Mary Toft (1701–1763) was an English woman from Godalming, Surrey, who in 1726 became the subject of considerable controversy when she hoaxed doctors into believing that she had given birth to rabbits. Toft became pregnant in 1726, but later miscarried. Apparently fascinated by a rabbit she had seen while working, she claimed to have given birth to parts of animals. Local surgeon John Howard was called to investigate, and upon delivering several animal parts he notified other prominent physicians. The matter came to the attention of Nathaniel St. André, surgeon to the Royal Household of King George I of Great Britain. St. André investigated and concluded that Toft was telling the truth. The king also sent surgeon Cyriacus Ahlers to see Toft, but Ahlers remained sceptical. By now quite famous, Toft was brought to London and was studied at length. Under intense scrutiny, and producing no more rabbits, she eventually confessed to the hoax and was subsequently imprisoned. The public mockery which followed created panic within the medical profession. Several prominent surgeons' careers were ruined, and many satirical works were produced, each scathingly critical of the affair. The pictorial satirist and social critic William Hogarth was notably critical of the gullibility of the medical profession. Toft was eventually released without charge and returned to her home.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Toft

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1854:

Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 nurses were sent to Turkey to help treat wounded British soldiers fighting in the Crimean War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale

1858:

French composer Jacques Offenbach's operetta Orpheus in the Underworld, featuring the can-can, was first performed at the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens in Paris. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orpheus_in_the_Underworld

1867:

The first of the Medicine Lodge Treaties was signed between the United States and several Native American tribes in the Great Plains, requiring them to relocate to areas in present-day western Oklahoma. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_Lodge_Treaty

1944:

World War II: German forces surrendered to Americans troops, ending the Battle of Aachen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Aachen

1983:

At the seventeenth General Conference on Weights and Measures, the length of a metre was redefined as the distance light travels in vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/metre

1987:

Sri Lankan Civil War: Indian Army soldiers, belonging to the Indian Peace Keeping Force, entered the Jaffna Teaching Hospital in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, and began killing about 68–70 patients, nurses, doctors and other staff members. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaffna_hospital_massacre

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

dumbfound (v): To confuse and bewilder; to leave speechless http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dumbfound

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

You must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium. A wizard's power of Changing and Summoning can shake the balance of the world. It is dangerous, that power. It is most perilous. It must follow knowledge, and serve need. To light a candle is to cast a shadow. --Ursula K. Le Guin http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ursula_K._Le_Guin