Strange deaths

Compiled by

Chilman Sahni

Aeschylus

Aeschylus was a famous Greek dramatist who died in 456 BC. A prediction that would be killed by a blow from heaven came true when an eagle carrying a tortoise dropped it on his head.

King Alexander of Greece

He died after being bitten by his pet monkey in 1920.

Francis Bacon

This Elizabethan philosopher caught a chill while trying to deep-freeze a chicken with snow. He died in 1626.

Hilaire Belloc

Although born in France, Hilaire Belloc was an English writer and member of parliament. He died in 1953 after a burning coal fell out of his fire and set him ablaze.

Madéleine- Sophie Blanchard

Madame Blanchard was the widow of pioneer balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard. She was killed in Paris in 1819, when fireworks set fire to her balloon.

Jerome Cardan

Cardan was an Italian physician, mathematician and astrologer. He starved himself to death in 1576 to make sure that his own prediction of his death would come true.

Lord Carnarvon

Carnavaron was an amateur Egyptologist who financed the excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922. Several months after opening the tomb, Carnavaron died suddenly from a mosquito bite. This began the legend of the curse of Tutankhamen.

Isadora Duncan

This American dancer was strangled in 1927 by her scarf. It became caught in the wheel of a Bugatti sports car in which she was a passenger.

Anton Dvorák

The Czech composer died in 1904 of a chill which he caught while train-spotting.

Frederick, Prince of Wales

Frederick was the son of George II and heir to the British throne. He died in 1751 after being hit by a cricket ball.

Harry Houdini (Erich Weiss)

Houdini was a famous escapologist who claimed he could withstand being punched in the stomach. He died in 1926 – after being punched in the stomach.

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