The Book of the Bizarre: Freaky Facts and Strange Stories (25 page)

Twelfth-century Egypt was full of mummies. The ancient custom of mummifying everything from people to dogs to bulls to birds created a mummy-excess problem—mummies were buried under houses, farms, public arenas, you name it. It wasn't until Islam began to take hold that the idea of disposing of mummified bodies became acceptable, and Egyptians responded by burning scores of mummies for fuel. Mummies were also dug up and ground into a fine powder, appropriately called mummy powder, which was known as a kind of panacea for everything from nausea to epilepsy to paralysis. The powder was even used as an additive in paints, as it was believed it prevented color from fading.

NO RESPECT FOR ELDERS

Ninth-century Pope Formosus made a few notable enemies during his lifetime. One of them, his successor, Pope Stephen VI, couldn't put the past behind him and forgive Formosus for the injustices he felt the former pope had imposed on him. Stephen had his orderlies dig up the dead pope, dress him in robes, and put his corpse on trial. And because the corpse could not
exactly speak for itself, he had a young deacon kneel behind the body and act as Formosus's impersonator.

Former U.S. president Gerald Ford changed his name when he was twenty-two—a good thing, because his birth name was Leslie Lynch King, Jr.

THE MYSTERY OF THE CARNAC STONES

Everyone knows about Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument of stones located in the English countryside. Lesser known but just as extraordinary are the Carnac Stones, a collection of more than 3,000 freestanding megaliths that can be found in the area outside the French village of Carnac, in Brittany. The stones, which stand in straight columns measuring hundreds of meters long, are the subject of many theories and much speculation. One myth posits that they are the remains of a Roman legion that Merlin, the wizard of the Arthurian legend, turned to stone. They are thought to date from between 3300 and 4500 B.C. The stones are remarkable for their organization and their incredible size; one stone, known as the Giant, is 6.5 meters tall.

AND WE THOUGHT SPITTOONS WERE BAD

The Romans believed that purging the digestive system was very important to the overall health of the body. As such, they built special “vomitoriums,” where wealthy Romans could lose their lunch, clean up, and settle in for their next gourmet meal.

BEE AROUND

It was once tradition in old England, upon the death of a family member, to find the nearest beehive and tell the bees about the death. Doing so was thought to prevent the bees from abandoning their hive.

BAD NEWS FOR CHOCOHOLICS

In villages in Central America during the eighteenth century, chocolate was believed to be the drink of the
devil, and no one under sixty was allowed to imbibe under threat of excommunication from the Catholic Church.

MIRROR, MIRROR