On this day in 1518, a woman named Frau Troffea began dancing uncontrollably in the streets of Strasbourg. She was soon joined by others, dancing restlessly day and night, for weeks on end. Eventually, dozens of people in the area were afflicted with the so called “Dancing Plague”, forcing officials to take a page from Footloose and ban music and dancing. When at last the sufferers of the plague collapsed from exhaustion, they were given red shoes blessed with holy water and sent to the shrine of St. Vitus to pray.
