The Boy With Two Heads

A curious case from medical history

Arthur William Devis’s Drawing of the Two-Headed Boy from Bengal (1787), Wikimedia Commons

In May of 1783, the “Two-Headed Boy of Bengal” was born into a family of peasants. The midwife assisting the boy’s mother was horrified with his appearance and immediately chucked the newborn into a fire. Fortunately, he suffered only a few burns and managed to survive.