Three-Eyed (Bill Ducks)
The Englishman, a well-known swindler, misled people by seeing the future with his third eye. At 21, he fled from police persecution to America, where he did the same. Committed suicide at 33 by shooting himself in the third eye.
Two-faced Janus (Edward Mordakke)
XIX century, German musician. On the back of his head he had the likeness of a second person. He carefully hid it until the age of 20, did not achieve success in music and decided to use his physical handicap. After that, his career took off. Many wanted to see a musician with two faces. And it didn't matter how he played. He lived to be 55 years old.
Grace Mc Daniels Mule Woman
Born in 1888. Grace probably suffered from Sturge-Weber Syndrome. It represents a genetic predisposition to birthmarks - in Grace's case, her huge birthmark began to thicken and distort her face. By its nature, this process was degenerative, and every year Grace's condition worsened. Shortly before her death, a crease in her face hung over 4 inches below her chin. Due to the impending gravity, over time, Grace's speech became difficult. Grace's sad life story ended peacefully in 1958.
hairy man
Russian empire, XIX century - Fedor Makhnov - the whole body was covered with thick hair, except for the palms and feet. He worked at the post office in Siberia. V very coldy walked in one shirt.
Coloredo
France XIV century. A kind of Siamese twins - in this case, the second torso grew from the chest of the first. Was a Musketeer for Louis XIII , but in fact it was a musketeer jester. There was no question of any military service. He wore a musketeer's cloak and amused the courtiers.
Pig woman
The only anomaly, Iceland, XIX - XX century. She was born a normal child. At the age of 14, the fusion of the upper lip with the bridge of the nose began, the pig nose was formed by the age of 25. She was the daughter of a priest, very pious. She was married and gave birth to two children. She lived for 94 years.
tripod
All three legs were absolutely equally developed - Frank Lantini - born in Syracuse in 1899 - became a professional football player in Italy, played in the team of the city of Lecce. At the age of 30 he left for America - he worked in a circus. He was a tap dancer, tap dancing with all three legs.
two-headed hunter
Turkey (a kind of Siamese twins) - this man was taken prisoner by the troops of the German emperor Leopold I . He was a very good archer. Each of his heads could talk separately, and during the interrogation they whispered. And for a long time there was confusion in the documents of that interrogation, because it was not clear how many people they were interrogating.
Popeyed (Dragonfly Man)
congenital anomaly.
Cyclops Man (one-eyed man)
The most famous African of the end XIX century. The only eye that sees. He had a good sense of humor. Was not prone to depression, unlike most people with anomalies. Worked as a waiter.
Goodbye to the faint of heart and impressionable. And for the rest, my exclusive report about the most amazing people in the world. All of them really lived in society, were recorded by science and listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Most, despite the mistakes of nature, lived long and happy lives were respected, loved and talented. And some are still alive. Removal of the brain, of course, but very interesting! All exhibits are made in exact height and in accordance with their "originals" from wax using modern super-realistic materials. Among them are giants, midgets, wolf people, rhinoceros people, cyclops people, a vase woman and pigface, two-headed people and even a lady with the title "the most disgusting woman in the world." It’s not enough to look at these photos, you need to read stories about them ... So, reserve a cup of tea and half an hour of time and ... amazing discoveries for you!
Two-headed archer, Turkey. At the end of the 14th century he lived in perfect health, served in the Turkish army, was the best and most accurate shooter in the whole country. He had all the internal organs in one copy, but both heads had complete independent brain activity. The psyche is stable. He died at the age of 37 when he was taken prisoner. The enemy for a long time could not decide on the execution, since both heads insisted on different versions of the testimony. And which one to believe, they could not determine. Unfortunately, his name has not survived.
Chang and Eng Bunker, Thailand (Kingdom of Siam). Born in 1811. The King of Siam issued a decree to kill the twins, but the mother did everything possible to prevent the order from being carried out. The babies had one leg and a common pelvic region, but two spines with a completely healthy nervous system and bodies. Both brains functioned independently. However, one brain was responsible for only one (its) leg. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for them to walk normally. All their lives they moved with the help of special crutches or simply crawled. The Bunker brothers grew up and began to earn money by performing in the circus. They traveled extensively, passing through Asia, England and America. In 1839 they bought a farm in North Carolina (USA) and married two sisters. From this marriage, they gave birth to twenty-one (!) children. They died in 1874, three hours apart, at the age of 63.
Vase Woman Jane Wicks, USA. She was born without limbs, legs and arms were missing. The pelvic region is normal. The rest is completely healthy. She was a gifted talented singer and artist. She painted pictures holding a brush with her teeth. She was beautiful and successfully married, the marriage was happy. However, she did not dare to have children, although doctors had no contraindications for healthy pregnancy did not see. She was very famous, respected and very rich. Thanks to her unusual appearance and the desire to live a fulfilling life, Jackie has achieved great success in her career. She died by an absurd accident - she tried to get out of bed on her own when there was no one around, fell and broke her spine.
