Mortician Reveals The Strangest Causes Of Death!

Killed by a cow falling from the sky

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In April of this year, while urinating next to a train track in India, Shivdayal Sharma was squashed by a cow. The cow had been hit by an express train, launched 100 feet into the air and landed directly on top of Sharma. He was killed instantly and experienced no pain (from what we know).

Murdered by a robot

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No, this was not I, Robot. Sadly, 25 year old Robert Williams became the first human to be killed by a robot. He was attempting to manually count some castings at his factory job, when the robot arm swung and struck Williams' head. He was killed instantaneously and, while the story is undoubtedly tragic, his family won a $10 million lawsuit for his wrongful death.

Tripped over his beard

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In 1567, personal hygiene was not the same as it is now by any measure. Hans Staininger, the burgomaster (chief magistrate) of what is now Austia, had grown an impressive beard, measuring in at 4.5 feet long. Normally kept in a leather pouch, Staininger's beard unfortunately got loose and tripped him over. as he was trying to evacuate a fire. We'll never know if he broke his neck or perished in the fire, but either way, his beard was the killer.

Eaten by piranhas

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One unnamed man had a rather aggressive fate. When fishing with his friends in Brazil, he was attacked by a swarm of bees. In order to escape, they jumped into the river. While his friends survived, the man drowned and was then partially eaten by piranhas.

Tricked by a window

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In 1993, Canadian lawyer Garry Hoy was demonstrating that the 24th floor windows of the Toronto-Dominion Centre were indestructible. He threw himself against, and while the window didn't break, he must have popped it out of its frame and he was thrown from the building to his death.

Acting like you're having a heart attack... whilst having a heart attack

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In 1958, Gareth Jones was performing in a live television play named Underground. During one of the breaks in between scenes, Jones suffered from a fatal heart attack, but his castmates assumed he was rehearsing as his character was later set to die of a heart attack later in the play. The play went on despite his death.

Murdered by a gun-wielding dog

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Who would have thought such a loveable creature could be capable of murder? In Kansas in 2023, Joseph Austin Smith was sitting in the front passenger seat of his vehicle during a hunting trip. His dog, unfortunately, stepped on the rifle, pulling the trigger and killing Smith at the young age of 30.

Carrot juice catastrophe

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Five a day can go a long way but this health food advocate may have gone slightly overboard. Basil Brown, residing in England, consumed a total of 70 million units of Vitamin A and 10 gallons of carrot juice over 10 days. He turned his skin bright yellow and died of liver damage. You can have too much of a good thing.

Drowned in human waste

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On March 20th, 1980, Monica Myers, the mayor of Betterton in Maryland, was carrying out routine maintenance work around the sewage tanks at the town's largest municipal facility. Sadly, Myers fell 1.2 metres into a 15-foot aeration tank filled with putty-like human waste and was found the next day floating face down.

Pretending to fall to his death

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We've all done silly things to impress our kids, right? Well, this time went spectacularly wrong. In 1992, Greg Austin Gingrich was trying to make his teenage daughter laugh at the Grand Canyon. He jumped onto a wall and began throwing his arms around before falling onto a short slope he thought he could land safely on. Unfortunately, he miscalculated his footing and fell 400 feet into the canyon to his death.

Drove a Segway off a cliff

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Jimi Heselden, owner of Segway Inc., was famous for advocating for how safe Segways are. However, after he allowed a man and his dog to pass him on a trip to Thorp Arch, Heselden got into some difficulty and, unfortunately, toppled over the cliff to his death.

Trampled to death by a bull

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After winning the Battle of Salamis, Themistocles was the Athenian general who had quite a positive reputation. While some historians claim he died from natural causes, other historians argue that he died after ingesting a mix of minerals known as bull's blood.

Suffocated by ash

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After King Sogdianus' brother overtook his throne, he threatened him to death. How? He stuffed a tall, brick chamber with ash and sealed Sogdianus inside. Up to his waist in ash, he spent hours upon hours breathing in the powdery particles until he finally died of suffocation.

Drank too much protein powder

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A miscalculation never went so wrong. Personal trainer Thomas Anthony Mansfield's scale could only weigh between 2,000 milligrams (2g) and 5,000 milligrams (5g). He miscalculated and ingested the equivalent of 200 cups of coffee. His heartbeat was incredibly fast and he began foaming at the mouth. He sadly died soon after.

Drowned in a toilet

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Toilets today are not what they originally were, we have to bear that in mind. The year was 1016. Edmund Ironside, who was at one time the King of England, was on the toilet when an assassin stabbed him from underneath, killing him. A shame his name wasn't Edmund Iron-back-side.

