The Original Sexy Nun: Your Halloween Costume Has Nothing on This

Emergency Exorcisms Call for Holy Water Enemas

in 1627, Jeanna de Agnes was appointed Mother Superior at the new Ursuline convent at Loudon in France.

It didn't take long before Jeanne became sexually enamored with the parish priest, Father Urbain Grandier, who had a history of adultery and scandal.

Perhaps that is why it came as no surprise when Jeanne began claiming that Grandier's spectral image was appearing in her dreams, seducing her and robbing her of her sacred vow to Jesus Christ.

Not long after, the other nuns in the convent started to complain that Grandier was possessing them as well. Of course, none of them were quite as afflicted as Jeanne, who hosted a whopping seven demons.

Exorcisms were performed for years. These spectacles were described to be very sexually-charged, including performing enemas with holy water, and nuns exposing themselves in fits of convulsions.

Grandier was charged with the crime of sorcery and initially acquitted. After the Chief Minister of France ordered a new trial, however, Grandier was burned at the stake; even after Jeanne and the other sisters had recounted their allegations.

The Radium Girls: A "Jaw-Dropping" Tale

Workers' bodies deteriorate from a "Harmless" chemical

After its discovery in 1898, radium became a popular additive for commercial companies to use in their products. It was incorporated into everything from hair gel to beverages.

Around the time WW1 was ending, many women secured high-paying jobs with United States Radium Corporation painting radium onto the dials of watches.

The women were instructed to point their paintbrushes by placing the tips in their mouths in between dipping the brushes into the self-luminescent radium paint.

they were assured that this process was completely harmless.

some of the women even painted their nails and teeth with the paint for an extra glow, before leaving work for a night out.

It only took a few years before lesions and ulcers began appearing on the skin of the women, and their teeth started to fall out. One woman's jaw deteriorated and eventually had to be pulled out entirely.

Five of the women suffering from radium poisoning filed a lawsuit against United States Radium Corporation, inspiring women working for similar companies to do the same. Unfortunately, not all of these women would survive long enough to witness the outcome of their cases.

These woman became known as the Radium Girls. Their stories left a legacy and set forth reforms on industrial health and occupational safety laws that we have today.

The Copenhagen Witch Trials: You Can Guess How This One Ends

King James VI Brings a Macabre Fad Back to Scotland

in 1560 a ravenous coastal storm forced sea-traveling King James VI of Scotland to take refuge in Norway for weeks.

The King was was en route to marry Princess Anne of Denmark in Copenhagen. Heavily influenced by the ongoing Trier Witch Trials in neighboring Germany, Copenhagen was experiencing a witch frenzy of its own.

Anna Koldings was the first Danish woman to be accused of sorcery.

After being tortured for a time, Anna admitted to summoning the storms that had ravaged the seaway of King James' voyage. She said she bade devils to climb up the keels of the ships. Koldings also named several other women before eventually being burned at the stake.

King James VI was fascinated with the idea of black magic being blamed for nature's blunders. After marrying Anne in Norway, he brought the concept of witch trials back to Scotland where it quickly become just as trendy.

The resulting North Berwick witch trials in Scotland lasted from 1590-1592 and claimed an estimated 3,000-4,000 lives.