Thrown Down Stairs

 Being thrown down a flight of stairs...

A good reason for a few years with no posts....

Here's another name for another stupid ex: asshat =)

Here we present a number of particularly weird and bizarre ways that people have died.  Though there are countless ways death can occur, for this discussion the focus is on rare and unusual cases.   With that in mind This post has collected a handful of some of the strangest ways people have died.

1. The first strange death covered is Spontaneous Human Combustion.  In these cases, it is reported that a person burst into flames without any obvious source of ignition or fuel.  All that is left of these people are a pile of ashes where their bodies last lay.
2. Next comes the strange case of dancing mania, specifically the Dancing Plague of 1518.  In this bizarre event, hundreds of people suddenly and without any reason began to dance non stop out in the streets for days at a time.  Some of these people literally danced to their own death, grooving until their bodies could not function any longer.
3. Another case of strange deaths occurred on two separate occasions, when disasters involving food products caused the drowning deaths of numerous people.  The Boston Molasses Disaster and the London Beer Flood are two of the only instances in which groups of unfortunate people were swept up in a spreading wave of something normally edible and ended up drowning.
4. Franz Reichelt steps up next with his own unique and strange death.  Franz was an inventor at heart and worked hard to create a working parachute suit pilots could wear.  Unfortunately his tests jumps were not successful.  Adamant to prove the worth of his invention, Franz decided to test his own design by jumping off the Eiffel Tower to display the effectiveness of his parachute… Things didn’t quite go as planned however, as Franz would not be remembered by his ingenious invention, but rather for his foolish death.
5. The last, and perhaps strangest, topic is a rare mental disorder known as Cotard Delusion, also called Walking Corpse Syndrome.  This illness describes an afflicted person who actually believes that they are already dead. Though extremely uncommon, this mental condition has lead several living people to unfortunately meet their own demise as they refuse to take care of their bodies, since in their own mind they are already dead.

Update

I am resurrecting this blog 😀 I haven't posted in awhile but since it is still getting views, let the resurrection commence!

Oh and as of this new update, I'll no longer be  keeping track of the numbers. That backwards counting up sometimes got me all confused lol...

If we're lucky, maybe I'll figure out a way to put a growing counter on the site...

Ways to Die #100 - #104

#100 Too much of a good thing – Water Intoxication

In June of 2007 Jennifer Lea Strange joined a short list of people who drank themselves to death with water when she fatally consumed an overdose of H2O during a radio contest called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii”. The young wife and mother agreed to drink as much water as possible as part of the contest in order to win a Wii game player for her family. Contestants competed to see who could go the longest without stopping to urinate. After the contest Strange collapsed and died resulting in a civil lawsuit against the radio station. Water intoxication which is also known as hyper-hydration can cause a fatal disturbance in the brain when the electrolytes in the body are thrown off their normal balance. Other famous deaths from water intoxication include artist Andy Warhol whose family claimed he was given too many fluids following gallbladder surgery in 1987.

Link

#101 Jumping into a Volcano

In 430 BC Empedocles a Greek philosopher who is best known being the originator of the cosmogenic theory of the four classic elements threw himself into the very active Mount Etna either to convince his followers, he was a god, or because he believed himself to be immortal. He might also have thought he would be reincarnated. The volcano put a quick end to any more hypotheses on his part.

Link

#102 Laughter isn’t always the best medicine

In 1599 when Burman king Nanda Bayin was informed by a visiting Italian merchant that Venice was without a king and therefore a free state he started to laugh. Unfortunately, for him he couldn’t stop laughing. His death was more than likely a result of brain hemorrhage brought on by the strain of his giggle fit. Thomas Urguhart a Scottish aristocrat and diplomat is said to have died in the same manner in 1660 after hearing that Charles II had been made king.

Link

#103 What a way to go – Death by Overeating

After drinking champagne and consuming a meal of lobster, smoked herring, caviar, sauerkraut, and over a dozen servings of a favorite dessert Swedish king Adolf Frederick understandably complained he didn’t feel well. He died a few hours later. Sadly, Adolf’s favorite pastimes as ruler had been to make snuff boxes and not much else. He’s therefore remembered only as “the king who ate himself to death” in his own homeland.

Link

#104 A great demonstration – Lawyer proves his case by killing himself

In 1871 while representing a defendant in a murder case lawyer Clement Vallandigham a United States Congressman and one time political opponent of Abraham Lincoln wanted to prove the supposed murder weapon could have accidentally been fired by the victim. Taking the gun from evidence Vallandigham tried to demonstrate to the jury how the victim might have shot himself. His mistake was in not checking to see if the gun was loaded. Just as Vallandigham had speculated the firearm discharged and just as he’d conjectured the result was a mortal wound. On an upbeat note at least the defendant was acquitted.

