Cracked has a breakdown of the world’s worst parties, including:
- The Ball of the Wild Men. In honor of the impending wedding of her lady-in-waiting in 1393, the Queen of France threw a ball at which King Charles VI led a charivari, a parade intended to shame someone. Tragically, the king’s brother brought a torch too near the dancers and their highly flammable costumes and four of them burned to death. The party is today remembered as the Bal des Ardents, or the Ball of the Burning Men.
- The Jägermeister Party. At a party sponsored by the liqueur maker ended after staffers dumped liquid nitrogen into a swimming pool, creating a nitrogen cloud that put nine guests in the hospital, including one in a coma. Staff thought the smoke arising from the nitrogen would look cool.
- The Gender Reveal Pipe Bomb. You probably remember this one. At this 2019 gender reveal party, a family decided to mix their own fireworks but instead created a pipe bomb that killed one of the grandmothers.
- The Time a Drunk Elk Fell Down the Stairs. During one 16th century soiree, astronomer Tycho Brahe once got his pet elk drunk, after which it fell down a flight of stairs and died.
- 1,389 People Died When They Heard the Party Favors Were Running Short. At a party following the coronation of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia in 1896, staff distributed gift boxes containing bread, sausages, and a commemorative mug. When the crowd heard rumors that the gifts were running out, they rushed the stage, trampling hundreds to death.
