Lists of unusual deaths

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

These are a series of incomplete lists of unusual deaths, unique or extremely rare circumstances of death recorded throughout history, noted as being unusual by multiple sources.

* The death of Aeschylus, killed by a tortoise dropped onto his head by an eagle, illustrated in the 15th-century Florentine Picture-Chronicle by Baccio Baldini[1]

* Frederick Barbarossa's strange drowning gave rise to legends that he was still alive

* Franz Reichelt, known as the "Flying Tailor", prior to his death testing an early wingsuit

## Unusual deaths

[edit]

Lists of unusual deaths

Antiquity
Middle Ages | Renaissance | Early modern period
19th century | 20th century | 21st century
Animal deaths

Due to the length of this list, it has been divided into the following sections:

* List of unusual deaths in antiquity
* List of unusual deaths in the Middle Ages
* List of unusual deaths in the Renaissance
* List of unusual deaths in the early modern period
* List of unusual deaths in the 19th century
* List of unusual deaths in the 20th century
* List of unusual deaths in the 21st century
* List of unusual animal deaths

## See also

[edit]

* Autoerotic fatality
* Darwin Awards
* Death by coconut
* Death from laughter
* Death by vending machine
* Execution by elephant
* Spontaneous human combustion
* 1000 Ways to Die
* Stupid Deaths, a recurring segment in the television adaptation of Horrible Histories
* Death during consensual sex

### Lists

[edit]

* List of association footballers who died while playing
* List of causes of death by rate
* List of racing cyclists and pacemakers with a cycling-related death
* List of entertainers who died during a performance
* List of inventors killed by their own invention
* List of last words
* Lists of people by cause of death
* List of people who died on the toilet
* List of people executed for witchcraft
* Lists of people who disappeared
* List of political self-immolations
* List of premature obituaries
* List of selfie-related injuries and deaths
* Toilet-related injuries and deaths
* List of deaths due to injuries sustained in boxing
* United States amusement park accidents
* Wheel-well stowaway § List of wheel-well stowaways

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hoff, Ursula (1937). "Meditation in Solitude". Journal of the Warburg Institute. 1 (44): 292–294\. doi:10.2307/749994. ISSN 0959-2024. JSTOR 749994. S2CID 192234608.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Bellamy, John G (2008). Strange Inhuman Deaths. History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-3864-8.
* Daws, Nick (2005). Daft Deaths and Famous Last Words. Lagoon Books. ISBN 978-1-9047-9715-9.
* Dreher, Dale (12 March 2012). Death by Misadventure: 210 Dumb Ways to Die. ASIN B007JYWNV4.
* Dunning, John (February 1997). Strange Deaths. True Crime. ISBN 978-185958498-9.
* Powell, Michael (2008). Curious Events in History. Sterling Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4027-6307-6.
* Sieveking, Paul; Simmons, Ian; Stevenson, Val (2000). Strange Deaths: More Than 375 Freakish Fatalities. New York: Barnes & Noble Books. p. 14\. ISBN 978-0-7607-1947-3. Retrieved 4 January 2022 – via Google Books.
* Sieveking, Paul (1998). The Fortean Times Book of More Strange Deaths. John Brown. ISBN 978-1-902212-02-9.
* Sieveking, Paul (2011). The Fortean Times Book of Strange Deaths. Russell Blackman. ISBN 978-1-907779-97-8.
* Southwell, David; Twist, Sean (2007). Mysterious Deaths and Disappearances. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4042-1081-3.
* Winterbotham, Russell R. (1929). Curious and Unusual Deaths. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius.

## External links

[edit]

* "Curious and Unusual Deaths Pictures". Discovery Channel. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on 16 September 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
* "Freakish Fatalities Articles". Snopes. Retrieved 7 August 2024.