War Borset, South America. Born without arms in a family of South American Indians. He was not married, devoted his whole life to his mother, whom he idolized. He painted pictures and shot arrows very accurately. Reclining, he held a bow in his right leg, and with his left he shot at birds. He performed with tours of his skills in other countries. In particular, in the chronicles of London it is indicated that he hit 12 pigeons with arrows in 1 minute and once pierced several birds released from the cage with one arrow at once. It is also stated that he has never missed a shot in his entire life. He died alone after the death of his mother.
Claude Abroise Seurat, France. The thinnest person on the planet. Born in 1798 in the province of Champagne. With a height of 1.60 meters, he weighed only 16 (!) Kilograms. His torso was only 8 cm thick, and his skin was so thin that internal organs were visible through the light and even a heartbeat was visible. He was healthy, received a good education, happily married and left healthy offspring. He died in 1861 at the age of 63. 
Celeste (Celeste) Geyer, USA. Stage name of Dolly Dimplex. She was born in 1905 in Cincinnati, Florida. By 1925, she weighed 280 kg. Performed in the circus. 3 years later, I fell in love. The groom proposed to her on the condition that she could officially marry him only if she seriously lost weight. For 14 months, the woman dropped more than 200 (!) Kilograms. She was happily married for 40 years. She became an example and founder of the motivating movement "Diet or Death" for very fat people. Published the book Diet or Die: The Dolly Dimples Weight Reducing Plan. Until her death, she wore a dress of size 38 and weighed 50 kg. She died in 1967 of a heart attack.
Book cover by Celeste Geyer. Real photo of Celeste Geyer after weight loss.
John Eckert (John Eckhardt Jr. - John Eckhardt, Jr.), USA. Born without legs in Baltimore in 1910 at the same time as a healthy twin brother. As a teenager, he dropped out of school for the sake of the circus. He made everyone around him laugh, even bystanders. Talented circus performer, conductor, movie star (played in 4 feature films), illusionist, virtuoso musician and successful businessman. He moved independently - on his hands. Without any devices, he walked a marathon distance of 45 km on his hands! He was happily married and raised two healthy sons. He died in 1984 at the age of 74 in his sleep from a heart attack. Friends affectionately called him Ek-pol-guy. After the death of Johnny Ek, he bequeathed his entire fortune to people with disabilities.
Rhino Man Andris, Italy. Born in 1868. He became a circus juggler and worked in the circus all his life. He died in 1898 at the age of 30. There were quite a lot of cases in the 19th century, but medicine could not help these people with growths on the bridge of their nose. The more they tried to cut it out, the faster it grew and people died. Even modern medicine is not easy to cope with this phenomenon - when the build-up is completely removed, it begins to grow inside the nasal bone, which also leads to serious problems. I don’t know why he is depicted here at such a respectable age, although who knows what physical changes such a defect leads to.
Birdman Gustov von Schwartz, France. In the 17th-18th century there was a sect of comprachicos who abducted children and made freaks out of them for further sale to nobles. Probably, it was they who subjected little Schwartz to severe mutilations. The child's hands were mutilated (by making them 4-fingered), the face (they changed the shape of the ears and nose), and the vocal cords were also removed. From now on, he could only utter bird sounds. He served at the court of King Louis of France as a rooster and crowing to wake people up in the morning. The sectarians considered themselves to be quite humane, since they also removed parts of the brain responsible for memory and pain in their experimental subjects. He became the prototype for the fairy tale "Dwarf Nose". He died at a fairly advanced age.
Cyclops Man Bill Dax, Germany. He was found in one of the church shelters as an infant in 1756. The third eye was completely atrophied. He was healthy and very smart. He was a virtuoso at playing cards. He earned decent money by performing in the circuses of the country with card tricks. All his life he wore a triangular mask and no one guessed about his "feature". He spent all his money looking for his parents, but he never found them. In one of the circuses, he passionately fell in love with a gymnast girl, but was very afraid to open up to her. Once, during a performance, the mask fell off his face. The audience took it as part of the show and greeted him with a standing ovation. However, his "true" face was also seen by his beloved. He was so embarrassed that he ran home from the arena. Deciding that his career was over and love forever lost, he put a bullet in his third eye that very evening and died on the spot in 1802.
Wolfman Joyo, USA. When he was born, completely covered with dark hair to the tips of his fingers, the church declared him a child of the devil, and his parents were sorcerers and ordered the baby to be killed immediately. However, his parents decided to take him to the forest, hoping that by some miracle he would be able to survive. And so it happened. After some time, a wealthy American family picked up an unusual fluffy animal. They put him in a warm cage, fed him and watched his behavior. And found out that the creature has intelligence. He was taught everything that people can do and began to be transported around the cities as a curiosity, earning money on freak shows (then such parks of freaks were very popular). Having improved the moment, Joyo escaped from the cage of the circus and settled in a remote place in the forest. There he meets a girl, whom he later marries, starts a secluded farm, where his wife gives birth to healthy children. Dies at 33 of unknown cause.
