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Strange Deaths

14. A Daredevil's Final Fall

Bobby Leach was a colourful character who first became famous in 1911 when he went over Niagara Falls in a barrel. He continued to perform dangerous exploits including parachuting over the falls from an airplane. In April 1926 Leach was walking down a street in Christchurch, New Zealand, when he slipped on a piece of orange peel and broke his leg so badly that it had to be amputated. Complications developed and he died.

15. Killed By Jazz

Seventy nine year old cornetist and music professor Nicolas Coviello had had an illustrious career having performed before Queen Victoria, Edward VII and other dignitaries. Realising that his life was nearing its end, Coviello decided to travel from London to Saskatchewan to pay a final visit to his son. On the way, he stopped in New York City to bid farewell to his nephews, Peter, Dominic and Daniel Coviello. On June 13, 1926, the young men took their famous uncle to Coney Island to give him a taste of America. The elder Coviello enjoyed himself but seemed irritated by the blare of jazz bands. Finally he could take it no longer. "This isn't music," he complained and he fell to the boardwalk. He was pronounced dead a few minutes later. Cause of death was 'a strain on the heart'.

(my own personal WTF favourite)

16. Drowned At A Lifeguard's Party

On August 1, 1985, lifeguards of the New Orleans recreation department threw a party to celebrate their first drowning free season in memory. Although four lifeguards were on duty at the party and more than half of the 200 party goers were lifeguards, when the party ended, one of the guests, Jerome Moody, 31, was found dead on the bottom of the recreation department pool.
 
16. Drowned At A Lifeguard's Party

On August 1, 1985, lifeguards of the New Orleans recreation department threw a party to celebrate their first drowning free season in memory. Although four lifeguards were on duty at the party and more than half of the 200 party goers were lifeguards, when the party ended, one of the guests, Jerome Moody, 31, was found dead on the bottom of the recreation department pool.

I reckon in Agatha Christie style they were all in on it & did the guy in. They were sick of him dive bombing & petting.
 
I reckon in Agatha Christie style they were all in on it & did the guy in. They were sick of him dive bombing & petting.
You might be on to something

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From The Book Of Lists, The Original Compendium Of Curious Information by David Wallechinsky & Amy Wallace (ISBN 1 84195 661 9)

I owned that book for a while. Posted it off to a friend in prison, along with another work of Wallechinksy's, The People's Almanac. Now, that WAS a book! It was like owning the internet before there was one.
 
I owned that book for a while. Posted it off to a friend in prison, along with another work of Wallechinksy's, The People's Almanac. Now, that WAS a book! It was like owning the internet before there was one.
I've never heard of that second book (I'd never heard of this one either to be honest) .. I'll be keeping a look out for that one now thanks ! ..
 
I still have my People's Almanac! Ordered through the FT when they still did book deals. Great read.
 
I still have my People's Almanac! Ordered through the FT when they still did book deals. Great read.

The section on disasters fascinated me; the Shirtwaist Factory Disaster and the Coconut Grove fire. Brrr.
 
17. Strangled By A Garden Hose

Thirty five year old Richard Fresquez of Austin, Texas, became drunk on the night of May 7, 1983. He tripped on a garden hose, became tangled in it and was strangled to death while tying to break free.


18. Perfect Re-Creation

On April 23, 1991, Yooket Paen, 57, of Anghton, Thailand, slipped in some mud, grabbed a live wire and was electrocuted. Later that day, her 52 year old sister, Yooket Pan, was showing some neighbours how the accident happened when she slipped, grabbed the same live wire and was also electrocuted.

19. Killed By Art

In 1991, environmental artist Christo erected 1,760 yellow umbrellas along Southern California's Tejon Pass and another 1,340 blue umbrellas in Ibaraki Prefecture north of Tokyo. Each of the umbrellas weighed 48 lb. On October 26, Lori Jean Keevil-Mathews, a 30 year old insurance agent, drove out to interstate 5 to view the California umbrellas. Shortly after she and her husband got out of their car, a huge gust of wind tore one of the umbrellas loose from its steel screw anchors and blew it straight at Lori Jean, crushing her against a boulder. Christo immediately ordered the dismantling of all the umbrellas in both countries. However, on October 30, another umbrella related death occurred when 57year old crane operator Wasaaki Nakaruma was electrocuted by a power line in Japan as he prepared to take down one of the umbrellas.
 
The section on disasters fascinated me; the Shirtwaist Factory Disaster and the Coconut Grove fire. Brrr.

It's all good, but yeah, the disasters - the one that "sticks" with me is the Boston Molasses flood, which sounds comical until you read 21 people were drowned in the stuff and about 150 injured. There's also a good section on Death that Swifty would love.
 
20. Self Induced Capital Punishment

Michael Anderson Godwin was convicted of murder and sentenced to the electric chair, but in 1983 his sentence was reduced to life in prison. On March 5, 1989, Godwin, 28 years old, was trying to fix a pair of earphones connected to the television set in his cell at the General Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina. While sitting on a steel toilet, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted.

