The modern spiritualist movement, which flourished in the late 19th to early 20th centuries, centered around a belief in the existence of an afterlife where the dearly departed could communicate with the living. Its popularity led to a surge in people working as psychics and mediums who claimed they could make contact with the dead and catered to high public interest in attending events like séances. That interest, however, was met with equally strong pushback from skeptics and non-believers, sometimes with heavy consequences for spiritualists who were eventually exposed as fakes. Here are 10 facts about the history of this controversial cultural phenomenon.

1. March 31, 1848 is widely considered the start of the modern spiritualist movement.

Fox cottage, where the modern spiritualist movement began. / Library of Congress/GettyImages

Also known as “Hydesville Day,” March 31, 1848 was the date that sisters Kate and Margaretta (or Margaret) Fox of Hydesville, New York, claimed to have contacted spirits for the first time through a “rapping” noise heard in their house. For many years, the sisters achieved fame and financial success demonstrating their “skills.” Then, in 1888, Margaret confessed that they had actually faked their act. She recanted a year later, but it was too late to salvage her reputation among other spiritualists, who despised and shunned her.

2. The movement was partly a response to the large numbers of fatalities in wars and the 1918 flu pandemic.

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