Thread: List of unusual deaths

I came across an interesting Wikipedia article just now...

This is a list of unusual deaths. This list contains unique or extremely rare circumstances of death recorded throughout history. This list also includes less rare, though still unusual, deaths of prominent people.

Here's a couple of interesting, particularly hilarious examples (or it might just be me):

2008: Gerald Mellin, a U.K. businessman, committed suicide by tying one end of a rope around his neck and the other to a tree. He then got into his Aston Martin DB7 and drove down a main road in Swansea until the rope decapitated him

That must have been a pain in the neck. Ten points for creative license.

2011: A 25-year-old woman from Ottawa, Ontario and Steven Leon, 40, of Gatineau, Quebec, died after an airborne American black bear smashed through the windshield of their SUV near Luskville, Quebec. The bear had been hit by another vehicle, launching it into the oncoming lane where it landed on the SUV.

Yes, you read it correctly. Flying murderous bears.

2009: Sergey Tuganov, a 28-year-old Russian, bet two women that he could continuously have sex with them both for twelve hours. Several minutes after winning the $4,300 bet, he suffered a fatal heart attack, apparently due to having ingested an entire bottle of Viagra just after accepting the bet.

Viagra: serious business.

1951: Professor Malcolm H. Soule, scientist, killed himself with an injection of snake venom and morphine after being fired from heading the department of bacteriology at theUniversity of Michigan.

And the irony appreciator's award goes to...

1923: Frank Hayes, a jockey at Belmont Park, New York, died of a heart attack during the course of his first race. His mount finished first with his body still attached to the saddle, and he was only discovered to be dead when the horse's owner went to congratulate him.

Frank Hayes; best jockey, both alive and dead.

I think an article such as this can only exist for the gratuitous laughter of individuals, surely. I don't know about all of you, but there's a couple on that list, extensive as it was- which certainly inspired a few short story ideas.

More here:

List of unusual deaths - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Impressive russian.

Originally Posted by KangTheMad

Impressive russian.

A muse for us all...

Originally Posted by philistine

I came across an interesting Wikipedia article just now...

Here's a couple of interesting, particularly hilarious examples (or it might just be me):

2009: Sergey Tuganov, a 28-year-old Russian, bet two women that he could continuously have sex with them both for twelve hours. Several minutes after winning the $4,300 bet, he suffered a fatal heart attack, apparently due to having ingested an entire bottle of Viagra just after accepting the bet.

When I was a spotty teen I heard a joke something like this. It’s too long and lewd to post in its entirety, but it was about this feller with a similar act, only involving ten women, and he sold the idea to a circus manager. On the night, the performance started, centre ring, but when the feller got to #8 he collapsed. Hundreds of patrons descended on the Circus Manager, claiming refunds of their admission fees. Afterwards, the broken manager went for the performer, demanding an explanation.

“I don’t understand it,” the performer said. “I was okay at the rehearsal earlier.”

Isadora Duncan, a ballet dancer in the first half of last century.

her "fondness for flowing scarves was the cause of her death in an automobile accident in Nice, when she was a passenger in an Amilcar, and her silk scarf, draped around her neck, became entangled around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle, breaking her neck."

Originally Posted by philistine

Frank Hayes; best jockey, both alive and dead.


1923: Frank Hayes, a jockey at Belmont Park, New York, died of a heart attack during the course of his first race. His mount finished first with his body still attached to the saddle, and he was only discovered to be dead when the horse's owner went to congratulate him.

The result stood - There is nothing in the rules of horse-racing which say that the jockey has to be alive when the horse crosses the finishing line, merely that he has to be in the saddle and the correct weight...

Aha. So there is a use for Wikipaedia after all.

Originally Posted by garza

Aha. So there is a use for Wikipaedia after all.

Absolutely. You think they began that site just to list the latest cabinet updates? Pfft. This is what people want to see.

But is any of it true?

Originally Posted by garza

But is any of it true?

I remember seeing the Aston Martin death in the paper, as did I the artist who handcuffed himself to the tree. One wouldn't be foolish to believe the others were true.

• 2010: Mike Edwards, 62, a musician and a founding member of rock group Electric Light Orchestra, was killed when a 600 kg (1,300 lb) bale of hay rolled down a hill and landed on his passing van in Devon, England.

That's so depressing; the most dangerous thing in the west is Hay. You know, all those times, when streams of cars roared past on the motorway with people pointing past and screaming, 'Hay!'

• 2010: Jimi Heselden, owner of the Segway motorized scooter company, was killed when he accidentally drove off a cliff on a Segway at his estate.

Unspeakably hilarious, for reasons that I can't fathom. I imagine that he fell with an enormous smile on his face.

All famous or successful (even, it could be argued, Mr. viagra). Apparently, one theory holds that they(the above named)in order to achieve their respective positions, had each entered into secret contract with a certain 'luminous' personage. Him, the creditor, sensing it was now time to collect, and feeling particularly whimsical or creative that day, came up with, and orchestrated, these fine examples, for his own (and now our) entertainment.

I read in the paper about Marvo the magician in Brazil. His trick was to catch a bullet between his teeth. But after his final performance a genuinely retarded member of the audience stood up, raised his gun, said 'Catch this.' and...goodbye Marvo.

A Wikipedia article much like the show 1000 Ways to Die.

Wo-ow... there are some weird ones, but there are also some real tragedies under the antiquities section. Have been looking into the horrors of history for a while and this was such a great stumble. Thanks philistine!