List of unusual deaths
This is a list of unusual deaths.
- 456 BC: Aeschylus, Greek dramatist, according to tradition, died when a vulture, mistaking his bald head for a stone, dropped a tortoise on it.
- 453: Attila the Hun, suffered a severe nosebleed and choked to death on his wedding night.
- 1063: Eight Deer Jaguar Claw, Mixtec ruler, had himself sacrificed.
- 1277: Pope John XXI was killed in the collapse of his scientific laboratory.
- 1601: Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer, died of a bladder infection after refusing to leave for the bathroom during a banquet for the sake of good manners.
- 1626: Francis Bacon, English philosopher, statesman, and essayist, died because he purchased a chicken to see if snow can preserve meat, but, during the endeavour of stuffing it with snow, contracted a fatal case of pneumonia.
- 1671: François Vatel, chef to Louis XIV committed suicide because his seafood order was late, and he couldn't stand the shame of a postponed meal. His body was soon discovered by an aide, sent to tell him of the arrival of the fish.
- 1687: Jean-Baptiste Lully, composer, died of a gangrenous abscess after piercing his foot with a staff while he was vigorously conducting a Te Deum.
- 1841: William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States, gave the longest inaugural address in the history of the United States in heavy snow and caught a cold. It developed into pneumonia and killed him in a month.
- 1884: Allan Pinkerton, detective, died of gangrene resulting from having bitten his tongue after stumbling on the sidewalk.
- 1888: Charles-Valentin Alkan, composer and pianist, died when a bookcase collapsed on him when he was reaching for a copy of the Talmud from the top shelf.
- 1911: Jack Daniel, founder of the famous Tennessee whiskey distillery, died of blood poisoning due to a toe injury he received after kicking his safe in anger when he could not remember its combination code.
- 1915: François Faber, Luxembourgean Tour de France winner, died in a trench on the western front of World War I. He received a telegram saying his wife had given birth to a daughter. He cheered, giving away his position, and was shot by a German sniper.
- 1916: Grigori Rasputin, Russian mystic, died of hypothermia while swimming to shore after having been poisoned, shot multiple times in the head and torso, bludgeoned, mutilated (severed penis), wrapped in a sheet and dropped into the river Neva through a hole in the winter ice.
- 1923: Frank Hayes, jockey, suffered a heart attack during a horse race. The horse, Sweet Kiss, went on to finish first, making Hayes the only deceased jockey to win a race.
- 1927: Isadora Duncan, dancer, died of accidental strangulation and broken neck when her scarf caught on the wheel of a car in which she was a passenger.
- 1933: Michael Malloy, a homeless man, was murdered by gassing after surviving multiple poisonings, intentional exposure, and being struck by a car. Malloy was murdered by five men in a plot to collect on life insurance policies they'd purchased.
- 1941: Sherwood Anderson, writer, swallowed a toothpick at a party and then died of peritonitis.
- 1971: Jerome Irving Rodale, an American pioneer of organic farming, died of a heart attack while being interviewed on the Dick Cavett Show. When he appeared to fall asleep, Cavett quipped "Are we boring you, Mr. Rodale?".[1] The show was never broadcast.
- 1974: Christine Chubbuck, an American television news reporter committed suicide during a live broadcast on July 15th. At 9:38 AM, 8 minutes into her talk show, on WXLT-TV in Sarasota, Florida, she drew out a revolver and shot herself in the head.
- 1977: Tom Pryce, a Formula One driver, and a 19-year-old track marshal both died at the 1977 South African Grand Prix after the marshal ran across the track beyond a blind brow to attend to another car and was struck by Pryce's car. Pryce was hit in the face by the marshal's fire extinguisher and killed instantly.
- 1978: Georgi Markov, a Bulgarian dissident, was assassinated by poisoning in London by an unknown assailant who jabbed him in the leg with a specially designed umbrella that injected a pellet of ricin into the victim.
- 1982: Vic Morrow, actor, was decapitated by helicopter blade during filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie and was killed instantly, along with two child actors.
- 1982: Vladimir Smirnov, an Olympic champion fencer, died of brain damage nine days after his opponent's foil snapped during a match, pierced his eyeball and entered his brain.
- 1983: Sergei Chalibashvili, a professional diver, died after a diving accident during World University Games. When he attempted a three-and-a-half reverse somersault in the tuck position, he smashed his head on the board and was knocked unconscious. He died after being in a coma for a week.
- 1984: Jon-Erik Hexum, an American television actor, died after he shot himself in the head with a prop gun during a break in filming. Whether he deliberately committed suicide or was simply unaware of the potentially deadly effects of the blank round was not determined.
- 1986: Jane Dornacker, a musician, actress and comedienne turned radio station traffic reporter, died after a helicopter owned by New York's WNBC 660AM in which she was a passenger crashed into the Hudson River. The fatal crash occurred as Dornacker was delivering a traffic report, and was broadcast live on air.
- 1987: R. Budd Dwyer, a Republican politician, committed suicide during a televised press conference. Facing a potential 55-year jail sentence for alleged involvement in a conspiracy, Dwyer shot himself in the head with a revolver.
- 1993: Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, was shot and killed by a prop 44 Magnum while filming the movie The Crow. Unknown to the film crew, the tip of a dummy round broke off in the chamber of the weapon during practice. When a blank round was later fired from the same inadvertantly loaded gun it fatally wounded Lee.
- 1999: Owen Hart, WWF wrestler, died when he fell 78 feet while being lowered into the ring by a cable from the stadium rafters before an upcoming match, snapping his neck.
- 2003: Brian Wells, pizza deliveryman, was killed by a time bomb fastened to his neck after he was apprehended by the police for robbing a bank - purportedly under duress from the maker of the bomb.