1Diving Bell Disaster: Truls Hellevik
The Byford Dolphin was an oil rig where, in 1983, a diving bell carrying four men accidentally depressurized. Norwegian diver Truls Hellevik and four others were killed when a clamp was opened prematurely, causing explosive decompression that dismembered Hellevik and severely injured another tender. The nine-atmosphere air pressure explosively decompressed, forcing Hellevik's body through a 60-centimeter-diameter (24 in) opening. It remains the only time in history where a human being was torn apart from rapid decompression.
2. During a 1992 vacation with his daughter at the Grand Canyon in Coconino County, Arizona, Greg Austin Gingrich, 38, fell approximately 400 feet (120 m) into the canyon and died after play-acting losing his balance on a guard wall and missing his footing.
3. The Greek painter Zeuxis died of laughter at his portrait of the goddess Aphrodite after the elderly woman who commissioned it insisted on modeling for it.
4. In 1997, Karen Wetterhahn, a Dartmouth College chemistry professor, died of mercury poisoning ten months after a few drops of dimethylmercury, one of the strongest-known neurotoxins, permeated her protective gloves and skin, despite following required procedures. Her symptoms included slurred speech, difficulty seeing and hearing, and other terrifying symptoms.
5. John Hutcherson, 21, drove drunk with his friend Francis Brohm, 23, who was vomiting out of the passenger window in 2004. Hutcherson drove off the road, decapitating Brohm with a telephone pole support wire. He then drove home and went to bed, leaving Brohm's headless body in the truck. It was discovered the next morning by a neighbor.
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6Mosquito Bite Curse: George Herbert
In 1923, George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who funded Howard Carter's search for Tutankhamun, died after an infected mosquito bite, which he had cut while shaving. Some attributed his death to the "curse of the pharaohs."
7. In 2004, Phillip Quinn, 24, from Kent, Washington, died when a lava lamp he was heating on a stove exploded, and a shard pierced his heart.
8. Vladimir Likhonos, a 25-year-old Ukrainian student, died in 2009 when his chewing gum exploded. He had a habit of dipping gum in citric acid for a sour taste, but police found 100g of unidentified explosive powder on his work table. He may have accidentally coated his gum with the explosive powder, mistaking it for citric acid. The explosive was four times stronger than TNT and may have been triggered by his saliva or chewing pressure.
9. Archduchess Mathilda of Austria, daughter of Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen, died in 1867 after setting her dress on fire while trying to hide a cigarette from her father, who had forbidden her to smoke.
10. Welsh mathematician and GCHQ spy Gareth Williams, 31, was found dead and naked in a padlocked bag in the bath of his Central London home in 2010. After two investigations, Scotland Yard ruled that the most likely cause of death was that Williams accidentally killed himself by locking himself in his gym bag from the outside and placing it into his own bathtub while still being inside the gym bag.
11Deadly Stranglehold: Arrhichion of Phigalia
Arrhichion of Phigalia, a Greek athlete, died during the Olympic finals after breaking his neck. He was held in a stranglehold by his opponent and unable to escape, so he kicked his opponent, causing him to concede defeat. Despite Arrhichion's death, he was still declared the victor since his opponent had already given up.
12. In 2011, Brian Depledge, a father of two, died in a rare accident at home. While putting wet laundry on a drying rack, he tripped over a small stool and fell onto the rack, becoming trapped. He struggled to free himself, but only made the rungs tighten around his chest and neck more. The coroner described his death as an extremely unusual occurrence.
13. Erica Marshall, a British veterinarian in Ocala, Florida, died in 2012 when the horse she was treating in a hyperbaric chamber kicked the wall, releasing a spark from its horseshoes and triggering an explosion.
14. In 2012, Ilda Vitor Maciel, 88, died in a hospital in Rio de Janeiro allegedly due to nursing technicians mistakenly injecting soup through her intravenous drip instead of her feeding tube.
15. In 2013, Takuya Nagaya, a 23-year-old from Japan, claimed he had become a snake and began slithering on the floor. He died after his father spent the next two days head-butting and biting him "to drive out the snake that had possessed him."
16Rabbit Hole Asphyxiation: Stephen Whinfrey
In 2014, Stephen Whinfrey, 50, became trapped and asphyxiated while rabbiting near Doncaster, England, after his head became stuck down a rabbit hole.
17. John Cummings started swallowing knives after watching a circus knife-swallower. He swallowed 4 knives, then later 14 knives, passing them with abdominal pain. He swallowed 20 knives and a clasp knife case, but could only pass the case. He died in 1809 after 4 years of pain. Autopsy found a knife blade and spring in his intestines, and 30-40 fragments of metal, wood, and horn in his stomach.
18. In 2018, Ateef Rafiq, 24, died from cardiac arrest in a movie theater in Birmingham, England while looking for his dropped mobile phone. His head became wedged under the electronic footrest of a seat.
19. In 2016, 17-year-old Julio Macías González, from Mexico City, died from a stroke caused by an embolus formed on a neck hickey.
20. In 2019, a man from Massachusetts died after consuming a bag and a half of black liquorice every day for a few weeks. This caused his potassium levels to drop so low that his heart stopped. Black liquorice contains glycyrrhizinic acid which interferes with the body's potassium levels, leading to a condition known as pseudohyperaldosteronism in cases of overconsumption.
21Cow Through Roof: João Maria de Souza
In 2013, a Brazilian man named João Maria de Souza was crushed to death when a cow fell through his roof and landed on top of him. The cow was unharmed.
22. Ancient sources do not agree on how the Greek philosopher Pythagoras died. A legend suggests that he was assassinated by his political opponents while trying to escape. According to the legend, he stopped running when he came across a field of beans, which he hated and considered unclean. Since cutting through the field would violate his own teachings, Pythagoras simply stopped running and was killed.
23. Darren Hickey, a 51-year-old wedding planner from Horwich, England, died from asphyxiation in 2019 after eating a scorching hot fishcake at a wedding. His autopsy revealed symptoms similar to those of victims who have inhaled smoke during house fires, and the pathologist noted that the case was "extremely rare."
24. In 2018, Rajesh Maru, aged 32, died at Nair Hospital in Mumbai after bringing a metal oxygen tank into an MRI scanner room. The magnetic field pulled both him and the tank inside, pinning his hand and causing the tank to release liquid oxygen. He died from pneumothorax due to inhaling liquid oxygen.
25. Jeffery Bush, a 37-year-old man from Tampa, Florida, was killed in 2013 while he slept in his bedroom when a giant sinkhole measuring 15 feet wide and 20 feet deep opened below and swallowed his entire bedroom. His body was never found.
