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About Roman Emperor Valerian, in the Antiquity section: the section says he died of having molten gold poured down his throat by the Persians. Is it possible this story is confused with that of Marcus Licinius Crassus [1], who had molten gold poured down HIS throat by the Parthians? I cannot find any web reference to Valerian that describes the manner of his death. - Sailboatd2
Lol .. if it's to be a "list of people" would you add at least 5 people? -- User:Docu
Hmmm, I work with epidemiologists all day during the week. Something I find it amazing how epidemiologists have branched out from infectious disease to chronic disease, and other types of ailments. I will ask the injury section on Monday if they have a category for deaths by cranial trauma from hard shelled animals borne by avians. After that I will narrow down to turtles and vultures. AlainV 00:28, 2004 May 16 (UTC)
Three things...shouldn't this be "list of people who died from having a tortoise dropped on their head" or something? Second, how many other people would that apply to? Third, Aeschylus didn't really die like that, that's just a legend. So...yeah. Adam Bishop 20:20, 16 May 2004 (UTC)
The 20th century part of the article should maybee be split up in decades if the article is supposed to grow any larger. Ofcourse, an alternative is to be more selective, but then a considerable amount of the incidents should be deleted. A third option is to split the article into two articles; one about very unusual deaths, and another about unusual deaths of famous persons, the other being less selective. —Preceding unsigned comment added by jjylf ( talk • contribs) 10 November 2006
The part on Rasputin makes several claims contradictory to his wikipedia article. Mostly, the castration. However, the article goes on to say that most of the other things stated here about Rasputin have turned out to be false. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 151.151.73.168 ( talk) 00:13, 17 February 2007 (UTC).
I moved this from the page:
Although it's very tragic, this doesn't strike me as "usual". Are we going to include drug overdoses here, also? -- Netoholic @ 23:27, 2004 Nov 9 (UTC)
I removed a reference to Mama Cass choking on a sandwich, since (a) it's not unusual to choke to death on food, and (b) as the reference noted, it's almost certainly an inaccurate urban myth. - DavidWBrooks 02:52, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I originally posted this article at Wikipedia:Unusual_articles. If you check out Wikipedia talk:Unusual articles you will see some debate about whether the article should be part of UA or Unusual deaths. It was concluded that the article should be posted here.
I find it hard to understand why it is that William I's death is not considered unusual. He exploded during his funeral for crying out loud!
-- One Salient Oversight 12:07, 8 May 2005 (UTC)
The story about Edward's murder is spurious. The story arises in the chronicles some 30 years after Edward's death and is considered by many historians to be little more than salacious propaganda against a notoriously homosexual king. Arguments advanced against the story include several based on logic, one of which is that the supposed benefits of murder by that method (his face/body would show no signs of disfigurement while lying in state) could be achieved by many far simpler, surer and faster methods. The Wiki article Edward_II_of_England is pretty good on this.
Dweller 17:18, 17 May 2006 (GMT+1)
The use of the word rumored in not appropriate in this context since the article is about unusual deaths in history (what is recorded not what is scientifically verified) and might be applied to many of the other deaths noted. The notion that the murder occurred during ablutions i.e. when he was washing or shaving himself or even going to the toilet is a nonsense. Edward was in captivity and died in suspicious circumstances. The manner of death or the reported manner of death says a great deal about attitudes to homosexuality during that period. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gizzard01 ( talk • contribs) 22:07, 22 March 2008 (UTC)
It has been scientifically proven that exposure to low temperatures is not a cause of the common cold, nor any complications, like pneumonia.
Given that this is the case, the deaths of Francis Bacon and William Henry Harrison are totally unrelated to the circumstances leading up to it. In other words, Bacon did not die because he stuffed snow into a chicken and then caught pneumonia, and William Henry Harrison did not die because his speech was delivered in heavy snow, thus causing deadly pneumonia. The deaths of these two people by pneumonia is totally coincidental with any events they experienced beforehand.
However, I felt that it was necessary to keep both Bacon and Harrison on the page since their deaths are popularly associated with their particular circumstances.
So we have a choice. Either the disclaimer stays or we remove Bacon and Harrison from the list. Which do you prefer?
-- One Salient Oversight 12:07, 8 May 2005 (UTC)
One unfortunate effect of improving article is that in general, the more accurate the information gets, the less exciting it is. Just consider the recent edit to the Tycho Brahe listing, which switched "bursting bladder" to the more accurate "bladder infection". Sigh ... - DavidWBrooks 16:49, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I just removed an addition about somebody who was hit by a car while examining another car wreck, because (infortunately) that's a pretty common way of dying - accident scenes are one of the most dangerous places on a road for further accidents, as any police/fire officer will tell you. - DavidWBrooks 7 July 2005 13:00 (UTC)
I removed a death by lightning, but the LibraryLion reinstated it, arguing that it's rare enough to be included because the American patiort "may be the only famous person killed this way." Which leads to a debate - is this a list of unusual deaths in the sense of people who died in unique or VERY rare ways (e.g., a turtle being dropped on their head, to use the example that started it all) or is it also a list of famous people who died in uncommon, but not necessarily VERY rare, ways (e.g., the pope who ate a poisonous mushroom, which happens thousands of times a year)? I contend it's the former, but over time a number of the latter have crept in. Any thoughts? - DavidWBrooks 22:35, 13 July 2005 (UTC)
In my opinion, responding to DavidWBrooks thoughts, since this list is short enough anyway, I think both can be included. Perhaps a statement should be added to the top of the article to clearly define this article. We know death by pneumonia is quite common, but in the way it happened to U.S. President W.H. Harrison, and the fact he was a famous person in history, merits a mention- in my opinion. Technically, by definition of 'unusual death', i.e. cause of death being very uncommon or rare, W.H. Harrison should not be mentioned. Being struck and killed by lightning is very rare cause of death, so this would qualify by definition of unusual death. My opinions summarized:
1. We include deaths from famous people where very unusual circumstances contributed to death (although the death itself may be quite common, e.g. W.H. Harrison.)
2. We include deaths of noteworthy people where the death itself was very unusual, even though the circumstances that contributed to death perhaps were not. I would however omit any deaths due to rare medical conditions. -- LibraryLion 00:30, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
I imagine people who died of rather rare diseases could be added. Sometimes though with medical problems, you get more of a grey area. For instance some people with very rare diseases actually pass away by more common means, e.g. heart attack, respitory failure, not specifically from the disease itself, although it may have played a factor. In these cases, one would have enough medical information to say definitively that 'this such and such rare disease directly caused a heart attack,' or some other cause of death. It is a little more tricky. Another problem could be defining what is a 'rare' disease.
I would be inclined to have a seperate article for famous people who passed away or were afflicted with rare diseases, than include it in this article, just to avoid the confusion it might cause. I can think of a few names for a new page about people afflicted with or killed by rare diseases. Lou Gehrig, Woodie Guthrie, Dinu Lipatti, the Elephant Man you mentioned, Stewart Alsop, etc., although again, what qualifies as a rare disease would have to clearly be defined for this particular article. I believe though the medical community has some set criteria for this. -- LibraryLion 08:40, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
The article on Gaius Gracchus contradicts Plutarch's version presented in this list. Maybe this entry should be held back..—Preceding unsigned comment added by Porcher ( talk • contribs)
Some people I will dig up info about and may add it:
I thought that the Darwin Awards featured enough unusual deaths that a link would be in order. If anybody thinks it's wrong, stupid or anything else, go ahead and delete it, but I see a slight link, and I might not be the only one. Sillstaw 02:46, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
"1543: Pedro de Valdivia a dreaded conquistador was captured by Native Americans and executed by pouring molten gold down his throat to satisfy his thirst for treasures." Can that be proved? His article doesn't even mention it. HybridFusion 08:33, 13 November 2005 (UTC)
The inclusion of the death of Judas uses the bible as it's source. However, the interpretation is inaccurate.
The idea that Judas hung himself comes from Matthew 27:3-5, which says
3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” 5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.
His erm, "exploding" refers to a seperate reference to the events in Acts 1:18-19:
18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)
It is generally accepted that "Akel Dama" refers to the Valley of Hinnom, which has rather tall, rocky edges, and it would logically make sense that had Judas hung himself at the top of the precipice, once his rope deteriorated he would have fallen and splatted, etc.
Even if this was not the cause, the term "exploded while hanging himself" is misleading, because it says that Judas split because of a fall.
Whether or not you think that the Bible is an accurate historical account, if it's going to be used as a source in this encyclopedia it needs to be cited accurately. I'm going to remove his death. Someone can rewrite it if they still thing that it falls into the category of unusual deaths, which perhaps it does.
I read through the list, and I don't find most of the deaths to be unusual. For instance, since when is dying from being shot unusual - as was the case for several US Presidents, including the li
What is rare or unusual about people dying from heart attack (James Rodale), gunshot wounds (William McKinley), poisoning (several examples), gangrene in an age before antibiotics (also several examples) and so on.
Also, some of the assertions of unusual, such as the ritual sacrifice of the Mixtec king, Eight Deer Jaguar Claw, needs to be viewed in the light of human sacrifice rituals of Mezo-American civilizations in general, which changes the death from unusual to a culturally specific norm.
If the point of this list is anecdotes about unusual circumstances surrounding the deaths, that is how it should be titled.
