Mary Toft and the rabbits
A woman convinces royal surgeons she is giving birth to rabbits
In autumn 1726 Mary Toft of Godalming appeared to give birth to rabbits, and several doctors, including a surgeon to the royal household, believed her. Brought to London and watched closely, she confessed to inserting the animals herself, and all England laughed at the gullible physicians.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century
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In 1726 a surgeon to the royal household believed an Englishwoman was giving birth to rabbits. Mary Toft fooled doctors for weeks before confessing in London. Share →
Meanwhile around the world (±25 years)
Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — 23 years earlier
- 1709 Battle of Poltava — 17 years earlier
- 1721 Proclamation of the Russian Empire — 5 years earlier
Middle East
- 1722 Fall of Isfahan — 4 years earlier
- 1747 Ahmad Shah Durrani founds the Afghan state — 21 years later
Alive at the time
- Isaac Newton (aged 83)
- Johann Sebastian Bach (aged 41)
- Voltaire (aged 32)
- Benjamin Franklin (aged 20)
- Mikhail Lomonosov (aged 15)
- Ahmed III (aged 53)
- Vitus Bering (aged 45)
- Tokugawa Yoshimune (aged 42)
- Catherine I (aged 42)
- Nader Shah (aged 38)