Tarrare: The Human Garbage Disposal Who Horrified Doctors

Tarrare was born in 1770s France with an appetite that defied medical explanation. As a teenager, he could eat a meal meant for 15 people and still be hungry. His parents kicked him out because they couldn't afford to feed him, so he joined a traveling freak show where he ate corks, stones, live animals, and anything else audiences would pay to see him swallow.

But his act was nothing compared to what happened when he joined the French army. Military doctors were fascinated and horrified - they watched him devour live cats, snakes, lizards, and puppies without chewing. He ate an entire eel in one gulp. He would eat garbage, rotting meat, and drink the blood of hospital patients. His body temperature was abnormally hot, he sweated constantly, and witnesses said the stench from his body was unbearable from across a room.

Desperate French generals tried to use him as a spy - he could swallow documents in a wooden box and retrieve them later. But after one mission, even the military wanted nothing to do with him. He was banned from the hospital morgue after body parts went missing. When a 14-month-old baby disappeared from the hospital, suspicion fell on Tarrare, and he fled in terror.

Years later, he returned to a different hospital dying of tuberculosis. When doctors performed an autopsy, they found his stomach and intestines were grotesquely enlarged, his gullet was so wide you could see down into his stomach, and his body was filled with pus. To this day, no one knows what medical condition caused his insatiable hunger.

Keywords: weird history, Tarrare, medical mysteries, French history, unusual medical cases, historical oddities, freak shows, strange diseases, 18th century France, medical anomalies

Perfect for listeners who love: medical mysteries, truly bizarre historical figures, unsolved medical cases, disturbing stories, and conditions that defy explanation.