While we don’t often talk about it, the 10 weird causes that have claimed lives throughout history remind us that death can be as bizarre as it is inevitable. Most of us picture a calm drift into old age, yet accidents and odd mishaps have snatched many souls in the most unexpected ways.
10 Weird Causes That Shocked History
10 Defenestration
Being tossed from a window—known as defenestration—might sound like a medieval prank, but in Prague it served as a literal political weapon. Citizens who were fed up with their leaders would literally throw them out of a window, and each such act sparked a major conflict.
The first large‑scale defenestration took place in 1419 when an angry mob stormed the town hall, hurling the judge, the burgomaster and five others out of the council chamber onto the square below. Their deaths ignited a war that would rage for more than two decades.
In 1618, a clash between Roman Catholics and Protestants sparked the Thirty Years’ War. Protestant rebels hurled two Catholic regents—William Slatava and Jaroslav Martinic—and their secretary from the windows of Prague Castle’s council room, accusing them of breaching the Letter of Majesty. Ironically, the three men survived the plunge.
9 Death By Tortoise
One would assume a tortoise is the last creature you’d expect to be lethal, yet the ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus reportedly met his end when a tortoise fell from the sky onto his head around 455 BC.
Legend has it that Aeschylus received a prophecy warning him of death by a falling object. To avoid the fate, he worked outdoors, thinking the open air would shield him from anything descending from above.
Unfortunately, an eagle—mistaking his bald skull for a rock—dropped a large tortoise onto him. The bird, which preys on tortoises, often drops its prey onto rocks to crack the shell, and in this tragic case, the reptile struck Aeschylus dead on the spot.
8 Self‑Decapitation
Monty Python once sketched a man who decapitated himself while shaving, but the macabre scenario became a grim reality for a British man named David Phyall, who used a chainsaw as a protest against eviction.
In 2008, Phyall’s apartment building in Bishopstoke was slated for demolition. He stubbornly refused to leave, and after days of silence, emergency responders discovered a shocking scene: Phyall had indeed severed his own head.
He had bolted a chainsaw to a pool‑table leg, set a timer and, in a drunken state, let the device run its course, ultimately beheading himself. The coroner noted this was the latest in a series of suicide attempts by the troubled man.
7 Tennis Ball To The Groin
The 1983 US Open in New York saw a junior match turn fatal when a wayward tennis ball struck a linesman in the most sensitive spot.
On September 10, 60‑year‑old Richard Wertheim was seated on a chair at the center line, officiating the match. A serve from Sweden’s Stefan Edberg veered wildly, slamming into Wertheim’s groin. The excruciating blow sent him sprawling backward, his head hitting the floor and leaving him unconscious.
Wertheim lingered in the hospital and died on September 15. His family sued the US Tennis Association for $2 million, receiving a $165 000 award that was later overturned on appeal. Edberg went on to win multiple Grand Slam titles.
6 Crushed By A Cactus
Arizona’s iconic saguaro cacti are protected by strict laws, yet a 27‑year‑old man named David Grundman ignored those regulations and paid the ultimate price.
In 1982, Grundman and friends were engaged in illegal “cactus plugging,” shooting at a massive 8‑meter‑tall saguaro. After firing two shotgun blasts from about three meters away, the cactus’s arm fell, crushing Grundman beneath its weight.
5 Strangled By An Automobile
Renowned dancer Isadora Duncan met a bizarre end in Nice, France, in 1927 when her flowing scarf became entangled in a car’s wheel.
While riding as a passenger in an open‑topped vehicle, her long, trailing scarf snagged the wheel, pulling her from the car and causing a fatal neck injury. Earlier in her life, a 1913 accident involving her nanny’s car had claimed the lives of Duncan’s two children in the Seine.
4 Pharaoh’s Curse
The opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 sparked rumors of a deadly curse, and one of the most cited victims was the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, George Herbert.
Six weeks after the sarcophagus was unsealed, Carnarvon suffered a mosquito bite, which he sliced while shaving. The wound became infected, leading to fatal blood poisoning.
Contemporary reports claimed the mummy bore a mosquito bite in the same spot, fueling the curse narrative. In total, twelve individuals present at the tomb’s opening died within months under mysterious circumstances.
3 Crushed By A Coffin
Pallbearers normally face a solemn duty, but in 1872 a London funeral turned deadly for one of them.
Henry Taylor was part of a six‑person cortege heading to Kensal Green Cemetery. After rain made the path slick, the funeral director asked the group to turn the coffin around to carry it head‑first. While maneuvering, Taylor slipped on a stone; the other bearers dropped the coffin, which fell onto him and crushed him to death.
2 Died Laughing
Scottish aristocrat and writer Thomas Urquhart allegedly died from “excessive laughter” upon hearing news of King Charles II’s restoration in 1660.
Historical accounts note that other notable figures, such as King Martin of Aragon and Greek philosopher Chrysippus, also perished during bouts of uncontrollable mirth. In such cases, the intense laughter likely caused asphyxiation or cardiac failure.
1 Tripping On A Beard
Facial hair seldom appears on a list of lethal hazards, yet Renaissance‑era Bavarian mayor Hans Steininger met his end because of his famously long beard.
Steininger, known as “the man with the long beard,” let his hair grow to the floor and kept it rolled in a pouch. When a fire broke out in Braunau am Inn in 1567, he tried to flee but tripped over his own beard, breaking his neck.
The extraordinary beard, now over 450 years old, is displayed in the town’s museum. A bas‑relief on St. Stephan’s Church also depicts his legendary whiskers.
Lesley Connor, a retired Australian newspaper editor, now writes for online publications and runs her own travel blog.