It's risqué. Will you include the Holocaust next? It was not a very common occurence itself. Dahn 09:18, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
There's an entry in this list for the 1971 death of John Fare, a Canadian artist apparently decapitated by a robot... call me cynical, but if there was any truth to this I'd really expect a man decapitated by a robot to have his own Wikipedia entry.
A Google returns very few results on John Fare, and all are brief references-as-fact in generally poorly written "essays". Of particular note is one page (which no longer seems to exist - all I can find is the snippet from the Google result page and it's Google cache link is invalid):
"[another essay] gives the account (most of which is based on rumour) of an artist named john fare who, between 1964 ..."
So, is there any proof this even happened?
John Fare had been added again, but I cannot find any indication that this actually happened. A google gives a few articles that seem to me to indicate a work of fiction ( http://www.earthlydelights.co.uk/johnfare.htm particularly stuff like "...I was reminded for a moment of a xylophone recital I and a girl named Nellie had gone to about ten years earlier on the planet Neptune.") I believe this may be some clumsy attempt at a hoax or at least at discrediting wikipedia (again). If some credible evidence is given it would certainly be unusual enough to merit a place on the list, but for now I am removing it.
MasterDirk 12:03, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
Added recently to 1986 was Jennifer Levin, killed by the "Preppy killer". Now I have never heard of this, and it sounds horrific (like all murders), but is it really consistent with the theme of this list? Isn't this just a (and I don't mean this to sound as harsh as it undoubtedly sounds) "normal" rape-killing?
MasterDirk 23:54, 18 January 2006 (UTC)
I removed this entry as it seems he died from insulin overdose, not a lion mauling, which itself was only borderline unusual. -- Netoholic @ 21:29, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
From the list:
2001: 1 June, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal, enraged from a dispute over his marriage arrangements (and possibly intoxicated), reportedly went on a rampage at dinner and massacred nearly the entire Royal Family, including his father the king. But in accordance with custom and tradition, Dipendra, then in a coma due to wounds sustained either from palace guards or a botched suicide attempt, became king for three days before dying on 4 June. He was succeeded by his uncle, whose son mysteriously survived the massacre unscathed.
From http://www.2spare.com/item_49619.aspx:
On June 1, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal, enraged from a dispute over his marriage arrangements (and possibly intoxicated), reportedly went on a rampage at dinner and massacred nearly the entire Royal Family, including his father the king. But in accordance with custom and tradition, Dipendra, then in a coma due to wounds sustained either from palace guards or a botched suicide attempt, became king for three days before dying on June 4. He was succeeded by his uncle, whose son mysteriously survived the massacre unscathed. (2001)
From the list:
2005: Kenneth Pinyan, an Enumclaw, Seattle WA. man, died of acute peritonitis after submitting to anal intercourse with a stallion. The man had done this before, though apparently this time his partner was a little too keen, and delayed several hours to visit hospital wishing to avoid official cognisance. The case may lead to the criminalization of bestiality in Washington. [4]
From http://www.2spare.com/item_49619.aspx:
Kenneth Pinyan an Enumclaw, Seattle WA. man, died of acute peritonitis after submitting to anal intercourse with a stallion. The man had done this before, though apparently this time his partner was a little too keen, and delayed several hours to visit hospital wishing to avoid official cognisance. The case may lead to the criminalization of bestiality in Washington. (2005)
Just two examples, looks to me like the entire article at 2spare consists of elements from this list.
See article deletion debate
21st century
Stephen B Streater 20:58, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
I deleted the following because death by pressing with stones was not unusual at the time:
Why was this article below deleted? It's one of the most unusual deaths I've heard of! Look at the page about
Jacob Kovco and you will see.
I've heard of people shooting themselves or friends by accident, but never from a joke of this nature. Whether that is unusual or not, the amount of unusual things surrounding his death alone should be enough to get him in the list. The fact his injuries were identical to a dream he had meant to have written about in high detail, also a body bungle where someone else's body was shipped back to his family in Australia. You should read some of the news references on his page, it's quite bizarre... I think the whole thing is a blotched cover up. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is.
Anon - I have no idea if anybody cares, but the only Google reference to Vondracek Beeir is this page - I suspect spoof. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.139.78.5 ( talk) 01:41, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
"Eaten by bears" isn't an unusual death - there are 5 recorded fatalities in Yellowstone National Park alone since 1916. It doesn't fall under "famous person with a relatively common death" because he's only famous because he was eaten by bears. "Not eaten by bears despite 13 years of continued contact" is the only unusual part, but it seems like even after 13 years of successful contact with bears, "camping with bears" is still an intrinsically dangerous activity of which death is a natural consequence. - Cdk 19:47, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
I don't see how five cases over a period of 90 years makes something "usual". - 20:43, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
That's 5 cases in Yellowstone. See List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America_by_decade for the other 100 or so people who have been killed by bears in North America in the past century. If "eaten by bears in Yellowstone" is intrinsically interesting, we should list those 5 people, and de-list Treadwell, who was eaten in Katmai Nat'l Park in Alaska. - Cdk 00:29, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
Apparently today someone named Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray. Should that be included in the article? -- ReyBrujo 05:55, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
Actually, people are killed by wild animal frequently - hundreds are killed in Africa each year, mostly by hippos. But we don't hear about them. Western Person Killed By Wild Animal is much less common, we hear about many of those; Famous Western Person Killed By Wild Animal is even less common and we hear about all of those. Whether they meet the criteria of this page, which have been debated since before the page was created, is far from clear. - DavidWBrooks 21:04, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
As far as I know, one cannot die of "brain damage."
When you have a broken piece of steel penetrate your head....it generally results in a damaged brain.
The foil didn't actually go through his eyeball....it went through the eye orbit...the bony structure AROUND the eye. He was kept on life support for 9 days, and after the last touch of the last event (effectively ending the 1982 Fencing World Championships -- the event in which this tragic death occurred), life support was discontinued because no one wanted the defending World ad Olympic foil champion to die during the event.
It is due to Smirnov's death, however, that the sport of fencing is MUCH safer today. The mask he was wearing was -- when new -- less than half the strength of an entry-level mask today...and by the time it failed on him, it had likely gotten weaker.
This isn't even remotely unusual, but I'm new here so I don't want to axe is just like that:
2006: New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, who was also a pilot in training, erratically flew his single-engine jet into the side of a large apartment building in New York City, killing Lidle and his flight instructor. The ensuing explosion burned a considerable amount of the building, injuring several occupants although none were killed. Lidle had communicated to a radio tower that he was having fuel problems earlier in the flight. For nearby Manhattan witnesses, the moment bore a shocking and poignant resemblance to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. SockMonkeh 22:55, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
So obviously, I have seen this article (rightly) was previously nominated for deletion, but was kept.
I do however think that it needs drastic revisions. I counted at least 45 uncited anecdotes about so called "unusual deaths". These should be removed should they not? Or verified. Otherwise its just an urban legend page.
I may do so at some point, but as of now I have not.
MergeCar 02:39, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
Being morbidly curious, I tried to check this story out, but didn't come up with much. The article here had been deleted, and even through lots of research on the web, this was all I could come up with, from a cashed page ("Skateboarding" here on Wikipedia) that since had been changed.
"In 2005 the world of skateboarding was shaken on its axis, when Darshan Cowles, at the time only a very promising young skater from the UK, stunned the skating community by attempting to complete a 720 melon. Tragically, such a young skater trying to perform such a groundbreaking trick resulted in a horrific crash, which left onlookers open-mouthed. Despite being rushed to hospital, Darshan was sadly pronounced dead hours after the dreadful incident. Although only 17 when he died, Darshan's attempted 720 melon was considered so courageous that he was recently voted the second most influential skater of all time in a survey of more than 5,000 skaters, with Tony Hawk narrowly beating him to the top spot. Despite Darshan's iconic status in the world of skating, his death is as clear a sign as any of the dangers of audacious tricks in skateboarding."
You would think if this had really happened, there would be more evidence on the web. Actually, any evidence at all, besides the video that is supposedly on YouTube. I would even think that there would be even just remnants of normal discussion about the abilities of this skateboarder left on the web. I could not even find evidence that he was a popular skater. Is this all a hoax and completely flying over my head, or did this really happen? Really scratching my head over this, and would like to get more info. Fmalcangi 07:49, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I'm going to be moving all entries that I have tried and failed to find verifiable sources to here. If anyone can find what I wasn't able to, please feel free to add these back in, with the appropriate citations (if web, please use template:cite web. Akradecki 18:17, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
This citation needed thing is insane. First of all, I think it should be applied to lists for only the most marginal of cases - if lists are listing articles, it is common-sense that articles should include references, not lists! For example, Constantine Hangerli currently has a "citneeded" tag, even though no less than three sources indicate the way in which he died where references belong. Anyone can figure that out by actually clicking the link: if that is not to be expected from a user, why link words at all?! Even for articles that do not cite their sources, tags should be placed inside the articles, and not on various lists! I can picture need for tags with incidents that are only referred to on this list, but why the hell would it be the case with researched articles? Please, be reasonable. Dahn 18:18, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Anyone? Dahn 11:35, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
I removing him since a cursuroy web search either makes no mention of the waterfalls name or says that it was named in his honor. Timber Rattlesnake
I deleted the part on the death of Titus. It is impossible to die because a mosquito flies up the nose and pick the brain, and this is clearly simply a myth. DaBears34 05:54, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
Is this a hoax? What raised my skepticism was "kidnapped by a group of murderous feminists". There is also no source to such a story. --
Philo
07:53, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
These above seem tragic, as all accidental deaths, but I don't think they are very unusual. At least not so unusual to be in a say top-200 list of all times or top 3-of the-year most unusual deaths. I will delete them if there are no objections. Besides I just added the apostle who was flayed alive and then crucified. -- 217.209.46.200 12:46, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
There are something like 7 death by heartattack while being watched live in theatre, filmed for TV, or live on the radio. I would think that would mean at most the first time it occured may be rare, but the next 6 times seem less so. So, Which ones stay and which ones go? They are in 1943, 1971, 1984, 1991, 1996, 2001. Dstanfor 15:01, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
After going through the article a few times, a couple types of deaths keep showing up.
