Archie’s TV Laugh-Out (1969)
In January 1962, three girls at a mission boarding school in Kashasha, Tanganyika, started laughing. They couldn’t stop. Within weeks, 95 of the school’s 159 students were incapacitated by fits of laughter that lasted hours or even days. The school closed. Then the laughter spread.
What became known as the Tanganyika laughter epidemic wasn’t funny. Symptoms included uncontrollable crying, pain, fainting, respiratory problems, and rashes. It hit 14 schools and affected roughly 1,000 people over 18 months, nearly all of them young people in a 100-mile radius around Lake Victoria.
The laughter w…
Archie’s TV Laugh-Out (1969)
In January 1962, three girls at a mission boarding school in Kashasha, Tanganyika, started laughing. They couldn’t stop. Within weeks, 95 of the school’s 159 students were incapacitated by fits of laughter that lasted hours or even days. The school closed. Then the laughter spread.
What became known as the Tanganyika laughter epidemic wasn’t funny. Symptoms included uncontrollable crying, pain, fainting, respiratory problems, and rashes. It hit 14 schools and affected roughly 1,000 people over 18 months, nearly all of them young people in a 100-mile radius around Lake Victoria.
The laughter was real, but the joy wasn’t. Researchers classify it as mass psychogenic illness — a stress response that spreads through observation and shared social context. Tanganyika had gained independence from Britain barely a month before the outbreak. Christian Hempelmann of Texas A&M University, who studied the case, points to the pressures facing students in British-run schools during rapid social upheaval. Sociologists Robert Bartholomew and Simon Wessely noted that outbreaks concentrated in mission schools, where traditional values clashed with new ideas.
Wikipedia chronicles this episode. The epidemic wasn’t contagious laughter per se — it was contagious anxiety finding an outlet.
Previously: • Is trypophobia a social contagion? • Deleted Wikipedia articles with freaky titles
How comic publishers tricked the trademark office with garbage comics
In the 1930s and 1940s, comic book publishers fought dirty wars over titles. If you wanted to lock down a name like "Thrill Comics" or "Sensation Comics," you needed to… READ THE REST
430,000-year-old tool found in Greece
Archeologists found a 430,000-year-old tool, and it isn’t Rupert Murdoch. The artifact, one of two found at a lake shore in Greece, are the oldest wooden implements ever identified. Described… READ THE REST
Irish elk: the giant deer that towered over humans and went extinct 8,000 years ago
This photo shows how gigantic an Irish Elk looks compared to two humans. Megaloceros giganteus — literally "giant horn" — is the scientific name for this animal. If you’re packing… READ THE REST
Microsoft Office 2024 fixes a few things you’ve been side-eyeing for years
TL;DR: Microsoft Office 2024 Home and Business refines the tools many people already rely on, adding performance improvements, modern design updates, and low-key AI features without taking over the experience for $99.97… READ THE REST
Properly redact files and a heck of a lot more with 60% off this PDF app
TL;DR: Get a UPDF lifetime subscription for $59.99, a single payment that you can use across your desktop and mobile devices. Let’s face it — nobody wants to buy PDF software. But when that deadline… READ THE REST
Learn to play the Tetris theme flawlessly for hundreds less with flowkey
TL;DR: Learn to play piano better no matter your current level with a 5-year subscription to the flowkey piano learning app for $99.99, or 88% off the suggested retail price of $899. Making… READ THE REST