However, not all inventors lived long enough to claim their fame and money. Some of them were, ironically, killed while using their own inventions. Today we’re taking a look at 10 people who are no longer alive thanks to products they’ve come up with! If this is a little to dark for your liking, we also have a more light hearted article covering 10 of the most clever inventions ever conceived as well!

10) Frederick Duesenberg

Frederick and his brother August founded a car company that they’ve named using their surname – Duesenberg. Duesenberg was founded in 1913, and was producing higher-class sports cars. Their company was making each car manually, and so-called “Duesy” cars were considered some of the best cars in the world during their existence. However, that didn’t help Frederick when he was flooring a Duesy on the Lincoln Highway. Due to high speeds, his car turned itself over and badly wounded the driver. Frederick Duesenberg died 23 days after the accident, due to injuries he sustained from it. Duesenberg stopped their car production 5 years after the accident, in 1937.

9) Ismail al-Jawhari

Ismail a-Jawhari is known as the author of “The Correct Language” Arabic dictionary, that featured around 40,000 entries. He is also known for attempting to fly in circa 1003, when attempted it using wooden wings and a rope. During his first (and only) flight attempt, he tried to leap off a mosque in Nishapur so that his invention would make him fly. Unfortunately, it was an unsuccessful attempt, and Ismail died by falling on the ground from the top of the mosque.

8) Franz Reichelt

Similar to al-Jawhari, Franz Reichelt also wanted to leap from tall buildings. However, unlike al-Jawhari who wanted to fly, Reichelt wanted to land safely using a parachute prototype. He was a tailor by profession and assumed that his hand-made parachute would be good enough to glide him to safety. Franz Reichelt, today known as the Flying Tailor, jumped from the Eiffel Tower in 1912, with his invention strapped to his back. Prior to that, he had several attempts where he used dummies, and they were successful. However, his attempt wasn’t. His parachute failed to deploy and he took a hard fall that left him dead at the spot.

7) William Bullock

William Bullock was an American inventor who lived during the 19th century. His most notable invention is the rotary printing press, that greatly increased the speed and efficiency of printing. During his career, he submitted 5 patents to the US patent office, one of which would end him. During an installation of the above-mentioned printing press, Bullock accidentally crushed his toe and contracted gangrene. He died during the amputation of his infected leg.

6) Thomas Midgley Jr.

Thomas Midgley Junior was an American mechanical engineer, inventor and a chemist. During the course of his career, he patented over a hundred products, and made important discoveries in chemistry. He is known for being one of the most important members of the team who developed tetraethyllead and chlorofluorocarbons. In 1940 he contracted polio which left him partially disabled and pinned to his bed. As an attempt to help patients (including himself) to lift up from a bed, he devised a system of ropes and strings that would make it easier for them to sit up. However, four years later he got tangled in the strings and ended up being strangled by them.

5) Alexandar Bogdanov

Alexandar Bogdanov was a (you guessed it) Russian philosopher, writer and a revolutionary mind. Born in 1873, he would become an important figure in the Bolshevik faction, and a rival to Vladimir Lenin. Oh and he was also trying to achieve eternal youth by using blood transfusion. He sincerely believed that he could achieve it, at least partially, and decided to be the test subject. Unfortunately for him, the blood he took was from a student infected with malaria and tuberculosis. The transfusion attempt killed Mr. Bogdanov in 1928.

4) Marie Curie

Marie Sklodowska Curie was famous for being both a renowned physicist and a chemist. Her research on radioactivity was, and still is, of great importance, and she was the first woman to ever win the Nobel Prize award. Oh yeah, she also won it twice. During her time (19th-20th century), the harmful effects of radiation weren’t as known as they are today, so she spent many years exposed to radioactive test tubes she carried around. She died from aplastic anemia caused by radioactive exposure. While she technically didn’t invent radiation, she was a arguably the most important person in the field, so we’re listing her in this list. Even today, her personal items such as her notebook, are too radioactive for anyone to handle without protection.

3) Karel Soucek

Karel Soucek was a professional stuntman who died while performing his job. He is best known for successfully going down the Niagra Falls in a barrel in 1984. Soucek invested $45,000 into the stunt, but made it back easily after gaining mass popularity. A year after that, he tested his new invention, a shock-absorbent barrel, by dropping in it from the roof of the Houston Astrodome. Unfortunately, the barrel didn’t land in a water tank where it was supposed to. It missed and hit the rim, leaving Karl Soucek fatally wounded. He did manage to get out of the barrel, but died shortly after.

2) Li Si

Li Si was the today’s equivalent of a Prime Minister in the Qin Dynasty from 246 BC until his death in 208 BC. Li Si is called one of the two most important figure in the Chinese history, because of his governmental skills that made Qin Dynasty extremely powerful. Unlike other people from this list who invented a product, Li Si invented a certain torture and execution method known as the Five Punishments. And sure enough, he died after his own torturing method was executed on him. The method included tattooing, cutting the nose without an anesthetic, amputation of one or both feet, castration, and finally – death. The last punishment was performed using various methods such as boiling the offender alive, cutting his body into four pieces, slowly slicing it, and more.

1) Max Valier

Max Valier was an  Australian pioneer in the rocketry industry who invented an alcohol-fueled rocket that would kill him during the initial test. He helped the founding of the Society for Space Travel association in Germany, that would one day make space flight a reality. Along with Fritz von Opel (the car manufacturer founder), he started working on liquid-powered cars and rockets. During a test of such a rocket in Berlin, Valier was killed. A rocket he was testing that day exploded and instantly killed its inventor.

Honorable Mentions:

• Michael Dacre, who died in 2009 during the test of his flying taxi device known as AVCEN Jetpod.
• Auriel Valicu, an airplane constructor died from a crash that happened while he was piloting his own, hand-made aircraft.
• Horace Hunly and several crew members drowned after a failed test of his combat submarine, the first one in the world.
• Jim Fixx, the author of The Complete Book of Running died from a sudden heart attack, caused by one of his daily jogging routines.
• Segway Inc. CEO, Jimi Heselden, died after driving his Segway off a cliff into his deathž

If you’re interested in more unusual deaths, you should go ahead and read our Top 10 Most Unusual, Bizarre & Weird Human Deaths list! If you think we should add some additional honorable mentions to this list let us know in the comment section below!

The post 10 Inventors Killed By Their Own Inventions appeared first on Gazette Review.

But to drink yourself to death, you really have to love drinking (or have some serious issues). And here are 10 people who did exactly that. Without further ado, let’s take a look at 10 people who literally drank themselves to death, one way or another.