Dstanfor 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
Since the new wave of " I like it" opinions is probably going to keep this article from getting deleted, I think there should be something resembling a consensus on a standard to somehow get this list in line with WP:V, WP:NOR, and WP:NPOV. The instructions given on the article introduction (which should actually be on the talk page) can be used to narrow the article down to 2-3 items or expanded to 200-300 depending on the inclinations of an editor. Please note that someone can't simply use "judgment calls" as basis for inclusion or exclusion: this would be a clear violation of the above-mentioned policies and guidelines. Using the " rare diseases" standard may or may not work, but it will definitely narrow the current list population down to the 2-3 end. The only possible way I'm thinking this can even come close to not being a blatant violation is finding reliable sources that report on the deaths for the sake of their unusualness. Simões ( talk/ contribs) 00:15, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
Does Preoteasa's death qualify him for the list? As stated, I have problems with the editorial guidelines for this list, and I'd rather not edit into it until a more rational stand on the issue of referencing is taken; therefore, I would simply like to help editors who are happy with the current format to make the list more comprehensive, without actually intervening in editing it. It is also arguably more helpful to agree on entries rather than shoving them in the list. Dahn 03:00, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
I would also like to know why this entry was removed (especially since it appears to have been silently removed):
Isn't there something unusual about a ruling monarch being passed through four methods of execution in the space of some minutes? You can find two references for it in the article on him. Dahn 03:11, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
I went ahead and put the {{references}} tag at the top of the article since no solution has come since the last AFD nomination nor appears to be forthcoming. In one month, I'll go ahead and start stripping the list of every unsourced entry. Note that I'm not contesting that any of these events actually occurred (concerning this, there are references for many of the entries), only that they are to be considered unusual. Simões ( talk/ contribs) 00:25, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
I don't have an exact date, but I do know that the epic poet Homer died of a fit of rage over not being able to solve a child's riddle about lice. Can anyone incorporate this into the article? MadHistorian 02:18, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
None of these seem particularly odd to me.
-- Joyous! | Talk 16:07, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
Since Chris Buckey has seen it fit to remove the unreferenced tag before the issue was even touched, I'm going ahead and disputing the entire thing. Unless each and every entry can be verified as unusual, the entire list fails WP:V, WP:NPOV, and (especially) WP:OR. Simões ( talk/ contribs) 23:00, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
(The indenting was getting carried away, so I've done a carriage return) That seems to imply that "unusual" means "unique" - any cause of death that has happened to more than one person doesn't count. That seems a bit steep. And how do you confirm uniqueness? No coroner is going to write "the only such case in history" on the death certificate, so how would you expect confirmation that nobody else died by, say, having a tortoise dropped on their head? - DavidWBrooks 20:06, 4 February 2007 (UTC).
Original research (OR) is a term used in Wikipedia to refer to material that has not been published by a reliable source. It includes unpublished facts, arguments, concepts, statements, or theories, or any unpublished analysis or synthesis of published material that appears to advance a position — or which, in the words of Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales, would amount to a "novel narrative or historical interpretation."
(back to the left again!) A reasonable argument. On the other hand, see Rare species, which talks about various possible criteria, but applies none in particular, and is up to the editors' judgment. - DavidWBrooks 22:55, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
It should be possible to come up with some criteria for "unusuality". Uniqueness (or extreme rarity as I'd suspect it would be impossible to completely establish uniqueness) was mentioned and that would certianly be one criteria that could be verifiable as news reports often give quotes from experts along the lines of "I have never heard of such a case before." There are also cases of the Universe demonstrating classic irony like the case of Richard Versalle. The Fortean Times runs a monthly Strange Deaths column and has published at least 2 books on the area Strange Deaths (by Steve Moore, ISBN 1870870506) and More Strange Deaths (by Paul Sieveking, ISBN 1902212029) although I doubt anyone has established specific criteria (although it woukd be well worth checking their introductions for clues - the Book of Lists also includes various examples). So I don't think it is truly impossible. The thing is that a lot of entries are as long as a piece of string and the important thing is that there is a well agreed upon consensus and regular and heavy pruning of the page. I am looking through the list and don't find some of them that strange. Although I possibly have a jaded palate as I follow such things closely but you could stand to loose half to three quarters of the current entries. There are causes for concern but I think it can be tightened up (the verifiability is good but also needs fixing up). ( Emperor 22:28, 5 February 2007 (UTC))
I can't think of an effective resolution for this matter, because while this is a subject readers might care about and may enjoy reading and may want for informational purposes, WP:V and WP:NPOV are totally unaccounted for in the title. Very few deaths could be considered verifiably unusual, which could be reasonably done if verifiable sources note that the deaths are unusual. As the article stands, it's an opinion peice and is totally disputable. Again, I have no recomendation on the course of action to take, but it should be verifiable. i kan reed 16:20, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
(edit conflicted 3O, or is that a 4O?) While I won't take a stance on what the objective standard should be, there absolutely must be some objective standard. "It's unusual because the editor who chose to add it to this list finds it so" is the very definition of original research and inserting our own viewpoint on things-effectively, "editorializing by inclusion". Also, it must be determined (again, in a clear and objective way) whether more than one factor can contribute to "unusual" and if so how. Getting trampled to death by a water buffalo in New York City may be considered pretty unusual, but the same thing happening in Southeast Asia probably would not be. I would look to notability as a criterion which could be subjective but is not-it is actually established with a very objective standard. Either a source is affiliated with or created by the subject of an article (primary source) or it is not (secondary source). Either a source is reliable (editorially controlled or subject to scholarly peer review) or it is not (anonymous or not subject to control or peer review). Either the subject is the focus of the source cited or it is not. Those are not subjective guidelines, and the same type of thing can get established here! Seraphimblade 16:25, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
Redirect to what, I wonder? But please don't do that; I think the AfD debates have shown there are a lot of varied opinions on this article. Start another AfD if you must; maybe enough people will agree with you that you can spirit away the article en mass. (There's some guideline somewhere about how many AfDs you should have in a given time, and this would be the third in a year for this article. But I won't complain.). - DavidWBrooks 17:18, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
Hi. Where will I find the consensus discussion for the renaming of this article? -- Dweller 12:45, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
It's been suggested a couple times that we could just find outside sources where people say "this death is unusual." I'm not confident that this would work. Take, for example, [this http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E4DF113AF933A05750C0A961958260] article in the New York Times. It's right there in the bloody title, so we'd be obliged to include this. But the article quickly reveals that this isn't "unusual" in the sense that the article creators and proponents intend. It's a guy who died by the electric chair, and his face restraint caught on fire. That's happened lots and is part of the reason why most states have abandoned the chair in favor of lethal injection.
Other cases of "unusual deaths" verified by external sources are even further from what is intended for this article. The authors in these cases are using "unusual death" to mean "suspicious death"; e.g., apparent accidents or suicides that have some evidence suggesting they were really murders.
So unless people are okay with radically changing the direction of this article, this standard isn't going to work. Simões ( talk/ contribs) 15:59, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
I recall hearing on the radio, just before some of his music was played, about a composer who had lost his sense of smell somehow. Apparently he died after applying white shoe polish to his face, mistaking it for shaving cream. The fumes rendered him unconscious and he died on the bathroom floor. I can't find anything on Google though, am I imagining this? Miken32 22:46, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
It states in this article that Nelson Rockefeller died "while having sex with Megan Marshack on the desk in his office." I checked the Nelson Rockefeller page after reading this, and while it states that there is speculation regarding his exact cause of death and that he may have had an affair with the 26 year old aide in the time leading up to it, it says nothing about the cause of death mentioned in this article (even as a possibility). It only states that there are reports that he may have been with Marshack at the time of his death. I think the "sex on the desk" account may then be simply a rumor or legend, and not verified as fact. -- Delong71487 20:00, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
Supposed death by mayonnaise incident (1993)??? Then why is he in the wiki list 'Living People'??? Check his page!
I'm not sure this is a good idea or not, so I gave it a try: I've "clumped" together a number of similar 20th-century deaths - people who died of natural causes (not accidents) during public performances. If this works, we can do other clumps; if not, we can revert it. - DavidWBrooks 22:58, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
I don't see how this list could be anything but subjective.... I mean, I guess you could say if the cause of death is one that does not occur often....
But then this list would require all deaths by rare diseases.
And disclude any toothpick-related deaths, as they are statistically significant.
And include terrorism-related deaths, as acts of terrorism are relatively rare.
And disclude large-scale catastrophes, as only the death tolls and events themselves are unusual, and not the actual individual deaths.
In addition, if you were to also consider circumstances or details of the death, you could only include details that don't occur often, not simply details that may seem outlandish.
