February 8th 1855: ‘Devil’s Footprints’ appear
On this day in 1855, heavy snowfall hit southern Devon in the United Kingdom. The next morning locals awoke to find a mysterious set of footprints in the snow. The footprints were in single file in the shape of cloven hooves, and supposedly stretched for hundreds of miles, going through walls, houses and over water and rooftops. The single file footprints suggested a creature on two legs rather than four, and the cloven shape fitted with contemporary imagery of the Devil. Satan is traditionally pictured with cloven hooves, as its image was adapted from a pagan deity, and the wings represent Lucifer’s nature as a fallen angel. There have been numerous theories put forward beyond the supernatural, from escaped kangaroos, a hot air balloon dangling a rope, to roaming badgers. It is unlikely the footprints were faked, though their appearance did certainly benefit the Devon clergy as the churches were filled with people terrified by the Devil. The mystery remains unsolved to this day, but modern thinkers tend to reject the notion that the Devil traversed across nineteenth century Devon.
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