Tarrare: France's Hungriest Spy
In eighteenth-century France, a young man named Tarrare became notorious for an appetite that no amount of food seemed able to satisfy. From swallowing stones for paying crowds to devouring meals intended for fifteen people, his extraordinary eating habits left doctors baffled. But where medicine saw a mystery, the French army saw an opportunity, deciding that his stomach might be the perfect hiding place for military secrets. It was a remarkable plan, with a few rather unpleasant and unintended consequences.
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