In addition, to be anywhere close to complete, this list will have to be unfathomably large, as the number of reported "unusual" deaths is sure to be in the ten thousands, at least.
And if we are to use "unusual" as "statistically extraordinary", we'll have to come up with a solid standard to go by (which, of course, will have been already been decided on and published by somebody else, because for us to declare something unusual would be original research and analysis)
Blueaster
03:53, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
The MAIN problem is the one you raised about subjectivity. I don't believe there's any single standard that could truly be used to qualify what is an "unusual death", certainly not across the board for all types of death, and certainly not one which would be sourcable. I think, even above Original Research, it can be understood that the circumstances surrounding the demise of someone like, say, Michael Malloy, it can be understood that the vast majority of people would have no problem qualifying it as "unusual". But, reasonable expectation for popular agreement is not a consistent standard. So I simply do not know how to solve this particular problem. If I were being completely objective, I would say all of your points raised are totally valid, and satisfactorily answering all of them is an impossibility, which would mean the article should be considered for deletion. But, subjectively, I like the article and feel it does serve a purpose, and if there is a way of answering any of your points, I'd like to try. Elijya 05:13, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Please, I need a good laugh once in a while. Keep this up. It ROCKS!
P.S.: It HAS survived 2 attempts of deletion, hasn't it?
74.118.34.46 02:02, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
I removed the {{ Notability}} tag as both pointless and incorrect. While a number of issues with this article (principally the degree to which judging a death as "unusual" constitutes original research) have been brought up in the three AfD discussions, no credible case for lack of notability has been made: the criteria for inclusion make it clear that only unusual deaths of notable persons (judged by their having Wikipedia articles) or unusual deaths that themselves are the subject of Wikipedia articles, are to be included. Items that do not meet either of these criteria are routinely and quickly removed. -- MCB 04:05, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
The entries themselves are notable, but the topic, "Deaths of Wikipedia-notable people that can be considered unusual" is not one that has ever been written about are noted by itself. This subject may have its own page or so of bullet points in a book of mostly unverified trivia, but that's it, it's just trivia.
Blueaster
17:09, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
What is the source for the claim that Benny Hill died after a specific bout of overeating? His Wiki page says he was obese and suffered from heart problems but makes no mention of the claim made in this article.-- ukexpat 13:02, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
" 290 BC Louisicus XXIV, was killed during the sexual act of Gaphavion, were one touches onesself to a picture of food."
I know I'm not the only one to see something wrong with this... The Last Melon 03:06, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
Would the death of Inejiro Asanuma? Assassination by sword is not unusual, perhaps, but for a modern (1960) politician to be assassinated on (nearly) national television is pretty unusual. It certainly caused an uproar in the country for months. Generationthirteen 23:45, 9 July 2007 (UTC) Gen
Its supposed he was killed on crusade by being thrown of his horse into cold water... I find this unusual baring in mind the context. He was on a crusade and it was a pretty... odd way for an Emperor to die...
Just thought I would suggest it -- Swk2000 03:51, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
Andy Warhol's entry does not seem unusual. I'd like to delete it unless anyone voices a compelling objection. -- 69.137.219.50 11:45, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
Hanging yourself isn't very unusual, but on a weight machine? Has anyone even ever thought of that before?
2007: 89 year old Dane Wachowski died after being swarmed by frisbees. He was unconcious for an exceeded amount of time before his Grandpa Sponga identified it was him laying in the park unconcious.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that say an 89 year old man who died, was identified by his grandfather? It seems a little mixed up and I expect it's meant the other way around. I.E. Dane being the grandfather and being identified by Sponga, his grandson? Anyone know? 84.31.80.180 20:09, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
I added the death of Soviet cosmonaut trainee Valentin Bondarenko for various reasons. Firstly, the manner of his death was unusual in that he died in a space disaster. Also, his death was succinctly covered up by the Soviet government. Besides, if the Apollo 1 disaster is notable and unusual, this certainly is.
Just thought if would make a valuable addition, I won't object to removal. 82.46.190.172 00:41, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
"1655: Pope Innocent X died and was hidden in a corner for three days..." That is unusual but it isn't his death. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Narcotics faerie ( talk • contribs) 03:51, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
Dead Reverend's Rubber Fetish Investigators determined that Rev. Gary Aldridge's death was not caused by foul play and that the 51-year-old pastor of Montgomery's Thorington Road Baptist Church was alone in his home at the time he died (while apparently in the midst of some autoerotic undertaking). While the Montgomery Advertiser, which first obtained the autopsy records, reported on Aldridge's two wet suits... http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1008072scuba1.html 75.83.223.150 21:13, 28 October 2007 (UTC)
Removed "2007: Alex Rondel died after being brutally raped in the anus" because it looks like something that a schoolchild who doesn't like Alex Rondel (Whoever that is) would put in. If anyone can come up with citations or what makes this notable, feel free to put it back. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.221.197.20 ( talk) 18:58, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/lawnmower.asp -Dr. BAH! 138.9.25.84 18:50, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
I think overall this is a very good list, until we get up to around the 20th century. It seems that in the 20th and 21st century you have a far greater abundance of deaths, while at the same time many of the items listed are wholly unremarkable. Furthermore, in many ways some of the deaths listed aren't really unusual at all, just uncommon, or rather, improbable. What exactly is the standard we're using here to define an "unusual death"? Calgary 04:18, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
"Dark Ages" is not commonly used in a scholarly fashion anymore, and in any case these divisions are 1) pretty euro-centric and 2) arbitrary. Would it not be better to divide the article into centuries instead of these epochs that don't hold any relevance to some of the deaths mentioned? Nach0king ( talk) 09:58, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
I would like to hear an argument in favor of keeping Bakenranef, the Pharaoh who got burned alive. How is this an unusual way to die? (considering the number of witch-burnings, ceremonial pyres etc.) -- Wikigeek @ gmail —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.62.106.234 ( talk) 23:13, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
Maybe some cop will think twice before pull the taser trigger. They are learnt that's "non-lethal" :( —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.77.148.137 ( talk) 01:27, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
From the opening section:
Doesn't this section violate WP:ASR? CRGreathouse ( t | c) 23:59, 28 February 2008 (UTC)
His unusual death (while working in a laboratory that collapsed) is not mentioned in his Wikipedia article (sleeping in a shoddy wing of the papal palace). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.191.23.51 ( talk) 03:19, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
His page says he died of a heart attack; here it says he died of gangrene. I don't know which one to believe. Also, isn't it time for an archive? I don't know how to do it.- Babylon pride ( talk) 21:50, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
Should it be added? Here's the link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4500473 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.246.138.205 ( talk) 21:55, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
Re: Deleted entry for 2006: Megan Meier, a 13 year-old girl with ADHD and other disorders from Missouri committed suicide... I think this entry is more notable than the usual cases of bullying in that it was an adult woman, pretending to be a teenage boy, who did the bullying. This incident also received a fair amount of notoriety in international media. I think this entry should remain. -- JeffJ ( talk) 00:40, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
Re: 2007: Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, while in police custody... I don't think that this entry should have been deleted because it was not suicide, but an unusual mishap leading to an accidental death.-- JeffJ ( talk) 00:50, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
Okay, now we might have more information in the synopsis than is appropriate. What I was hoping for was expanded information in the main article with a clearer sysnopsis demonstrating notability. However, I don't want to be seen as being overly heavy-handed so I'm going to leave be for the time being. I'm also going to see if I can find more details on the exact mechanism of death (i.e. How does one strangle themself with handcuffs?).-- JeffJ ( talk) 03:57, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
Re: 1999: Drum and Bass producer and DJ Kemistry died in a car accident where a loose cat's eye... Dying in a car accident is hardly unusual even from flying debris. If we included every instance of this type of accident, this article would soon be choked with similar deaths. In 1997, in Ontario, Canada there were over 200 incidents of road debris-related accidents, including at least 2 fatalities. This prompted the creation of the Comprehensive Road Safety Act, which has dramatically reduced the number of similar accidents in recent years. So I will reiterate that flying debris deaths are not a common occurrence compared to other motor vehicle accidents, but are still common enough to prompt specific legislation in at least one jurisdiction.-- JeffJ ( talk) 13:45, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
There are several entries that are of dubious notability and don't seem particularly unusual. Several are brutal but it is often the post mortem handling of the remains that is "notable". -- JeffJ ( talk) 01:22, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
I added a bunch of refs and did some formating and wikifing. I also removed all the entries that didn't have wikipedia articles, per list header. I will work on more formating and refs later.-- Adamfinmo ( talk) 08:24, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
I have removed this entry several times now. I doesn't belong per the stated purpose of the list. Does the editor who keeps reinserting it have and information as to why it should be added?-- Adamfinmo ( talk) 01:42, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Anyone want to explain why this entry was removed? I ask for information purposes only. -- JeffJ ( talk) 04:51, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
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For a September 2004 deletion debate over this page under an earlier name, see Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/List of people who died with tortoises on their heads
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About Roman Emperor Valerian, in the Antiquity section: the section says he died of having molten gold poured down his throat by the Persians. Is it possible this story is confused with that of Marcus Licinius Crassus [1], who had molten gold poured down HIS throat by the Parthians? I cannot find any web reference to Valerian that describes the manner of his death. - Sailboatd2
Lol .. if it's to be a "list of people" would you add at least 5 people? -- User:Docu
Hmmm, I work with epidemiologists all day during the week. Something I find it amazing how epidemiologists have branched out from infectious disease to chronic disease, and other types of ailments. I will ask the injury section on Monday if they have a category for deaths by cranial trauma from hard shelled animals borne by avians. After that I will narrow down to turtles and vultures. AlainV 00:28, 2004 May 16 (UTC)
Three things...shouldn't this be "list of people who died from having a tortoise dropped on their head" or something? Second, how many other people would that apply to? Third, Aeschylus didn't really die like that, that's just a legend. So...yeah. Adam Bishop 20:20, 16 May 2004 (UTC)
The 20th century part of the article should maybee be split up in decades if the article is supposed to grow any larger. Ofcourse, an alternative is to be more selective, but then a considerable amount of the incidents should be deleted. A third option is to split the article into two articles; one about very unusual deaths, and another about unusual deaths of famous persons, the other being less selective. —Preceding unsigned comment added by jjylf ( talk • contribs) 10 November 2006
The part on Rasputin makes several claims contradictory to his wikipedia article. Mostly, the castration. However, the article goes on to say that most of the other things stated here about Rasputin have turned out to be false. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 151.151.73.168 ( talk) 00:13, 17 February 2007 (UTC).
