30 Strangest Deaths in History.
Death by Embracing the Reflection of the Moon
Chinese poet Li Po (701-706) is regarded as one of the two greatest poets
in
China's literary history. He was well known for his love of liquor and
often
spouted his greatest poems while drunk.
One night, Li Po fell from his boat and drowned in the Yangtze River while
trying to embrace the reflection of the moon in the water.
Death by Beard
Austrian Hans Steininger was famous for having the world's longest beard
(it
was 4.5 feet or nearly 1.4 m long) and for dying because of it.
One day in 1567, there was a fire in town and in his haste Hans forgot to
roll up his beard. He accidentally stepped on his beard, lost balance,
stumbled, broke his neck and died!
Death From Holding a Pee In
Danish nobleman and astronomer Tycho Brahe was one interesting
fellow. He kept a dwarf as a court jester who sat under the table during
dinner. He even had a tame pet moose.
Tycho also lost the tip of his nose in a duel with another Danish nobleman
and had to wear a "dummy" nose made from silver and gold, but that's
another
story.
It was said that Tycho had to hold his pee during one particularly long
banquet in 1601 (getting up in the middle of a dinner was considered
really
rude) that his bladder, strained to its limits, developed an infection
which
later killed him!
Later analyses suggested that Tycho died because of mercury poisoning but
that's not nearly as interesting as the original story.
Death by Conductor's Cane
While conducting the hymnal Te Deum for French King Louis XIV in 1687,
Jean-Baptiste Lully was so focused in keeping the rhythm by banging a
staff
against the floor (this was the method before conductor's baton came into
use), that he struck his toe hard but refused to stop.
The toe developed an abscess, which later turned gangrenous, but Lully
refused to have it amputated. The gangrene spread and killed the stubborn
musician.
Ironically, the hymn he was conducting was in celebration of the recovery
of
Louis XIV from an illness.
Death by Dessert
King Adolf Frederick [wiki] of Sweden loved to eat and died from it too!
The "King Who Ate Himself to Death" died in 1771 at the age of 61 from a
digestive problem after eating a giant meal consisting of lobster, caviar,
saurkraut, cabbage soup, smoked herring, champagne and 14 servings of his
favorite dessert: semla, a bun filled with marzipan and milk.
Death by Jury Demonstration
After the Civil War, controversial Ohio politician Clement Vallandigham
became a highly successful lawyer who rarely lost a case.
In 1871, he defended Thomas McGehan who was accused of shooting one Tom
Myers during a barroom brawl. Vallandigham's defense was that Myers had
accidentally shot himself while drawing his pistol from a kneeling
position.
To convince the jury, Vallandigham decided to demonstrate his theory.
Unfortunately, he grabbed a loaded gun by mistake and ended up shooting
himself!
By dying, Vallandigham succeeded in demonstrating the plausibility of the
accidental shooting and got his client acquitted.
Death from Biting One's Tongue
Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884, famous for creating the Pinkerton
detective agency and developing investigative techniques such as
surveilling
a suspect and doing undercover work, died of an infection after biting his
tongue when he slipped on a sidewalk!
Death from Stubbing One's Toe
Famous Tennessee whiskey distiller Jack Daniel decided to come in to
work early one morning in 1911. He wanted to open his safe but couldn't
remember the combination. In anger, Daniel kicked the safe and injured his
toe, which later developed an infection that killed him!
Moral of the story? Don't go to work early.
Death by Orange Peel
Bobby Leach wasn't afraid to court death: in 1911, he was the second
person in the world to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. The daredevil
went
on to perform many other death-defying stunts, so his death is especially
ironic.
One day while walking down a street in New Zealand, Leach slipped on a
piece
of orange peel. He broke his leg so badly it had to be amputated. Leach
died
due to complications that developed afterwards.
Death by Overcoat Parachute Failure
In 1911, French tailor Franz Reichelt decided to test his invention, a
combination overcoat and parachute, by jumping off the Eiffel Tower.
Actually, he told the authorities that he would use a dummy, but at the
last
minute decided to test it himself. It was no surprise that he fell to his
death.
Death by 1) Poison, 2) Gunshot Wound (4x), 3) Beating by Clubs, 4)
Drowning.
According to legends, Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin (1869-1916) was
first
poisoned with enough cyanide to kill ten men, but he wasn't affected.
So his killers shot him in the back with a revolver. Rasputin fell but
later
revived. So, he was shot again three more times, but Rasputin still lived.
He was then clubbed, and for good measure thrown into the icy Neva River.
