08-31-2024 - On This Day in Insane History

On August 31st, 1648, the town of Villafranca underwent a rather unexpectedtransformation. The small farming community nestled in the Italian countryside was accustomed to the quiet, pastoral rhythms of village life carrying on as they always had. However, on this particular morning, the villagers awoke to discover that overnight their town had been overrun by pigs!

It seemed that a previously undocumented breed of airborne swine had emerged from the mist-shrouded woods surrounding Villafranca. By the light of the rising sun, the entire population surveyed with disbelief as over a thousand pink snouts snuffled curiously through the streets. Roofs creaked under the weight of curious sows and their litters looking for succulent scraps. The town chapel's bell tolled not to call the faithful to prayer but to warn piglets away from its steeple heights.

Panicked residents rushed to secure what provisions they could, constructing impromptu fences from fences and furniture to corral the interlopers. But these aerial pigs were clever animals, soon discovering how to glide from thatch to thatch in search of berries or escape the makeshift pens. Only through cooperative herding efforts over the following days did the villagers manage to guide the last snorting stragglers back to the woods from whence they came. While the harvest that year had its challenges, the fortunate folk of Villafranca could share their tale of the year pigs flew with any who cared to listen.