I moved this from the page:
Although it's very tragic, this doesn't strike me as "usual". Are we going to include drug overdoses here, also? -- Netoholic @ 23:27, 2004 Nov 9 (UTC)
I removed a reference to Mama Cass choking on a sandwich, since (a) it's not unusual to choke to death on food, and (b) as the reference noted, it's almost certainly an inaccurate urban myth. - DavidWBrooks 02:52, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)
I originally posted this article at Wikipedia:Unusual_articles. If you check out Wikipedia talk:Unusual articles you will see some debate about whether the article should be part of UA or Unusual deaths. It was concluded that the article should be posted here.
I find it hard to understand why it is that William I's death is not considered unusual. He exploded during his funeral for crying out loud!
-- One Salient Oversight 12:07, 8 May 2005 (UTC)
The story about Edward's murder is spurious. The story arises in the chronicles some 30 years after Edward's death and is considered by many historians to be little more than salacious propaganda against a notoriously homosexual king. Arguments advanced against the story include several based on logic, one of which is that the supposed benefits of murder by that method (his face/body would show no signs of disfigurement while lying in state) could be achieved by many far simpler, surer and faster methods. The Wiki article Edward_II_of_England is pretty good on this.
Dweller 17:18, 17 May 2006 (GMT+1)
The use of the word rumored in not appropriate in this context since the article is about unusual deaths in history (what is recorded not what is scientifically verified) and might be applied to many of the other deaths noted. The notion that the murder occurred during ablutions i.e. when he was washing or shaving himself or even going to the toilet is a nonsense. Edward was in captivity and died in suspicious circumstances. The manner of death or the reported manner of death says a great deal about attitudes to homosexuality during that period. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gizzard01 ( talk • contribs) 22:07, 22 March 2008 (UTC)
It has been scientifically proven that exposure to low temperatures is not a cause of the common cold, nor any complications, like pneumonia.
Given that this is the case, the deaths of Francis Bacon and William Henry Harrison are totally unrelated to the circumstances leading up to it. In other words, Bacon did not die because he stuffed snow into a chicken and then caught pneumonia, and William Henry Harrison did not die because his speech was delivered in heavy snow, thus causing deadly pneumonia. The deaths of these two people by pneumonia is totally coincidental with any events they experienced beforehand.
However, I felt that it was necessary to keep both Bacon and Harrison on the page since their deaths are popularly associated with their particular circumstances.
So we have a choice. Either the disclaimer stays or we remove Bacon and Harrison from the list. Which do you prefer?
-- One Salient Oversight 12:07, 8 May 2005 (UTC)
One unfortunate effect of improving article is that in general, the more accurate the information gets, the less exciting it is. Just consider the recent edit to the Tycho Brahe listing, which switched "bursting bladder" to the more accurate "bladder infection". Sigh ... - DavidWBrooks 16:49, 1 Jun 2005 (UTC)
I just removed an addition about somebody who was hit by a car while examining another car wreck, because (infortunately) that's a pretty common way of dying - accident scenes are one of the most dangerous places on a road for further accidents, as any police/fire officer will tell you. - DavidWBrooks 7 July 2005 13:00 (UTC)
I removed a death by lightning, but the LibraryLion reinstated it, arguing that it's rare enough to be included because the American patiort "may be the only famous person killed this way." Which leads to a debate - is this a list of unusual deaths in the sense of people who died in unique or VERY rare ways (e.g., a turtle being dropped on their head, to use the example that started it all) or is it also a list of famous people who died in uncommon, but not necessarily VERY rare, ways (e.g., the pope who ate a poisonous mushroom, which happens thousands of times a year)? I contend it's the former, but over time a number of the latter have crept in. Any thoughts? - DavidWBrooks 22:35, 13 July 2005 (UTC)
In my opinion, responding to DavidWBrooks thoughts, since this list is short enough anyway, I think both can be included. Perhaps a statement should be added to the top of the article to clearly define this article. We know death by pneumonia is quite common, but in the way it happened to U.S. President W.H. Harrison, and the fact he was a famous person in history, merits a mention- in my opinion. Technically, by definition of 'unusual death', i.e. cause of death being very uncommon or rare, W.H. Harrison should not be mentioned. Being struck and killed by lightning is very rare cause of death, so this would qualify by definition of unusual death. My opinions summarized:
1. We include deaths from famous people where very unusual circumstances contributed to death (although the death itself may be quite common, e.g. W.H. Harrison.)
2. We include deaths of noteworthy people where the death itself was very unusual, even though the circumstances that contributed to death perhaps were not. I would however omit any deaths due to rare medical conditions. -- LibraryLion 00:30, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
I imagine people who died of rather rare diseases could be added. Sometimes though with medical problems, you get more of a grey area. For instance some people with very rare diseases actually pass away by more common means, e.g. heart attack, respitory failure, not specifically from the disease itself, although it may have played a factor. In these cases, one would have enough medical information to say definitively that 'this such and such rare disease directly caused a heart attack,' or some other cause of death. It is a little more tricky. Another problem could be defining what is a 'rare' disease.
I would be inclined to have a seperate article for famous people who passed away or were afflicted with rare diseases, than include it in this article, just to avoid the confusion it might cause. I can think of a few names for a new page about people afflicted with or killed by rare diseases. Lou Gehrig, Woodie Guthrie, Dinu Lipatti, the Elephant Man you mentioned, Stewart Alsop, etc., although again, what qualifies as a rare disease would have to clearly be defined for this particular article. I believe though the medical community has some set criteria for this. -- LibraryLion 08:40, 14 July 2005 (UTC)
The article on Gaius Gracchus contradicts Plutarch's version presented in this list. Maybe this entry should be held back..—Preceding unsigned comment added by Porcher ( talk • contribs)
Some people I will dig up info about and may add it:
I thought that the Darwin Awards featured enough unusual deaths that a link would be in order. If anybody thinks it's wrong, stupid or anything else, go ahead and delete it, but I see a slight link, and I might not be the only one. Sillstaw 02:46, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
"1543: Pedro de Valdivia a dreaded conquistador was captured by Native Americans and executed by pouring molten gold down his throat to satisfy his thirst for treasures." Can that be proved? His article doesn't even mention it. HybridFusion 08:33, 13 November 2005 (UTC)
The inclusion of the death of Judas uses the bible as it's source. However, the interpretation is inaccurate.
The idea that Judas hung himself comes from Matthew 27:3-5, which says
3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!” 5 Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.
His erm, "exploding" refers to a seperate reference to the events in Acts 1:18-19:
18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)
It is generally accepted that "Akel Dama" refers to the Valley of Hinnom, which has rather tall, rocky edges, and it would logically make sense that had Judas hung himself at the top of the precipice, once his rope deteriorated he would have fallen and splatted, etc.
Even if this was not the cause, the term "exploded while hanging himself" is misleading, because it says that Judas split because of a fall.
Whether or not you think that the Bible is an accurate historical account, if it's going to be used as a source in this encyclopedia it needs to be cited accurately. I'm going to remove his death. Someone can rewrite it if they still thing that it falls into the category of unusual deaths, which perhaps it does.
I read through the list, and I don't find most of the deaths to be unusual. For instance, since when is dying from being shot unusual - as was the case for several US Presidents, including the li
What is rare or unusual about people dying from heart attack (James Rodale), gunshot wounds (William McKinley), poisoning (several examples), gangrene in an age before antibiotics (also several examples) and so on.
Also, some of the assertions of unusual, such as the ritual sacrifice of the Mixtec king, Eight Deer Jaguar Claw, needs to be viewed in the light of human sacrifice rituals of Mezo-American civilizations in general, which changes the death from unusual to a culturally specific norm.
If the point of this list is anecdotes about unusual circumstances surrounding the deaths, that is how it should be titled.
It's risqué. Will you include the Holocaust next? It was not a very common occurence itself. Dahn 09:18, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
There's an entry in this list for the 1971 death of John Fare, a Canadian artist apparently decapitated by a robot... call me cynical, but if there was any truth to this I'd really expect a man decapitated by a robot to have his own Wikipedia entry.
