Tarrare was a French showman, soldier and spy noted for his unusual appetite and eating habits. Able to eat vast amounts of meat, he was constantly hungry; his parents could not provide for him and he was turned out of the family home as a teenager. Tarrare travelled around France in the company of a band of prostitutes and thieves before becoming the warm-up act for a travelling charlatan. In this act, he swallowed corks, stones, live animals, and a whole basketful of apples. He then took this act to Paris, where he worked as a street performer. At the start of the War of the First Coalition, Tarrare joined the French Revolutionary Army, where even quadrupling the standard military ration was unable to satisfy his large appetite. He ate any available food from gutters and rubbish heaps but his condition still deteriorated through hunger. He was hospitalised due to exhaustion and became the subject of a series of medical experiments to test his eating capacity. (Full article...).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarrare> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1775: American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Quebec, British forces repulsed an attempt by the Continental Army to capture Quebec City and enlist French Canadian support. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quebec_%281775%29> 1950: Korean War: North Korean troops attacked United Nations forces in the first of two battles at Wonju. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_and_second_battles_of_Wonju> 1965: Central African military officers led by Jean-Bédel Bokassa began a coup d'état against the government of President David Dacko. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Sylvestre_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat> 1972: Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en route to deliver aid to victims of that year's Nicaragua earthquake. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: happy ending: 1. (narratology) A conclusion to a story in which all the loose ends of the plot are tied up, and all the main characters are left in a state of contentment or happiness. [...] 2. About Word of the Day 3. Nominate a word 4. Leave feedback <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/happy_ending> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: When you are dying, at least in my limited experience, you start remembering everything. Images come in flashes — people and places and stray conversations — and refuse to stop. … My son knows that I am a writer and that I write about our planet. Since I've been sick, I remind him a lot, so that he will know that I was not just a sick person. … I let the memories come and go. So many of them are from my childhood that I feel as if I'm watching myself and my kids grow up at the same time. Sometimes I trick myself into thinking I'll remember this forever, I'll remember this when I'm dead. Obviously, I won't. But since I don't know what death is like and there's no one to tell me what comes after it, I'll keep pretending. I will keep trying to remember. --Tatiana Schlossberg <https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tatiana_Schlossberg> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe write to: [email protected] Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
