The scandalous sneeze

Fred Ott's Sneeze (film by William K.L. Dickson)
Fred Ott’s Sneeze

The 1894 kinetoscope of Fred Ott sneezing after inhaling a pinch of snuff, taken by Thomas Edison’s laboratory, was one of the first human acts ever committed to film. If you believe the internet rumors concerning the relationship between sneezing and sex, it might also have been the first movie orgasm.

No wonder nasal snuff was so popular for hundreds of years – and small wonder, too, that Pope Urban VIII threatened to excommunicate Catholics who took snuff in church….

Is Sneezing Really Like an Orgasm?

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