10) Amy Winehouse (1983-2011)

Amy Winehouse was known for her deep contralto vocals and expressive lyrics. A singer ever since she was a young girl, she went on to sign her first record deal at the age of 19. Her debut album Frank was later released in the fall of 2003. Three years later, she dropped her second album Back to Black, which topped the music charts in the UK, France, Germany, and New Zealand, among several other countries.

By the end of the 2000s, she had become an international star with numerous awards to her name including five Grammys (Record of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album, Song of the Year)

At the same time, she struggled with substance abuse and mental illness. In 2007, she was hospitalized after experiencing an overdose of cocaine, heroin, ketamine, ecstasy, and alcohol. She also admitted to having problems with depression and self-harm.

Unable to fight her demons, she later died from alcohol intoxication on July 23, 2011, at the age of 27. According to the coroner, her blood alcohol content was more than five times the legal amount at the time of her death. Many musical artists went on to pay tribute to Winehouse including Lady Gaga, Bruna Mars, Rihanna, Adele, and Nicki Minaj.

9) Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)

F. Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. During his lifetime, he published several novels including, ‘The Great Gatsby’, which has since become a classic American title. It wasn’t until his death, however, that he received critical acclaim.

Born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, he and his family lived in New York for a few years before moving to New Jersey, where his literary potential first became apparent. After graduating from secondary school, he enrolled at Princeton University and began writing stories and poems on the side.

His first novel, ‘This Side of Paradise’ was published in 1920. Two years later, he released his second title, ‘The Beautiful and Damned’, which allegedly was based on the early years of his marriage. During that period, he also wrote for numerous popular magazines including Collier’s Weekly, Esquire, and The Saturday Evening Post.

And in 1925, he wrote the American classic, ‘The Great Gatsby’. While it received positive reviews, however, it was a commercial failure. The Great Depression didn’t help either and Fitzgerald soon found himself struggling financially.

Desperate to get himself back on his feet, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a screenwriter. He also indulged himself in alcohol. At one point, he drank nearly 40 beers a day.

And that took a toll on his health. On December 20, 1940, Fitzgerald lapsed into consciousness during the premiere of This Thing Called Love. He was later pronounced dead by officials. He was 44 years old.

8) Verne Troyer (1969-2018)

Verne Troyer is best known for portraying Mini-Me in the spy film series Austin Powers. Born with cartilage-hair hypoplasia, he stood 2 ft 8 inches tall. However, his parents never treated him any different than his siblings.

In 1994, he made his acting debut as a stunt double in the film Baby’s Day Out. He also appeared in the movies Jingle All the Way, My Giant, Dunston Checks In, and Men In Black.

Several years later, he was asked to portray the role of Mini-Me in the second Austin Power film. Impressed by his acting, Mike Myers, the co-creator of the series actually rewrote the script to give him more screen time. Troyer later reprised his role in the sequel Powers in Goldmember, which came out in 2002.

He also played supporting roles in the popular films The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Harry Potter and the Sorcerous Stone. He made several appearances as himself as well in the reality series Welcome to Sweden and The Surreal Life.

Health-wise, however, he’d struggled with depression and alcohol abuse for many years. In fact, he had talked about it several times on television.

On April 21, 2018, Troyer died at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 49 years old. According to the LA coroner’s office, his official cause of death was suicide secondary to alcohol poisoning.

7) Cory Monteith (1982-2013)

Cory Monteith is best known for his portrayal of Finn Hudson in the musical drama Glee. He also appeared in the films Sisters & Brothers and Monte Carlo.

Growing up, however, he had a troubled adolescence. By the time he was 13, he was using both marijuana and alcohol. And by the time he was 16, he had dropped out of school altogether. Dependant on drugs and alcohol, he turned to petty crimes to fund his addictions. Fortunately, he was able to turn things around after attending a rehabilitation program.

After working various jobs here and there, he made his acting debut in the TV series Stargate Atlantis. He also played minor roles in Smallville, Flash Gordon, and Supernatural.

It wasn’t until 2009, when he was cast in Glee, that he rose to stardom. He ultimately played the role of the star quarterback for four seasons, up until his death.

In July 2013, just a few months after another stay in rehab, he was found dead in his hotel room in Downtown Vancouver. According to reports, hotel staff had entered his room after he failed to check out after a seven-night stay. His official cause of death was later determined to be ‘mixed drug toxicity’ consisting of alcohol and heroin.

The following September, an extended tribute for the actor played during the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards.

6) Dolores O’Riordan (1971-2018)

Dolores O’Riordan was the lead singer for the alternative rock band the Cranberries. Known for her deep mezzo-soprano voice, she had released several albums with the group including No Need to Argue, To the Faithful Departed, and Bury the Hatcher, all of which topped multiple music charts. By the mid-90s, they had reached international stardom with millions of record sales worldwide.

Fast forward to the 2000s and she had released two solo albums: Are You Listening and No Baggage, both of which received favorable reviews.

Her success came with a cost, however. In addition to depression, which she’d struggled with for many years, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2015. And her mental health issues were only made worse with alcohol use.

In January 2018, she traveled to London to meet with the representatives of BMG to talk about a new Cranberries album. Ultimately, it was during that trip that she was found unresponsive in her hotel room. She was later pronounced dead by officials.

The official cause of death was determined to be accidental drowning caused by alcohol intoxication. Several prescription drugs were found in her system as well.

She was later buried at Saint Ailbe’s Roman Catholic Church in County Limerick.

5) Billie Holiday (1915-1959)

Billie Holiday is considered to be one of the greatest jazz singers of all time. As a child, however, she lived a difficult life. A child of poverty, she was raised mainly by her mother-in-law and frequently skipped school.

After a difficult childhood, she began singing in various nightclubs as a teen. Ultimately, it was there that she caught the attention of John Hammond, who liked her voice. She subsequently landed a recording deal with Brunswick Records in 1935. By the 1940s, she had recorded numerous hits, most of which had found their way onto music charts.

While she was a talented singer, however, she was also a hardcore alcoholic (her drink of choice was gin and port wine). She also smoked and used heroin throughout her life. And in 1959, her lifestyle had caught up to her; she was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis.

That same year, she was diagnosed with heart disease and on July 17, 1959, she died of heart failure and pulmonary edema, both of which were caused by the cirrhosis.

Following her death, she received four posthumous Grammy Awards for Best Historical Album. She was also inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame and Grammy Hall of Fame.