* v
* t
* e

Death

In medicine|

| Cell death|

* Necrosis
* Avascular necrosis
* Coagulative necrosis
* Liquefactive necrosis
* Gangrenous necrosis
* Caseous necrosis
* Fat necrosis
* Fibrinoid necrosis
* Temporal lobe necrosis
* Programmed cell death
* AICD
* Anoikis
* Apoptosis
* Autophagy
* Intrinsic apoptosis
* Necroptosis
* Paraptosis
* Parthanatos
* Phenoptosis
* Pseudoapoptosis
* Pyroptosis
* Autolysis
* Autoschizis
* Eschar
* Immunogenic cell death
* Ischemic cell death
* Pyknosis
* Karyorrhexis
* Karyolysis
* Mitotic catastrophe
* Suicide gene

|

* Abortion
* Accidental death
* Autopsy
* Brain death
* Brainstem death
* Clinical death
* DOA
* Death by natural causes
* Death rattle
* Dysthanasia
* End-of-life care
* Euthanasia
* Lazarus sign
* Lazarus syndrome
* Medical declaration of death
* Organ donation
* Terminal illness
* Unnatural death

Lists|

* Causes of death by rate
* Notable deaths by year
* Expressions related to death
* Natural disasters
* People by cause of death
* Premature obituaries
* Preventable causes of death
* Unusual deaths
* List of ways people dishonor the dead
* List of ways people honor the dead

Mortality|

* Birthday effect
* Child mortality
* Excess mortality
* Gompertz–Makeham law of mortality
* Infant mortality
* Karoshi
* Maternal death
* Maternal mortality in fiction
* Memento mori
* Micromort
* Mortality rate
* RAMR
* Mortality salience
* Perinatal mortality

After death|

| Body|

| Stages|

* Pallor mortis
* Livor mortis
* Algor mortis
* Rigor mortis
* Putrefaction
* Decomposition
* Skeletonization
* Fossilization

|

Preservation|

* Cryopreservation
* Cryonics
* Neuropreservation
* Embalming
* Maceration
* Mummification
* Plastination
* Prosection
* Taxidermy

Disposal|

* Burial
* Natural burial
* Sky burial
* Ocean burial
* Cremation
* Dismemberment
* Excarnation
* Promession
* Resomation

* Beating heart cadaver
* Body donation
* Cadaveric spasm
* Coffin birth
* Death erection
* Dissection
* Gibbeting
* Postmortem caloricity
* Post-mortem interval

Other aspects|

* Carrion
* Cemetery
* Consciousness after death
* Afterlife
* Tukdam
* Customs
* Crematorium
* Desecration of graves
* Eternal oblivion
* Examination
* Funeral
* Grief
* Internet
* Midwife
* Mourning
* Online mourning
* Obituary
* Reincarnation
* Palingenesis
* Saṃsāra
* Resurrection
* Underworld
* Viewing
* Vigil
* Wake

Paranormal|

* Ghosts
* Near-death experience
* Near-death studies
* Necromancy
* Out-of-body experience
* Reincarnation research
* Séance

Legal|

* Abortion law
* Administration
* Capital punishment
* Cause of death
* Civil death
* Coroner
* Death-qualified jury
* Death certificate
* Declared death in absentia
* Death row
* Dying declaration
* Inquest
* Legal death
* Murder
* Necropolitics
* Prohibition of dying
* Right to die
* Suspicious death
* Trust law
* Will

Fields|

* Death tech [pt]
* Forensic pathology
* Funeral director
* Mortuary science
* Necrobiology
* Post-mortem chemistry
* Post-mortem photography
* Taphonomy
* Biostratinomy
* Thanatology

Other|

* Apparent death
* Chinese burial money
* Coins for the dead
* Dark tourism
* Darwin Awards
* Death and culture
* Death anniversary
* Death anxiety
* Death deity
* Personification of death
* Dying-and-rising god
* Psychopomp
* Death camp
* Death drive
* Death education
* Death from laughter
* Death hoax
* Death knell
* Death march
* Death messenger
* Death notification
* Death panel
* Death poem
* Death pose
* Death-positive movement
* Death squad
* Death threat
* Death trajectory
* Dignified death
* Extinction
* Festival of the Dead
* Fascination with death
* Hierarchy of death
* Homicide
* Immortality
* Last rites
* Longevity
* Martyr
* Museum of Death
* Necronym
* Necrophilia
* Necrophobia
* Philosophy of death
* Predation
* Sacrifice
* human
* Suicide
* Assisted suicide
* Thanabot [ca]
* Thanatosensitivity

* Category
* Outline

Portals:

* History
* Lists

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template