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Strange Deaths

Concerning the boy who died in 1854 as a result of being swung around by a clown ...

Here are the clippings that have been circulating on the 'Net since 2012.

64461187_135115138529.jpg
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Here's the data from the Find a Grave site ...
William Snyder

BIRTH
Jul 1840
Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA

DEATH
11 Jan 1854 (aged 13)
San Francisco, San Francisco County, California, USA

BURIAL
Cypress Lawn Memorial Park
Colma, San Mateo County, California, USA
PLOT Grave 3240
Click to expand...

13y 6m; Died by being swung around by the heels by a Circus clown.
Funeral was from N Gray and Company, San Francisco

*************************
Moved to Cypress Lawn Cemetery in San Matero, original burial in Yerba Buena Cemetery (Defunct)
***************************
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SOURCE: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/64461187/william-snyder
 
More here:-

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/169796164/william-snyder

FATAL PLAY - There was a small Spanish theatrical presentation last evening, in Stockton street, where a Mexican, named Manuel Reys, supposed to be somewhat affected mentally, took up Wm. Bernard, a candy and peanut peddling boy, by the feet, and swung him round several times. The blood rushed to the head of the boy, a blood vessel burst internally, the blood rushed from his mouth, and he died a short time after being taken to the Hospital. Reys was arrested.

Daily Alta California, Volume 5, Number 11, 11 January 1854

(NOTE: Post restored after deletion by its contributor. This post was initially deleted by the poster, who thought it was redundant. It isn't - this findagrave.com URL is different from the one posted earlier. In other words, the duplication is at findagrave.com. This news item does not appear in the other / redundant memorial entry.)
 
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Wurst curry ever.

Woman dies and 14 people are injured after a frying pan exploded at German village baking festival
  • One woman was killed and 14 people were injured by an explosion in frying pan
  • Five victims were left with life-threatening burns and one suffered a heart attack
  • Police said oil in a big frying pan likely caused the blast in Freudenberg, Germany
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and CHRIS DYER FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 09:14, 11 September 2019 | UPDATED: 09:14, 11 September 2019
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7451363/Woman-dies-14-people-injured-frying-pan-exploded-German-village-baking-festival.html
 
I'm a member of newspapers.com and am doing some searches of all kinds of strange topics.

It's frustrating to know just how to word a search to find a particular story that I remember reading.

One very bizarre story that I remember, probably 1971, and I think in the USA, was about a man who checked into a motel, took the cord to the bedside lamp, stripped off the insulation, and wrapped the bare wires around his armpits and then plugged in the cord, successfully electrocuting himself.

Reportedly, this man was involved in some kind of espionage ring, and was in trouble with his cohorts, and preferred suicide as the way out of his situation.

Certainly a strange, and bizarre story. Does anyone here remember that one?

I'd like to know if there was much of a follow up in the press, and more was learned about this case.

Also, do any of you more experienced newspaper archive searchers have any tips on how to word a search to find this story?
 
This is awful! A man proposes to his girlfriend underwater then drowns.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-49783851

An American man has drowned while proposing to his girlfriend underwater during a "once-in-a-lifetime" trip to Tanzania.
Steven Weber and his girlfriend, Kenesha Antoine, were staying in a luxury submerged cabin at the Manta Resort, off Pemba Island.
Ms Antoine filmed the moment Mr Weber, wearing goggles and flippers, dived under water to ask her to marry him.
Click to expand...
 
Here's a tragic accident precipitated by a well-intentioned prank or stunt gone wrong ...
Florida man shoots son-in-law in birthday surprise gone awry

A US man who shot dead his son-in-law as he jumped out of bushes to wish him happy birthday will face no charges for the "horrible accident," officials say.

Christopher Bergan, 37, had just flown from his native Norway to surprise Richard Dennis, 61, at his home in Gulf Breeze, Florida, on Tuesday night.

Mr Dennis fired one round, striking Mr Bergan in the chest in his backyard.

Mr Dennis had had an altercation earlier that night with a family member, police say.

"I'm not going to second guess Mr Dennis for what he did," Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told a news conference on Thursday.

"Here he is, he had just had a confrontation at the front of his house," said the lawman.

He said Mr Dennis had had an argument with a family member around 21:36 (01:36 GMT) on 1 October.

That relative had banged on Mr Dennis' front door in a manner similar to how Mr Bergan later did on the backdoor, the sheriff said.

Mr Bergan had arrived at 23:00 that night from Norway, where he lived with Mr Dennis' daughter.

He wanted to surprise his father-in-law for his 61st birthday.

Officials say he went straight to Mr Dennis' house after landing at the airport.

Mr Bergan banged on the backdoor, before jumping out of bushes "growling" as Mr Dennis turned the rear porch light on, the sheriff continued.

He said the backyard is enclosed by a fence.

"Our investigation has revealed that this was totally accidental," said Sheriff Johnson.

"It was a really sad occurrence and no charges are warranted in this case."

"You can't really say anything against Mr Dennis for doing what he did," he added.
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SOURCE: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49924581
 
Saucerian said:
I'm a member of newspapers.com and am doing some searches of all kinds of strange topics.

It's frustrating to know just how to word a search to find a particular story that I remember reading.

One very bizarre story that I remember, probably 1971, and I think in the USA, was about a man who checked into a motel, took the cord to the bedside lamp, stripped off the insulation, and wrapped the bare wires around his armpits and then plugged in the cord, successfully electrocuting himself.

Reportedly, this man was involved in some kind of espionage ring, and was in trouble with his cohorts, and preferred suicide as the way out of his situation.