Rasputin was finally dead for good.
Death by Baseball
Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman was the only man ever killed
by a baseball pitch.
At that time, baseball pitchers dirtied up a ball before it was thrown at
the batter to make it harder to see. On August 6, 1920 in a game against
the
New York Yankees, Carl Mays pitched such a ball towards Chapman that
fatally
hit his skull.
Death by Scarf
"Mother of modern dance" Isadora Duncan was killed in 1927 by her
trademark scarf she loved to wear:
As the New York Times noted in its obituary of the dancer on 15 September
1927, "The automobile was going at full speed when the scarf of strong
silk
began winding around the wheel and with terrific force dragged Miss
Duncan,
around whom it was securely wrapped, bodily over the side of the car,
precipitating her with violence against the cobblestone street. She was
dragged for several yards before the chauffeur halted, attracted by her
cries in the street. Medical aid was summoned, but it was stated that she
had been strangled and killed instantly."
Death by Garbage
Homer and Langley Collyer were compulsive hoarders. The two brothers
had a fear of throwing anything away and obsessively collected newspapers
and other junk in their house. They even set up booby-traps in corridors
and
doorways to protect against intruders.
In 1947, an anonymous tip called that there was a dead body in the Collyer
house, and after much initial difficulty getting in, the police found
Homer
Collyer dead and Langley no where to be found. About two weeks later,
after
removing nearly 100 tons of garbage from the house, workers found Langley
Collyer's partialy decomposed (and rat-chewed) body just 10 feet away from
where they had found his brother.
Apparently, Langley had been crawling through tunnels of newspapers to
bring
food to his paralyzed brother when he set off one of his own booby-traps.
Homer died several days later from starvation.
Death at a Talk Show
Jerome Irving Rodale was a proponent of healthy eating. He was an
early advocate for organic farming and sustainable agriculture, founder of
Organic Farming and Gardening magazine and Rodale Press.
After bragging that he would "live to 100, unless I'm run down by a a
sugar-crazy taxi driver", Rodale died of a heart attack while being
interviewed on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. Appearing fast asleep, Dick
Cavett joked "Are we boring you, Mr. Rodale?" before discovering that his
72-year-old guest had indeed died. The show was never aired.
Death by Suicide During a Live TV News Broadcast
Christine Chubbuck was the first and only TV news re****ter to commit
suicide during a live television broadcast.
On July 15, 1974, eight minutes into the broadcast, the depressed re****ter
said "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in
blood and guts, and in living color, you are going to see another first:
an
attempted suicide." With that, Chubbuck drew up a revolver and shot
herself
in the head.
Death on the Toilet
There are several examples of death on the toilet, but that of Elvis
Presley
(1935 - 1977) was the most famous.
The King of Rock 'n Roll was found lying on the floor of his Graceland
mansion's bathroom after throwing up while being seated on the toilet,
taking care of business.
Doctors attributed his death to a heart attack from weight gain and taking
too many prescription drugs.
Death by Robot
Robert Williams was the first man ever killed by a robot. On January
25, 1979, Williams climbed into a storage rack at the Ford Motor's Flat
Rock
casting plant to retrieve a part because the parts-retrieval robot
malfunctioned. Suddenly, the robot reactivated and slammed its arm into
Williams' head, killing him instantly.
The second death by robot happened just a couple of years afterwards in
1981. Kenji Urada, a 37-year-old Japanese maintenance engineer was
working on a broken robot at a Kawasaki plant when he failed to turn it
off.
The robot's mechanical arm accidentally pushed him into a grinding
machine.
Death by Decapitation by Helicopter Rotor Blades
Actor Vic Morrow died on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie when a
helicopter spun out of control due to special effect explosions, crashed,
and decapitated him with its rotor blades.
Two other child actors also died at the event, which triggered a massive
reform in US child labor laws and safety regulations on movie sets.
Death by Cactus
In 1982, 27-year-old David Grundman and a roommate decided to do a little
"cactus plugging," by shooting the desert plant with a shotgun.
The first one, a small cactus, went off without a hitch and Grundman was
encouraged to try a larger prey: a 26-foot-tall Saguaro cactus, probably a
100-year-old plant. Unfortunately, Grundman blasted off a large chuck of
the
cactus that fell on him and crushed him to death!
To date, this was probably the only known instance of revenge killing by a
plant.
Death by Bottle Cap
American playwright Tennessee Williams died in 1983 after he choked
on a bottle cap in his hotel room. Yes, he had been drinking.
Death by Drowning at a Lifeguards' Party.
