One of the many reasons I love Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an entry dedicated to a List of unusual deaths, you wont find this kind of fantastic information in Britanica.Here are some of the more interesting entries.
- 1063: King Béla I of Hungary died when his tall wooden throne collapsed due to sabotage.
- 1601: Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer, was once thought to have died of a bladder infection after refusing to leave for the bathroom during a banquet for the sake of good manners. However, newer research suggests that he died of mercury poisoning.
- 1626: Francis Bacon, English philosopher, statesman, and essayist, died of possible pneumonia after purchasing a chicken and stuffing it with snow to see if cold could preserve meat. Highgate is reputedly haunted by the chicken's ghost.
- 1671: François Vatel, chef to Louis XIV committed suicide because his seafood order was late and he couldn't stand the shame of a postponed meal. His body was discovered by an aide, sent to tell him of the arrival of the fish.
- 1834: David Douglas, Scottish Botanist, who fell in a pit trap, was crushed by a bull that fell in the same pit.
- 1911: Jack Daniel, founder of the famous Tennessee whiskey distillery, died of blood poisoning due to a toe injury he received after kicking his safe in anger when he could not remember its combination code.
- 1944: Inventor and chemist Thomas Midgley, Jr., accidentally strangled himself with the cord of a pulley-operated mechanical bed of his own design.