21. The Perils Of Politics

Nitaro Ito, 41, a pancake shop operator in Higashiosaka City, Japan, concluded that he needed an extra edge in his 1979 campaign for the House Of Representatives. He decided to stage an attack on himself and then draw sympathy by campaigning from a hospital bed. Ito's scheme was to have an employee, Kazuhiko Matsumo punch him in the face on the night of September 17, after which Ito would stab himself in the leg. After Matsumo had carried out his part of the plan, Ito stabbed his right thigh. Unfortunately, he cut an artery and bled to death before he could reach his home 50 metres away.

22. Killed By A Robot

Ford Motor Company's casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, employed a one ton robot to fetch parts from a storage rack. When the robot malfunctioned on January 25, 1979, 25 year old Robert Williams was asked to climb up on the rack and get the parts. While he was performing the task, the robot suddenly reactivated and hit Williams in the head with its arms. Williams died instantly. Four years later a jury ordered Unit Handling Systems, the manufacturer of the robot, to pay the Williams family $10 million. Williams is believed to have been the first person killed by a robot.
 
22. Killed By A Robot

Ford Motor Company's casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, employed a one ton robot to fetch parts from a storage rack. When the robot malfunctioned on January 25, 1979, 25 year old Robert Williams was asked to climb up on the rack and get the parts. While he was performing the task, the robot suddenly reactivated and hit Williams in the head with its arms. Williams died instantly. Four years later a jury ordered Unit Handling Systems, the manufacturer of the robot, to pay the Williams family $10 million. Williams is believed to have been the first person killed by a robot.

The version I heard about this was that the robot 'processed' the worker, i.e. it picked him up like a sheet of metal and cut pieces out of him. Obviously this wasn't true! but it expressed a fear of the time, that robots would take over and do scary things.
 
22. Killed By A Robot

Ford Motor Company's casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, employed a one ton robot to fetch parts from a storage rack. When the robot malfunctioned on January 25, 1979, 25 year old Robert Williams was asked to climb up on the rack and get the parts. While he was performing the task, the robot suddenly reactivated and hit Williams in the head with its arms. Williams died instantly. Four years later a jury ordered Unit Handling Systems, the manufacturer of the robot, to pay the Williams family $10 million. Williams is believed to have been the first person killed by a robot.
Hold on. The robot's manufacturer got sued, when it was Ford's responsibility to make sure that it was properly turned off?
 
23. Aw Chute

Ivan McGuire was an experienced parachutist who spent the afternoon of April 2, 1988, in Louisburg, North Carolina, videotaping parachuting students as they jumped and jumping with them. On his third trip up, McGuire dropped from the airplane and began filming the instructor and student who followed him a second later. McGuire reached back and discovered that he had forgotten to put on his parachute. His videotape, which was shown on the news in nearby Raleigh, recorded McGuire's final words: "Uh-oh",

24. Silenced By The Lambs

Betty Stobbs, 67, put a bale of hay on her bike and went out to feed the sheep at her family farm in Stanhope, England, on January 26, 1999. Forty sheep rushed towards her and began jumping up on the bike to reach the hay, knocking Stobbs into the 100 ft deep Ashes Quarry. Alan Renfry witnessed the incident from his home and was convinced that the sheep were responsible for Stobbs' death.
 
24. Silenced By The Lambs

Betty Stobbs, 67, put a bale of hay on her bike and went out to feed the sheep at her family farm in Stanhope, England, on January 26, 1999. Forty sheep rushed towards her and began jumping up on the bike to reach the hay, knocking Stobbs into the 100 ft deep Ashes Quarry. Alan Renfry witnessed the incident from his home and was convinced that the sheep were responsible for Stobbs' death.
How did she get an entire bale of hay onto her bike?
 
I reckon it was a quad bike but the authors forgot to mention that bit. I think they can have trailers ?.
 
Anyone able to corroborate the Strange Deaths clipping in FT 370 about the German man who died melting cheese on his penis while dressed in a diving suit, women's tights and a raincoat, with a plastic bag over his head? The credits says it's from The Sun, who are not known for their adherence to accuracy, but I can't find any reference online without the man's name, which is absent.
 
Even the title of that Reddit thread makes me worry for the world. Thanks anyway!
 
You're welcome, I think lol Sounds like its an Aussie story, according to one post
 
Anyone able to corroborate the Strange Deaths clipping in FT 370 about the German man who died melting cheese on his penis while dressed in a diving suit, women's tights and a raincoat, with a plastic bag over his head? The credits says it's from The Sun, who are not known for their adherence to accuracy, but I can't find any reference online without the man's name, which is absent.

As far as I can tell, the UK 'bloids all snagged the story from The Local.de (site providing German news in English):

https://www.thelocal.de/20180208/100-people-die-in-germany-each-year-due-to-risky-sex-practices

The article is a general overview, and no individual names are cited for the German victims(?).
 
Anyone able to corroborate the Strange Deaths clipping in FT 370 about the German man who died melting cheese on his penis while dressed in a diving suit, women's tights and a raincoat, with a plastic bag over his head? The credits says it's from The Sun, who are not known for their adherence to accuracy, but I can't find any reference online without the man's name, which is absent.

That sounds entirely credible. He died melting cheese on his penis. So he was heating his penis [with a blow torch?] sufficiently to cause cheese to melt on it? That wouldn't be good for you. What killed him I wonder - probably the bag over the head. That'd do it.
 
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