In the late nineteenth century, a visit to a dime museum would offer all sorts of wonders, from magicians to sword swallowers to various human oddities. And if you were lucky, you might’ve seen Evatima Tardo get nailed to cross and bitten by poisonous snakes. Talk about entertainment.
Tardo felt no pain nor suffered any ill effects from the venom. How might this have been possible? What led to this unusual and seemingly risky career choice? Find out in the Season 2, Episode 3 Weird Historian podcast featuring Bess Lovejoy.
Lovejoy is the author of Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses, and has written for the New York Times, The Boston Globe, Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and many other publications. Her recent story about Tardo’s extraordinary life was published by the Wellcome Collection.
