Top 10 Most Unusual Deaths of Famous People

Unusual cause of death or/and unusual circumstances.
The Top Ten
1 Tycho Brahe's death was caused by his good manners that prevented him from going to the bathroom in time

He was a 16th-century Danish astronomer whose research helped Sir Isaac Newton devise the theory of gravity.
He died because he didn't make it to the bathroom in time. In that society it was considered an insult to leave the table before the banquet was over. Brahe had too much alcohol but was too polite to ask to be excused - he instead allowed his bladder to burst, which killed him slowly and painfully over the next 11 days.

Seriously? That's crazy! That poor polite fellow

2 Jean-Baptiste Lully died from an overdose of 'musical enthusiasm' - he drove his baton through his foot and succumbed to blood poisoning

He was a 17th-century composer who wrote music for the King of France. While rehearsing for a concert, he became overexcited and drove his baton right through his foot which caused blood poisoning.

3 Francis Bacon died while trying to prove his theory that snow can preserve meat - by stuffing snow into a chicken

He was an influential English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator and author in the 16th century. But he became a victim of his own experimental scientific method. Inspired by the possibility of using the snow to preserve meat (instead of salt), he tried to test his theory outside in the snow by stuffing a chicken. The chicken didn't freeze but Bacon did. He contracted a fatal case of pneumonia and died a week later.

I have to admit that his idea was great but was ahead of its time - F. Bacon just didn't have the needed technology/inventions (currently we all use freezers and fridges to preserve meat, I.e. low temperatures).

4 John Bonham drank 40 shots of vodka, vomited and choked on his own vomit

In 24 hours Bonham drank around 40 shots (1-1.4 litres) of 40% ABV vodka, after which he vomited and choked.

5 Marvin Gaye was shot by his own father

He was living in his parents house at the time because he was depressed and suicidal. His father shot him after an argument over misplaced documents. Gaye's father had reportedly been beaten by the singer prior to the shooting, and received 5 years of probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter charges.

Why would his father do this. And what's worse is that he died literally the eve of his 45th birthday.

6 David Carradine, 72, died of auto-erotic asphyxiation, the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal

The family has strongly contested this.

7 Tennessee Williams choked on a bottlecap

He choked on a bottlecap which he had removed from a bottle of eyedrops and placed in his mouth. The bottlecap slipped down his throat as he titled his head back to place the eyedrops in his eyes. After his death, drugs were found in his room and there were suspicions that these contributed towards his death.

8 Michael Hutchence died from autoerotic asphyxiation
9 Isadora Duncan's death was caused by her long silk scarf

She was an American dancer, often cited as the creator of "modern" dance. She was a passenger in a car when her long scarf, draped around her neck, got entangled around one of the vehicle's open-spoked wheels and rear axle. She "was hurled in an extraordinary manner from an open automobile" and "instantly killed by the force of her fall to the stone pavement." She was almost decapitated by the sudden tightening of the scarf around her neck.

10 Keith Relf died from electrocution while playing electric guitar

No, almost all sources, including wiki, say he died in his basement. He stood on a gas pipe and "because the guitar was ungrounded, the electrical current resulted in a severe shock to his body."
Because the Relf family remained private about his death, a rumor began to grow that the singer was foolishly playing an electric guitar in the bathtub.

He was the lead singer and harmonica player for The Yardbirds. At 33, he died from electrocution, at his home, while playing his improperly grounded electric guitar.

The Contenders
11 Attila the Hun died from a nosebleed on his wedding night - he drowned in a snoutful of his own blood

One of the most bloodthirsty men in history died from a nosebleed... He was too drunk to notice the problem with his nose.
An alternative theory is that he succumbed to internal bleeding after heavy drinking, possibly a condition called esophageal varices, where dilated veins in the lower part of the esophagus rupture leading to death by hemorrhage.

More recent theories have tended toward murder by poisoning.

12 Dimebag Darrell was shot while performing at a concert

Rest in peace. Dimebag was a legend and one of the greatest guitarists of all time

13 Leslie Harvey was electrocuted by touching an ungrounded microphone with wet hands
14 Albert Dekker, 62, died from autoerotic asphyxiation

Character actor and politician Albert Dekker was found dead in 1968 in his home. "He was naked, kneeling in the bathtub, with a noose tightly wrapped around his neck and looped around the shower curtain rod. He was blindfolded, his wrists were handcuffed, there was a ball gag in his mouth, and two hypodermic needles were inserted in one arm. His body was covered in explicit words and drawings in red lipstick".

Autoerotic asphyxiation is an intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for sexual arousal.

15 Vic Morrow was decapitated by the blades of a low-flying helicopter

It happened while on location filming the Steven Spielberg-produced "Twilight Zone: The Movie".
Spielberg, pilot Dorsey Wingo, and director John Landis were ultimately acquitted of involuntary manslaughter and Morrow's daughters settled out of court.

16 Thomas Urquhart was said to have died laughing because of King Charles II had taken the throne
17 Yukio Mishima committed ritual suicide by Seppuku
18 Mussolini was hanged upside down while being beaten and shot
19 Elvis Presley died while pooping too hard
20 Dolores O'riordan died by accidental drowning in a bath following sedation by alcohol intoxication
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