History classes tend to cover the major events from our past: wars, the founding of new nations, the exploration of unknown lands. However, there are countless weird historical events that rarely make it into textbooks.Some of these incidents include wars fought (and lost) against birds, popes put on trial after they were already dead, and entire neighborhoods nearly drowned in beer. As ridiculous as these events may sound, though, they were not the fever dreams of bored historians they really happened. Below, learn about 11 weird historical events that you werent taught in school.The Dancing Plague Of 1518Public DomainAs many as 100 people reportedly died in the mania of the Dancing Plague.In July 1518, a woman in Strasbourg named Frau Troffea began dancing uncontrollably, continuing for days despite exhaustion and bloody feet. But what started as one womans bizarre compulsion soon spread through the city like wildfire.Within weeks, approximately 400 people had joined her in relentless, joyless dancing that persisted for about two months. Witnesses described dancers moving with mindless intensity in public halls and private homes, unable to stop themselves. The epidemic proved deadly, with reports suggesting up to 15 deaths daily at its peak and around 100 total fatalities from heart attacks, strokes, and exhaustion.People demanded answers, but city officials seemed just as confused as everyone else. Initially, the council concluded that the dancing stemmed from overheated blood in the brain and actually encouraged more dancing, providing guild halls, musicians, and strong men to hold up exhausted dancers. When this failed, authorities reversed course, banning music and public dancing while treating the incident as divine punishment. Public DomainThe dancing ended suddenly after several weeks, just as mysteriously as it had begun.Eventually, afflicted dancers were taken to a shrine dedicated to St. Vitus, where their bloodied feet were placed in red shoes and they were led around a wooden carving of the saint. Some modern theories have attempted to explain this strange phenomenon, of course. One hypothesis suggests ergot poisoning from a psychotropic mold growing on damp rye, which produces LSD-like chemicals. That said, this theory has some weaknesses and has never been confirmed. Alternatively, historian John Waller, one of the foremost experts on the subject, argues that the weird historical event was an instance of mass hysteria triggered by extreme stress from poverty, disease, and starvation in Strasbourg at the time. He believes the regions strong belief in St. Vitus a saint said to curse sinners with dancing mania created an environment of belief that enabled the collective psychosis. Whatever the cause may have been, the Dancing Plague of 1518 remains one of historys strangest mysteries. The post The Unbelievable Stories Behind 11 Of Historys Weirdest Events appeared first on All That's Interesting.