Results: Strange Occurrences Throughout History
Published on 01/10/2026
Many strange things have happened throughout history. This survey will tell you about one and then you are to guess the occurrence that you think is the one I made up that is not true.
QUESTIONS
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1.
1.
The Tanganyika laughter epidemic of 1962 was an outbreak of mass hysteria—or mass psychogenic illness (MPI)—rumored to have occurred in or near the village of Kashasha on the western coast of Lake Victoria in Tanganyika (now Tanzania; with the unification with Zanzibar two years later) near the border with Uganda. The laughter epidemic began on January 30, 1962, at a mission-run boarding school for girls in Kashasha. It started with three girls and spread throughout the school, affecting 95 of the 159 pupils, aged 12–18. Symptoms lasted from a few hours to 16 days, averaging around 7 days. The teaching staff were unaffected and reported that students were unable to concentrate on their lessons. The first outbreak in Kashasha lasted roughly 48 days. The school was forced to close on March 18, 1962. When it reopened on May 21, a second phase of the outbreak affected an additional 57 pupils. The all-girl boarding school reclosed at the end of June. It spread to other areas, where several girls lived, and affected villages and other schools. In all, 14 schools were shut down and 1000 people were affected. Many other occurrences that are similar to this one in nature happened throughout history. Which of the following was not a real occurrence?
The Meowing Nuns - Middle Ages - A nun in a French convent began meowing like a cat; soon, the entire convent was meowing in unison for hours.
14%
283 votes
The Biting Nuns - 15th Century - A nun in Germany began biting her companions; the behavior spread through several convents across Germany and Holland.
11%
224 votes
The Salem Witch Trials – 1692 - Young girls in Massachusetts experienced fits, contortions, and screaming, leading to the infamous witch hunts.
7%
130 votes
The "Strawberries with Sugar" Virus - 2006 - Hundreds of Portuguese teens reported breathing difficulties and rashes after watching a popular soap opera episode where a life-threatening virus hit a school.
10%
207 votes
The Pacific Grove, California, Jelly Bean "High" – 2008 – A local radio station aired a comedy special and those who tuned in late heard only that the jelly beans from a certain company contained a hallucinogenic drug. Many of the townspeople were seen around town acting strangely with some even doing dangerous things.
7%
141 votes
Not Applicable
51%
1015 votes
2.
2.
The Emu War was a bizarre 1932 Australian military operation where soldiers with machine guns were deployed to cull ~20,000 emus destroying wheat crops in Western Australia, but the resilient, fast, and scattered birds proved difficult targets, leading to the operation's failure and the emus being declared "victors" by the media, highlighting the challenges of managing wildlife and the initial ineffectiveness of military solutions. Which of these man vs. nature occurrences did not really happen?
Sparrow War (the USA one) – Sparrows were the enemy - Pots, Pans, & Gongs were the weapons - Phyrric Victory: Birds died; Locusts ate the food
12%
240 votes
Cane Toad - Cane Beetles were the enemy -102 toads were released to eat the cane beetles. Disaster: Toads ignored beetles; conquered Australia.
12%
238 votes
Ramree Island - Japanese Soldiers were the enemy – Crocodiles were the weapon - Animal Victory: Nature did the military's job
14%
286 votes
Ireland – Rabbits were the enemy – Animal traps were the weapon - Absolute Disaster: The traps caught all types of animals, i.e. dogs, cats...
10%
197 votes
Not Applicable
52%
1039 votes
3.
3.
The Great Molasses Flood of 1919 - Sugary-sweet molasses turned deadly on January 15, 1919, when a holding tank burst and sent 2.3 million gallons of the sticky liquid sweeping through the streets of Boston. Which one of the following occurrences is not real?
The London Beer Flood (1814) - Over 100 years before the molasses disaster, a massive vat at Meux & Co's Horse Shoe Brewery in London ruptured. It caused a chain reaction, bursting other vats and releasing over 320,000 gallons of fermenting porter. A 15-foot wave of beer demolished two houses and killed eight people.
9%
189 votes
The Pepsi Fruit Juice Flood (2017) - In Lebedyan, Russia, a PepsiCo warehouse roof collapsed, rupturing massive tanks of fruit juice. Approximately 7.4 million gallons of pineapple, orange, pomegranate, and cherry juice flooded the streets and flowed into the nearby Don River. While no people were killed, it caused significant environmental concern.
21%
412 votes
The Great Dublin Whiskey Fire (1875) - This disaster was caused by a fire at a bonded warehouse, which sent a "river of whiskey" 6 inches deep flowing through the streets of Dublin. Interestingly, none of the 13 deaths were caused by the fire or smoke; all victims died from alcohol poisoning after attempting to drink the burning whiskey straight from the gutters.
6%
120 votes
The Great New Castle Fireworks Show - (1994) – This disaster was caused by an employee smoking a cigarette in the packing room of a fireworks factory. The employee who caused it was packing a box of fountain fireworks when he accidentally dropped his cigarette into the open box. As luck would have it, the fire spread so quickly that he could not put it out sufficiently and the whole room erupted into flames. The fire spread, the employees left the building, and the factory put on quite a show for the locals. Three people suffered non-life-threatening burns.
6%
111 votes
The Lake Peigneur Sinkhole - (1980) - An oil drilling rig in Louisiana accidentally pierced a salt mine underneath the lake. This created a giant whirlpool that swallowed the drilling platform, eleven barges, a tugboat, and 65 acres of surrounding land. Miraculously, all 55 workers in the mine and on the rig escaped with their lives.
7%
146 votes
Not Applicable
51%
1022 votes
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