In 1985, to celebrate their first drowning-free season ever, the
lifeguards
of the New Orleans recreation department decided to throw themselves a
party.
When the party ended, a 31-year-old guest named Jerome Moody was found
dead
on the bottom of the recreation department's pool.
We suppose when it's your time to go, then it's your time to go: there
were
four lifeguards on duty and more than half of the 200 party-goers were
themselves lifeguards!
Death on Stage, While Telling a Joke
Dick Shawn (1924-1987) was a comedian who had a heart attack and died
during
a joke that seemed strangely appropriate:
He was making fun of politicians by saying campaign cliches ending with "I
will not lay down on the job!" Shawn then laid down on the floor face
down.
At first, the audience thought that it was all part of the show, until
some
time later a theater employee checked him for a pulse and began
administering CPR.
The paramedics then arrived, and the audience were told to go home - Dick
Shawn was dead.
Death by Belly Slam.
British pro wrestler Mal "King Kong" Kirk died underneath the big belly of
****rley "Big Daddy" Crabtree.
In August 1987, during the final moments of the match, Crabtree delivered
his signature "Belly-Splash" move (basically jumping up and down, slamming
his belly onto a guy) on Kirk, who then had a heart attack and died.
Crabtree was cleared after it was revealed that Kirk had a serious heart
condition prior to the match. However, Crabtree blamed himself for Kirk's
death and retired from pro wrestling.
Before the match, Kirk had told his friends: "If I have to go, I hope it
is
in the ring."
Death by Giant Umbrellas
In 1991, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude put up an environmental
installation art of thousands of giant yellow and blue umbrellas in
California and Japan.
The giant umbrellas, which measured about 20 foot (6 m) in height, 28 foot
(8.7 m) in diameter and weighed about 500 lb, became a huge tourist
attraction.
Less than two months after the installation opened, Lori Rae
Keevil-Mathews,
a 33-year-old woman drove out to see the umbrellas in California. A wind
gust uprooted one of the umbrellas and blew it straight at her, cru****ng
her
against a boulder and killing her.
Christo immediately ordered all of the umbrellas taken down. The
umbrellas,
however, took another life - this time in Japan. Crane operator Masaaki
****amura was electrocuted when the machine's arm touched a 65,000-volt
high-tension line when removing the umbrellas.
Death by Re-creation
In 1991, a 57-year-old Thai woman Yooket Paen was walking in her farm when
she accidentally slipped on a cow dung, grabbed a ****d live wire and got
electrocuted to death.
Soon after Paen's funeral, her 52-year-old-sister Yooket Pan was showing
her
neighbors how the accident happened when she herself slipped, grabbed the
same live wire and also got electrocuted to death!
Death by Sheep
In 1999, Betty Stobbs, 67, of Durham, England, took a bale of hay to feed
her flock of sheep on the back of her motorcycle.
Apparently, the sheep were very hungry. About forty of them rushed the hay
and knocked her off a cliff into a 100-feet deep quarry. Stobbs survived
the
fall only to be killed when the motorcycle, which was also knocked off the
cliff, tumbled down after her.
Death by Necklace Bomb
On the afternoon of August 28, 2003, pizza deliveryman Brian Wells
tried to rob a bank with a home-made shotgun disguised as a cane.
When he was caught by the police, Wells revealed that he had been forced
by
some people he delivered pizza to earlier to rob the bank. A necklace with
an explosive device was attached to his neck.
The necklace bomb blew up before the bomb squad could deactivate it
(indeed,
there was controversy whether the police took his story seriously and
delayed calling the bomb squad). Until today, it's unclear whether Wells
was
a victim, a co-conspirator or the lone perpetrator of the robbery and
subsequent death.
Death by Stingray
In 2006, Australian wildlife expert and TV personality Steve "The
Crocodile
Hunter" Irwin died when he was stabbed in the heart by a stingray
spine while filming a do***entary Ocean's Deadliest.
Death by Bookcase
Mariesa Weber was re****ted missing by her family for nearly two weeks
before
they found her in her bedroom, wedged behind a bookcase.
"I'm sleeping in the same house as her for 11 days, looking for her," her
mother, Connie Weber, told the St. Petersburg Times. "And she's right in
the
bedroom."
Both Weber and her sister had previously adjusted the television plug by
standing on a bureau next to the shelf and leaning over the top. Her
family
believes Weber, who was 5-foot-3 and barely 100 pounds, may have fallen
headfirst into the space.
*.*
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little
behind in his work.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.
