Death is a normal part of life. Most people are scared of dying because just the thought that your existence will end is one scary thought. Through history people have died and some died in unconventional way. You cannot imagine the craziest way people have ended their lives. This is a list of 10 weirdest recorded deaths through history.
1. Death by Embracing the Reflection of the Moon
Chinese poet Li Po (701-706) was one of the two greatest poets in China’s literary history. He was known for liking to see the bottom of the cup and his greatest poems were written 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.
2. Death because of 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 was in haste to get there and forgot to roll up his beard. He accidentally stepped on his beard, lost balance, stumbled, broke his neck and died!
3. Death by Dessert
King Adolf Frederick of Sweden loved to eat and died from it too! The “King Who Ate Himself to Death” as the children in Sweden learn in school about him, died in 1771 at the age of 61 from a digestive problem after eating an epic meal no less than: lobster, caviar, saurkraut, cabbage soup, smoked herring, champagne and 14 servings of his favorite dessert: semla, a bun filled with marzipan and milk.
4. Death from Stubbing One’s Toe
There is something to learn from this story. Famous Tennessee whiskey distiller Jack Daniel one day came early to work. On that morning in 1911, he wanted to open his safe but couldn’t remember the combination. In anger, Jack kicked the safe and injured his toe, which later developed an infection which killed him! Have you learned something from this? The most important thing you learn here is not to go early to work!
5. 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.
6. 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.”
7. Death by Bottle Cap
American playwright Tennessee Williams died in 1983 after he choked on a bottle cap in his hotel room. Strange way for someone to die, but many strange deaths have been recorded while people were drunk.
8. Death by Belly Slam
British pro wrestler Mal “King Kong” Kirk died underneath the big belly of Shirley “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.
9. Death by Cactus
This is probably the one and only recorded revenge kill by a plant in history. 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!
10. Death by Orange Peel
Bobby Leach wasn’t afraid of facing death, he was daring it all the time : 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 pretty 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.