Strasbourg’s Deadly Dancing Plague

In 1518, an entire town in France couldn't stop dancing. Strasbourg witnessed

hundreds of people literally dancing themselves to death over several weeks. It started with

one woman who began dancing in the street and couldn't stop. Within days, dozens joined her

involuntarily. Then hundreds. Their feet bled, bodies collapsed from exhaustion,

yet they kept moving. Authorities thought they were possessed, so they hired musicians and built stages,

believing more dancing would cure them. Instead, it made everything worse.

People danced until their hearts gave out. Scientists now think it was mass psychogenic

illness triggered by stress, famine, and disease. The town was so