The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a
small medium at large.
A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U C L A.
The dead batteries were given out free of charge.
What's the definition of a will? It's a dead giveaway.
*.*
Operators of the Chunnel, (the underwater tunnel
between England and France,) re****ted
a loss of $220 million for the first half of the year.
Officials say, stingy commuters, who try to
save money on the toll
by packing several people into the same car,
are to blame for the loss.
It's a condition known as "carpool tunnel syndrome."
*.*
Subject: Gas Station Attendants
Three gas station owners re****t for their first day in prison. The
prison guard asks one of them, "What are you in for?" He replies, "The
government says I charged customers more for my gasoline than other gas
stations. I'm in for price gouging."
The guard looks at the second man. "And you?" He answers, "I charged
less for my gasoline than everyone else. I'm in for anti-competitive
pricing."
The guard looks to the third. "And you?" He shrugs. "I charged the
same price for my gasoline as all the other gas stations. I'm in for
collusion."
*.*
What is the difference between Northern and Southern racism?
A southern racist doesn't mind blacks living nearby, as long as they
don't get "uppity."
A northern racist doesn't mind blacks getting "uppity" as long as they
don't live close.
Issue of the Times;
The DC Gun Ban by Ron Paul
Last Friday a federal appeals court in Wa****ngton DC issued a ruling that
hopefully will result in the restoration of 2nd Amendment rights in the
nation's capital. It appears the Court rejected the District of Columbia
's
nonsensical argument that the 2nd Amendment confers only a "collective
right," something gun control advocates have asserted for years.
Of course we should not have too much faith in our federal courts to
protect
gun rights, considering they routinely rubber stamp egregious violations
of
the 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendments, and allow Congress to legislate wildly
outside the bounds of its enumerated powers. Furthermore, the DC case will
be appealed to the Supreme Court with no guarantees. But it is very
im****tant nonetheless for a federal court only one step below the highest
court in the land to recognize that gun rights adhere to the American
people, not to government-sanctioned groups. Rights, by definition, are
individual. "Group rights" is an oxymoron.
Can anyone seriously contend that the Founders, who had just expelled
their
British rulers mostly by use of light arms, did not want the individual
farmer, blacksmith, or merchant to be armed? Those individuals would have
been killed or imprisoned by the King's soldiers if they had relied on a
federal armed force to protect them.
In the 1700s, militias were local groups made up of ordinary citizens.
They
were not under federal control! As a practical matter, many of them were
barely under the control of colonial or state authorities. When the 2nd
Amendment speaks of a "well-regulated militia," it means local groups of
individuals operating to protect their own families, homes, and
communities.
They regulated themselves because it was necessary and in their own
interest
to do so.
The Founders themselves wrote in the Federalist papers about the need for
individuals to be armed. In fact, James Madison argued in Federalist paper
46 that common citizens should be armed to guard against the threat posed
by
the newly proposed standing federal army.
Today, gun control makes people demonstrably less safe - as any honest
examination of criminal statistics reveals. In his book "More Guns, Less
Crime," scholar John Lott demolishes the myth that gun control reduces
crime. On the contrary, Lott shows that cities with strict gun control -
like Wa****ngton DC - experience higher rates of murder and violent crime.
It
is no coincidence that violent crime flourishes in the nation's capital,
where the individual's right to defend himself has been most severely
curtailed.
Understand that residents of DC can be convicted of a felony and put in
prison simply for having a gun in their home, even if they live in a very
dangerous neighborhood. The DC gun ban is no joke, and the legal
challenges
to the ban are not simply academic exercises. People's lives and safety
are
at stake.
Gun control historically serves as a gateway to tyranny. Tyrants from
Hitler
to Mao to Stalin have sought to disarm their own citizens, for the simple
reason that unarmed people are easier to control. Our Founders, having
just
expelled the British army, knew that the right to bear arms serves as the
guardian of every other right. This is the principle so often ignored by
both sides in the gun control debate. Only armed citizens can resist
tyrannical government.
March 13, 2007
Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.
Quote of the Times;
"The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people,
equally in war and in peace, and covers with the ****eld of its protection
all cl***** of men, at all times, and under all cir***stances. No
doctrine,
involving more pernicious consequences, was ever invented by the wit of
man
than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great
exigencies of government. Such a doctrine leads directly to anarchy or
despotism."
In the case of Ex Parte Milligan in 1866, Supreme Court Justice David
Davis
Link of the Times;
http://astore.amazon.com/theasylumeclecti/detail/006095745X/002-1995472-7064037
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