Celebrations Throughout History That Got Out Of Control

On November 25, 1120, the heir to the English throne, 17-year-old William Adelin, was returning home to England on a vessel named the White Ship after visiting the court of French King Louis VI. While his father, King Henry I, sailed straight home, the prince and his friends had other plans. As soon as they were alone, they threw a massive party. Soon, all the young nobles onboard were drunk, and many of the men working as the ship's crew were drinking too. The helmsman, who was responsible for steering the ship, was also intoxicated and steered the ship directly into a rock near the shore. The White Ship, which was carrying the heir to the throne and many of the next generation of young English aristocrats onboard, began to sink.

The crew attempted to save the prince, but according to one account, he refused to stay on the lifeboat when he realized that his sister, Matilda, was trapped onboard. In the commotion, more terrified people tried to climb onto the lifeboat than it could hold, sinking as well. Ultimately, everyone on board was killed except for a butcher named Berold. The death of the prince, who was King Henry I's heir, would cause chaos in England. A civil war broke out, sending England into a 19-year period known as the Anarchy — essentially a succession battle between Henry's named heir, Matilda, and his nephew, Stephen of Blois, who seized the crown after Henry's death. 

By 1393, King of France Charles VI was known as Charles the Mad because he suffered from delusional episodes, including once becoming startled by a loud noise that he killed five of his knights and believing that his entire body was made out of glass. His wife, Queen Isabeau (whom he would often fail to recognize), spent much of her time trying to come up with things to keep her husband entertained and distracted from his delusions. One of these events was an enormous party on January 28 to celebrate the wedding of one of her favorite ladies-in-waiting. The entertainment that she planned would turn into a disaster.

The entertainment was a dance called charivari, which, in this case, was a noisy performance meant to tease the newlyweds. Six of the king's knights performed soaked in pitch, wearing masks, and covered in long hair to make them look monstrous. Secretly, the king was also dressed as one of the dancers. 

Open flames were actually banned during the dance, due to the costumes pretty much being a fire hazard. However, the king's brother and his friends didn't get the memo and arrived late and drunk carrying burning torches, after the dancing had already started. Horrifically, one of the pitch-soaked dancers caught fire from the spark of one of the late-comers' torches. In his desperation to save himself, he accidentally lit the other dancers too. The king and one other dancer survived, but the others burned to death in front of the crowd.

In 1979, the radio station WLUP offered a special promotion during which fans could trade a disco record and just 98 cents for a ticket to a much-anticipated Chicago White Sox versus Detroit Tigers doubleheader at Comiskey Park on July 12. The plan was to destroy the records during the game –- but it would also lead to the destruction of the field.

As described in an article from The Guardian, this wasn't a lighthearted bit. The DJ behind the promotion was Steve Dahl, who had a personal vendetta against the genre of disco, partly because he had lost his last gig when the station became a disco station. While Dahl insisted that it was simply about dislike of a controversial genre, disturbingly, many fans interpreted it as any record from a Black artist and brought many non-disco albums to be destroyed. As the fans arrived, their records were thrown into a dumpster and they were given their heavily discounted ticket. The promotion was far more popular than even Dahl had expected, bringing almost 48,000 people into the game.

Between the two games, Dahl had all of the disco records put in the center of the field and blown up. There was chaos. Thousands of fans rushed onto the field and refused to return to the stands for the second game. The bonfire blazed on, the field was destroyed, and there were 39 arrests. The White Sox were forced to forfeit the game.

On May 5, 1937, MGM hired 120 women as dancers and extras, apparently for an overnight on-location shoot. When the women arrived, however, they discovered that they had been lied to: There was no film shoot. Instead, they had been hired to attend a party that was being thrown as a reward for MGM's salesmen. There were celebrity guests and unlimited drinks, but the real entertainment was supposed to be the unsuspecting women who had been tricked into being there.

As described by documentarian and Hollywood biographer David Stenn in an interview with History, it was assumed that while men were at these parties they could behave however they wanted. As the party guests got more intoxicated, some became aggressive with the women, trying to touch them against their will. None of the women at the party had transportation away from the event or access to a phone, so there was no easy way out. As noted by Vanity Fair, one 18-year-old actually had to fight her way out with the help of actor Wallace Beery, the two fleeing the building. Another, Patricia Douglas, was unable to break free and was violently force-fed alcohol by two men, beaten, and raped. When she attempted to sue MGM, she was silenced by the studio.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

[Image by Daily News via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0]

After defeating the Persian Emperor in 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great's army took the Persian capital city, Persepolis. The city was famously home to much of the Persian Empire's greatest wealth and achievements, including silver, gold, jewelry, art, and books. As described by first-century historian Diodorus Siculus (via World History Encyclopedia), Alexander planned a massive celebration for his conquering army during which he sacrificed many animals to the gods, had an entire feast prepared, and allowed his men to loot the city. He also provided them with massive quantities of alcohol, which would turn out to be a mistake.

Alexander and all his men got extremely drunk and increasingly violent. According to legend, an Athenian woman named Thais used this situation to her advantage. She was probably one of Alexander's generals' girlfriends, but she may have also had a romantic relationship with Alexander himself. Her home city of Athens had been burned by the Persians 150 years before, and she encouraged the intoxicated Alexander and his generals to set fires in retribution. While the band played on, Alexander and his men joyfully put the great city to the torch. The next morning, Alexander reportedly regretted destroying Persepolis –- especially the priceless books and art.

Although circuses and festivals were supposed to be celebrations to entertain the people, the circus and the games held in Constantinople's Hippodrome were serious business. In fact, chariot racing was so important to Byzantine life that charioteers rubbed shoulders with the emperor himself, and supporters of different factions (known as Blues and Greens) had an intense rivalry that could turn violent. In A.D. 532, however, one crowd got so riled up during a chariot race that the two factions actually joined forces against Emperor Justinian.

A few days before the big race, several members of the Blue and Green factions had narrowly escaped their own executions and were still wanted. During the race on January 13, the fans chanted for Justinian to pardon the men. As Justinian ignored their demands, the event grew rowdier and rowdier, until it became a full-scale uprising. The crowds at the Hippodrome often chanted "nika" or "victory" for their team, but this time, they chanted it for themselves. The revolt lasted for five days, with rioting Blues and Greens setting fire to the city of Constantinople. Finally, Justinian called in the army, who trapped the two factions inside the chariot racing track and began killing everyone inside. It is estimated that as many as 30,000 people were killed during the Nika riots. 

King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette were both executed by guillotine during the French Revolution, but their marriage was a blight on the French people from the very beginning. After some 10 years of negotiations with the Austrian Empire, in 1770 France had secured a peace treaty by marrying its prince, the future King Louis XVI, to the Austrian archduchess Marie-Antoinette. Their marriage was celebrated with a massive party on May 30, ending with a fireworks display in Paris. Fireworks were rare at the time, and never set off in places where common people could see them, so when people heard about the show they flocked to the streets of Paris. It was extremely crowded.

During the finale of the fireworks display, one of the rockets set the wooden launch platform on fire. At first, the crowd thought that the blaze was intentional, but it soon became obvious that the fire was dangerous. Nobility and ordinary people alike tried desperately to escape the fire. Even the newly married royal couple had to struggle to escape in their carriage. The surging crowd became a stampede, trampling anyone unlucky enough to be forced to the ground underfoot. Many people were killed in the chaos, with official death tolls ranging from 132-800.