Charlie Osborne gets hiccups. They continue for 68 years.

For 68 straight years — from 1922 to 1990 — an American man named Charlie Osborne endured a relentless case of intractable hiccups that would become one of the most remarkable medical oddities in history. Many assumed his condition stemmed from drinking alcohol, but that popular theory was wrong. The true culprit was most likely a brain infection that disrupted his body's natural ability to suppress the hiccup reflex.

The first glimmer of a cure arrived in 1925. Charlie found himself at the home of a family friend, desperately trying to get some rest. By about 5 AM, his hiccups had grown so severe that he could only sleep in a sitting position. Someone offered a folk remedy: hold your breath for twenty seconds, then swallow a teaspoon of salt water. Charles Osborne gave it a shot, and remarkably, it actually worked — but the relief lasted only about an hour before the hiccups returned.

Facts about June 13, 1922 – Charlie Osborne gets hiccups. They continue for 68 years.

• During the 58th year of his hiccuping, an episode of The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson featured a segment titled "Hiccups," starring Osborne. In 1958, Johnny Carson interviewed Charlie and did a skit with him on the set in his first appearance on the show. Osborne appeared in several more Tonight Show segments.
• Making matters worse beyond the hiccups themselves, the second half of May brought an additional challenge — a new and far more volatile form of alcohol known as ethyl alcohol had begun to be legally sold.
• For a stretch, the hiccups became more subtle and occurred less often. However, by June 13, 1922, they had ramped back up to a frequency of five times a day, persisting for 21 hours at a time.
• His hiccups stopped shortly before his death.