4) Alexi Laiho (1979-2020)

Alexi Lailo was best known as the lead singer of the death metal band Children of Bodom. He also played the guitar for Bodom After Midnight, which they’d put together just a few months prior to his death.

Born in Espoo, Finland, Lailo had always been one for music. He took up violin at the age of 7 and began playing the guitar at the age of 11. After a short stint with an experimental band, he formed Children of Bodom (then known as IneartheD) with Jasaka Raatikainen in 1993. Some of their best hits include Downfall, Hate Me!, You’re Better Off Dead!, In Your Face, and Blooddrunk, all of which peaked at number one in Finland. He’d also recorded three albums with Sinergy, a Finnish heavy metal band whom he’d played the guitar for.

However, he’d always had a rocky relationship with alcohol. While he swore off drinking while on tour, he’d still drink when he’s not on the road.

On December 29, 2020, it was announced that he had died of alcohol-induced liver degeneration, something that was caused by his years of excessive drinking. Several songs that he’d recorded with Bodom After Midnight were later released posthumously. Instead of replacing Laiho, however, it was announced that the group would be disbanding.

3) Peter Cook (1937-1995)

Peter Cook was a comedic actor and satirist. Born in Torquay, he attended college in Cambridge and after graduating, created the comedy stage revue Beyond the Fringe. He also started a comedy club in Soho, Central London, which remained open until 1964.

However, he’s perhaps best known for his television projects. Aside from Not Only…But Also, which earned him a British Academy Television Award, he also appeared in the films Bedazzled and The Wrong Box. At one point in the late 1970s, he even co-presented Saturday Night Live.

While he’d always been a drinker, it wasn’t until the 70s that his problems became apparent. According to his wife, he would be drunk every night. Aside from wine, which he would drink several bottles of, he would also drink vodka and several glasses of lager a day.

The long-term drinking took its toll, however, and on January 9, 1995, he died from a gastrointestinal haemorrhage, a complication that likely resulted from his years of drinking. He was 57 years old. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and his ashes were buried in an unmarked plot not far from his Perrins Walk home.

2) Veronica Lake (1922-1973)

Veronica Lake was a television and film actress. During the 1940s, she played numerous femme fatale roles with Alan Ladd, which brought her to stardom. She also appeared in in the films I Married a Witch and Sullivan’s Travels and had many stage credits to her name.

Due to her alcoholism, however, her career began to decline by the late 1940s. As a result, she only appeared in one film in the 1950s. She later returned to the big screen in the thriller Footsteps in the Snow, but it would fail to restart her career. In 1970, she played her final film role in the horror movie Footsteps in the Snow.

A few years later, after returning from an autobiography tour, she visited the doctor for stomach pains. She was subsequently diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and checked into the University of Vermont Medical Centre. Despite the doctor’s best efforts, she died of acute kidney injury and acute hepatitis on July 7, 1973. A memorial service was held and her ashes were scattered in the waters off Miami.

1) Jeff Hanneman (1964-2013)

Jeff Hanneman was the lead guitarist of the thrash metal brand Slayer, which he’d helped establish back in 1981. Born in Oakland, California, he grew up in Long Beach where he often joined his brothers in constructing plane models. He was later introduced to heavy metal music through his sister Mary, who was a fan of Black Sabbath.

By the time he was 17, he’d formed the Slayers with Kerry King, Tom Araya, and Dave Lombardo. The group started out as a cover band before starting to compose their own music. Their debut album Show No Mercy was later released in 1983. They eventually recorded several others, many of which have received gold certification in the US. They later disbanded in 2019 after embarking on a farewell tour.

In May 2013, it was announced that Hanneman had died in a hospital near his home. The official cause of death, according to reports, was alcohol-related cirrhosis. While he’d always been a drinker, his family and friends had been unaware of the severity of his condition.

The post 10 Celebrity Alcoholics Who Drank Themselves To Death appeared first on Gazette Review.

But people also take selfies at unsafe places, for the same reasons as above – to show them off to their friends and the whole world. And some of those selfie-taking moments went wrong, very wrong. Today, we’re going over 10 people who injured or killed themselves while trying to take a selfie.

10) Russians Killed by a Grenade

Last year, Russia made an official flyer related to selfie-taking safety. They were forced to do so because of a large number of people who lost their lives while trying to take cool selfies. A great example of this is when two young men decided to pose for a selfie with a hand grenade. As if that wasn’t dangerous enough, they decided to pull out the pin. Both men were blown up and died at the spot. The telephone served as evidence, because they actually did manage to take a selfie.

9) Russian Girl Shoots Herself

Speaking of Russians and weapons, in March last year a Russian girl decided to take a selfie while holding a gun. She also decided that the best way to point the gun would be towards her head. The gun accidentally went off, and she literally shot herself in the head. The woman suffered head injuries, but luckily managed to survive.

8) Slovak Tourist Falls To His Death

Croatia is a popular tourist destination, thanks to its beautiful shores and nature. One of the best known symbols of Croatia is the National Park called Plitvice Lakes. Few years ago, a Canadian man almost killed himself after trying to take a selfie by jumping while on a 250 foot high cliff. He was saved by tree branches that he fell on, but suffered sever injuries. At the end he survived, unlike another tourist who tried to do the exact same thing. A Slovak tourist fell from a rock, but wasn’t saved by any branches. She was dead on the spot by the time police and ambulance arrived.

7) Spaniard Killed By A Bull

During a bull running festival in Spain, a man decided that it would be a good idea to take a selfie with several bulls surrounding him. While he was preparing the selfie, he was run over by a bull who left him sever neck injuries that would kill him shortly after. The man was taken to a hospital where he was given two liters of blood, but the injuries were fatal. The festival was suspended right after the accident.

6) Japanese Tourist Dies At Taj Mahal

Last year, a group of Japanese tourists was visiting the famous Indian mausoleum, Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is a very popular tourist location with over 12,000 visitations each day. One of the tourists stood at the Royal Gate and tried to take a selfie. Him and one more person fell down the large stairs. One of them ‘only’ fractured a leg, but the other one sadly died.

5) Indian Teenager Ran Over By A Train

Mumbai Police Department was forced to create so called “no selfie zones”, due to the high amount of teenagers being injured or killed while taking selfies. One of them was an Indian boy, who was killed this year. He was walking alongside a train tracks when he noticed a train combing by. He decided to take a selfie with the train in the frame. He waited for the train to come closer, and was hit by it shortly after. Unfortunately, he was dead on the spot.