Mirana Portled, Iceland. The world's only recorded case of the birth of a child with a pig's snout. Born into a wealthy and influential family in 1789, she received an excellent education at home, led a secluded life and was extremely lucky. Has been successful with men. She married a childhood friend and bore him two perfectly healthy children. She became the prototype of works of literature and cinema about Penelope. Many truly loved her. "Her family is rich. Her fate is wonderful and great. And although her head is piggy, she is loved by many here," poets of that time wrote about her. With such an abnormal appearance, Mirana lived until the end of her days, surrounded by the love of relatives and friends.
Cuckolds- people who have bone formations growing through the skull. Quite a few cases of such automatisms are known at different times. In 1951, near the Chinese city of Ziyang (Sichuan province), archaeologists discovered a skull dating back to the 5th millennium BC, with sharply protruding parietal tubercles. A horned skull was also found in the Gobi Desert. On ancient Chinese vases, you can find images of people with large growths, very reminiscent of horns. True, experts agreed that the vases were made 7-8 thousand years before our era. It is known for certain that in ancient China, many famous people had a "decoration" on their heads.
* On September 18, 1598, a peasant was tried in France for refusing to take off his hat to an oncoming aristocrat (at that time it was an unforgivable act). The judge nevertheless forced him to take off his hat and with amazement saw a horn growing on his head, similar to a ram, which he wore from the age of 5. The judge ordered to forcibly saw off the growth and, after polishing it, send it as a gift to the king. The peasant was tied up and raped. The man died a few months later.
* In the 17th century, a horned lady named Maine Davis lived in the English county of Leicestershire. Despite its disadvantage in the form of two sharp and upward-growing horns, she enjoyed considerable success with fans.
* In the same century, Madame Dimanche became famous in France. Her single horn hung from her forehead down to her chin. In her advanced years, she decided to get rid of him, because she did not want to go to the other world with a "devil's decoration." The old woman tried to cut down the horn with her own hands - and died from blood poisoning ...
* A case is known when, at the end of the century before last, a person came to one of the temples of Nizhny Novgorod from time to time, to whom the rector, as a special exception, allowed him to remain with his head covered. He, not yet an old, but balding man, had the most classic horns that are found in paintings depicting devils: short and slightly curved. In order not to embarrass the Orthodox with his indecent appearance for God's temple, the parishioner wore a spacious headdress that masked a natural anomaly.
Nowadays, "cuckolds" are operated on by surgeons, removing areas of skin from which bone bumps grow. This mannequin is not real person. But the horned ladies from the mountainous province of China (left) and in the same advanced years from Buryatia (right) in the photo are alive and well. Both cases are observed today. Strangely, the vast majority of all recorded cases are female.
* In India, in 2001, doctors in the city of Jodpur removed 7 cm horns from the head of a 14-year-old girl. On the paternal side, all members of her family had small growths on their heads, and only in the fourth generation did they grow to indecent sizes, just when the girl had to be prepared for marriage.
* Interfax reported that a young man named Andrey lives in Ulan-Ude with two five-centimeter growths that look like fir cones on his head. He regularly removes them in the hospital, but the "horns" grow back.
* Zhao, 95, is from Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province. In appearance, the horn looks like a dried pumpkin stalk. It grows almost in the center of the forehead and twists downwards. “At first it was just a small mole, then it began to grow and turn into a horn. It became like this in just 3 years,” says Zhao. In addition to the fact that the horn prevents her from seeing a little, it does not bother or bring discomfort.
Mule Woman Grace McDanell, USA. Born in a large family of simple farmers in Iowa in 1888. Everyone in her family was completely normal. Grace had a large mole on her face, which subsequently began to grow and disfigured her face beyond recognition. However, this did not stop Grace from becoming a show business star. Gradually, the tumor grew so much that it deformed the face, which became like a shapeless piece of crimson meat. Grace could no longer move her jaw and speak properly, because her huge chin did not allow her to open and close her mouth. A swollen nose hung over swollen lips, and the eyes, on a disfigured face, were lost in the folds of protruding blisters. American doctors discovered a rare disease in Grace - Sturge-Weber syndrome, which manifests itself as a spontaneous violation of the development of blood vessels due to a violation of the normal development of the embryo at 6-9 weeks, but this disease is not hereditary. They rarely get sick - one case per 50 thousand people. Most often, people have mental abnormalities, but facial skin lesions are rare.
Despite her discomfort, Grace was healthy and very intelligent. She was also known for her boundless kindness to people. In 1935, she took part in and won a freak contest, becoming the owner of the title "The most disgusting and ugly woman in the world." She also performed in F.A.'s freak show. Miller. Grace preferred to be called "Mule Woman". They say that before going out in public, she plugged her ears so as not to hear the humiliating speech of the entertainer about her person. “She will show you her face and you will thank the Lord that he didn’t make you like her.” After the performance, she diligently preened herself, carefully powdering the bumps and bumps of her cheeks. Despite the terrible appearance She was rumored to have had many men. She got married three times (!) From her last marriage, Grace gave birth to a normal son. Son Elmer was madly in love with Grace, and she was a wonderful mother to him - she loved to do housework, cook food and sew clothes.
