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The 1518 Strasbourg dancing plague revisited

Original: 💃 TIL: In July 1518, a woman in # Strasbourg started dancing and couldn't stop. Within weeks hundreds had joined her, an

In July 1518, a woman in Strasbourg began dancing and could not stop. Within weeks, hundreds of residents had joined her, and city authorities initially hired musicians to keep people dancing, believing they would recover, before reversing course and banning the dancing. Historian John Waller has argued the outbreak was a case of mass psychogenic illness, and the episode is being widely shared online as a striking piece of medical history.

Why now: The bizarre story of mass psychogenic illness is being rediscovered and shared as a striking historical curiosity

StrasbourgJohn Waller

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• 💃 TIL: In July 1518, a woman in # Strasbourg started dancing and couldn't stop. Within weeks hundreds had joined her, and city leaders staged musicians to keep the # dancing going before reversing course and banning it. Historian John Waller argues the # outbreak was mass… · tksst@fediscience.org · 3

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