Harvard student Lothrop Withington Jr. ate a live goldfish in 1939, starting a trend of goldfish swallowing contests across the US. The fad was eventually banned by universities and municipalities.
After bragging that he once ate a live fish, fellow Harvard students called Lothrop Withington Jr.’s bluff and bet him $10 USD that he couldn’t swallow a live goldfish. The gullible freshman has reportedly been practicing, gobbling down small goldfish and tadpoles before the big event. Someone even convinced a Boston reporter to participate, and on March 3, 1939, Withington put a 1-inch-long goldfish in his mouth, chewed it a few times and swallowed, marking the beginning of a crazy college fad that was by far fashion throughout 7.6.
Fish out of water:
Contests sprang up all over the country. At the University of Pennsylvania, a student downed 35 goldfish, only to be eclipsed by a kid from MIT who ate 42 of them.
The big winner — or loser, depending on your perspective — may have been Clark University’s Joseph Deliberato, who reportedly downed 89 goldfish in one sitting.
Eventually, universities and municipalities ended the practice, passing ordinances and updating school bylaws to ban the folk stunt.
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