4) Two Men Murdered By A Walrus

Jia Lijun, a Chinese businessman, was visiting a zoo and decided to take some selfies with a 1.5 tonnes heavy walrus. After taking some selfies and playing with the animal, he was dragged into the water when the walrus grabbed him from behind. The walrus apparently pulled the man into the pool because it wanted to play with him. Walrus’ keeper jumped and attempted to save the man when he noticed what was happening. The walrus held both men using its weight, and they both drowned minutes after. The zoo paid around $110,000 to Jia’s family because of the incident.

3) Five People +  One Selfie = One Accident

A group of five people decided to take a couple of selfies while they were enjoying sightseeing activities. They were on a cliff taking selfies, when all five of them fell off of it. Two women were severely injured from the fall, but there were no deaths. The cause of their fall was the gate that opened when they leaned on it.

2) Romanian Teen Takes The ‘Ultimate Selfie’

In 2015, a Romanian teenage girl wanted to take the ‘ultimate selfie’, as she referred to it. Anna Ursu, aged 18 at the time, climbed up the top of a train with her friend. A passer-by warned them to crouch in order to avoid the wires that were located above them. 18-year old accidentally touched a wire and was electrocuted and ignited by the passing current. Her friend was blown off the train, but survived. Ms. Ursu was fatally burned by the time medical personnel arrived at the scene.

1) 7 People Dead In A Selfie-Incident In India

The most fatal selfie-related accident happened just last month. A group of 7 friends was enjoying their time swimming in the Ganges river. One of them started taking selfies and slipped, which caused him to start drowning. One after another, his six friends jumped into the water in an attempt to save one another. Unfortunately, the high water current was too much for them, and all seven of them drowned. The youngest boy was 16 years old, and the oldest was 24. Their bodies were recovered two hours after the incident.

(Not So) Fun Facts

India is the country with most selfie-related deaths in the whole world. In 2014, 49 selfie-related fatal accidents happened in the whole world, 19 of them in India.

In 2015, The Telegraph claimed that selfie-related deaths overtook the number of shark attack deaths. The claim was later disputed by other sources, so we’re not certain if it’s true.

Over 60 people on average die each year from such accidents, and over a 100 are injured.

The post 10 Bizarre Selfie-Related Deaths And Injuries appeared first on Gazette Review.

We’ll be going over 10 naturally caused disasters that took the largest amount of human lives. For the sake of relevance, we’ll only include the events that happened since 1900. Without further ado, let’s take a look at top 10 natural disaster by estimated death toll.

10) Cyclone in Bangladesh, 1991 – 138,000

In 1991, a terrible disaster took place in the small country of Bangladesh. During the spring, a huge cyclone struck the Chittagong district, with huge winds blowing at over 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph). Those winds caused huge (6 meter / 19 feet) waves that have killed at least 138,000 people. However, the damage would be much larger if around 2 million people didn’t evacuate prior to the cyclone. Still, some people didn’t know where to go (and some simply didn’t want to), so many were killed, most by drowning. An estimated damage of $1,5 billion was caused to various buildings and properties. Entire villages were completely devastated, and the entire area suffered an economical crisis.

9) Earthquake in Japan, 1923 – 143,000

In 1923, an earthquake, later named Great Kanto eartquake, struck Japan’s Honshu island – the largest one of the four. The earthquake lasted somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes, and in that time caused massive amounts of collateral damage and killed many people. Earthquake’s magnitude was a big 7.9, measured using the moment magnitude scale. The earthquake hit during most people’s lunch times, which caused many fires to break out, some even turning into firestorms. Around 105,000 deaths are confirmed, with another 37,000 people missing, presumed dead. The total damage exceeded 1 billion dollars.

8) Floods in China, 1935 – 145,000

In 1935, China’s Yangtze, the largest river in Asia, flooded and demolished a large area in China. Due to the river’s huge size, the floods took many casualties and caused great amounts of damage to the property and nature surrounding it. Almost 150,000 people are estimated to have died from the flooding, with many more injured. The people who stayed alive were heavily effected by the floods in a negative way – loss of income, less food, damaged properties, injuries, etc. Most recent Yangtze floods happened in 1998, however it caused much less death, with around 4,000 people dying during it.

7) Earthquake in Haiti, 2010 – 160,000

The most recent event on this list happened just 6 years ago in Haiti. A huge earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, and broke many records with its devastation. It’s estimated that up to 160,000 people died during the earthquake, with many more being injured and otherwise affected. Due to the catastrophe happening in the modern age, many countries very able to aid Haiti with supplies, money and physical help. Haiti is one of the poorest countries of the world, and without massive help from other countries, it would never recover. Even with the aid, the recovery is still in progress.

6) Typhoon in China, 1975 – 229,000

Typhoon Nina, that struck China in 1975, is the world’s 4th most deadly tropical cyclone that ever happened. Majority of the 229,000 deaths happened because of a dam that collapsed, which was a direct result of the typhoon and floods that were happening. Banqiao Dam was built to withstand a one-in-a-thousand flood, but it unfortunately wasn’t big enough to stop Nina mixed with a cold front. The estimated damage in 1975’s US dollars was somewhere around $1,2 billion, and close to 230,000 people have died as a result of the catastrophe taking place.

5) Earthquake in China, 1920 – 273,000

Another terrible that took place in China during the last century. 1920 Haiyuan earthquake was so powerful that it caused aftershocks even 3 years after it struck. The earthquake hit Chinese province Haiyuan County in December 1920, and caused a catastrophe. Over quarter of a million people died, and many rivers, fields and forests were demolished. However, that earthquake wasn’t the worst one that hit China, but more on that later.

4) Tsunami and Earthquake at the Indian Ocean, 2004 – 280,000

In 2004, Indian tectonic plate was subdued by the Burma Plate, triggering several intensive tsunamis to appear across the coast of the Indian Ocean. Fourteen countries were affected, with a total death toll of 280,000 people, with many more missing or injured. It is reported that the waves caused by the tsunamis were up to 30 meters (98 feet) in height, and that they’ve caused earthquakes in places far away (such as Alaska). For comparisons sake, the total energy released during the disaster was that of 15 atomic bombs that were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

3) Cyclone in Bangladesh, 1970 – 375,000

The deadliest cyclone in the history of the earth happened in November 1970. A storm surge that happened caused anywhere between 250,000-500,000 people to die (we’ve taken the average for this list). At the height of their speed, storms were reaching up to 185 kilometers per hour (115 miles per hour). One of Bangladesh regions, Tazumudding lost almost half of its population during the catastrophe. The total damage was around 85 million USD, which is smaller than most on this list, but the death toll certainly makes up for it.

