by stress, religious fervor, or mass hysteria.