The Weirdest Jobs in History

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Transcript

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the weirdest jobs in history number seven human alarm clock before alarm clocks were invented people hired knockups individuals who tapped on windows with long sticks or even shot peas at the glass to wake their clients up they walked the streets Before Dawn

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making sure Factory workers and Bakers got to work on time some heavy sleepers needed extra effort so the wakers kept shooting peas until they woke up interestingly some of these human alarm clocks even had their own knocker UPS to wake them first number six Whipping Boy being an English

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or French Prince had its perks you could never be punished but instead of getting away with bad behavior the punishment was outsourced to a Whipping Boy a kid who got beaten on the prince's behalf the idea was that watching his friend suffer would make the prince feel guilty and start behaving as you might suspect

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it probably didn't work but hey at least The Whipping Boy had a job number five leech collector back when doctors thought blood leting could cure anything leeches were worth their weight in gold that's where leech collectors came in these

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guys made a living by walking into swamps and letting the little blood suckers latch onto their legs once they had gathered enough passengers they'd carefully peel them off and sell them to doctors for Medical Treatments it was like fishing except you were the bait number four Imperial human chest

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piece imagine standing still for hours dressed in elaborate robes waiting for someone to move you you that was the life of a human chest piece in the Chinese Emperor's games no Talking no sitting just standing there hoping the emperor wouldn't take too long to make his next move and if you got captured

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well that's when your acting skills kicked in you had to collapse on the spot dramatically pretend to die and then lie there like a defeated Pawn while the game carried on number three resurrectionist back in the 18th and 19th centuries medical schools needed

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dead bodies for dis C but there weren't enough legal ones to go around that's when resurrectionists stepped in people who made a living sneaking into cemeteries digging up fresh corpses and selling them to scientists some got so into the business that they skipped the whole digging part and just started

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making their own cavers looking at you Burke and hair number two professional mourner back in the past funerals weren't just about saying goodbye they were mostly about the drama that's why families actually hired trained

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professionals to cry at funerals the more intense the performance the more it emphasized the significance of the loss these experts could wail on demand throw themselves on the ground and even rip their clothes for extra flare nothing says they'll be missed like a bunch of

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strangers Balling on Q right number one groom of the stool believe it or not one of the most important jobs in the English Royal Court was helping the king go to the toilet the groom of the stool didn't just assist with the uh process

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he also wiped the king and kept track of his bathroom habits the weirdest part this wasn't some bottom of the barrel servant job it was actually a super prestigious position giving the king's personal butt wiper serious political power