2) Earthquake in China, 1976 – 450,000

Just a year after the typhoon in 1975, another horrible disaster took place in China. The Great Tangshan earthquake that happened in 1976, struck a city with approximately million people. The earthquake, which lasted around 15 seconds, managed to cause severe property damage and take many human lives. The total estimated damage was around $1,5 billion (10 billion yuens). It is reported that hundreds of thousands of buildings were destroyed in the world’s deadliest earthquake of the modern age.

1) Floods in China, 1931 – Up To 4,000,000

The most deadly naturally-occurring disaster in the modern history also happened in China. In 1931, rivers Yangtze and Huai flooded the Republic of China, causing one of the world’s most tragic disasters in the entire history. It is estimated that anywhere between 1 and 4 million people lost their lives in the floods. Collateral damage was, of course, huge. The damage of the floods affected around 28,5 million people in total.

Honorable Mentions

The deadliest blizzard ever recorded happened in Iran in 1972, when it took around 4,000 human lives. Over 3 meters of snow were dumped on the rural fields all over Iran.

Deadliest heat wave happened in Europe, fairly recently. In 2003 70,000 people died from reasons related to the heat wave that led to Europe’s hottest summer in centuries.

92,000 Indonesians were killed in the eruption of Mount Tambora that happened in 1815. The following year is globally known as The Year Without Summer, thanks to worldwide harvest failures caused by the eruption.

The post Top 10 Natural Disasters By Death Count appeared first on Gazette Review.

Today, we will be checking out the most unusual deaths, some of them being extremely rare or even unique. Without further ado, let’s get started

1)  Aeschylus (455 BC)

Ancient Greece had many famous people, including artists, warriors and philosophers, and Aeschylus is one of them. He is one of the best known tragedians, who is called the father of tragedy. His works, alongside of those of Sophocles and Euripides are the only remaining pieces of Classical Greek literature that have survived until this day. During his prosperous career, he is estimated to have created between 70 and 90 plays.

During his life, a prophecy regarding his death followed him. It was predicted that he would die from an impact from a falling object. To prevent that, Aeschylus spent as much time as he could outside, in the open. However, that didn’t help him.

It’s a common occurrence that eagles hunt tortoises by lifting them up and dropping them on hard surfaces (such as rocks) in order to crack their shells. Well, an eagle in 455 BC mistook Aeschylus’ bald for a head, and slammed a turtle onto him. He was dead on the spot. Aeschylus I mean, the eagle was fine.

2) Qin Shi Huang (210 BC)

We are moving from Greece into China, where Qin Shi Huang reigned from 246 until 221 BC. He was a successful ruler who expanded the size of the state of China.

As he was leading his great conquest, there have been three assassination attempts on his life, and they’ve all failed. He also started to build the Great Wall, that would one day become the Great Wall of China.

During his last years, Qin Shi Huang was obsessed with the concept of immortality, and started a search for an elixir that would grant him immortality. He would command people to search for the elixir and execute them when they failed to find it.

Ironically, his death happened while he was searching for immortality. He ingested mercury pills that were supposed to grant him an eternal life. However, they killed him shortly after.

3) Saint Lawrence of Rome (258 AD)

Lawrence of Rome was one of Pope Sixtus’ (II) deacons, who went on to become a saint after his death. He met the future Pope and they became friends, so when Sixtus II stepped up to become a Pope, he choose Lawrence as one of his seven deacons.

Lawrence was the “main” deacon, also called the Archdeacon, who took care of the treasures of the Church, and its distribution. When Sixtus died, the prefect of Rome demanded of Lawrence to give them the riches of the Holy Catholic Church.

Lawrence was given 3 days to do so. He used the time that he was given to him to give away all the treasure he could, and then when asked to turn it over 3 days later, he presented the prefect with the poorest people in Rome. He proceeded to explain that they were the true treasure of the Church.

Because of that, he was killed using a very gruesome method – he was roasted alive. It is  also commonly said that Lawrence joked with his captors, by telling them to turn him over, because he was done roasting on one side.

4) Tycho Brahe (1601)

Tycho Brahe was a Danish nobleman who is best known for his astronomical researches and observations. It is said that his observations were 5 times more precise and correct compared to other peoples’ from his age. He was praised as an astronomer during his time as well as after his death.

Brahe was once sit at a banquet at Prague, and he really, really had to pee. But, believing that it wasn’t proper behavior, he refused to get up and relieve himself. Upon his return home, he couldn’t urinate properly and without pain. He died 11 days later from a kidney ailment.

5) King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (1771)

It’s quite well known that kings and nobles loved to feast, and Adolf Frederick was no different. But unlike most other high class people, his gluttony would cost him his life.

Adolf wasn’t known as a powerful ruler, actually he was considered weak and untalented as a ruler. However, he was a friendly fellow, and many people mourned his death. And what a death it was.

King Adolf died after feasting himself upon the following: lobster, caviar, kippers, champagne, and sauerkraut that he topped of with 14 layers of semla, his favorite dessert.

6) Clement Vallandigham (1871)

Mr. Vallandigham was a politician and a lawyer from Ohio, who was a leader of an anti-war Democratic party during the Civil War. He was devoted to what he did, so when defending a client, he took a real gun to the court to demonstrate a certain event.

Clement Vallandigham was demonstrating how a person could shoot themselves when drawing a pistol from a specific position. While performing the demonstration, he accidentally shot himself and died later from the wound. He at least did win the case, and his client was freed from all charges.

7) Nick Piantanida (1966)

Nicholas John Piantanida was an amateur parachute jumper, a profession that would one day kill him. He was the previous recorder o the highest f one-manned balloon altitude, before Felix Baumgartner broke his record a few years ago.

While attempting to break the record for the world’s highest parachute jump, his face mask was partially removed. That caused Piantanida a brain defect and put him into a coma. He died 4 months after, never waking up from the comatose state.

8) Bernd Brandes (2001)

Warning, this entry is a bit disturbing. So if you don’t like reading about cannibalism, you should skip it.

Bernd Brandes, a cannibalism fetishist, saw an ad on the internet, put there by Armin Meiwes. In the ad Meiwes was looking for a younger man that wanted to be slaughtered and then consumed (eaten).  Many people responded to the ad, but only Bernd Brandes went all the way.