Elmer became his mother's manager and looked after her until her death in September 1958. Grace lived a long life and passed away at the age of 70 with her family.
Mule Woman Grace McDanell, USA. Real photos with son.
John Malcom, England. Born at the end of the 19th century with two pairs of eyes on the face. Otherwise, he was completely healthy. Both pairs of eyes functioned normally and independently of each other. John could look in opposite directions at the same time, and his brain collected and processed information. He put his skills to no good, becoming one of the most famous criminals in Great Britain. John pulled his hat over one pair of eyes, becoming a completely ordinary person, waited for late single ladies on the streets of London and gallantly offered to take them home. On the threshold, John, as if saying goodbye, raised his hat and all the ladies fainted from such a spectacular and unexpected sight. And John robbed unlucky women, taking everything he could. For a long time he was elusive, because no one believed impressionable ladies. Once he came across a woman of not timid ten, who first beat him up, putting him to flight. And then she turned to the police, who tracked him down and shot him. In 1921, Malcolm's severed head was hung in the main square of the city for a whole month, so that all the women of the city could make sure that he was dead and nothing else threatened their safety. Not an isolated case.
John Stalker - Four-Eyed Sharpie. W worked for a living card game. The organs of vision were also located in pairs one above the other. He could look in several directions at once. There have been other similar cases in history. The photo is not mine, from the Internet.
Four pupil man lived in China. I could not focus my vision and blinked very often because the pupils were constantly moving. The photo is not mine, but (c) intmedical.ru
Cyclops their I saw beautifully with my only eye(1918-1961), worked in a restaurant in California, USA. The photo is not mine, but (c) intmedical.ru
Peter the Great was the founder of the Museum of Kuntskamera not by chance. He himself is also an exhibit. Few people know that with his height of more than 2 meters (namely 2 meters and 4 cm), he had a very small 36 (!) foot size! Over the knee boots for men is his know-how, because he always had to wear two pairs of shoes at once - one on top of the other, to make it more comfortable to walk.He also suffered from dystrophy - he had a thin, long body and very narrow shoulders. To hide his painful thinness, Peter introduced the fashion for layered clothes, frills and ruffles, visually increasing the volume of the body. With such growth, he had small female palms - all his life he "rocked" them with carpentry and joinery, where he became a respected professional. And he developed such strength in his fingers that he could easily bend nickels and horseshoes with them in different directions. He lived a decent life and became a cult figure in history.
Raduan Charbib, Tunisia. One of the tallest people on the planet. The height recorded at the time of the record in the KRG is 2 meters 36 cm. Now his height is 2 meters 52 cm. It continues to grow. Born in 1968 in the seaside town of Ras El Jbel. As a child, he did not stand out among his own nine (!) Brothers and was an ordinary sociable child. Abnormal growth began at the age of 12. The guy became shy, closed in on himself and dropped out of school. Then he became interested in basketball and until the age of 22 his team invariably won the Tunisian championship. “Now I can’t play: I’ve become heavy, I move with great difficulty. Yes, and I smoke two packs a day. What kind of sport is that?” However, he retained his love for basketball and believes that leaving the sport is the main mistake in life. Doesn't miss a single broadcast of the NBC Championship.
If not for his friend Rashid, the world most likely would have known about him. Rashid persuaded the giant to send the photo to the editors of the Guinness Book of Records. After some time, he was awarded a diploma certifying that he is the tallest man on Earth. The diploma was accompanied by a check for $ 800 (rumors of the fabulous fees of record holders are greatly exaggerated). Raduan had a small role in the second film of the Star Wars epic, which was filmed in the Tunisian part of the Sahara. But the acting career did not work out. For a long time he was married to an ordinary woman with a height of one meter seventy, but they did not make children. I worked with my wife in the Andalusia cafe in my hometown to make it easier to feed myself - the giant's daily breakfast is 2 kilos of sausages and sausages and a cup of 3 liters of coffee! He recently divorced his wife. He blames himself for this, or rather, his difficult character.
Raduan has size 50 feet. He sews shoes to order from his friend in Tunisia. A tall person is not too strong, he quickly gets tired, he develops a stoop and vision deteriorates. With his own hands he built himself a house with several floors outside the city on a family plot. Usually performs work that is not associated with significant physical exertion, for example, carries loads on a tractor. He is quite satisfied with life and asks only one thing from Allah: to send him a good wife and children.
The tallest man of all time was the American Robert Wadlow, 2 m 72 cm tall. But he died at the age of 22. Now Raduan is 49 years old and there is information that he moved to live in America. Raduan Charbib with one of nine siblings and at the time of the record in the KRG, height 2 meters 36 cm. Rewarding.
