How could you accidentally shoot yourself with a firearm or a bow? Die in flames fueled by paper clothes or alcohol fumes? Get out of this world through curtains or flawless hairstyle? For many, the art of surviving in everyday situations turned out to be too difficult.
As always, all TOP10 items are based on the articles we publish. This time we decided to show the stories of people who died in an unprecedented way due to their own stupidity, inattention or ignorance. More texts on the macabre side of history can be found HERE.
How did they come to mind that before they die ...
8. Demonstrate how suicide can be committed
In 1871, Clement Laird Vallandigham, an American attorney, defended the accused of manslaughter. A man named Thomas Myers died in a shootout in a saloon. Thomas McGehan, one of the attackers, was thus brought to trial, and the conviction seemed as sure as an amen in a prayer.
Clement Laird Vallandigham was willing to do anything to win the case. Even from beyond the grave ... Portrait from the first half of the 1960s (source:public domain).
However, Vallandigham claimed his client was innocent. After the attackers entered, Myers was supposed to leap to his feet and reach into his pocket for a pistol. This one was so unfortunately upside down that its owner inadvertently pulled the trigger. In short, the victim killed himself.
The lawyer decided to show how it happened. He picked up the pistol with three more rounds in it. He put the gun in his pocket, turned it 45 degrees, and suddenly there was a shot! It turned out that was so unlucky enough to hit his stomach with a bullet that the doctors were unable to get it out. He died the next day. Despite the jury's doubts, McGehan was acquitted (read more on this) .
7. To paint your world… green
One of the most popular dyes of the 19th century is Scheele's Green. Doesn't sound scary? And it should, because Scheele green is nothing but an arsenic-based poison. Murderous dyes were used, among other things, to paint children's toys and even Christmas candles. It is not hardly surprising that people were coming off this vale of tears.
Would you like to live in such a room? Well, you probably wouldn't enjoy it for long ... The Green Room in the White House (Source:Public Domain).
At a banquet in London in the 1850s, table decorations were sugar leaves stained with Scheele Green. Many guests took them home for their children who died after eating them. At another party in 1860, the chef wanted to make a beautiful green sham and sent for a dye. Scheele's Green was brought to him, so for some guests it was unfortunately the last supper.
In 1861, the London newspapers wrote about the death of Matilda Scheurer, a florist who worked with Scheele's Green. The girl died in agony shortly after starting work. All the nurses in a mental institution and students of a technical college fell ill with green curtains and draperies. The latter suffered over a year before the facts were brought together (read more on that) .
6. Overdose the potency agent
At the beginning of January 1646, the Grand Hetman of the Crown, Stanisław Koniecpolski, took part in an important conference in Warsaw. There, he presented his position on the plans for a war with Turkey. He wanted first, in alliance with Russia, to liquidate the Crimean Khanate , and then take control of Moldavia and Wallachia.
The Grand Hetman of the Crown, Stanisław Koniecpolski, recovers at Halicz from the hands of the Tatars, who were taken in the hands of the citizens of the Republic of Poland. And then he rushes to please the young wife ... Painting by Henryk Rodakowski (source:public domain).
A week after the Warsaw meeting, 52-year-old Koniecpolski married 25-year-old Zofia Opalińska. He was extremely pleased with his wife . The queen's happiness did not last long . To please his young wife, he used the comfort of the "blue pill" at the time . Unfortunately, the queen did not use it in moderation.
Stanisław Koniecpolski died a few weeks after the wedding, because the pharmacist gave him comfort a few times. Hetman meanwhile took everything at once and thus shortened his life. The Republic of Poland lost its great leader at its worst. After Koniecpolski's death, there was no commander even with a talent similar to him (read more on this topic) .
5. Dive into alcohol near the source of the fire
Charles II the Bad, the ambitious king of Navarre, as a vassal of the king of France, John II the Good, turned out to be a traitor many times, almost eternally allied with the English. On top of that, he dared to kill the favorite of King John ... and planned to throw the monarch from the throne.
Charles II the Angry in the stained glass of the collegiate church in Mantes-la-Jolie looks beautiful and proud. This was not how he looked for the last two weeks of his life ... (photo:Reinhardhauke, license CC BY-SA 3.0).
Fate took revenge on him with a cruel death. Karol, who had a cold, was tightly wrapped with alcohol-soaked warm bandages to warm him up. It was unfortunate that an unskillful servant accidentally set fire to the dressing. The King of Navarre is now in a fiery shroud . Badly burned, he lived for two more painful weeks.
