10 Historical Jobs That Erase the Line Between 'Career' and 'Nightmare'

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 11:40:00 +0000

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Think your 9-to-5 is bad? Imagine being a human alarm clock who never slept, or getting paid to stand in a swamp and be eaten alive by leeches. We're unearthing 10 real historical jobs that were less of a "career" and more of a "curse."

This isn't just a list of "bad jobs." This is an Odd Why's deep dive into the bizarre economic, social, and medical realities that made these nightmare professions a *necessity*. We’re exploring the absurd logic that built the pre-modern world—from the high-stakes political power of the royal bathroom attendant (the Groom of the Stool) to the ghoulish black market of the Resurrectionists who fueled medical science with stolen corpses.

Prepare to question everything you thought you knew about "a hard day's work."

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⏱️ NAVIGATE THE NIGHTMARE (TIMESTAMPS):
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0:00 The Groom of the Stool
2:42 The Resurrectionist
5:35 The Leech Collector
8:40 The Whipping Boy
11:35 The Fuller
14:08 The Knocker-Upper
16:31 The Sin-Eater
19:11 The Ornatrix
21:50 The Gong Farmer
24:25 The Powder Monkey

#WeirdHistory #DarkHistory #OddWhys

Related: unbelievable history, bizarre jobs, worst jobs in history, ancient rome, tudor england, medieval life, sin-eater, groom of the stool, resurrectionist, body snatchers, history documentary, odd why's, weird jobs