Viktor Adenauer or Vitka the schoolboy, Russia. The exact years of birth and death are unknown. With a height of only 54 centimeters, he weighed 4 kg and was completely healthy and functional. He became famous as a member of a third of his height and criminal activity - he was the criminal authority of gangster Petersburg, his specialty was a window operator. Originally from Odessa, appeared in St. Petersburg in 1910, in the post-revolutionary and pre-war years he successfully robbed rich apartments. During the war he hid in quieter places. Returning to Leningrad, he got a job at the Leningrad State Theater of Lilliputians. During the tour of the theater to Hungary, he escaped in an unknown direction abroad and his further fate is unknown.
In the days of thieves clung to Long Dresses rich ladies, so that under them quietly penetrate into the apartment, and at night take out all the valuables from there. For the same purpose, he entered stores in milk cans before closing. He was famous as a humorous scoundrel. He liked to arrange holidays for accomplices-pickpockets: they brought him in a baby carriage to a crowded place and threw him there. A crowd immediately gathered around the "lost baby". The crying "child" was calmed down, they were looking for their parents. At some point, Vitka would spit out a pacifier, take out a cigarette, light a cigarette, and begin to communicate with citizens in a bass voice. He joked, used foul language, drank vodka from a stocked bottle. He flirted with the girls and even managed to cut off the skirts of the ladies, leaving them in an obscene form. Naturally, in the course of such performances, people thought least of all about their wallets.
“Nature, having deprived Vitka of height, did not offend him at all as a man. And from the side there was a complete impression that a child was sitting in a stroller and playing with a doll. Just what nature did not offend Vitka dressed up in a doll. When a lot of people gathered, a hat was removed from the doll, a scarf was unwound, then people had a real shock. Some women even fainted ... "- thanks to the size of his immodest dignity, Vitka the naughty was very popular with the ladies. real photo Our hero, unfortunately, has not been preserved.
Visual aid for smokers and pregnant alcoholics- alcoholized prenatal victims of alcohol and tobacco smoking during pregnancy. Died before birth. Exhibits of the Kuntskamera, St. Petersburg. Brrr!!!
Two-headed man Pascual Pinon (Pignon), Mexico. And this story impressed me more than anyone else! Born in 1889 with a reduced copy of the head on top of one of the Indian tribes. The man had lived in a Mexican mine since childhood, where he was discovered by a freak show impresario from San Diego named John Scheidler. He wrote that Pinon was kept in the mine not as a worker, but as a talisman against Satan. Superstitious miners considered the ugly Mexican a product of black forces and believed that if the child of Satan was in their power, then the devil would not allow one of his children to die and would not bring down the mine. Pinon lived in a small room in a mine drift. He was fed and watered, but kept on a leash. There were bunks in the drift, covered with straw and pieces of leather, on which the unfortunate man spent days and nights, like a prisoner, not seeing the white light. Scheider contacted the mine chiefs, and they became seriously nervous, because if the public becomes aware that they kept a living person locked up, then they will not be in trouble. John managed by hook or by crook to persuade and redeem Pinon, who began to work as the star of his freak show, which became insanely popular.
So, for the first time he appeared before the public in 1927. From the opening of the cylinder on the man's head, a second face looked at the audience: it made faces, moved its lips. The eyes looked quite consciously, and it was truly eerie to see such a sight. The most interesting thing is that Pascual himself was a very handsome and healthy man, but the second head was female. He called her Maria, perceived her as his own sister and loved her very much. She had no vocal cords, so her head could not speak and make sounds, but only moved her lips. Mary had her own character. She knew how to smile, showing a row of small snow-white teeth. She could make funny faces, grimace and be offended. One circulatory system for two allowed her to instantly get drunk from a small dose (glass) of alcohol drunk by Pascual, then in a good mood she laughed and blew bubbles, and in a bad mood she began to spit, hiccup and drool. In both cases, the audience was delighted.
There is no data, but it is mentioned that the "sister" had the beginnings of intelligence. Sometimes Maria-head was angry - her lips moved, as if in despair that no one could understand her, and sometimes she fell into despondency. When asked about what she was trying to say, Pascal became unapproachable and completely refused to answer. Then he refused to participate in performances, walked away with his face contorted with anger and did not talk to anyone. Subsequently, the Mexican completely abandoned the fabulous fees and stopped showing a second head. He began to act as a simple fakir, hiding the pathology under a big hat. Once the hat fell off, the cruel spectators booed Pascual and he decided to leave the circus forever.
Under the influence of stress, Pinon manifested psychic abilities, and he began to draw good pictures, heal people, and even grant wishes. But he never married. Near his mansion, he placed a wide-brimmed hat into which passers-by threw money while making a wish. They say that these desires certainly came true, but you just need to formulate them correctly. Unfortunately, Pinon did not live long - Maria developed conjunctivitis. At that time, they did not know how to treat him and suggested that he get rid of the second head in order to save himself. He flatly refused and soon his entire body was infected with purulent inflammation. He died in 1929 at the age of 40.
