Strangest Deaths in History 21 - 30

"30 Strangest Deaths in History,"

'Death by Bottle Cap'

American playwright Tennessee Williams died
in 1983 after he choked on a bottle cap in his
hotel room. Yes, he had been drinking.

'Death by Drowning at a Lifeguards' Party.'

In 1985, to celebrate their first drowning-free season
ever, the lifeguards of the New Orleans recreation
department decided to throw themselves a party.

When the party ended, a 31-year-old guest named
Jerome Moody was found dead on the bottom of
the recreation department's pool.

We suppose when it's your time to go, then it's
your time to go: there were four lifeguards on duty
and more than half of the 200 party-goers were
themselves lifeguards!

'Death on Stage, While Telling a Joke'

Dick Shawn (1924-1987) was a comedian who
had a heart attack and died during a joke that
seemed strangely appropriate:

He was making fun of politicians by saying campaign
cliches ending with "I will not lay down on the job!"
Shawn then laid down on the floor face down.

At first, the audience thought that it was all part of
the show, until some time later a theater employee
checked him for a pulse and began administering CPR.

The paramedics then arrived, and the audience
were told to go home - Dick Shawn was dead.

'Death by Belly Slam.'

British pro wrestler Mal "King Kong" Kirk died
underneath the big belly of Shirley "Big Daddy" Crabtree.

In August 1987, during the final moments of the
match, Crabtree delivered his signature "Belly-
Splash" move (basically jumping up and down,
slamming his belly onto a guy) on Kirk, who then
had a heart attack and died.

Crabtree was cleared after it was revealed that Kirk
had a serious heart condition prior to the match.
However, Crabtree blamed himself for Kirk's death
and retired from pro wrestling.

Before the match, Kirk had told his friends: "If I
have to go, I hope it is in the ring."

'Death by Giant Umbrellas'

In 1991, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude put
up an environmental installation art of thousands
of giant yellow and blue umbrellas in California and Japan.

The giant umbrellas, which measured about 20
foot (6 m) in height, 28 foot (8.7 m) in diameter
and weighed about 500 lb, became a huge tourist attraction.

Less than two months after the installation
opened, Lori Rae Keevil-Mathews, a 33-year-old
woman drove out to see the umbrellas in California.
A wind gust uprooted one of the umbrellas and
blew it straight at her, crushing her against a boulder
and killing her.

Christo immediately ordered all of the umbrellas
taken down. The umbrellas, however, took another
life - this time in Japan. Crane operator Masaaki
Nakamura was electrocuted when the machine's
arm touched a 65,000-volt high-tension line when
removing the umbrellas.

'Death by Re-creation'

In 1991, a 57-year-old Thai woman Yooket Paen
was walking in her farm when she accidentally
slipped on a cow dung, grabbed a naked live wire
and got electrocuted to death.

Soon after Paen's funeral, her 52-year-old-sister

Yooket Pan was showing her neighbors how the
accident happened when she herself slipped,
grabbed the same live wire and also got
electrocuted to death!

'Death by Sheep'

In 1999, Betty Stobbs, 67, of Durham, England,
took a bale of hay to feed her flock of sheep on
the back of her motorcycle.

Apparently, the sheep were very hungry. About
forty of them rushed the hay and knocked her
off a cliff into a 100-feet deep quarry. Stobbs
survived the fall only to be killed when the motorcycle,
which was also knocked off the cliff, tumbled down after her.

'Death by Necklace Bomb'

On the afternoon of August 28, 2003, pizza
deliveryman Brian Wells tried to rob a bank with
a home-made shotgun disguised as a cane.

When he was caught by the police, Wells revealed
that he had been forced by some people he
delivered pizza to earlier to rob the bank. A
necklace with an explosive device was attached
to his neck.

The necklace bomb blew up before the bomb
squad could deactivate it (indeed, there was
controversy whether the police took his story
seriously and delayed calling the bomb squad).
Until today, it's unclear whether Wells was a
victim, a co-conspirator or the lone perpetrator
of the robbery and subsequent death.

'Death by Stingray'

In 2006, Australian wildlife expert and TV
personality Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin
died when he was stabbed in the heart by a
stingray spine while filming a documentary
Ocean's Deadliest.

'Death by Bookcase'

Mariesa Weber was reported missing by her
family for nearly two weeks before they found
her in her bedroom, wedged behind a bookcase.

"I'm sleeping in the same house as her for 11
days, looking for her," her mother, Connie Weber,
told the St. Petersburg Times. "And she's right
in the bedroom."

Both Weber and her sister had previously adjusted
the television plug by standing on a bureau next to
the shelf and leaning over the top. Her family
believes Weber, who was 5-foot-3 and barely 100
pounds, may have fallen headfirst into the space.
Received on Wed Aug 29 08:23:37 2007