He met with Meiwes, and they agreed to cut off Brandes’ penis and attempt to eat it. After that, Meiwes stabbed Brandes in the throat and left him to bleed, after giving him sleeping pills and a bottle of schnapps. After his death, Meiwes proceeded to consume his meat for many months.  The whole ordeal was taped and presented at court after an investigation took place.

Armin Meiwes, “The Master Butcher”, was sentenced to a lifetime in prison.

9) Jimi Heselden (2010)

Jim Heselden was the CEO of Segway Inc., a company that produced Segways, popular personal transportation vehicles. He bought the company in 2010. Ironically, he fell of a cliff while riding a Segway, and sustained numerous injuries that would later cause his death.

Heselden was among the wealthiest people in the world, with a net worth of over $700 million.

10) Anton Yelchin (2016)

Anton Yelchin was an actor best known for portraying Pavel Chekov in Star Trek. In June 2016, he was pronounced dead, after being pinned between a brick wall and his Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Apparently his driveway was on an incline, and when he was found it was noticed that his car was still running and was in neutral. The event has been described as a “freak accident”.

Honorable Mentions

• Peng Fan (2014) died after a severed cobra head bit him and he had a sever reaction to the bite.
• Joao Maria de Souza was killed in 2013 after a cow fell on him through his house roof. Both his cow and his wife (that was lying next to him) survived and suffered no injuries.
• In 2012, Edward Archbold died after winning a cockroach eating contest. Cause of death: choking on cockroach parts.
• Kenneth Pinyan died from the wounds inflicted by having anal sex with a horse.
• Robert Williams was the first human killed by a robot. He was hit in the head by a robot and died on the spot.

The post Top 10 Most Unusual, Bizarre & Weird Human Deaths appeared first on Gazette Review.

Thousands stunts are being performed without any accidents, but some are bound to happen, sadly. Here are 10 stuntmen who died while doing their jobs, performing stunts, whether it was a movie or a public stunt.

10) Sailendra Roy – Died While Travelling On A Zip Wire Using His Hair

Sailendra Nath Roy was a Guinness record holder for the longest distance travelled on a zip wire while using his pony tail to hold to it. He broke the record in 2011, when he travelled a whole 82.5 meters on a zip wire, holding onto his hair. A year later he pulled an entire locomotive for 2.5 meters, while it was attached to his pony tail.

In 2013, he attempted a public stunt to break his previous zip wire record. He attempted to cross a 180 meters wide river, while hundreds of people gathered to watch him. After getting around half way there, he got stuck, and couldn’t move further. The crowd was encouraging him to keep pushing, but he couldn’t do it.

Witnesses report that he just stopped moving, and was taken down 30 minutes later. Mr. Roy was rushed to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Cause of death was a fatal cardiac arrest.

9) Kun Liu – Died While Filming The Expendables 2 From An Explosion Gone Wrong

During the filming of the popular action movie sequel, The Expendables 2, there was a staged explosion that went wrong. Two stuntmen were on a rubber boat where the explosion took place. Kun Liu and Nuo Sun, both acting as stuntmen for Jet Li, were both caught in the blast. Kun Liu died from the explosion, and Nuo Sun was severely injured, and later saved by a 5-hour operation.

Parents of the stuntman who died have filed a lawsuit against Nu Image, Millennium Film and other individuals associated with the event.

The movie was released in 2012, and was dedicated to Kun Liu.

8) Matthew Crunch – Died Druing A Human Cannonbal Performance After Two Weeks On The Job

In 2011, during Scott May’s Daredevil Stunt Show, a newly hired stuntman, Matthew Crunch, died while performing his human cannonball bit. After he was launched from the cannon, the safety net that was supposed to break his fall collapsed. The cannon was very powerful, launching him at great speeds, and with nothing to break his fall, he died upon impact.

Eerily, the footage of the event exists, and is showing the audience count down “three…two…one….fire!”, as the performance was happening. The video also shows the net collapsing just before the stuntman landed, but is cut after that.

Police announced that there will be no criminal prosecution regarding the incident.

7) Chris Lamon – Died Filming Segal’s Exit Wounds From…Well, Exit Wounds

During the filming of Exit Wounds, starring Steven Segal and DMX and directed by Joel Silver (The Matrix, Lethal Weapon), a stuntman died while accidentally hitting his head on the pavement. Chris Lamon and another stuntman were supposed to roll out of a moving van safely, but Lamon “made an error with his footing”, and hit his head on the ground.

He died 6 days later, suffering a fractured skull. Lamon was a veteran stuntman who was in the business for 14 years before the tragic accident.

6) Collin Dragsbaek – Died After Falling On A Faulty Airbag

While filming the movie called Love Serenade, Colling Dragsbaek was performing a stunt scene on a grain silo. Unfortunately, an air bag that he was supposed to land on failed to open, and he died upon impact with the ground.

It is implicated that the fault is both his and supervising stunt coordinators’, who didn’t make sure that the air bag was up to safety standards. The scene was later reshot with a dummy falling from the silo.

5) Bennie Dobbins – Died After Filming A Fight With Schwarzenegger

Bennie Dobbins, stuntman and a director, died while filming Read Heat in 1998. The scene required Arnold Scwarzenegger and another actor to fight in deep snow, while close to naked. Dobins was installing fan heaters in the snow, to prevent actors from suffering hypothermia, but he suffered a heart attack while doing that.

He died when he was 50 years old, and Red Heat was dedicated to him.

4) Victor Magnotta – Drowned While Performing A Car Stunt

Victor “The Bear” Magnotta was one of the veteran stuntmen back in the 80’s. He was in the business for years, and did many dangerous scenes and performances. While filming The Squeeze he was supposed to drive a vehicle off a pier and into the Hudson river. He did exactly that, but his car was crushed by the impact, and he was pinned inside of it.

Divers and medical personnel who were on the scene couldn’t help him in time, and he drowned. 24 minutes after the jump, a tow truck pulled his car out of the water, and his body was finally removed. He was taken to a hospital, and was quickly pronounced dead.

3) Dar Robinson – Died After Driving His Motorcycle Off A Cliff

Dar Robinson was one of the most well-known stuntmen, having broke 19 world records and set 21 world “firsts”. Dar was interested in being a stuntman ever since he was a child, and he became one in 1937.

After that, he went on and had a 19-year long Hollywood career, that would end in 1986, while he was filming a stunt scene for the movie Million Dollar Mystery. Robinson completed the main stunt of the movie, and medical staff was dismissed afterwards. However, there was a routine high-speed run he went to film afterwards. He rode his motorcycle past the breaking point and over a cliff, to his death.