The exhibition "Anomalies and catastrophes of the body" about the most unusual people on the planet with the assistance of the Guinness Book of Records and the Kunstkamera Museum (St. Petersburg) is now taking place in the city of Voronezh - GRAD City Park, main entrance, 2nd floor. Daily from 10.00 to 22.00. Open until April 30, 2017. Wonderful girls will tell you many more interesting things;)
Artists and sculptors reveal to the world the beauty of the human body. Their works are attractive, wonderful, perfect. But what about those people who not only do not meet the recognized standards of beauty, but are also so ugly in appearance that it is terrible to look at them? Anomalies of the human body are terrifying, but at the same time they attract. That is why the thematic exhibition of the St. Petersburg Wax Museum is very popular with the audience.
Kunstkamera and anomalies of the human body
In Russia, as you know, the first "cabinet of rarities", or, more simply, the Kunstkamera, was opened. This museum can be considered the first exhibition that showed mutations and human anomalies to a wide range of viewers. The anatomical section of the Kunstkamera has become, perhaps, the most famous, because in it visitors could see not only a two-headed lamb, which is already interesting in itself, but also human babies fused with bodies. In addition, there was a cyclops child, and a baby with a mermaid tail, and children who died immediately after birth with terribly mutilated heads.
Peter I was very interested in the anomalies of the human body and the reasons why all sorts of deformities arise. The emperor held conversations with foreign anatomists, marveled at their stories and exhibits preserved for many years in transparent vessels, through the purchase of which he replenished the collection of his Kunstkamera. And Peter the Great also ordered wax copies of those rare freaks that he could not get for various reasons. And it was thanks to Peter that the art of creating wax figures came to Russia.
After the revolution, this craft was forgotten for a long time, and only at the end of the 20th century, craftsmen from the city of Lomonosov, near St. Petersburg, revived the art of creating realistic human figures from wax.
Wax museums
The most famous exhibition of wax figures - the museum Expositions work all over the world and in some of them there are "horror rooms" in which figures of real-life maniacs and murderers are presented.
In Russia, the most famous wax museum in St. Petersburg. It is about him that we will discuss further, because the exhibition “Russian Panopticon: Catastrophes of the Human Body” is of particular interest to us.
What will surprise the Russian Panopticon
This exhibition is truly both surprising and frightening and confusing at the same time. The thing is that its exhibits are wax figures of people with real mutations and deviations. The anomalies of the human body from the Guinness Book of Records, embodied by master sculptors, are also presented here.
The figures are realistic. These are the same people, only motionless, with their eyes fixed on one distant point. But these wax people are always unusual. Let's talk about the characters present at the exhibition and their pathologies in more detail.
abnormal growth
No matter how surprising it may sound, the Chinese Bao Xishun is considered the tallest person in the world, whose height is 2.36 m. His parents are quite ordinary people: his father's height was 1.8 m, and his mother's 1.6 m. They are now do not fully understand why their son is so "lucky".
Because of his height, Bao Xishun could not find a life partner for a long time. He married only at the age of 56, and his chosen one was as much as 70 cm shorter than him. Recently, the couple had a son, his height and weight still correspond to the age norm.
Bao Xishun is listed in the Book of Records, and his figure, made of wax, is present in the museum of St. Petersburg. Next to her is the figure of the smallest woman, Paulina Masters, or Princess Pauline, as her friends and relatives called her.
By the age of 18, the girl had grown to 58 cm, her weight was 15 kg. She worked in a circus, where she showed the audience solo dance and acrobatic numbers. The audience was fascinated by the girl: in the arena she looked as if she did not bother her a bit, and the grace that Pauline's performances were filled with was truly amazing. a real fashionista and had beautiful magnificent forms. They say she had no end to the fans. But her star set very early, Pauline died at the age of 19 from pneumonia.
Buster Simkus: Outstanding Weight
The fattest man in the world weighed over a ton and was from Texas. His motto was a simple phrase - live to eat. Every day, Buster's morning began with 40 pancakes and a liter of jam, and then the man moved on to a couple of dozen meat steaks with a vegetable side dish and his favorite sweets. He ate all day, because the absorption of food became his main occupation. And he could afford to live like that, because Buster Simkus got a good inheritance from his parents.
In 2005, the fattest man in the world died. He was only 40 years old.
The famous four-eyed card sharper and the Cyclops man
Many anomalies of the human body are associated with an increase or decrease in the number of organs. And the eyes are no exception.
So, John Stalker was known as the Four-Eyed Sharpie. He really had four eyes and made a living playing cards. His organs of vision were arranged in pairs one above the other. Interestingly, Stalker could look in several directions at once.
