#10 Public Dissection
For us, its just as awful as it sounds but back in the 1300's it was quite an event!
People would entertain themselves by witnessing the dissection of a human.
The event took place only 2-3 times a year and both men and women attended it. Prices differed depending upon how interesting the direction would be. In Hanover, prices were high to see the dissection of a dead pregnant woman.
The 'Murder Act' of 1751 in England allowed for the public dissection of all criminals and it was finally outlawed in 1800's.
#9 Inflating Balloons
In 1783, the first hot air balloon flight took place. Since then it became a popular event and gathered a big amount of crowd. It took so many days to fill the first balloon and attracted such huge amounts of crowd that it endangered the entire process.
A goat, a duck and a rooster were the first ones to take a ride in the hot air balloon and the first man to take a ride was in England named 'Vincenzo Lunardi'
Around 200,000 people, including Prince of Wales, came to witness his first ride. A woman accused Lunardi for trying to murder her apparently because she got frightened by this sight. However, he was eventually acquitted.
Even George Washington witnessed the 1st ballooning attempt in America in 1793.
#8 Poking Patients With Sticks
During 1800's, the local asylum also became a place for the entertainment of people.
They would gawk at the patients getting poked with sticks and would get amused by how they would react. They would pay a fair amount of money.
Patients would be antagonised if they were too calm or serious. People would also smuggle in alcohol and give it to patients to enjoy their behaviour when intoxicated.
In 1814, over 96,000 people visited one hospital and became not everyone could afford to visit, entry was free on the first Tuesday of every month.
#7 Riding Escalators
Jesse W. Reno patented the first escalators in 1892, named the 'Endless Conveyor of Elevators'.
Nowadays escalators are just a medium to go from one floor to another, but during olden times, it was a popular ride.
The only difference between the ones back then was that you could sit on the slats rather than stand on the stairs.
The first working escalator was at the Coney Island amusement park. It was there for just 2 weeks but at least 75,000 people rode it.
However, back then escalators only moved upward. People were actually scared to take the ride down. It took them 30 years to accept it!
#6 Staring at Quintuplets
In 1934, the Dionne Quintuplets were born in Ontario, Canada. People were bewildered by the sight of these cute kids and would wonder how its possible.
Huge sums of money were given by the newspapers for their photos and by the time they turned 1, their father started displaying them at the 1935 Chicago World's Fair.
Looking at it, the Canadian government decided that their father was unfit but even they started exploiting their existence.
They placed the kids in a hospital/nursery across the street from where their parents lived. 3 million people visited them for 10 years. It was a famous tourist attraction, they would watch them eat, sleep and play through a special one-way window.
They received more visitors than the Niagra falls!
#5 Mummy Unwrapping
People back them were very curious about what was underneath all that garb of the mummies. Their curiousness led to unwrapping mummies.
They would invite friends and families for this event and would serve food and drinks during it. Many bodies were discarded and lost in this manner because the unwrapping was unsuccessful.
As mummies were rare in America, these events were very popular and were advertised in papers. Once there was an unwrapping of an Egyptian princess mummy and around 2,000 people attended it. They were shocked to see the princess to have a mummified penis.
#4 Public Executions
These events were often open for public viewing so that it would discourage people from committing crimes; however, it turned out to be a form of entertainment for the people.
It were the most popular events in history. People would come to witness the execution and if the one to be hanged was famous, it would bring crowds in large numbers. For example, 40,000 people gathered to see the hanging of a Protestant Pastor in Paris. The last person to be hung was a forger in England in 1824 and almost 100,000 people attended this event.
People would pay huge sums of money to get close to the kill and musical ballads and short stories about the history of the person's crime was sold to the crowds.
The criminal would be driven in a cart through town so that everyone could see them.
#3 Military Battles
War was also an entertainment for people!
They would literally have picnics in the fields near the battles and because the weapon ranges were short, there was no threat of being shot. These battles included the Battle of Bosworth, English Civil War, the American Civil War, etc
The Battle of Hemphis drew in 10,000 people and it only lasted for 90 minutes.
#2 Taking X-rays
Back then people loved getting themselves X-rayed!
It was a new invention in 1890s and people were anxious to see their bones. 'Bone Portrait' studios were established for the people to be aware about their insides. They were popular with newly engaged couples.
X-ray slot machines were set up in major tourist areas.
#1 Selfies
Yes, people have been taking selfies back then also!
A Russian immigrant named Anatol Josepho went to New York city and borrowed $11,000 to set up his photo booth. He opened his studio on Broadway in 1925.
People would just pay 25 cents and they were directed to look first right and then left and then at the camera. After that, the booth would spit out eight photos in just 10 minutes. It slowly became very popular and soon, approximately 7500 people per day would be waiting to get their selfies taken!