Three movies were dedicated to him after his death – Cyclone, Lethal Weapon and Million Dollar Mystery, all of which he worked on.

2) Joseph Svec – Died While Recreating An Parachute Accident

Joseph Leonard Svec was recreating Chuck Yeager’s escape from a Lockheed NF-104A, an aircraft used to train astronauts.

Chuck Yeager is an Air Force pilot, best known for being the first person to exceed the speed of sound in a level flight. He once had an accident where his helmet caught fire, and that was the event that Jospeh Svec tried to recreate.

He brought a smoke canister on him, so that he could recreate the fire, but it is believed that the smoke intoxicated him and rendered him unconscious. He didn’t open his parachute, which lead to his death.

1) Paolo Rigon – Died While Filming A James Bond Movie

While filming the twelfth James Bond movie, named For Your Eyes Only, an accident including four stuntmen happened. They were performing a high-speed bobsled chase, but their bobsled hit a tree at a high speed. Paolo Rigon, one of the stuntmen that was inside of it, died on the spot.

Mr. Rigon was not credited as a stuntmen, nor are there many reports of his death in the media.

The post 10​ ​Stuntmen​ ​Who​ ​Died​ ​While Performing appeared first on Gazette Review.

The movement began circa 1985 and was formalized when a website was created in 1993. In 2000 a series of books was started, and has 9 books so far, most recent one being published in 2010.

There are five rules, according to the ruler, Wendy Northcutt:

• Inability to reproduce (dead or unable to procreate)
• Excellence (unique and sensational foolishness shown by candidates)
• Self-selection (candidates must have killed or sterilized themselves)
• Maturity (past the legal driving age, and free of any mental defects)
• Veracity (the story must be verified)

Now that you know what the article is about, let’s talk about 10 winners of this award who did astounding things to get it.

Attempted Gun Shop Robbery In Washington

In February 1990, a man thought that it would be a great idea to rob a firearms shop. As if that isn’t mind-boggling enough, a police car was parked in front of the store. The man promptly stepped around the obviously noticeable police vehicle, entered a firearms shop full of armed people, including a policeman, and attempted to rob it.

The man panicked and fired a few warnings shots, that would be regarded as his last. Immediately after, the police officer and the gun clerk opened fire. Both of them being experienced marksmen didn’t help the amateur robber, who was shot to death.

The story was confirmed by the photo editor of South County Journal, Marcus Donner.

A Cartoon-Like Suicide In North Carolina

Few days before Christmas in 1992, a man accidentally shot himself in the head, while lying in bed. His telephone rang and abruptly woke him up. Ken Barger, 47 years old at the time, attempted to grab the phone from his night stand, but instead he grabbed a Smith & Wesson .38 Special that he also held there.

He pointed it at his ear, and pulled the trigger, thus instantly killing himself. Most certainly not a morning person.

Marriage Fight Ends Badly For The Buenos Aires Husband

We all know that relationships can get heated. It’s not unusual to see partners harshly discuss something or even fight a little bit. But, you rarely see a man throw off his wife off of their 8-floor apartment balcony.

And that’s exactly what a certain 25-year old man did in 1998. Luckily for his wife, she didn’t plunge to her death, but fell onto some power wires and got tangled in them. The husband saw that and leapt after her. We will never know if he tried to finish his job by doing that or maybe changed his mind, because he missed the wires and fell straight on the ground. He was dead on the spot.

His wife managed to survive by swinging onto a nearby balcony.

Planned Elephant Murder Goes Wrong In Zimbabwe

A man who lived in Rushinga, Zimbabwe had problems with elephants that were destroying his field by constantly walking across it. He decided to teach them a lesson using a nearby minefield. After digging up five mines that he had planned to bury in his own field and kill himself some elephants, the mines detonated themselves while he was carrying them.

You can imagine what happened to a guy who was carrying 5 landmines that all exploded. On the other hand, no elephants were harmed during all of this.

Man Killed After Trying To Fix A Moving Car

In 1995, James Burns’ truck had some problems, but he couldn’t locate the source. He decided that calling a mechanic isn’t worth it, so instead he called a friend of his and asked him if he can drive the truck on the highway.

Nothing unusual so far, right? Well, except the fact that Burns would be under the truck while it was speeding on the highway. He decided that it’s the best way to locate the source of his trucks’ problems.

Unfortunately, his clothes got tangled underneath, and his friend found him dead, killed by some mechanical parts that he got pulled into. Basically, for some time, his friend was driving a truck with a dead person underneath it. What a story to tell.

Lawyer Killed While Testing Glass Windows On The 21st Floor

In 1996, Toronto law students visited a skyscraper where some lawyers had their offices. One of the lawyers that was showing the students around began bragging about the glass panels that served as windows.

He decided that the best way to show the strength of the glass was to dive into it, shoulders first. Apparently, he had done so in the past without any problems.

But this time around the glass broke, and he fell from the 21st floor and died upon meeting the pavement.

Prisoner Tries To Escape In A Movie Like Fashion, Unsuccessfully

In 1997, a random prisoner decided to try and escape his captivity. ‘Jerome’ (alias) probably watched many prison break movies, because the approach he chose was straight from them. He tied his bed sheets together to form a rope that he would use to repel down towards freedom.

Jerome broke his cell window, threw his DIY rope through it, and started to climb down. And he was actually doing nicely until the rope got destroyed by the broken glass that he didn’t take clean up after breaking the window. He instantly fell to his death.

A Game Of Russians Roulette…With A Semi-Automatic Gun

In case you’ve never heard of Russian Roulette, it’s a simple game that includes a 6 chamber revolver and a bullet. You place the bullet in a single chamber, then spin it, and test out your luck by pressing the gun against your head and pulling the trigger.

Obviously, that gives you a ⅙ chance of dying. But, if you decide to play it with a semi-automatic pistol, the chances rapidly increase – to a 100%. That’s why most people don’t do it.

I’m saying most because a Texas teenager attempted exactly that, and quickly learned that that’s not how the game works.

Terrorist Mails A Bomb To Himself

As the new century began, an Iraqi terrorist had a great idea. He would mail a bomb in a simple postal package. A bomb that would detonate as soon as the package is opened. Flawless plan so far.

He managed to make that happen, but he forgot to stamp the package so it was returned to him shortly after. Excited to get some mail, he rushed to open it, and blown himself to pieces.

Man Recreates “Up” Very Successfully

We’re finishing this list with a Darwin Award winner that actually survived! He didn’t exactly gain an award, but an “honorable mention”, because rules are rules. Still I decided to include him because it’s a great story, and to wrap this up on a lighter note.