A Google returns very few results on John Fare, and all are brief references-as-fact in generally poorly written "essays". Of particular note is one page (which no longer seems to exist - all I can find is the snippet from the Google result page and it's Google cache link is invalid):
"[another essay] gives the account (most of which is based on rumour) of an artist named john fare who, between 1964 ..."
So, is there any proof this even happened?
John Fare had been added again, but I cannot find any indication that this actually happened. A google gives a few articles that seem to me to indicate a work of fiction ( http://www.earthlydelights.co.uk/johnfare.htm particularly stuff like "...I was reminded for a moment of a xylophone recital I and a girl named Nellie had gone to about ten years earlier on the planet Neptune.") I believe this may be some clumsy attempt at a hoax or at least at discrediting wikipedia (again). If some credible evidence is given it would certainly be unusual enough to merit a place on the list, but for now I am removing it.
MasterDirk 12:03, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
Added recently to 1986 was Jennifer Levin, killed by the "Preppy killer". Now I have never heard of this, and it sounds horrific (like all murders), but is it really consistent with the theme of this list? Isn't this just a (and I don't mean this to sound as harsh as it undoubtedly sounds) "normal" rape-killing?
MasterDirk 23:54, 18 January 2006 (UTC)
I removed this entry as it seems he died from insulin overdose, not a lion mauling, which itself was only borderline unusual. -- Netoholic @ 21:29, 16 February 2006 (UTC)
From the list:
2001: 1 June, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal, enraged from a dispute over his marriage arrangements (and possibly intoxicated), reportedly went on a rampage at dinner and massacred nearly the entire Royal Family, including his father the king. But in accordance with custom and tradition, Dipendra, then in a coma due to wounds sustained either from palace guards or a botched suicide attempt, became king for three days before dying on 4 June. He was succeeded by his uncle, whose son mysteriously survived the massacre unscathed.
From http://www.2spare.com/item_49619.aspx:
On June 1, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal, enraged from a dispute over his marriage arrangements (and possibly intoxicated), reportedly went on a rampage at dinner and massacred nearly the entire Royal Family, including his father the king. But in accordance with custom and tradition, Dipendra, then in a coma due to wounds sustained either from palace guards or a botched suicide attempt, became king for three days before dying on June 4. He was succeeded by his uncle, whose son mysteriously survived the massacre unscathed. (2001)
From the list:
2005: Kenneth Pinyan, an Enumclaw, Seattle WA. man, died of acute peritonitis after submitting to anal intercourse with a stallion. The man had done this before, though apparently this time his partner was a little too keen, and delayed several hours to visit hospital wishing to avoid official cognisance. The case may lead to the criminalization of bestiality in Washington. [4]
From http://www.2spare.com/item_49619.aspx:
Kenneth Pinyan an Enumclaw, Seattle WA. man, died of acute peritonitis after submitting to anal intercourse with a stallion. The man had done this before, though apparently this time his partner was a little too keen, and delayed several hours to visit hospital wishing to avoid official cognisance. The case may lead to the criminalization of bestiality in Washington. (2005)
Just two examples, looks to me like the entire article at 2spare consists of elements from this list.
See article deletion debate
21st century
Stephen B Streater 20:58, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
I deleted the following because death by pressing with stones was not unusual at the time:
Why was this article below deleted? It's one of the most unusual deaths I've heard of! Look at the page about
Jacob Kovco and you will see.
I've heard of people shooting themselves or friends by accident, but never from a joke of this nature. Whether that is unusual or not, the amount of unusual things surrounding his death alone should be enough to get him in the list. The fact his injuries were identical to a dream he had meant to have written about in high detail, also a body bungle where someone else's body was shipped back to his family in Australia. You should read some of the news references on his page, it's quite bizarre... I think the whole thing is a blotched cover up. It will be interesting to see what the outcome is.
Anon - I have no idea if anybody cares, but the only Google reference to Vondracek Beeir is this page - I suspect spoof. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.139.78.5 ( talk) 01:41, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
"Eaten by bears" isn't an unusual death - there are 5 recorded fatalities in Yellowstone National Park alone since 1916. It doesn't fall under "famous person with a relatively common death" because he's only famous because he was eaten by bears. "Not eaten by bears despite 13 years of continued contact" is the only unusual part, but it seems like even after 13 years of successful contact with bears, "camping with bears" is still an intrinsically dangerous activity of which death is a natural consequence. - Cdk 19:47, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
I don't see how five cases over a period of 90 years makes something "usual". - 20:43, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
That's 5 cases in Yellowstone. See List_of_fatal_bear_attacks_in_North_America_by_decade for the other 100 or so people who have been killed by bears in North America in the past century. If "eaten by bears in Yellowstone" is intrinsically interesting, we should list those 5 people, and de-list Treadwell, who was eaten in Katmai Nat'l Park in Alaska. - Cdk 00:29, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
Apparently today someone named Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray. Should that be included in the article? -- ReyBrujo 05:55, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
Actually, people are killed by wild animal frequently - hundreds are killed in Africa each year, mostly by hippos. But we don't hear about them. Western Person Killed By Wild Animal is much less common, we hear about many of those; Famous Western Person Killed By Wild Animal is even less common and we hear about all of those. Whether they meet the criteria of this page, which have been debated since before the page was created, is far from clear. - DavidWBrooks 21:04, 4 September 2006 (UTC)
As far as I know, one cannot die of "brain damage."
When you have a broken piece of steel penetrate your head....it generally results in a damaged brain.
The foil didn't actually go through his eyeball....it went through the eye orbit...the bony structure AROUND the eye. He was kept on life support for 9 days, and after the last touch of the last event (effectively ending the 1982 Fencing World Championships -- the event in which this tragic death occurred), life support was discontinued because no one wanted the defending World ad Olympic foil champion to die during the event.
It is due to Smirnov's death, however, that the sport of fencing is MUCH safer today. The mask he was wearing was -- when new -- less than half the strength of an entry-level mask today...and by the time it failed on him, it had likely gotten weaker.
This isn't even remotely unusual, but I'm new here so I don't want to axe is just like that:
2006: New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, who was also a pilot in training, erratically flew his single-engine jet into the side of a large apartment building in New York City, killing Lidle and his flight instructor. The ensuing explosion burned a considerable amount of the building, injuring several occupants although none were killed. Lidle had communicated to a radio tower that he was having fuel problems earlier in the flight. For nearby Manhattan witnesses, the moment bore a shocking and poignant resemblance to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. SockMonkeh 22:55, 13 October 2006 (UTC)
So obviously, I have seen this article (rightly) was previously nominated for deletion, but was kept.
I do however think that it needs drastic revisions. I counted at least 45 uncited anecdotes about so called "unusual deaths". These should be removed should they not? Or verified. Otherwise its just an urban legend page.
I may do so at some point, but as of now I have not.
MergeCar 02:39, 12 November 2006 (UTC)
Being morbidly curious, I tried to check this story out, but didn't come up with much. The article here had been deleted, and even through lots of research on the web, this was all I could come up with, from a cashed page ("Skateboarding" here on Wikipedia) that since had been changed.
"In 2005 the world of skateboarding was shaken on its axis, when Darshan Cowles, at the time only a very promising young skater from the UK, stunned the skating community by attempting to complete a 720 melon. Tragically, such a young skater trying to perform such a groundbreaking trick resulted in a horrific crash, which left onlookers open-mouthed. Despite being rushed to hospital, Darshan was sadly pronounced dead hours after the dreadful incident. Although only 17 when he died, Darshan's attempted 720 melon was considered so courageous that he was recently voted the second most influential skater of all time in a survey of more than 5,000 skaters, with Tony Hawk narrowly beating him to the top spot. Despite Darshan's iconic status in the world of skating, his death is as clear a sign as any of the dangers of audacious tricks in skateboarding."
You would think if this had really happened, there would be more evidence on the web. Actually, any evidence at all, besides the video that is supposedly on YouTube. I would even think that there would be even just remnants of normal discussion about the abilities of this skateboarder left on the web. I could not even find evidence that he was a popular skater. Is this all a hoax and completely flying over my head, or did this really happen? Really scratching my head over this, and would like to get more info. Fmalcangi 07:49, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
I'm going to be moving all entries that I have tried and failed to find verifiable sources to here. If anyone can find what I wasn't able to, please feel free to add these back in, with the appropriate citations (if web, please use template:cite web. Akradecki 18:17, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
This citation needed thing is insane. First of all, I think it should be applied to lists for only the most marginal of cases - if lists are listing articles, it is common-sense that articles should include references, not lists! For example, Constantine Hangerli currently has a "citneeded" tag, even though no less than three sources indicate the way in which he died where references belong. Anyone can figure that out by actually clicking the link: if that is not to be expected from a user, why link words at all?! Even for articles that do not cite their sources, tags should be placed inside the articles, and not on various lists! I can picture need for tags with incidents that are only referred to on this list, but why the hell would it be the case with researched articles? Please, be reasonable. Dahn 18:18, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
Anyone? Dahn 11:35, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
I removing him since a cursuroy web search either makes no mention of the waterfalls name or says that it was named in his honor. Timber Rattlesnake
I deleted the part on the death of Titus. It is impossible to die because a mosquito flies up the nose and pick the brain, and this is clearly simply a myth. DaBears34 05:54, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
Is this a hoax? What raised my skepticism was "kidnapped by a group of murderous feminists". There is also no source to such a story. --
Philo
07:53, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
These above seem tragic, as all accidental deaths, but I don't think they are very unusual. At least not so unusual to be in a say top-200 list of all times or top 3-of the-year most unusual deaths. I will delete them if there are no objections. Besides I just added the apostle who was flayed alive and then crucified. -- 217.209.46.200 12:46, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
There are something like 7 death by heartattack while being watched live in theatre, filmed for TV, or live on the radio. I would think that would mean at most the first time it occured may be rare, but the next 6 times seem less so. So, Which ones stay and which ones go? They are in 1943, 1971, 1984, 1991, 1996, 2001. Dstanfor 15:01, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
After going through the article a few times, a couple types of deaths keep showing up.
