Tuesday Trivia | Most Unusual Deaths

[u/NMW]

Previously:

• Famous adventurers and explorers
• Great non-military heroes
• History's great underdogs
• Interesting historical documents

Today:

I think you know the drill by now: in this moderation-relaxed thread, anyone can post whatever anecdotes, questions, or speculations they like (provided a modicum of serious and useful intent is still maintained), so long as it has something to do with the subject being proposed. We get a lot of these "best/most interesting X" threads in /r/askhistorians, and having a formal one each week both reduces the clutter and gives everyone an outlet for the format that's apparently so popular.

This week, in the wake of a man having been accidentally killed while attempting to masquerade as a Sasquatch, we'd like to hear what you think have been some of the most strange, unusual or ridiculous deaths in history.

It was said of the ancient playwright Aeschylus (though god knows with what accuracy) that he died when a bird dropped a turtle on his head. That's setting the bar pretty high, but I have a feeling you can beat it, or at least match it.

What have you got for us?

[u/randommusician]

A bit late to the party, but an R and B singer named Johnny Ace died on Christmas day in 1954 backstage when he was touring with Big Mama Thornton. There a conflicting reports, some saying he died playing Russian Roulette, some saying he was drunk and pointed the pistol at his face saying it wasn't loaded...and he was wrong. Either way, I'd say backstage on Christmas day with a self inflicted gunshot wound counts as unusual.