Thanks to: 5 of the Weirdest Ways to Die - Weird Worm

Ways To Die: #89 - #99

89. Insane fit of laughter

Several historical figures deserve mention. The Stoic philosopher Chrysippus reportedly got his donkey drunk and then died laughing at its attempts to eat figs. Italian playwright and satirist Pietro Aretino apparently suffocated due to excessive mirth, and Scottish aristocrat Thomas Urquhart chuckled himself into oblivion upon hearing that Charles II had taken the throne.

An interesting modern-day case is that of Alex Mitchell (snopes.com), an English bricklayer. On March 24, 1975, Mitchell laughed for 25 straight minutes after watching an episode of The Goodies entitled “Kung Fu Kapers.” His widow later thanked the program for providing her husband with such a delightful death experience. image source: http://www.juhaszillustration.com/

90. Throwing yourself at a window to show how strong the glass is(n’t)

You are on the twenty-fourth floor. You probably shouldn’t try to prove how strong that window is by charging up to it and throwing your body against it. Because then the group of colleagues observing your demonstration might become horrified witnesses of your untimely death.

Introducing Garry Hoy (Snopes.com), a Toronto lawyer who pulled that stunt on July 9, 1993. Apparently, Mr. Hoy had performed the same feat in the past without incident – he always just bounced right off the glass as the onlookers chuckled and glanced at each other nervously.

His final demonstration certainly made an impact, although it wasn’t the kind of impact he was hoping for. This time, when Hoy’s accelerating body struck the glass, it popped out of the frame and Hoy fell to his death. This unfortunate event was partly responsible for the closing of Holden Day Wilson, the lawyer firm he worked for.

92. Your husband’s coffin

When you’re on your way to bury your dead husband, you probably don’t think death will be striking again anytime soon. But such was life for a Brazilian woman named Marciana Silva Barcelos.

On November 10, 2008, a funeral procession was on its way to a cemetery in Alvorada. Barcelos, 67, was a passenger in the hearse carrying the body of her husband, Josi Silveira Coimbra, who had died the day before. Suddenly, a speeding car struck the back of the hearse. Dislodged by the accident, Josi’s coffin hurtled forward and smashed into the back of Marciana’s neck, killing her instantly (MSNBC Article).

So what do you do when something like that happens? Tell the gravediggers to start another hole when they finish Josi’s?

93. Elevator

They’re supposed to save you time and energy that would otherwise be devoted to actually using stairs. They aren’t supposed to kill you. But accidents happen. In fact, a 2006 Center for Construction Research and Training report indicates that about 30 people are killed in the U.S. every year by elevators and escalators, and thousands more are injured.

For example, take the sad case of Dr. Hitoshi Nikaidoh, a doctor at Christus St. Joseph Hospital in Houston, TX. As he was stepping into a hospital elevator one Saturday morning, the doors closed too early and pinned his shoulders. The safety system that prevents elevator doors from trapping passengers failed, and as the elevator ascended, Dr. Nikaidoh’s body went one way and his head went the other (Houston Press).

94. Sex

Wait, I thought sex was supposed to be fun, you say. It can kill you?

Yes. Just ask Sergey Tuganov, a 28-year-old Russian who suffered a severe case of death after betting two women he could have sex with them for 12 straight hours. He won the $4,300 bet and then promptly died. Doctors determined that his death was caused by the entire bottle of Viagra pills he ingested before attempting the feat of sexual endurance. At least the last 12 hours of his life were happy hours. (Fox News)

You could also ask Kenneth Pinyon. He died from injuries suffered while… umm… having anal sex with an Arabian stallion. Pinyon regularly engaged in bestiality and had his performances videotaped and distributed under the name “Mr. Hands.” On July 2, 2005, however, Mr. Hands made love to one last horse before succumbing to “acute peritonitis due to perforation of the colon.” Translation: Mr. Butt couldn’t take Mr. You-Know-What. (Wikipedia)

There are some other sick sex-death stories out there, too. Be careful. Having sex could be the last thing you ever do.

95. Video games

They’re supposed to be fun and entertaining, but seriously people. There’s a time to take a break from the video games. And that time is before they kill you.

In 1981, a 19-year-old gamer named Jeff Dailey became the first official video game victim. After racking up an impressive 16,660 points while playing the game “Berzerk,” Jeff toppled over and died of a heart attack.(Gamespy)

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Less than two years later, 18-year-old Peter Burkowski also died of a heart attack while playing the same game.

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August 2005 – South Korean Lee Seung Seop died of exhaustion after playing Starcraft online for 50 hours straight in an Internet café.

January 2007 – A 28-year-old woman named Jennifer Strange died of hyponatremia (water intoxication) after participating in a contest at a local radio station. In order to win a Nintendo Wii, the contestants competed to see who could drink the most water without taking a potty break. Strange ingested enough water to severely dilute the sodium levels in her bloodstream and bring about her death.

96. Floods – but not the water kind

Molasses Flood
Usually when we hear “flood” we think “water,” and usually we are right to think this. However, there are at least two famous flood incidents that had nothing at all to do with water.

