Safety Coffins: The Fear of Waking Up BuriedThe bizarre inventions born from a 19th-century panic.
From the show
The Secret Life of ObjectsA widespread 18th-century phobia of being buried alive spurred a wave of strange and elaborate inventions. This terror, known as taphophobia, led to 'safety coffins' equipped with bells, breathing tubes, and escape hatches. To prove his device worked, one inventor had himself interred for hours, even eating a meal underground. This historical panic offers a window into how our deepest anxieties can shape technology, then and now.
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