Certainly a strange, and bizarre story. Does anyone here remember that one?

I'd like to know if there was much of a follow up in the press, and more was learned about this case.

Also, do any of you more experienced newspaper archive searchers have any tips on how to word a search to find this story?
Click to expand...
Found it on the Internet:

"On April 13, 1976, Mr. Sigler was found dead in a motel room in the Fort Meade area. Official investigations by the Army and the Maryland State Police concluded that Mr. Sigler had committed suicide by wrapping the ends of a stripped electrical lamp cord around his upper arms, plugging the cord into a wall socket, and flipping on the wall switch, which resulted in his death by electrocution. The plaintiffs contend that the defendants were responsible for Mr. Sigler's death by "either 1) causing a current of electricity to pass through his body or 2) placing him in an extreme position of danger by virtue of the continuous emotional strain to which he had been subjected and then failing to protect him" from electrocuting himself. Amended Complaint, supra at 17-18."

https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1377158/sigler-v-levan/
 
feinman said:
Found it on the Internet:

"On April 13, 1976, Mr. Sigler was found dead in a motel room in the Fort Meade area. Official investigations by the Army and the Maryland State Police concluded that Mr. Sigler had committed suicide by wrapping the ends of a stripped electrical lamp cord around his upper arms, plugging the cord into a wall socket, and flipping on the wall switch, which resulted in his death by electrocution. The plaintiffs contend that the defendants were responsible for Mr. Sigler's death by "either 1) causing a current of electricity to pass through his body or 2) placing him in an extreme position of danger by virtue of the continuous emotional strain to which he had been subjected and then failing to protect him" from electrocuting himself. Amended Complaint, supra at 17-18."

https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1377158/sigler-v-levan/
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feinman, many thanks for finding that court ruling for me. I had no results on my newspaper search, because I thought the suicide took place in 1971, and it actually took place in 1976.

I simply cannot see how I was so many years (5 years) off in my memory.

Now that I have the correct date, I can further pursue newspaper coverage of the case.

There are two other strange deaths, one from the 1960s, and another from the 1970s, that I remember, (hopefully with better date recall), that involve murders, rather than suicide, and I am not sure which forum to mention those 2 cases on, since this thread does not specifically have "murder" in the title.

Do you, or anyone else, have any suggestions which threads I should post my inquiries on those 2 murders?
 
Saucerian said:
feinman, many thanks for finding that court ruling for me. I had no results on my newspaper search, because I thought the suicide took place in 1971, and it actually took place in 1976.

I simply cannot see how I was so many years (5 years) off in my memory.

Now that I have the correct date, I can further pursue newspaper coverage of the case.

There are two other strange deaths, one from the 1960s, and another from the 1970s, that I remember, (hopefully with better date recall), that involve murders, rather than suicide, and I am not sure which forum to mention those 2 cases on, since this thread does not specifically have "murder" in the title.

Do you, or anyone else, have any suggestions which threads I should post my inquiries on those 2 murders?
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I'm glad that it was on the Web. The mods would know the best part of the forum to post the cases on --I'm still a relative newbie! :)
 
Saucerian said:
... There are two other strange deaths, one from the 1960s, and another from the 1970s, that I remember, (hopefully with better date recall), that involve murders, rather than suicide, and I am not sure which forum to mention those 2 cases on, since this thread does not specifically have "murder" in the title.

Do you, or anyone else, have any suggestions which threads I should post my inquiries on those 2 murders?
Click to expand...

Requests for information or help on particular topics can always be posted in Notes & Queries.

On the other hand ... We have several standalone threads on particular murders snd / or murderers.

I'd recommend starting a new thread for each of the specific murders / murderers you're researching.
 
We may not be getting the full story here.

Parcel firm Hermes has halted work at a depot in eastern Germany after two male workers died within hours of each other and a third was taken ill.

One of the men died at the depot, the other in a despatch van. The deaths are being treated as unexplained and police for the moment are treating the circumstances as an unfortunate series of coincidences. Police tested a poisonous substance found in a parcel but said the amount was not sufficient to cause death.

A 58-year-old man collapsed and died in the early hours of Tuesday morning, at the Hermes despatch depot in Haldensleben north-west of Magdeburg. Hours later, at around 16:00 (14:00 GMT) on Tuesday, another worker aged 45 was found dead in the driver's seat of a Hermes transport van.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50068495
 
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escargot said:
Sadly, death by diarrhoea is still a frequent cause of infant deaths in developing countries with poor water supply. So the cause of death is not rare even now. Actual rupture of the bowels though, that's bizarre.
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You're right of course, the water-borne Cholera toxin causes "explosive" diarrhoea - although strictly speaking fatalities in the very young and old is due to chronic dehydration rather than 'death by diarrhoea'.
 
I want to say again, many thanks to feinman for finding the story about the electrocution by suicide, certainly very sad.

I am now starting to read the entire court decision, which, of course will take awhile, since it is very long.
 
Two persons died in Serbia on a highway between capital Belgrade and Novi Sad (Exit Festival) up the north. It was blamed on tornado???

Below is the Twitter link showing the so-called tornado... don't know.. not convinced this can cause it but I am no driver myself. I opted for drinking when asked

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1191323233552912384
 
The windy disturbance in the video is consistent with the bottom / ground end of a tornado funnel that's initially touching down or beginning to dissipate.

I can't tell whether that has to be the case here, because the video doesn't show enough of the surroundings.

The wind / whirlwind shown in the video is a sufficient - and sufficiently scary - disturbance to cause a driver to panic, lose control, and wreck.
 
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