The London Beer Flood, October 1814 – nine people died after a 22-foot high, 130,000-gallon vat of porter burst at the Meux & Co. Brewery. The enormous volume of beer caused other vats to rupture as well, and more than 300,000 gallons of beer smashed its way through brick walls and blasted into the slums of St. Giles, a London parish. The sound of the explosion was reportedly heard up to five miles away. (BBC Article)

You can imagine the reaction of Londoners who weren’t immediately overwhelmed by a beer tsunami. Yes, exactly what you would have done – run outside with pots, pans, and anything else that can hold beer. Drink as much as possible, save the rest. (Technically speaking, only eight of the nine casualties were because of the actual flood. The ninth guy died from alcohol poisoning a few days later!)

The Boston Molasses Disaster, January 1919 – 21 people expired when a 50-foot high storage tank full of molasses exploded and unleashed a crazy wave of sticky death through Boston’s North End. (Bizarre Tragedies) The warm weather apparently helped build pressure inside the poorly-constructed tank, eventually causing an explosion. Several city blocks were flooded, and the wave was high and strong enough to lift a freaking train off the Elevated Railway tracks.

They say it still smells like molasses there on hot summer days.

97. Your own wooden leg

This one is probably a little less common in the current day and age. Unfortunately for Sir Arthur Aston, an English soldier best known for supporting King Charles I during the English Civil War, it was the seventeenth century and he was the proud owner of a wooden leg.

In 1649, Aston was serving as governor of Drogheda, Ireland. In an attempt to help establish Ireland as a power base for the English Royalist cause, he had joined forces with the Marquis of Osmond, the Commander-in-Chief of Royalist forces in Ireland.

In September of that year, Oliver Cromwell and his troops stormed the city and proceeded to massacre most of its inhabitants. When Parliamentary soldiers captured the governor, they had two main priorities: 1) kill this guy, and 2) check for gold coins inside his wooden leg. There weren’t any coins, but Aston was literally beaten brainless with his own leg in the process of not finding any gold. (Berkshire History)

98. Exploding lakes

How about getting killed by an exploding lake? It doesn’t happen too often, but that’s exactly how Lake Nyos decided to off nearly 1,800 people in 1986. Thanks to a pool of magma 50 miles below the surface, dangerous gases had been collecting at the bottom of the crater lake. On August 21, a rare natural phenomenon known as limnic eruption unleashed a murderous bubble of carbon dioxide upon the surrounding villages.

Most lakes have water layers that mix or “turn over” frequently, allowing gases to escape slowly into the atmosphere. Limnic eruption occurs when a deep water layer becomes saturated with dissolved gases over a long period of time. These gases are then released by some sort of trigger – for example, a landslide, heavy rainfall, or an earthquake – that displaces the saturated water and allows the gases to come out of solution. All at once, the lake overturns with a huge explosion. It’s like shaking up a soda can and spraying it, except with a lot more death and destruction.

When Lake Nyos blew up, a geyser of gas and water shot more than 250 feet into the air, set off an 80-foot tsunami, and spewed out a killer cloud of carbon dioxide that asphyxiated people as far as 15 miles away.

99. Your enemy’s severed head

Sigurd the Mighty, the ninth-century Viking Earl of Orkney, died a particularly ironic death after returning from a successful battle. Having defeated his foe Máel Brigte, Sigurd strapped the Pict’s severed head to his saddle and headed home. As he was riding, however, Máel’s tooth scraped against Sigurd’s leg and caused a sore that later became infected in a fatal sort of way. (Orknewyjar)

Thanks to TopTens.net for the content!

Way To Die #88

SANTA FE, Texas -- A school day ended in tragedy in Santa Fe Friday when a student was killed in a freak accident while walking down the street.

The 17-year-old Santa Fe High School student was walking down the two-lane road with his girlflriend around 12 p.m. when his neck was sliced open by a street sign hanging out of a passing pickup truck.

The pickup truck was driven by a fellow student.

Witnesses said the teen never knew what hit him.

“He was walking, and it got him in the back of the head and he died instantly,” friend Paul Alexander said.

The student driving the vehicle, an 18-year-old female, stopped after the accident, but it was too late for the victim.

Police said the student driving the truck is distraught over the incident is not facing charges.

The signs in the back of the pickup were stolen a few days ago, but investigators said it’s not clear if the teen driving the truck was involved in that theft.

Thanks to http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message553721/pg1 for the story!

Way To Die: #87 - Suffocated By Bran

Headline in New-York Herald Tribune on 22 September 1870: Samuel Toner, residing at the corner of Van Brunt and Tremont-sts., and employed at Smith's Flour Mills in Hamilton-ave., fell into a bin of bran, yesterday, and was suffocated.


Thanks to: http://whereyoucamefrom.blogspot.com/2011/09/well-thats-unique-way-to-die.html