Top 10 Unbelievably Odd Deaths From the 17-19th Century

Looking back at historical records, there have been plenty of odd deaths from the 17-19th century. Read on below to learn about ten very strange deaths, including an incident in Dublin, Ireland, where barrels of whiskey ruptured and poured alcohol out into the streets.

Note: Featured image credit: pexels.com/AhmetHilmiErmis

1. Jörg Jenatsch

In 1639, Swiss political leader Jörg Jenatsch was assassinated by somebody dressed up as a bear and armed with an axe. Although it hasn’t been confirmed, legend says that it is the same axe that Jenatsch himself had used to kill a rival.

2. Sir Arthur Aston

Sir Arthur Aston had a wooden leg, and ended up being beaten to death with it by Oliver Cromwell’s army. They believed that there were gold coins hidden inside, and hit him repeatedly on the head with it. Upon opening it, there weren’t any coins or other treasure within.

3. Jean-Baptiste Lully

Lully was a French composer who died from gangrene in his foot after injuring himself onstage. At the time conductors would bang a staff on the floor, and Lully accidentally pierced his foot while conducting a Te Deum. Although doctors recommended amputation to remove the gangrenous abscess, Jean-Baptiste Lully refused so that he could still dance. He later died from the injury.

4. Pieter Peutemans

Pieter Peutemans was a Dutch painter of the 17th century. He was sketching in an anatomy building when he fell asleep. Suddenly, the 1692 Northwestern Europe earthquake hit and Peutemans awoke to find all the skeletons in the room shaking. To him, it seemed as though he was being attacked by the skeletons and, due to extreme shock, he was left with damage to his heart. He died soon after the incident.

5. Samuel Spencer

In 1793, lawyer and former colonel Samuel Spencer was asleep on a porch wearing a red cap. With the rise and fall of his head as he slept, a turkey believed that Spencer was a rival turkey and attacked him with its talons. Spencer did not survive the incident.

6. uNKNOWN wOMAN

In 1869, an English woman became severely ill and died after consuming her own hair for 12 years.

7. The Dublin Whiskey Fire

A fire broke out in a storehouse in Dublin, Ireland in 1875. Over one million litres (315,000 US gallons) of whiskey were being stored there, and the fire made the barrels explode. Whiskey streamed out of the doors and windows of the burning building. The whiskey too caught fire, demolishing a row of small houses. Thirteen fatalities were reported, though not from the fire. The cause of death was alcohol poisoning from drinking the undiluted whiskey that had flooded the streets.

8. Unknown Man

In 1888, in the village of Sulaymaniyah – today part of Iraq, but back then part of the Ottoman Empire – a shower of meteorites fell from the sky. One man was reported paralyzed while another was killed. His death is the only known case of human death from a meteorite.

9. Walter Cowles

In 1893, Walter Cowles was 24 years old, boasting to people in a bar that he could fit a billiards ball into his mouth and completely close it. Upon demonstrating, he swallowed the ball and choked to death.

10. George Taylor

George Taylor was a tunnel watchman in Tennessee. One day in 1895 while working, a cow fell on top of him, killing him instantly. Investigators later concluded that the cow must have been standing on top of the tunnel and then fell off the edge, landing on Taylor. The cow did not survive either.