The Longest Hiccupping Bout Lasted 68 Years

While most find a bout of hiccups to be a brief annoyance, for an Iowa farmer named Charles Osborne, they became a lifelong companion. His ordeal began in 1922 after a fall while attempting to weigh a 350-pound hog. The incident triggered a relentless case of singultus, the medical term for hiccups. Despite the constant affliction, which began at a rate of 40 times per minute, Osborne adapted. He learned a breathing technique between spasms to muffle the sound and was able to lead a remarkably full life, marrying twice and fathering eight children.

Medically, a hiccup is an involuntary spasm of the diaphragm, with the "hic" sound caused by the vocal cords snapping shut. Doctors at the time believed Osborne's fall may have burst a small blood vessel in his brainstem, damaging the area that inhibits the hiccup reflex. Over the decades, countless specialists and home remedies failed to provide a cure. The mystery of his condition only deepened when, for no apparent reason, the hiccups suddenly stopped in February 1990. He enjoyed just one year of silence before passing away, having produced an estimated 430 million hiccups over nearly seven decades.