American millionaire, Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794-1877), builder of railroads and ships, suffered from insomnia.
Since he was superstitious, and even prone to the occult, he eventually came up with a way to quickly and quietly fall asleep.
Before he went to bed, each leg of his bed was dipped in a big bowl full of salt!
The salt was supposed to keep the evil spirits away from Cornelius.
