The Dancing Plague of 1518
One of the most famous instances in history of mass hysteria was The Dancing Plague of 1518. The people of Alsace, France, suffered multiple years of horrible events like a breakout of the Bubonic Plague and crops dying. Before the dancing plague, people in the town begin claiming that they saw the ghosts of their dead relatives walking through town. Obviously, their mental health was already in the toilet. In July of 1518, one woman began dancing uncontrollably in the street. This triggered between 50 to 400 people who also began dancing nonstop. There is no rational explanation as to why this happened to this day. Some people believe it was demonic possession, while others try to find some sort of medical explanation.