Dstanfor 07:27, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
Since the new wave of " I like it" opinions is probably going to keep this article from getting deleted, I think there should be something resembling a consensus on a standard to somehow get this list in line with WP:V, WP:NOR, and WP:NPOV. The instructions given on the article introduction (which should actually be on the talk page) can be used to narrow the article down to 2-3 items or expanded to 200-300 depending on the inclinations of an editor. Please note that someone can't simply use "judgment calls" as basis for inclusion or exclusion: this would be a clear violation of the above-mentioned policies and guidelines. Using the " rare diseases" standard may or may not work, but it will definitely narrow the current list population down to the 2-3 end. The only possible way I'm thinking this can even come close to not being a blatant violation is finding reliable sources that report on the deaths for the sake of their unusualness. Simões ( talk/ contribs) 00:15, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
Does Preoteasa's death qualify him for the list? As stated, I have problems with the editorial guidelines for this list, and I'd rather not edit into it until a more rational stand on the issue of referencing is taken; therefore, I would simply like to help editors who are happy with the current format to make the list more comprehensive, without actually intervening in editing it. It is also arguably more helpful to agree on entries rather than shoving them in the list. Dahn 03:00, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
I would also like to know why this entry was removed (especially since it appears to have been silently removed):
Isn't there something unusual about a ruling monarch being passed through four methods of execution in the space of some minutes? You can find two references for it in the article on him. Dahn 03:11, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
I went ahead and put the {{references}} tag at the top of the article since no solution has come since the last AFD nomination nor appears to be forthcoming. In one month, I'll go ahead and start stripping the list of every unsourced entry. Note that I'm not contesting that any of these events actually occurred (concerning this, there are references for many of the entries), only that they are to be considered unusual. Simões ( talk/ contribs) 00:25, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
I don't have an exact date, but I do know that the epic poet Homer died of a fit of rage over not being able to solve a child's riddle about lice. Can anyone incorporate this into the article? MadHistorian 02:18, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
None of these seem particularly odd to me.
-- Joyous! | Talk 16:07, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
Since Chris Buckey has seen it fit to remove the unreferenced tag before the issue was even touched, I'm going ahead and disputing the entire thing. Unless each and every entry can be verified as unusual, the entire list fails WP:V, WP:NPOV, and (especially) WP:OR. Simões ( talk/ contribs) 23:00, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
(The indenting was getting carried away, so I've done a carriage return) That seems to imply that "unusual" means "unique" - any cause of death that has happened to more than one person doesn't count. That seems a bit steep. And how do you confirm uniqueness? No coroner is going to write "the only such case in history" on the death certificate, so how would you expect confirmation that nobody else died by, say, having a tortoise dropped on their head? - DavidWBrooks 20:06, 4 February 2007 (UTC).
Original research (OR) is a term used in Wikipedia to refer to material that has not been published by a reliable source. It includes unpublished facts, arguments, concepts, statements, or theories, or any unpublished analysis or synthesis of published material that appears to advance a position — or which, in the words of Wikipedia's co-founder Jimmy Wales, would amount to a "novel narrative or historical interpretation."
(back to the left again!) A reasonable argument. On the other hand, see Rare species, which talks about various possible criteria, but applies none in particular, and is up to the editors' judgment. - DavidWBrooks 22:55, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
It should be possible to come up with some criteria for "unusuality". Uniqueness (or extreme rarity as I'd suspect it would be impossible to completely establish uniqueness) was mentioned and that would certianly be one criteria that could be verifiable as news reports often give quotes from experts along the lines of "I have never heard of such a case before." There are also cases of the Universe demonstrating classic irony like the case of Richard Versalle. The Fortean Times runs a monthly Strange Deaths column and has published at least 2 books on the area Strange Deaths (by Steve Moore, ISBN 1870870506) and More Strange Deaths (by Paul Sieveking, ISBN 1902212029) although I doubt anyone has established specific criteria (although it woukd be well worth checking their introductions for clues - the Book of Lists also includes various examples). So I don't think it is truly impossible. The thing is that a lot of entries are as long as a piece of string and the important thing is that there is a well agreed upon consensus and regular and heavy pruning of the page. I am looking through the list and don't find some of them that strange. Although I possibly have a jaded palate as I follow such things closely but you could stand to loose half to three quarters of the current entries. There are causes for concern but I think it can be tightened up (the verifiability is good but also needs fixing up). ( Emperor 22:28, 5 February 2007 (UTC))
I can't think of an effective resolution for this matter, because while this is a subject readers might care about and may enjoy reading and may want for informational purposes, WP:V and WP:NPOV are totally unaccounted for in the title. Very few deaths could be considered verifiably unusual, which could be reasonably done if verifiable sources note that the deaths are unusual. As the article stands, it's an opinion peice and is totally disputable. Again, I have no recomendation on the course of action to take, but it should be verifiable. i kan reed 16:20, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
(edit conflicted 3O, or is that a 4O?) While I won't take a stance on what the objective standard should be, there absolutely must be some objective standard. "It's unusual because the editor who chose to add it to this list finds it so" is the very definition of original research and inserting our own viewpoint on things-effectively, "editorializing by inclusion". Also, it must be determined (again, in a clear and objective way) whether more than one factor can contribute to "unusual" and if so how. Getting trampled to death by a water buffalo in New York City may be considered pretty unusual, but the same thing happening in Southeast Asia probably would not be. I would look to notability as a criterion which could be subjective but is not-it is actually established with a very objective standard. Either a source is affiliated with or created by the subject of an article (primary source) or it is not (secondary source). Either a source is reliable (editorially controlled or subject to scholarly peer review) or it is not (anonymous or not subject to control or peer review). Either the subject is the focus of the source cited or it is not. Those are not subjective guidelines, and the same type of thing can get established here! Seraphimblade 16:25, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
Redirect to what, I wonder? But please don't do that; I think the AfD debates have shown there are a lot of varied opinions on this article. Start another AfD if you must; maybe enough people will agree with you that you can spirit away the article en mass. (There's some guideline somewhere about how many AfDs you should have in a given time, and this would be the third in a year for this article. But I won't complain.). - DavidWBrooks 17:18, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
Hi. Where will I find the consensus discussion for the renaming of this article? -- Dweller 12:45, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
It's been suggested a couple times that we could just find outside sources where people say "this death is unusual." I'm not confident that this would work. Take, for example, [this http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E4DF113AF933A05750C0A961958260] article in the New York Times. It's right there in the bloody title, so we'd be obliged to include this. But the article quickly reveals that this isn't "unusual" in the sense that the article creators and proponents intend. It's a guy who died by the electric chair, and his face restraint caught on fire. That's happened lots and is part of the reason why most states have abandoned the chair in favor of lethal injection.
Other cases of "unusual deaths" verified by external sources are even further from what is intended for this article. The authors in these cases are using "unusual death" to mean "suspicious death"; e.g., apparent accidents or suicides that have some evidence suggesting they were really murders.
So unless people are okay with radically changing the direction of this article, this standard isn't going to work. Simões ( talk/ contribs) 15:59, 7 February 2007 (UTC)
I recall hearing on the radio, just before some of his music was played, about a composer who had lost his sense of smell somehow. Apparently he died after applying white shoe polish to his face, mistaking it for shaving cream. The fumes rendered him unconscious and he died on the bathroom floor. I can't find anything on Google though, am I imagining this? Miken32 22:46, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
It states in this article that Nelson Rockefeller died "while having sex with Megan Marshack on the desk in his office." I checked the Nelson Rockefeller page after reading this, and while it states that there is speculation regarding his exact cause of death and that he may have had an affair with the 26 year old aide in the time leading up to it, it says nothing about the cause of death mentioned in this article (even as a possibility). It only states that there are reports that he may have been with Marshack at the time of his death. I think the "sex on the desk" account may then be simply a rumor or legend, and not verified as fact. -- Delong71487 20:00, 16 February 2007 (UTC)
Supposed death by mayonnaise incident (1993)??? Then why is he in the wiki list 'Living People'??? Check his page!
I'm not sure this is a good idea or not, so I gave it a try: I've "clumped" together a number of similar 20th-century deaths - people who died of natural causes (not accidents) during public performances. If this works, we can do other clumps; if not, we can revert it. - DavidWBrooks 22:58, 2 March 2007 (UTC)
I don't see how this list could be anything but subjective.... I mean, I guess you could say if the cause of death is one that does not occur often....
But then this list would require all deaths by rare diseases.
And disclude any toothpick-related deaths, as they are statistically significant.
And include terrorism-related deaths, as acts of terrorism are relatively rare.
And disclude large-scale catastrophes, as only the death tolls and events themselves are unusual, and not the actual individual deaths.
In addition, if you were to also consider circumstances or details of the death, you could only include details that don't occur often, not simply details that may seem outlandish.
