Real life is often stranger than fiction, and a deep enough dive into the history books will reveal some strange tales indeed.
Bat bombs. Lytle S. Adams, a Pennsylvania dentist, conceived a bomb that would drop a thousand bats with incendiary devices attached to them onto enemy territory. The idea was to have the bats roost in attics in a 20-40 mile radius and start fires that would spread throughout inaccessible areas. Perhaps short on ideas, President Roosevelt approved the idea for testing during WWII, but the design was soon scrapped after one of the test sites caught fire when a bat was accidentally released.
Cruel and unusual punishment. Though now considered a delicacy, lobsters were found in abundance in the 1800s, to the point where they were only eaten out of desperation. When it became common practice to serve lobster to prison inmates, the resulting public outcry went to far as to called the prison menu “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Self mummification. Think it takes discipline to be a Buddhist monk? You may have no idea just how much… Sokushinbutsu was a type of meditation practised by some Buddhist monks between the 11th and 19th centuries. The practice involved slowly weaning one’s self off food, water, and other sensual pleasures with the ultimate goal of ascension. The result would be a mummification-like state inevitably leading to death.
Looking for more history? Visit our online library at www.typerse.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more!
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