From decapitation by beard to the nosebleed that killed Attila the Hun, a look at the incredible stories behind history's strangest deaths.
The ways people die are often conventional, however, history provides us with a multitude of recorded deaths that are markedly more interesting. Let’s take a fascinating look at some of history’s strangest deaths:
Chrysippus of Soli, 207 BC
Chrysippus was a Greek philosopher who devoted his life to important matters including ethics, mathematics, physics, epistemology and religion. Despite being a great thinker, even he would not have been able to imagine his demise. After feeding a donkey some wine and watching it eat figs from a tree, Chrysippus found the visual so funny that he actually died from laughing too much.
History’s Strangest Deaths: Bena Tshadi Team, 1998
During a 1998 soccer match in Congo, a lightning strike was responsible for the deaths of the members of an entire soccer team. At a tied game of 1-1 when the lightning struck, the game was soon tragically over for the 11-member Bena Tshadi team. While the lightning also burned 31 other people on and around the field, the home team was left physically unharmed–albeit accused of witchcraft.
Li Po, 701-706
Considered one of the greatest poets in Chinese history, it was fittingly his unyielding pursuit of poetry that contributed to his own end. Li Po’s untimely demise came one night by drowning in the Yangtze River after he fell from his boat in an attempt to embrace the reflection of the moon in the water.
Carl McCunn, 1981
Ambitious and adventurous, American wildlife photographer Carl McCunn requested to be dropped off at a remote lake near the Coleen River in the Alaskan wilderness so that he could take some photos. While McCunn arranged for the pilot to retrieve him in August, his lack of formal confirmation with the pilot resulted in McCunn being stranded in said wilderness for months. Upon running out of supplies, McCunn decided to end his own life.
Eventually, authorities found his corpse along with a note that read, “I think I should have used more foresight about arranging my departure.”
History’s Strangest Deaths: Hans Steininger, 1567
Renowned for the world’s longest beard that measured four and a half feet long, the bristly Austrian wasn’t expecting to die from his formidable furry feat. But that he did: during a 1567 fire, Steininger stumbled on his beard while trying to beat the heat and broke his neck from the fall.
King Adolf Frederick, 1771
As Swedish king Adolf Frederick discovered, there is a reason why gluttony is a sin. After the king’s giant meal of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, cabbage soup, smoked herring, champagne and 14 servings of his favorite dessert semla – a bun filled with marzipan and milk – Frederick died at the not-so noble age of 61 from eating too much.
Attila the Hun, 453
Despite being known as the great ruler of the extensive Hunnic Empire and one of the most feared enemies of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires, Atilla’s death was markedly less epic.
According to historical accounts, during a feast celebrating his latest marriage, Atilla suffered a severe nosebleed and choked to death. While alternative theories about ruptured veins and internal bleeding exist, Attila’s death by nosebleed serves as the most widely accepted one.
Enjoy the incredible stories behind some of history’s strangest deaths? Then be sure to check out the story of the man who didn’t salute Hitler and history’s most unusual deaths!
