The Tanganyika Laughter Epidemic: When Laughter Became a Contagious Disease

On January 30, 1962, three girls at a mission boarding school in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) started laughing uncontrollably. Within hours, it spread to 95 students - 60% of the entire school. The laughter attacks lasted for hours, sometimes days, leaving victims unable to eat, sleep, or function. The school was forced to close, but that's when things got truly bizarre.

The afflicted students went home to their villages and the laughter spread like wildfire. Parents, siblings, neighbors - entire communities became infected. Victims would laugh uncontrollably for minutes or hours, accompanied by crying, fainting, rashes, and pain. Some experienced attacks on and off for weeks. The epidemic jumped from village to village, affecting over 1,000 peop ...