Choked on raw chicken

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As if we didn't all think about Salmonella every time we cook chicken. A young man in the US once became so influenced by drugs that he felt an urge to go into the freezer and start eating a load of raw chicken. He would have died of food poisoning, if he hadn't choked on it. It was one way or the other.

Death by huge ego

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There once was a monarch called King Wu, who ascended the throne in 310 BC. He loved to weight lift, so one evening, he challenged a famous bodybuilder to lift a cauldron. While the bodybuilder had no issue, the king's legs buckled under the pressure and he broke his shinbone and kneecap. It didn't kill him immediately, but soon after, blood started coming out through his eyes and he died. Horrific.

Wouldn't run into a field of beans

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Smarts can't get you everywhere. Greek philosopher, Pythagoras (as in theorem) was being pursued by his political enemies. He managed to outrun them, thankfully, but in order to escape he had to run through a field of beans. He refused, stating that they were ritually unclean. He was killed on the spot.

Coaxed into a fiery pit

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In Ancient India, political rivalries were not uncommon. Susima, crown prince of the realm, had a bitter rivalry with famous ruler, Ashoka. In order to topple him, Susima travelled to see him, but Ashoka had a wickedness and a thirst for aggression. He set a trap, setting up his likeness for Susima to launch towards, but when he did, he fell into a fiery pit and burned to death.

Leapt into a live volcano

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Philosophers don't have the best of luck. Empedocles of Akragas declared himself a "divine being... no longer mortal", as many philosophers did. However, he took it a step further in wanting to prove himself a god, and decided to hurl himself into Mount Etna, an active volcano.

Death by snake bite

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Cleopatra was a great and wonderful ruler as Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. But, unfortunately, she wasn't long for this world and committed suicide by allowing an asp (or small viper) to bite her and her two handmaidens (so she could continue to have their aid in the afterlife).

Died as a wannabe Houdini

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If you didn't know, Harry Houdini was an escape artist, famous for his ability to escape any confines (and his own death). Understandably, a young man in Australia wanted to emulate the same kind of fame, binding his hands and feet and throwing himself in a river. Houdini he was not and sadly he drowned.

Crushed by a wooden throne

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In 1063, Bela I of Hungary was the king of the country, introducing many reforms and ensuring many of his country's inhabitants were kept happy. In a rather bleak turn of events, Bela was fatally injured when his wooden throne collapsed while he was sitting on it.

Burnt by molten lead

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In 1755, there was a terrible fire at Rudyerd's Tower. Henry Hall, who at the time was attempting to put it out, was injured when molten lead from the roof fell down his throat. His upper mouth was inflamed and the lower part of his stomach burnt. The lead had collected and sat in his stomach, which you can now see in the National Museum of Scotland.

Death by laughter

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The only other person I can see who would do this would be Chandler Bing! Philosopher Chrysippus of Soli was attempting to entertain himself when he told his slave to feed his donkey wine. The donkey then proceeded to eat the philosopher's figs and he found it so funny, he died.

Died by shouting

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Valentinian, the Roman emperor, had quite a temper. While he was fighting with the Germanic people, the Quadi, he began to scream at his delegates, expressing his rage at the situation. Seconds later, he became speechless and blushed, suffering from a fatal stroke.

Killed by a hippopotamus

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This one is a little more out of the ordinary! We may know of hungry, hungry hippos but we didn't expect deadly, deadly hippos! In 3200 BC, Menes, an Egyptian pharaoh known for uniting Upper and Lower Egypt, was rather unfortunately carried off and then killed by a hippopotamus.

Death by celebratory canon

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If I Could Turn Back Time, am I right? In 1794, American sea captain and explorer John Kendrick was in the Hawaiian Islands on his vessel. Across the way, he saw a British ship, and while he expected a lovely celebratory hello from his friends, the Brits, they accidentally fired a loaded cannon straight at him. I bet he would rather they ignored him.

Death by winning

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In 564, Arrichion of Phigalia was being held in a stronghold by his opponent in the Olympic finals. He had to quickly calculate the best way of winning. With a distraction from his coach, he kicked his opponent with his foot, twisted his body and causing his foe so much pain, he made the the sign of defeat. Unfortunately, he was still holding Arrichion and broke his neck. Arrichion was named the winner posthumously. The winner doesn't take it all in this case.

Smothered to death by cloaks

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He was the lawmakers of all lawmakers. He was loved by thousands across the whole of Athens. But when at a theatre in Aegina, Greece, Draco of Athens was so loved that he was showered in gifts of cloaks and hats, so many cloaks and hats in fact that he was smothered and suffocated beneath them.