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You would think that the worst thing that some musical instruments can do to you is give you a headache, but it turns out there is one out there that can not only cause health problems in both players and listeners, but it can even kill them.
It's called a glass armonica and was actually invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. It seems harmless enough - just some glass bowls of various sizes spinning on a spindle - but it is known as the world's most dangerous instrument.
The way it works is a foot pedal spins the bowls and each bowl makes a different sound. The player dips their fingers in water and touches the bowls' edges to create a unique sound. Soon after its invention, the armonica became very popular across the globe, with the likes of Mozart and Beethoven composing music for it. However, before long, horror stories about the instrument started to circulate, including claims that it was killing people. The armonica's complexity was reportedly overstimulating the brain, causing performers, and even listeners, dizziness, nervousness, hallucinations, cramps, muscle spasms and even death.
According to the Franklin Institute, the issues culminated with an incident in Germany where a child died during an armonica performance. After that, some towns started banning it and people believed its high-pitched tones were invoking spirts of the dead, driving people mad, or had magical powers. Others suspected lead from the glass bowls were being absorbed into musicians' fingers.
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While no proof or explanation was given to any of the symptoms or stories, it was enough to cause the armonica to fall out of favor - not with Ben Franklin though. He "ignored all of the controversy and continued to play the instrument until the end of his life with none of the symptoms mentioned."
These days, glass armonicas are still played and produced, though they still aren't the most popular instrument and many people have never even heard of them before.