20 Weirdest Causes of Death In History

#20: Death by Court Exhibition

1871

Thomas McGehean was granted the best possible defense— at the expense of his own lawyer. After being accused of killing another man in a fight, Clement Vallandigham took him on as a client and set out to prove his innocence. He argued that the man who’d passed had accidentally shot himself, rather than the defendant doing so during the brawl. To prove his point, the attorney retrieved what he thought was an unloaded gun, and re-enacted the scene as he believed it happened. During his recreation, the weapon caught on his clothing and fired directly into his torso. Vallandigham died the next day, but his fateful demonstration was enough to convince the court to acquit McGehearn.

#19: Death by Dessert Spoon

2004

In 2004, Richard Clare stole a man’s phone to exchange it for drugs. Later on, his victim confronted him along with a friend, Timothy Magee. It quickly devolved into a full on brawl, with Clare finding himself on the receiving end of physical attacks from both men. In an attempt to defend himself, he grabbed a dessert spoon and struck Magee in the back of the head. Despite the utensil being so small, he managed to hit an exact spot with enough force to cause an arterial rupture. Despite Magee dying later on from a brain bleed, Clare was found not guilty by way of self-defense. The incident now serves as a reminder as to how quickly a moment can spiral out of control.

#18: Attacked by Monkeys

2007

In the 2000s, conflicts between humans and primates reached a boiling point in several countries. Citizens of India in particular were met with years of aggressive behavior from Rhesus monkeys. The situation was made worse by some people feeding the animals, making them even more comfortable approaching others. In 2007, the newly elected Delhi Deputy Mayor learned firsthand just how hostile they could be. While enjoying his morning on his terrace, a small group of macaques suddenly boxed him in. He attempted to scare them off, and in the process fell off his balcony. The fall resulted in a fatal head injury that he succumbed to the next day, cutting his life short just six months into his new position.

#17: Death by Carrot Juice

1974

Carrots have plenty of health benefits, including a large amount of beta carotene that gets turned into Vitamin A after consumption. In healthy amounts, it can help maintain healthy vision and your immune system. Too much, however, can be fatal. Basil Brown unfortunately learned this for himself in 1974. Over a ten-day period, he consumed tens of millions of units worth of Vitamin supplements, and each day washed that down with a gallon of carrot juice. The result? An overdose that caused him to develop a bright yellow complexion and Hypervitaminosis A. The latter led to cirrhosis and, eventually, his death. The tragic case highlights the importance of moderation in anything, even if it’s normally healthy.

#16: Death by Giant Umbrellas

1991

Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude took the world by storm in the late 20th-century with their massive art exhibition. Spanning for miles across California and Japan, the giant blue and yellow umbrellas were just under twenty feet tall and weighed over 400 pounds, drawing attention from people all over. In 1991, high winds at the United States location caused one of the umbrellas to fly out of place and across the street. Lori Rae Keevils-Mathews, who’d been viewing them with her husband, had no time to react. It crashed into her from behind and crushed her up against a nearby boulder, killing her and injuring others in the process. The artists immediately ended the project afterwards, closing out their revolutionary display with tragedy.

#15: Death by Tortoise

456-455 BCE

Aeschylus’s plays and military service made him a figurehead in Ancient Greece. His strange passing has only added to his legacy as the father of tragedy. According to written records, the playwright had been visiting Gela, and when he stepped outside the city limits, an eagle carrying a tortoise in its claws flew by. The bird, thinking it’d found a rock to crack its prey’s shell against, dropped it and caused a cranial injury that killed Aeschylus. Prior to his death, he’d supposedly received a prophecy dictating that he would perish from something falling on him, leading him to spend more time outdoors. While the accuracy of that tale has yet to be confirmed, it does add a cruel twist of irony to his fate.

#14: Death by Toothpick

1941

The smallest mishaps can sometimes lead to disastrous consequences. Sherwood Anderson, a 20th-century American author, experienced this in a truly tragic way. While on a cruise in 1941, the writer experienced abdominal pain that led to his demise shortly afterwards. The official diagnosis was peritonitis, which is inflammation of the stomach lining— but how it was caused is truly shocking. While drinking a martini, Anderson had inadvertently swallowed the toothpick used to spear the olives. The sharpened wood then worked its way through his digestive tract, where it pierced his intestine and incited the infection that killed him. His death serves as a warning to all to be careful what you consume— or it may be the last thing you ever do.

#13: Death by Cactus

1982

Despite the importance of the Saguaro cacti to both Arizona culture and human survival, some people are still tempted to harm them. The illegal act, known as cactus-plugging, entails the plant being cut down or shot for fun. In 1982, David Grundman successfully felled one. His second victim fought back in a way he wasn’t expecting. He shot the nearly 30-foot tall succulent, and was about to celebrate when one of its arms snapped off and landed directly on top of him. While the 500-pound section did plenty of damage on its own, the trunk soon followed and finished the job. It was a moment of near-instant karma that also served as a horror story to those who dared to do the same.

#12: Unbreakable Glass

1993

How far would you go to prove a point? In Garry Hoy’s case, he risked it all— to horrific results. He was a successful lawyer at one of Canada’s largest firms, where he both found his calling and met his fate. In 1993, while showing off to a group of students, he decided to prove how strong the glass in the 24th-story windows were. The stunt had worked for him in the past, and resulted in him harmlessly bouncing back. On his final attempt, he threw himself against the window. To his credit, the glass didn’t break. Instead, the entire frame popped out of place, causing both the still-intact window and Hoy to fall out and plummet hundreds of feet to the ground.