In addition, to be anywhere close to complete, this list will have to be unfathomably large, as the number of reported "unusual" deaths is sure to be in the ten thousands, at least.
And if we are to use "unusual" as "statistically extraordinary", we'll have to come up with a solid standard to go by (which, of course, will have been already been decided on and published by somebody else, because for us to declare something unusual would be original research and analysis)
Blueaster
03:53, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
The MAIN problem is the one you raised about subjectivity. I don't believe there's any single standard that could truly be used to qualify what is an "unusual death", certainly not across the board for all types of death, and certainly not one which would be sourcable. I think, even above Original Research, it can be understood that the circumstances surrounding the demise of someone like, say, Michael Malloy, it can be understood that the vast majority of people would have no problem qualifying it as "unusual". But, reasonable expectation for popular agreement is not a consistent standard. So I simply do not know how to solve this particular problem. If I were being completely objective, I would say all of your points raised are totally valid, and satisfactorily answering all of them is an impossibility, which would mean the article should be considered for deletion. But, subjectively, I like the article and feel it does serve a purpose, and if there is a way of answering any of your points, I'd like to try. Elijya 05:13, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
Please, I need a good laugh once in a while. Keep this up. It ROCKS!
P.S.: It HAS survived 2 attempts of deletion, hasn't it?
74.118.34.46 02:02, 1 April 2007 (UTC)
I removed the {{ Notability}} tag as both pointless and incorrect. While a number of issues with this article (principally the degree to which judging a death as "unusual" constitutes original research) have been brought up in the three AfD discussions, no credible case for lack of notability has been made: the criteria for inclusion make it clear that only unusual deaths of notable persons (judged by their having Wikipedia articles) or unusual deaths that themselves are the subject of Wikipedia articles, are to be included. Items that do not meet either of these criteria are routinely and quickly removed. -- MCB 04:05, 10 April 2007 (UTC)
The entries themselves are notable, but the topic, "Deaths of Wikipedia-notable people that can be considered unusual" is not one that has ever been written about are noted by itself. This subject may have its own page or so of bullet points in a book of mostly unverified trivia, but that's it, it's just trivia.
Blueaster
17:09, 14 April 2007 (UTC)
What is the source for the claim that Benny Hill died after a specific bout of overeating? His Wiki page says he was obese and suffered from heart problems but makes no mention of the claim made in this article.-- ukexpat 13:02, 9 May 2007 (UTC)
" 290 BC Louisicus XXIV, was killed during the sexual act of Gaphavion, were one touches onesself to a picture of food."
I know I'm not the only one to see something wrong with this... The Last Melon 03:06, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
Would the death of Inejiro Asanuma? Assassination by sword is not unusual, perhaps, but for a modern (1960) politician to be assassinated on (nearly) national television is pretty unusual. It certainly caused an uproar in the country for months. Generationthirteen 23:45, 9 July 2007 (UTC) Gen
Its supposed he was killed on crusade by being thrown of his horse into cold water... I find this unusual baring in mind the context. He was on a crusade and it was a pretty... odd way for an Emperor to die...
Just thought I would suggest it -- Swk2000 03:51, 13 July 2007 (UTC)
Andy Warhol's entry does not seem unusual. I'd like to delete it unless anyone voices a compelling objection. -- 69.137.219.50 11:45, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
Hanging yourself isn't very unusual, but on a weight machine? Has anyone even ever thought of that before?
2007: 89 year old Dane Wachowski died after being swarmed by frisbees. He was unconcious for an exceeded amount of time before his Grandpa Sponga identified it was him laying in the park unconcious.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but does that say an 89 year old man who died, was identified by his grandfather? It seems a little mixed up and I expect it's meant the other way around. I.E. Dane being the grandfather and being identified by Sponga, his grandson? Anyone know? 84.31.80.180 20:09, 23 September 2007 (UTC)
I added the death of Soviet cosmonaut trainee Valentin Bondarenko for various reasons. Firstly, the manner of his death was unusual in that he died in a space disaster. Also, his death was succinctly covered up by the Soviet government. Besides, if the Apollo 1 disaster is notable and unusual, this certainly is.
Just thought if would make a valuable addition, I won't object to removal. 82.46.190.172 00:41, 29 September 2007 (UTC)
"1655: Pope Innocent X died and was hidden in a corner for three days..." That is unusual but it isn't his death. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Narcotics faerie ( talk • contribs) 03:51, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
Dead Reverend's Rubber Fetish Investigators determined that Rev. Gary Aldridge's death was not caused by foul play and that the 51-year-old pastor of Montgomery's Thorington Road Baptist Church was alone in his home at the time he died (while apparently in the midst of some autoerotic undertaking). While the Montgomery Advertiser, which first obtained the autopsy records, reported on Aldridge's two wet suits... http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2007/1008072scuba1.html 75.83.223.150 21:13, 28 October 2007 (UTC)
Removed "2007: Alex Rondel died after being brutally raped in the anus" because it looks like something that a schoolchild who doesn't like Alex Rondel (Whoever that is) would put in. If anyone can come up with citations or what makes this notable, feel free to put it back. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.221.197.20 ( talk) 18:58, 29 October 2007 (UTC)
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/lawnmower.asp -Dr. BAH! 138.9.25.84 18:50, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
I think overall this is a very good list, until we get up to around the 20th century. It seems that in the 20th and 21st century you have a far greater abundance of deaths, while at the same time many of the items listed are wholly unremarkable. Furthermore, in many ways some of the deaths listed aren't really unusual at all, just uncommon, or rather, improbable. What exactly is the standard we're using here to define an "unusual death"? Calgary 04:18, 15 November 2007 (UTC)
"Dark Ages" is not commonly used in a scholarly fashion anymore, and in any case these divisions are 1) pretty euro-centric and 2) arbitrary. Would it not be better to divide the article into centuries instead of these epochs that don't hold any relevance to some of the deaths mentioned? Nach0king ( talk) 09:58, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
I would like to hear an argument in favor of keeping Bakenranef, the Pharaoh who got burned alive. How is this an unusual way to die? (considering the number of witch-burnings, ceremonial pyres etc.) -- Wikigeek @ gmail —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.62.106.234 ( talk) 23:13, 23 January 2008 (UTC)
Maybe some cop will think twice before pull the taser trigger. They are learnt that's "non-lethal" :( —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.77.148.137 ( talk) 01:27, 24 January 2008 (UTC)
From the opening section:
Doesn't this section violate WP:ASR? CRGreathouse ( t | c) 23:59, 28 February 2008 (UTC)
His unusual death (while working in a laboratory that collapsed) is not mentioned in his Wikipedia article (sleeping in a shoddy wing of the papal palace). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.191.23.51 ( talk) 03:19, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
His page says he died of a heart attack; here it says he died of gangrene. I don't know which one to believe. Also, isn't it time for an archive? I don't know how to do it.- Babylon pride ( talk) 21:50, 14 March 2008 (UTC)
Should it be added? Here's the link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4500473 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 4.246.138.205 ( talk) 21:55, 24 March 2008 (UTC)
Re: Deleted entry for 2006: Megan Meier, a 13 year-old girl with ADHD and other disorders from Missouri committed suicide... I think this entry is more notable than the usual cases of bullying in that it was an adult woman, pretending to be a teenage boy, who did the bullying. This incident also received a fair amount of notoriety in international media. I think this entry should remain. -- JeffJ ( talk) 00:40, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
Re: 2007: Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, while in police custody... I don't think that this entry should have been deleted because it was not suicide, but an unusual mishap leading to an accidental death.-- JeffJ ( talk) 00:50, 30 March 2008 (UTC)
Okay, now we might have more information in the synopsis than is appropriate. What I was hoping for was expanded information in the main article with a clearer sysnopsis demonstrating notability. However, I don't want to be seen as being overly heavy-handed so I'm going to leave be for the time being. I'm also going to see if I can find more details on the exact mechanism of death (i.e. How does one strangle themself with handcuffs?).-- JeffJ ( talk) 03:57, 31 March 2008 (UTC)
Re: 1999: Drum and Bass producer and DJ Kemistry died in a car accident where a loose cat's eye... Dying in a car accident is hardly unusual even from flying debris. If we included every instance of this type of accident, this article would soon be choked with similar deaths. In 1997, in Ontario, Canada there were over 200 incidents of road debris-related accidents, including at least 2 fatalities. This prompted the creation of the Comprehensive Road Safety Act, which has dramatically reduced the number of similar accidents in recent years. So I will reiterate that flying debris deaths are not a common occurrence compared to other motor vehicle accidents, but are still common enough to prompt specific legislation in at least one jurisdiction.-- JeffJ ( talk) 13:45, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
There are several entries that are of dubious notability and don't seem particularly unusual. Several are brutal but it is often the post mortem handling of the remains that is "notable". -- JeffJ ( talk) 01:22, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
I added a bunch of refs and did some formating and wikifing. I also removed all the entries that didn't have wikipedia articles, per list header. I will work on more formating and refs later.-- Adamfinmo ( talk) 08:24, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
I have removed this entry several times now. I doesn't belong per the stated purpose of the list. Does the editor who keeps reinserting it have and information as to why it should be added?-- Adamfinmo ( talk) 01:42, 9 April 2008 (UTC)
Anyone want to explain why this entry was removed? I ask for information purposes only. -- JeffJ ( talk) 04:51, 13 April 2008 (UTC)
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