39. Tomatoes and Werewolves
The centuries-long Witch Hunt Craze, much of which overlapped with the Age of Exploration, was pretty weird in its own right. Tens of thousands of women were slaughtered after being accused of practicing dark magic. Less known, and amplifying the weirdness, is that thousands of additional men and women were also executed around the same time, accused of being werewolves.
Authorities in many parts of Europe believed that witches and werewolves were closely associated. They reasoned that, just as witches concocted and brewed potions that allowed them to fly, they concocted and brewed potions that transformed people into werewolves. The main ingredient in that witches’ brew were plants that looked a lot like tomatoes.