Strasbourg Dancing Plague Mystery

In 1518, the city of Strasbourg saw one of history’s strangest outbreaks when dozens, and eventually hundreds, of people began dancing uncontrollably in the streets. Contemporary accounts say the episode lasted for weeks, and historians estimate that somewhere between 50 and 400 people joined the frenzy. Some later sources claimed dancers kept going until they collapsed or died, but modern historians note that the death toll is disputed even though the event itself is well documented. What caused the Dancing Plague still has not been definitively explained.

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