From Laughing At A Donkey To Drowning In A Toilet — 11 Extremely Bizarre Ways Historical Figures Died
Carley Suthers
·13 min read
1.Zachary Taylor:
2.Isadora Duncan:
3.Chrysippus:
4.Rasputin:
This is where Prince Felix Yussupov, the richest man in Russia, and Grand Duke Dimitri Pavlovich, the Czar's own first cousin, enter the story. The two cooked up what they believed to be the perfect plot to assassinate the powerful mystic.
On the night of December 29, 1916, the murderous duo lured Rasputin to Moika Palace in St. Petersburg. It was there that they offered him cyanide-laced cakes and wine — which, at first, he refused to eat. After some time, he began to eat the poisoned cakes, and then, to Yussupov's surprise, the seemingly unaffected healer asked for 3 glasses of the laced wine. Growing tired of his inability to be poisoned, Yussupov decided to take matters into his own hands by shooting Rasputin at close range and leaving him for dead. This plan didn't work either, as Rasputin revived and attempted to flee the palace grounds. This time, however, proved to be his last chance at escape, as he was then shot, bound, and thrown into the frigid Neva River. Several days later, his body washed ashore, and it was determined that he died by drowning.
Yussupov wrote in his 1928 memoir, Lost Splendour and the Death of Rasputin, "This devil who was dying of poison, who had a bullet in his heart, must have been raised from the dead by the powers of evil. There was something appalling and monstrous in his diabolical refusal to die.” After the assassination of Rasputin, the prince reinvented himself as a patriot. He believed that Rasputin's death would lead the Czar to heed the advice of other nobility and save the monarchy. However, no major effects were seen on Nicholas II's policies, leading to the Russian Revolution the following year.
5.Attila the Hun:
6.King Alexander of Greece:
7.Clement Vallandigham:
Vallandigham set out to prove that Myers had fatally shot himself. So, to test his theory, he took a revolver to the countryside and set up a makeshift gun range to test the distance of gunpowder residue. Although he still had three live rounds in his weapon, the lawyer was satisfied with the experiment and returned to his hotel, where he was handed a package. The package contained Thomas Myers' (unloaded) gun to be used as evidence. However, the attorney didn't realize he placed the two nearly identical firearms side-by-side.
As Frank L. Klement summed it up in the biography, The Limits of Dissent, "Vallandigham stated that he would demonstrate to the jury next day just how Tom Myers had accidentally shot himself while drawing a pistol as he tried to arise from the floor. Pretending he was Myers, Vallandigham took a pistol from the bureau and put it in his right trouser pocket, not realizing that he had taken the loaded one by mistake. Then he slowly pulled it out, cocking it as he drew it forth. When the muzzle cleared the pocket, he tried to place it in the exact position which he believed Myers’s weapon would have assumed at the moment when it was discharged. 'There, that’s the way Myers held it,' Vallandigham said, 'only he was getting up, not standing erect.' At that moment he pressed the trigger. There was a flash and the half-suppressed sound of a shot. 'My God, I’ve shot myself!' Vallandigham exclaimed in shocked dismay as he reeled toward the wall and tried to hold himself up."
Thus, the reenactment instantly killed the lawyer. As the Leeds Times reported, "The unfortunate advocate had demonstrated the reasonableness of his theory, but at the cost of his life." The defendant, Thomas McGehan, was acquitted due to the tragic validity of Vallandigham's experiment.
8.Allan Pinkerton:
9.Aeschylus:
10.Duke Jing of Jin:
11.Tycho Brahe:
Which one of these bizarre deaths surprised you the most? Do you know of any other strange historical deaths? Let us know in the comments!
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