Józef Zaremba, the Marshal of the Bar Confederation, was slightly more fortunate, who died in a sauna filled with booze, accidentally smitten by a candle flame by an inattentive henchman. Trapped in the blasting flames, at least he didn't suffer that long. He died on the same day, right after being extracted from the bathtub (read more about it) .
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4. Dye your hair with suspect mixtures
Jean Harlow brutally threw brunettes off the Hollywood pedestal. The famous term "platinum blonde" was first used for her in 1930. Before she died at the age of only 26, she had married three times, starred in over twenty productions and caused countless scandals.
Platinum, flirtatious beauty ... you can safely add that it is also deadly. And literally ... A poster promoting the movie "Sea of China" from 1935 (source:public domain).
In her early youth, Harlow underwent severe scarlet fever, which resulted in kidney problems. The official cause of death was uremia, but it must have been caused by many years of bleaching hair using bloodcurdling methods. Once a week, a special mixture of oxidant, ammonia, bleach and soap flakes was applied to the star's head.
This crazy mix of chemicals put a strain on her weakened kidneys that they couldn't continue to work. It is an integral part of the myth of Jean Harlow - the platinum femme fatale who was killed by what helped her gain such incredible fame (read more about it) .
3. Back up the ladder up the chimney
The nineteenth-century celebration of New Year's Eve could have been paid for with death. In a very stupid way. At that time, magic was performed from church songbooks and the Bible. The books were opened with closed eyes, announcing which verse on the left or right to read, and then putting their lives to fate.
The last night of the year was reminiscent of Andrzejki. It seems, however, that it was much more dangerous than them ... Henryk Siemiradzki's painting "Saint Andrew's Night" from 1867 (source:public domain).
Sometimes the predictions obtained in this way were humorous, other times they brought a pale fear to the unfortunate. Many, more believers, gave up their spirits by reading verses from the Old Testament or the Apocalypse of St. John.
Often, to find out who the Grim Reaper was to call for in the near future, people would back up a ladder to the roof of the house to see the person's face inside the chimney. In Wielbark in Masuria, one brave blacksmith dared to look into the chimney, where he saw himself. After leaving the roof, he died immediately (read more about it) .
2. Challenge the archer
Do you think firearms are a dangerous invention and it would be best to go back to good old bows? Contrary to appearances, it would not help much. Steven Gunn found in the reports of 16th-century coroners as many as 56 fatal accidents, which occurred at shooting ranges. Sometimes a spectator stood too close, sometimes a player at the wrong moment went to pick up his shots.
And archery seemed to be such a safe hobby ... Woodcut by Albrecht Dürer of the hunting Prince Maximilian Habsburg (source:public domain).
On top of that, there were cases of sheer stupidity. In June 1556, Thomas Curteys of Bildeston took off his hat and challenged another archer, proposing that he should hit the headgear with an arrow. Well, for what happened later, no one got an award…
There was also a case of ... shooting himself with a bow, although it is hard to believe. A certain Henry Pert from Welbeck tightened the string, wanting, of course, to shoot it into the air. The arrow got stuck, however, so the man turned his bow towards himself. What happened a few seconds later made Henry give up his ghost the next day (read more on that) .
1. Light a cigarette… while wearing the crinoline
Undoubtedly elegant, the crinolines, however, were extremely impractical due to the amount of space they occupied. But the worst part was the fire hazard - it's hardly surprising when the lady couldn't even see where the hem of her dress was. A French actress died as her performance burst into flames. In those days, theaters used open fire to illuminate.
Crinolines not only made it difficult to whisper gossip. This nice meeting in idyllic circumstances could have ended in a fire. It is easy to see four potential foci of inflammation ... Picture from the magazine "Wiener-Moden-Zeitung" from July 1862 (source:public domain).
A German aristocrat caught with a cigarette tried to hide it under her skirt, but the crinoline caught fire and the unfortunate smoker burned alive. Two of Oskar Wilde's half-sisters were killed by crinolines at a party:one dress caught fire, the other tried to save her. In just a decade, between the late 1850s and 1860s, as many as 3,000 women were burned from their own dresses in England.
There were also ballerinas among them, whose muslin tutu was engaged in fire from gas lamps. The girls burned like torches. Such incidents were referred to as the "ballerina holocaust." They could have worn fire retardant fabrics of course, but most found them too ugly (read more on this) .