#11: Death by Beard

1567

Though Hans Steininger had a prolific political career in the 14th-century as the six-time leader of Braunau am Inn, his true legacy lies in his impressive facial hair. His beard was reportedly over four feet long, requiring him to keep it rolled up in his pocket to prevent himself from tripping. His usual method proved ineffective in 1567, when a fire broke out. In the chaos, Steininger’s beard slipped out and unfurled to its full length. While going down a flight of stairs, he stepped on it and tumbled to the bottom, snapping his neck in the process. The offending whiskers were cut off and preserved, and now sit in a museum as proof of one of the weirdest ways someone has come to pass.

#10: Death by Viagra

2009

We get it: most people love sex. Unfortunately, 28-year-old Russian Sergey Tuganov loved it just a little too much. Sergey agreed to a $4,300 bet with two women that he could have sexual intercourse with them for twelve consecutive hours. Accepting the challenge, Sergey consumed an entire bottle’s worth of the male drug Viagra to boost his endurance. Sergey won the bet, then overdosed on Viagra shortly thereafter by suffering a heart attack. Just remember: don’t ever make a bet that involves sex. It’s probably not worth it.

#9: Drowning in Beer

1814

Many people drown their sorrows in beer, but how many have actually drowned in the beverage? In 1814 London, the Meux and Company Brewery had a slight problem: one of their more sizable vats of beer ruptured, causing a domino effect that resulted in all of their vats flooding beer into the streets. Known as the London Beer Flood, the beer caused an estimated eight casualties, including two innocent bystanders and several wake attendees nearby.

#8: Nuptial Photo Shoot

2012

A major part of wedding bliss is the photo shoot in your wedding dress. Canadian Maria Pantazopoulos wanted more photos of herself in her dress in the “trash the dress” tradition, which is a common request for the recently wed. She found the perfect spot for the shoot, but unfortunately during the photo session Maria’s dress soaked up too much water and she was unable to climb out of the river. After failing to be lifted out by the photographer and his assistant, Maria was swept under the surface. She was later found after having drowned about two hours later.

#7: Death by Video Game

2005

Video games have taken over the lives of many individuals, and have even become an addiction for some. This has been proven time and again, most notably with South Korean gamer Lee Seung Seop in 2005. The man collapsed after playing the popular strategy game StarCraft for nearly fifty straight hours at an Internet cafe, all while consuming very little sustenance and sleep. Following cardiac arrest, he was transported to the hospital and died there.

#6: Death by Junk Pile

1947

Brothers Langley and Homer Collyer inherited their family brownstone in Harlem after the deaths of their parents, and quickly became hermits, hoarding a substantial amount of stuff. Fast forward to 1947, when Langley is taking care of Homer, who’d started going blind a few years earlier. The apartment, now overflowing with trash and miscellaneous items, also contains a variety of booby traps that were designed to protect the pair from intruders. Langley is caught in one of the traps and dies, while Homer dies from starvation and heart disease shortly thereafter. Because of all the debris, garbage, and more in the home, Homer’s body was found approximately 10 hours after his death following an anonymous tip while Langley’s body was found about 2 weeks after.

#5: Decapitated Snake Bite

2014

When most chefs are cooking, they don’t have to worry about the animals they’re using as food to bite back. This wasn’t the case for Southern China chef Peng Fan, who was preparing a dish with the rare delicacy that is the Indochinese spitting cobra. After he had decapitated the snake and was getting ready to throw it out, the head was still able to bite him and infect him with its quick-acting venom. It’s been said that reptiles are able to manipulate their body parts for up to an hour after being separated from them. Peng died before he could receive anti-venom at the hospital.

#4: Drowning in Sewage

1980

When you’re mayor of a small town, you often have to do things you really don’t want to. In this case, Betterton, Maryland mayor Monica Meyer was visiting the municipal water treatment plant to inspect the town’s septic tanks. While inspecting from the catwalk above, Meyer slipped and fell into the tank below, struggling to climb out of more than fifteen feet of human waste. Meyer drowned, as it was too difficult to climb out of the putty-like substance. Of note: she got the mayor job after the previous one died in a car crash...

#3: Doggy-Style

2008

As mentioned earlier, many people would like to die satisfying their sexual fantasies. In this case, an unnamed Irish mother of three wanted to participate in her long-time bestiality fantasy. After arranging with an unknown contact she met over the Internet, the woman engaged in sexual acts with said contact’s German Shepherd, but she ended up being killed in the process. While her official cause of death is unknown, it is speculated that it was due to anaphylactic shock after she was exposed to the dog’s semen.

#2: Bumble Bee Tuna

2012

If you can’t die living out a sexual fantasy, you can always accidentally pass at work. This is exactly what happened at the Bumble Bee Foods plant in California in 2012. Maintenance employee Jose Melena was completing his duties and running a maintenance check inside one of the factory’s industrial cookers. Unknown to Melena, a miscommunication error meant another employee turned the cooker on with Melena and 12,000 pounds of tuna inside. Melena’s cooked body was found when the oven was opened two hours later.

#1: Death by Molasses

1919

Water isn’t the only type of flood that can cause mass devastation. Similar to the London Beer Flood, the Boston Molasses Disaster or the Great Molasses Flood, was caused by a tank rupturing and flooding the streets. Except this time, the flood was an estimated 25 feet tall wall of molasses rushing at 35 mph that not only washed people away, but also took many lives. The total death count is estimated at around 21 people with 150 injured, with several animals dying as well, either from the flood or from debris that had flown over 200 feet away. Our suggestion? Stay away from anything that can flood.

What’s the most bizarre cause of death you’ve ever heard of? Let us know in the comments below!