The black Cyclops man Carlos Sieira had one eye located just above the bridge of his nose. The place where the eyes are usually located on the face was simply covered with skin. The man had no vision problems, and one of his eyes saw well. a solitary lifestyle, he was repeatedly offered to act in films, but the Cyclops man did not give his consent. He lived for 32 years.
Pig Woman and Mule Woman
Do you remember the American comedy about the bewitched girl Penelope? So, this heroine had a real prototype - Miraida Portland. She was born in Holland to quite normal parents and had a pig nose instead of a nose. Miraida's mother and father were rich and were able to give their daughter a good upbringing and education. The girl got married and even gave birth to two healthy children. This is exactly the case when the tale of Penelope ended well.
Another woman whose fate has turned out quite happily, despite her deformity, is the female mule Grace McDanell. Her disease is named and characterized by abnormal development of blood vessels and mental retardation. But in Grace's case, there was a violation of the structure of the face, which happened very rarely with this syndrome. The mule woman has been married three times, and from her last marriage she had a normal child.
Museum curator and other exhibits
The Museum of Anomalies of the Human Body among its exhibits also has one special one - the figure of the man-crab Foma Ignatiev. This man, back in the time of Peter I, worked as a living exhibit of the Kunstkamera and received good money for this - 100 rubles a month. Thomas was called the crab-man because on his hands and feet there were two long fused fingers, resembling claws.
There are other notable exhibits in the museum: a woman with a huge silicone breast, a man without arms and legs, Siamese twins, a bearded woman and a bird man. Also interesting is Edward Mordrake, a musician with a good and evil face.
By the way, there is one legend about Edward. She is described in "Freak Show", the fourth season of the series " American history horrors." According to legend, Mordrake, accompanied by ghostly shadows, takes sinful, desperate souls. But this happens only once a year, on the night when the dead walk freely on the earth.
You can learn about how people with physical disabilities lived in the last century from the film Freaks directed by Tod Browning. The tape tells about the everyday life of a freak show, about love, envy and the hardships of everyday life that befell those who, by the will of fate, are different from ordinary people.
The anomalies of the human body are a heartbreaking sight. But some people with physical deformities have lived happy lives. And perhaps many of us have something to learn from them.
The orphan, who never knew father's protection and care, received a gift from the President by February 23, the Defender of the Fatherland Day.
Most of all, Pasha believed in a fairy tale
Letter to Moscow, to the president, Pasha Korchagin, the only person in the country who was born with four and - blind eyes, dictated to his mother - a little more than a year back.
Then the despair just rolled over. The wind whistled across the floor of the barracks so that even in felt boots, the feet were cold. And the stove, bursting in a 40-degree frost and smeared with clay, was bursting at the seams.
34-year-old Nadezhda Korchagina, Pasha's mother, having decided with her son to ask for help from the president himself, sitting down to write a letter, recalls that she left her tears "behind the scenes":
Pavlik with his mother, sister Snezhana and niece Anya are celebrating a housewarming party. Photo: Larisa MAKSIMENKO
After all, it’s impossible to describe how an old stove exploded from a continuous firebox, how I went to clear a two-meter snowdrift, having noticed since the summer that there was clay on the surface, how my hands iced over, how I hammered that clay and carried it into a cooled hut, covered the stove .. .
And I wrote to the president - together with Pasha: “Dear Dmitry Anatolyevich. I am making a big request to you. I am an unhappy mother raising two children alone. One child is a disabled child. The son was born with 4 eyes. The husband abandoned the child. I have been raising my son alone for 15 years now. We have been on the waiting list for housing for the 11th year, but there are no changes. The barrack has been built since the 1930s. Holes all around, very cold. The stove does not withstand heavy loads and breaks down ... We go with the child twice a year for operations, where his eyesight is gradually restored. After each operation, it is necessary that he does not catch a cold. But there are no conditions at home ... Dmitry Anatolyevich, help! God bless you!"
Pasha is the only child in the country who was born with four eyes. Photo: Larisa MAKSIMENKO
... Most of all, Pasha believed in a fairy tale, that the president himself would respond and help, in the Korchagin family.
And soon the answer came from the presidential administration that housing would be provided. Then, as specified in the Belov mayor's office, under the apartment for the four-eyed - they decided to take part of the former children's library in the city center.
Months have passed. And, finally, on the eve of February 23, 16-year-old Pasha with his mother and younger, 11-year-old sister Snezhana moved from the barracks to a renovated, bright two-room apartment.
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A four-eyed Kuzbass boy is celebrating a housewarming party in an apartment donated by the President.Larisa MAKSIMENKO
housewarming
Having crossed the threshold of the “presidential” apartment, having placed the most precious thing on the sun-drenched kitchen window sill – the family icon and the main pot, the children began to rush around the rooms, laughing and rejoicing as the echo under the high ceiling rejoices with them.
