The Strangest Epidemic in Human History

Added: 2026-06-07

[00:00:00]In 1962, three school girls in Tanzania started laughing >> [laughter] >> and couldn't stop.

[00:00:07]No joke was told, no reason was found.

[00:00:10]Within weeks, it spread [music] to 95 students, then entire villages, then 14 schools had to shut down. Over 1,000 people were hit with uncontrollable laughing fits lasting anywhere [music] from hours to 16 days straight. Some cried, some fainted, some became violent. [music] Doctors ran every test possible. No virus, no toxin, nothing.

[00:00:35]The country had just gained independence [music] a month earlier and the pressure of a new nation was quietly breaking people from the inside [music] out.

[00:00:43]Scientists now believe it was mass psychogenic illness. When stress becomes so overwhelming, it spreads [music] through a community like a virus, hijacking emotions instead of bodies.

[00:00:55]>> [music] >> Laughter isn't always joy. Sometimes it's a scream in disguise.

[00:00:59]Follow for more history they never taught you.