vanity
People who dressed like cathedrals and explained it was for God.
The Empress and the File
What does a 19th-century empress do in a room called the Toilette- und Turnzimmer?
The God Who Lost a Sandal
What kind of man flays donkeys to stop the wind, then climbs into a volcano to prove he's a god?
The Violinist Who Couldn't Be Buried
He spent thirty-six years after his death being moved between increasingly strange rooms across the south of France.
The Man Who Translated Everything Wrong
He translated the hieroglyphics on a famous Roman fountain. They are complete nonsense, chiseled in stone, and tourists photograph them every day.
The Man Who Could Not Fail
He shipped coal to Newcastle during a miners' strike and sold every piece at a premium.
The Astronomer and the Moose
The greatest astronomer of the sixteenth century lost his nose in a duel over math, consulted a clairvoyant dwarf, and owned a moose that died falling down stairs drunk on beer.
The Man Who Was Emperor of America
Joshua Norton declared himself Emperor, and San Francisco largely agreed.