And their mother, not noticing the tears, admitted:
I was able ... One of the children raised. Although I was persuaded in the hospital to give up my son. After all, the husband was “turned upside down” when he first saw Pasha in the hospital. He immediately accepted him as a monster with 4 blind eyes. And he gave me an ultimatum: “Either me, or IT, choose!” I chose my son. So what if he has the usual pair of eyes - gray. And the second pair blue eyes- was located at an angle, above the first, until the surgeons removed the extra eyes at two months. And anyway, my son was, is and will be the most the best child in the world!
Pavlik lived in this dilapidated barracks for 16 years and, if he had not turned to the president for help, he would have stood on the waiting list for another 16 years. Photo: Larisa MAKSIMENKO
Together with Pavlik, my mother went through everything: gossip about the “son of an alien”, lack of money and loneliness. There was a moment when, completely tired of evil tongues, Nadezhda, in order to prove that she does not carry the “four-eyed gene” and that his father, who served in missile units, is to blame for Pasha’s illness, gave birth to a beautiful daughter, Snezhana, from another man ... And later, she documented to the district that she was supposed to have twins, but there was a failure and one son was born. He got extra eyes and a second set of veins on his legs, as shown by ultrasound, from an underdeveloped twin brother.
All the years I lived with one dream, so that Pavlik would become an ordinary boy and see the light. And three years ago, the famous Ufa doctor Ernst Muldashev decided to give Pasha his eyesight, says his mother. - After a series of operations, Pasha began to see a little. So much so that, burying his nose in the Primer, he learned to read. Not in Braille. And now he is studying in the third grade according to the usual - sighted - program ... But progress would have been faster if I had not had to carry, over and over again, the operated son home, to the ice hut. After the operation, it was impossible for Pasha to get sick, but it was impossible to get away from it in the barracks ... And then we wrote to the president.
... Before February 23, Pasha's four-eyed mother dreamed prophetic dream- about the fact that they were handed the keys to the apartment. In the morning - the dream told - the neighbors in the barracks did not believe her. And at lunchtime, a call came from the administration:
Come get the keys.
The Korchagin family is in a new apartment. Photo: Larisa MAKSIMENKO
three-eyed man
Understandably, Bill Derks had a rough childhood. He was born in Jesper, Alabama, on April 13, 1913, with what is now known as frontonasal dysplasia. Even in the embryonic state, the 2 halves of Bill's face did not fully converge and did not form a single whole, as a result, he was born with a deeply cut lip, an open palate and a flattened nose. According to some reports, Bill also has problems with his eyes - they were covered with "hoods" made of leather, and only surgical intervention allowed Bill to see the world.
Because of his appearance, Bill was denied education. Schoolchildren simply wouldn't accept him, and his family was too poor to afford a private tutor. Moreover, it is natural that the family itself was ashamed of their son and in any case did not want him to attend school. As a result, Bill grew up notorious, awkward and shy, did not have communication skills, in a word - an introvert. His split lip made the situation even more complicated - it prevented him from speaking, and, accordingly, few people understood him ...
Once, as a teenager, Bill visited the fair - as a spectator - but the showman in charge of all the action immediately invited him to tour with them, and Bill exchanged his faded, worthless life for chance and luck and soon became the "Three-Eyed Man".
In his show, Bill painted a third eye between his noses with special paint, fortunately, throughout his entire career, the deception was never noticeable, because few people managed to look him straight in the face. Ironically, Bill, billed as "The Man with 3 Eyes" on the posters, was actually one-eyed, as he was blind in his right eye.
Bill was a fairly successful Phenomenon and worked with numerous shows including Kelly-Sutton, James E. Straits, Hall Christ, Gooding's Million Dollar Midway and the Hubert Museum making a good living. He was also used and mercilessly exploited due to his soft nature and illiteracy, which prevented him from reading the contracts he signed.
After some time, many of his buddies participating in the show with him fell in love with him and began to monitor his profits and not give offense. Most notable was his friendship with Melvin "Anatomical Wonder" Burkhart. He took Bill under his wing and taught him how to communicate with the public, gave him confidence and even taught him how to read! And Bill loved the show and the audience. He cherished the idea that once he was afraid of people, and now they had to pay for the right to see him. Bill quickly became a star and spent the rest of his career on The Slim Kelly and Whitney Sutton Show. He always expressed gratitude to his friends, colleagues and, of course, his patron Burkhart.
One day, Burkhart introduced Bill to Mildred, a woman with alligator skin. Mildred was born in 1901 and was a little older than Bill, but this did not prevent their friendship from developing into love and, despite their repulsive appearance, they got married. They spent several happy years together as the World's Weirdest Couple, and in June 1968 Mildred died. Bill's heart was completely broken, he resigned, settled in Gibston, Florida, where in May 1975 he quietly and peacefully joined his beloved wife.
Bill Derks was a man who began his life hidden from the world by parents who were ashamed of him. He began to participate in the show and found the love and friendship that he had been missing all his life. It was the love and friendship he deserved as a Human Phenomenon, a testament to man's perseverance.
