Strange Deaths: Some Unusual and Unfortunate Exits

Shell Shock

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In 456 B.C., at the age of 69, Aeschylus, known as the father of Greek tragedy, was living in retirement in Gela, Sicily. When he was out walking one day, an eagle hovered above him, seeking a rock on which to smash open the shell of the tortoise it carried in its talons.

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Presumably mistaking Aeschylus’ bald bread for a rock, it released the tortoise, which killed the playwright instantly. Friends recalled the irony that some years earlier an oracle had prophesied that Aeschylus would be killed by a blow from heaven.

Grapes of Wrath

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Calchas was regarded as one of the greatest of the ancient Greek soothsayers. According to a widely reported account of his death, another soothsayer saw Calchas planting vines and predicted that he would never drink wine pressed from the grapes.

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When the vines matured, Calchas made the wine. He then invited his rival to a party in order to disprove the prophecy, which the rival repeated even as Calchas raised a gobbler to his lips. Overcome with mirth, Calchas began to laugh uproariously – and chocked to death.

Wheel of ill Fortune

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In September 1927 dancer Isadora Duncan happened to express her admiration for a Bugatti sports car owned by Benoit Falchetto, a garage owner in Nice. Anticipating that Isadora’s interest might extend to purchasing it, Falchetto offered to take her for a test drive.

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Since Isadora was lightly dressed, with only a silk scarf around her shoulders, Falchetto offered her his leather driving coat. But she declined. “Good-bye, my friends, I am off to glory,” she called out, theatrically throwing her scarf behind her as the Bugatti pulled away. Seconds later the trailing scarf became entangled in one wheel of the car, and Isadora was strangled.

Bad Timing

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One of the tricks performed by the magician Harry Houdini involved tensing his muscles so that he could be punched in the stomach without ill effect. On October 22, 1926, Houdini was resting his fractured ankle by lying on a sofa in his dressing room at the Princess Theatre in Montreal.

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One of the three visitors he received was the amateur boxer Joselyn Gordon Whitehead, who casually asked Houdini whether he really could withstand stomach punches. No sooner had Houdini answered than he received several fierce blows – before he had the chance to tense his muscles. The next day, a Saturday, Houdini began to feel ill. While onstage in Detroit the following Monday, he collapsed; he had a ruptured appendix and peritonitis. He died six days later.

And Carry a Short Stick

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In 1687 Jean-Baptiste Lully, Italian-French composer and operatic director for the King Louis XIV, was conducting the Te Deum for the king by beating time with a large stick. He accidentally stabbed his foot with it, developed blood poisoning, and soon died.

Means to an End

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Wealthy French wine maker and miser Samuel Tapon had only two interests in life; his substantial vineyards in Cognac, where he also owned several chateaus, and money. In October 1934 he suffered a loss of approximately $75,000 in a speculative venture. Inconsolable, Tapon went to a village and bought a length of rope – after haggling over the price. He then went home and used his cut-rate rope to hang himself. The value of his estate: $2 million.

Flight to the Finish:

Jean-Pierre Francois Blanchard

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Flight to the Finish: In 1785 French ballooning pioneer Jean-Pierre Francois Blanchard became the first person to cross the English Channel by air. His equally intrepid wife, also a well-known balloonist, made a number of balloon ascents to celebrate national events, notably the marriage of Napoleon in 1810. In the 19th century engraving at left, Mme. Blanchard plunges to her death after fireworks set her balloon on fire in 1819. Her husband had been killed in 1809, while using the parachute.