Who has the most kissed face in history?

You might not know this, but you have likely kissed the most famous death mask.

In the 1800s, when photography was rare and forensic science was barely a concept, death masks were used to preserve the faces of the unidentified dead. These plaster casts were sometimes displayed in morgues in hopes that someone might recognize the face.

Resusci Anne Death Mask

Resusci Anne Death Mask as CPR Doll

In the late 1800s, an unidentified woman was pulled from the Seine in Paris. A death mask was made in the hopes of identifying this mysterious woman. Sadly, no one ever claimed or identified her, but the workers at the mortuary were struck by the calm, almost smiling look on her face—and that her image quietly endured.

Artists called her the "drowned Mona Lisa."

Surrealists made her their muse.

And in 1960, her face was chosen for the world's first CPR training doll: Resusci Anne.

No one ever warned us we were practicing mouth-to-mouth on a death mask.

That CPR training is also where we get the phrase: "Annie, are you okay?"

It's the standard question trainees shout at the doll to check for responsiveness.

This story takes an odd turn when you hear that lyric in Michael Jackson's, Smooth Criminal. Michael Jackson remembered it during a CPR class—and incorporated that as a lyric.

in the end, Annie ended up being pretty famous for being an anonymous woman. It is comforting that through her death, she has helped save countless potential lives.

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