Free The Book of the Bizarre: Freaky Facts and Strange Stories by Varla Ventura Page A

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NO RESPECT FOR ELDERS
    Ninth-century Pope Formosus made a few notable enemies during his lifetime. One of them, his successor, Pope Stephen VI, couldn't put the past behind him and forgive Formosus for the injustices he felt the former pope had imposed on him. Stephen had his orderlies dig up the dead pope, dress him in robes, and put his corpse on trial. And because the corpse could notexactly speak for itself, he had a young deacon kneel behind the body and act as Formosus's impersonator.
    Former U.S. president Gerald Ford changed his name when he was twenty-two—a good thing, because his birth name was Leslie Lynch King, Jr.
THE MYSTERY OF THE CARNAC STONES
    Everyone knows about Stonehenge, the prehistoric monument of stones located in the English countryside. Lesser known but just as extraordinary are the Carnac Stones, a collection of more than 3,000 freestanding megaliths that can be found in the area outside the French village of Carnac, in Brittany. The stones, which stand in straight columns measuring hundreds of meters long, are the subject of many theories and much speculation. One myth posits that they are the remains of a Roman legion that Merlin, the wizard of the Arthurian legend, turned to stone. They are thought to date from between 3300 and 4500 B.C. The stones are remarkable for their organization and their incredible size; one stone, known as the Giant, is 6.5 meters tall.
AND WE THOUGHT SPITTOONS WERE BAD
    The Romans believed that purging the digestive system was very important to the overall health of the body. As such, they built special “vomitoriums,” where wealthy Romans could lose their lunch, clean up, and settle in for their next gourmet meal.

UNUSUAL CUSTOMS
BEE AROUND
    It was once tradition in old England, upon the death of a family member, to find the nearest beehive and tell the bees about the death. Doing so was thought to prevent the bees from abandoning their hive.
BAD NEWS FOR CHOCOHOLICS
    In villages in Central America during the eighteenth century, chocolate was believed to be the drink of thedevil, and no one under sixty was allowed to imbibe under threat of excommunication from the Catholic Church.
MIRROR, MIRROR
    Mirrors ward off evil spirits—or so thought the ancient Chinese, who were convinced that spirits did not want to be seen in a looking glass.
THE CUMAEAN SIBYL
    Ancient Rome had ten Sibyls—prophetesses who channeled divine energy—who lived in Persia, Libya, Samos, Cimmeria, Erythraea, Tibur, Marpessus, Phrygia, Delphi, and Cumae. One of the best known is the Cumaean Sibyl, who lived near Naples in the fifth century B.C. Her cave, which was said to lead directly to the underworld, was rediscovered in 1932; the passageway is 375 feet long. Like the priestess at Delphi, the Cumaean Sibyl gained her powers through association with the god Apollo, who offered her anything if she would spend the night with him. She asked for eternal life, but as she neglected to ask for eternal youth, she shriveled into a shadow.
    She wrote her prophecies on leaves that she placed at the mouth of her cave. If no one came to pick them up, she let the wind scatter them. The Sibylline Verses , which told the Romans how to gain favor with foreign gods, were eventually bound into nine volumes, which the Sibyl tried to sell to the Roman king, Tarquin. He scoffed at the high price, so she burned three of the books. The price was still too high, he scoffed again, and she burned three more books. When she returned with the last three books, the king decided maybe there was something he ought to know, so he bought them. They were kept in the capitol and consulted until some were destroyed in a fire in 83 B.C. The rest survived until another fire in A.D. 405, at which time enterprising Romans began writing pseudo-Sibylline prophecies.
AS THE BIRD TOLLS
    Ancient Romans never made a decision without first observing the flight patterns of the birds that soared above their