Death is the permanent end of life and a tragic event for the loved ones of the deceased. Every human has to die one day, but some breathtaking and bizarre deaths have been traced in history. Some historical figures have lost their lives in a rather way. The following is a list of some:
Adolf Frederick
Adolf Frederick remained king of Sweden between 1751 and 1771. He used to be passionate about fine dining and snuffboxes. You all would be amazed to know that Adolf died after eating an enormous meal, including lobsters, caviar, sauerkraut, and kippers. He also drank a lot of champagne. Not only this, but he also managed to eat fourteen servings of his favorite dessert. His stomach could not bear all that food at once, and it was enough to end his life. Therefore, he remains one of the few rulers who have eaten themselves to death.
Sigurd, the Mighty
Sigurd was among an earl of Orkney in the ninth century. He earned the title “the Mighty” because of his deeds in the Viking conquest of Scotland. He was so furious that he saddled his enemy’s head as a trophy after defeating and killing him. What happened then was astonishing. Brigte was the name of that enemy.
As Sigurd set off, his leg got grazed against one of Brigte’s teeth and caused inflammation, which later became severe enough to take his life.
Attila the Hun
Attila, frequently called “The Hun,” was the ruler of the Huns and ruled the land for 9 years, from 434 to 453. He was considered one of the most feared enemies among the Eastern as well as Western Roman Empires. Despite being one of the fierce rulers of his times, he died of a nosebleed.
He married a girl named Ildico and gathered people for a celebration. He drank too much alcohol in the fiesta, which caused a severe nosebleed and choked him to death.
Jesus Christ
One of the most famous yet unbelievable deaths from history is that of Jesus Christ. Muslims believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, and he was known for doing miracles of healing. He was believed to be crucified, and his soul ascended to heaven. Muslims say that his spirit will be back on Earth one day. The most unusual thing about this incident is the belief that he is not dead and his soul has left just before being crucified and is now resting in heaven.
Franz Reichelt, the Flying Tailor
As the name indicates, Franz was a flying tailor who wanted to test his work. He made a wearable parachute of his own design and took the official permission to jump from the Eiffel Tower. Franz was fearless enough to try this experiment for the first time on himself, but unfortunately, it failed miserably, and he jumped to his death.
Draco of Athens
Draco was the first known legislator of Athens in Ancient Greece. He established the legal code during the 39th Olympiad. Investigators could not gather a lot of information about the death of Draco, but evidence suggests that he died because of the utmost love and support of his people. They threw plenty of hats and clothes as a gesture of love over him, which suffocated him to death.
Clement Laird Vallandigham
Clement was a politician from Ohio. One of his clients, Thomas McGehean, was accused of killing a man in a barroom brawl, and Clement was defending him. He was so into the case that he accidentally pulled the trigger of the gun into his belly while replicating the scenario of his client’s case. He tried to convince the jury that the victim accidentally killed himself, and while doing so, he killed himself too. It is indeed unbelievable to digest for anybody.
This act, however, saved the accused client of Vallandigham.
Charondas
Charondas was a well-known lawmaker of Catania in Sicily. Though his place of origin is not known, pieces of evidence favor him being a Pythagorean. He lived from c. 580 to 504 BC. His laws have been followed by Chalcidic colonies from Sicily and Italy. As he was a lawmaker, one of his laws was that nobody can enter the public assembly with a weapon like a knife.
One day, when he was coming back from hunting, he forgot to leave his sword outside and entered the public assembly while carrying it. He killed himself as a punishment for breaking the law, and that is still remembered to date.
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang was born in Ying Zheng in 259 BCE and is known to be the first emperor of China. He was one of those who wanted to live forever. For this, he ate mercury pills that ultimately caused his death.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the US. He had a very tough childhood. After becoming the president, he promoted and favored equality. He favored what we listen to as “Black lives Matter.” Lincoln was a book reader, and most of his teachings reflected what he used to study. He had always been against slavery, which inspired a lot of Blacks.
However, some people don’t always agree with your point of view. The same was the case with John Wikes Booth, a supporter of slavery. He disagreed with the views of Abraham Lincoln and shot him dead in his box at Ford’s Theater, Washington.
Grigori Rasputin
Rasputin was a born peasant in a small Siberian village. You will find numerous myths and tales about him in history. Not only his death but his life was also unusual. He became friends with the Russian Tsar, who suffered from hemophilia. He was supposed to cure Tsar, but rumors spread regarding his affair with Alexandra, Tsar’s wife. This gave rise to fear among the royals, and they started planned on killing him.
They tried to poison him, but that did not affect Rasputin. After failing this attempt, they even shot him in the chest that still somehow left him alive, and he attacked them in response this time. The final attempt was to shot him in the forehead, and just to ensure that he’s dead, his body was wrapped and thrown into the river. A normal human being would never have survived such trials.
Captain Edward Teach
Also called “Blackbeard,” Edward Teach left a furious image to the people around him. He was known to lead a group of pirates who used to block the port of Charles Town and rob the sailors.
Someone had to compete with this guy; otherwise, sea traveling had become near impossible because of the alarm and horror. In 1718, the Lieutenant of HMS Pearls surprised Blackbeard with a sudden attack. He was shot five times and stabbed about 20 times by the Royal Navy. After killing him, they decapitated his head, hung it from Maynard’s bow, and placed it somewhere at the River Hampton to warn others following his footsteps.
Martin of Aragon
Martin remained the ruler of Aragon from 1396 to 1410. There are numerous different stories regarding the reasons behind his death, but the one recorded the most is that he died of indigestion.
It was just another regular night when the king was suffering from indigestion. This happened after he ate a whole goose for dinner. However, as a king, he regularly consumed whole geese for dinner, but after eating this goose, he suffered from indigestion. So, he went to his bedchamber and asked his people to call his favorite jester. The jester, called Borra, came to cheer him up but was a bit late.
The king asked what took him that long, and he answered with a funny joke. Martin found it so funny that he laughed at it uncontrollably for three hours, eventually falling out of his bedchamber. Martin died when he hit the floor. Well, no one can tell for sure what caused his death – whether it is due to indigestion or laughing for 3 hours – either way, it is one of the most unusual deaths.
Surinder Singh Bajwa
Surinder was a local of Delhi, and he died after falling from a balcony. This happened while he was trying to defend against the troupe of monkeys that was attacking him. The incident took place in 2007.
Robert Williams
Robert was a Ford assembly line worker. He was history’s first human being killed by a robot. This happened in 1979 when he was working at the casting plant and somehow got killed by the arm of the industrial robot.
Dancing Plague of 1518
Some people danced for about a month for no particular reason and died of dancing. It seems weird, and the investigators had never been succeeded in identifying the reason. History is filled with such events that stagger the readers to the core. This is one such event where you would have so many questions, but there is no one to ask.
An extreme level of uncertainty still exists that why would people do that. This happened in the Dancing Plague of 1518 in Strasburg.
Paul G. Thomas
Another astonishing incident can be found in the history in which Paul. G. Thomas, the owner of a wool mill, fell into the wool machine. He got suffocated after being wrapped in the 800 yards of wool and died.
Jesse William Lazear
Jesse William Lazear was an American Physician. He discovered that the mosquitoes were the real culprits behind Yellow Fever, and in an attempt to prove his study, he experimented on himself. He let the infected mosquito bite him, and this caused him Yellow Fever, due to which he died.
Conclusion
Death is inevitable, but these unusual deaths are a lesson for us in one way or another. Life is quite uncertain, and therefore, we must be thankful and glad for being healthy and alive.
Discover more stories of unusual deaths by reading our article about the Most Bizarre Deaths Throughout History.