Larry Walters tied 45 balloons to his chair, expecting that he would rise to roughly 30 ft., and safely glide around his neighborhood in California. “Lawnchair Larry”, as he was later called, slightly miscalculated that elevation, because he rose up to 15,000 feet.

Luckily, he brought along a BB rifle that he used to shoot the balloons after his 45 minutes glide. He landed near LAX, where he was immediately arrested.

Walters committed suicide in 1993, without giving any reason why.

The post Top 10 Darwin Award Winners appeared first on Gazette Review.

Today, we’re listing 10 people who died simply because they laughed too much. Without further ado, here are the people who laughed themselves to the afterlife.

10) Zeuxis of Heraclea

As mentioned, the earliest recorded deaths from laughter have been reported in Ancient Greece and Zeuxis is one of those. He was a Greek painter that lived in 5 BC. He is famous for being fascinated by nudity and painting it.

Zeuxis tried to paint Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, but couldn’t find a girl pretty enough to model for him. Only one model couldn’t properly show Helen’s beauty, so he decided to have 5 girls who modeled for him. Unfortunately, his paintings haven’t survived until this day. Zeuxis apparently died looking at his painting of the goddess Aphrodite, that he had to paint looking at an old woman who ordered the painting and insisted at being the model.

9) Chrysippus

Chrysippus was a Greek philosopher who excelled in logic, ethics, physics and the theory of knowledge. He is known as the “Second Founder of Stoicism”. Chrysippus was born in 279 BC in Cilicia, and died when he was 73, in an extremely bizarre way. He saw a donkey eating his figs, and told one of his slaves to serve some wine to the donkey so he can “wash it down”. After that, he laughed so much that he died, according to Diogenes Laertius.

8) Martin of Aragon

Martin the Humane, also know as “the Elder” and “the Ecclesiastic” was the King of Valencia, Aragon, Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily, as well as the Count of Barcelona. He was born in 1396, and reigned since 1405 until his death, 5 years later. Martin reportedly died due to indigestion and uncontrollable laughter. He was suffering from indigestion after eating an entire goose, when his jester entered his room and told the king where he had been. Here is a quote of what the jester said:

“Out of the next vineyard, where I saw a young deer hanging by his tail from a tree, as if someone had so punished him for stealing figs.”

That made the king laugh so uncontrollably hard that he died from it. All of his legitimate successors were dead, so his nephew became the next king, after a two-year interregnum.

7) Pietro Aretino

Pietro “Scourge of Princes” Aretino was an Italian author and satirist who invented modern literate pornography. Talk about a first impression, huh? Aretino was known for his brilliant satirical works, in which he mocked powerful politicians and religious figures. He was also a blackmailer who extorted money from the people who came to get his advice.

This popular 15th century figure died when he was 64 years of age. You can guess the cause of death.

6) Thomas Urquhart

Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty was a Scottish author and a translator who lived in the 17th century. He was an anointed knight, published many literature works and is best known for his translation of Rabelais. He was captured at the Battle of Worchester, but was paroled shortly after.

After his return home, not much is known about his life, but it is rumoured that he died from laughing too much after hearing that Charles II has taken the throne.

5) Alex Mitchell

A random Englishman called Alex Mitchell died from laughing in 1975, after watching The Goodies. Apparently, he was watching the popular TV series’ episode Kung Fu Kapers and couldn’t stop laughing for 25 minutes when he saw some of the funny bits from the episode. He died from heart failure right after the laughter fit.

His widow sent a letter to the director of the TV series, thanking them for making his last moments so joyful. Later on, it was speculated that Mitchell died from a condition known as long QT syndrome, which is a heart rhythm abnormality.

4) Ole Bentzen

In 1989, Mr. Ole Bentzen was watching A Fish Called Wanda, a movie in which there is a scene where a character gets French fries stuck up his nose. Bentzen started laughing uncontrollably, which apparently got his heart to beat somewhere between 250 and 500 times per minute.

That caused a heart attack that left him dead on the spot.

3) Damnoen Saen-um

Most recent noted death from laughter happened in 2003. Damoen Saen-um, a Thai ice cream salesman, started to laugh in his sleep. As if that wasn’t uncommon enough, he couldn’t stop laughing for 2 whole minutes, and then suddenly stopped. His wife tried to wake him up, but couldn’t do it, because he had already died at that point.

2) Pecos Bill

Pecos Bill is a cowboy that is mentioned in many tales by anonymous authors. Whether he actually existed or not isn’t certain, but if he did, his death was very unusual. Like other people from this list, Bill died from a laughter-induced heart attack or an asphyxiation. His maniacal laughter was caused by looking at a guy who tried to pose as a bronco buster.

Upon seeing his efforts, Pecos Bill started uncontrollably laughing and dropped dead.

1) Mrs. Fitzherbert

In 1782., Mrs. Fitzherbert and her friends went to see The Beggar’s Opera performance. After a particularly funny scene, the entire audience was laughing, but everyone was  able to calm down shortly after and keep watching the show. Well, everyone except the above mentioned miss, who was laughing so hard that she had to exit the theatre.

It was reported that she couldn’t get the scene out of her head for some time, and was constantly laughing until her death.

The post 10 People Who Literally Died From Laughing Too Much appeared first on Gazette Review.

Kendrick Johnson in His Youth

Kendrick Lamar Johnson was born on October 10, 1995 to parents Kenneth and Jacquelyn “Jackie” Johnson in Valdosta, Georgia. He grew up with a passion for sports, good manners, and was described by his parents as the life of their house due to his jokester nature which persisted until his teenage years.  He was known to wake everyone up in the household and easily made a laugh out of many things, sometimes at the cost of annoying his older sister.

The sporty and cheerful lad enjoyed playing basketball and football, and running track. He consistently joined sports teams and his love for football made it clear that he dreamed of playing for the Florida Gators football team in college, and eventually to the NFL after graduation. He wasn’t a troublemaker; his parents never received any calls regarding disciplinary problems, and he ensured his grades weren’t compromised by his active sports life.

Kendrick’s mother described him as someone who preferred to stay at home with friends he’d known since his elementary and middle school days, only to seldom go outside to grab something to eat or to visit the mall. He never liked hanging out with his friends in other places.

He enrolled in Lowndes High School in Valdosta, which in recent years became a football powerhouse, where he continued his athletic ventures. Standing at 5’10 and weighing at around 160 pounds, Kendrick played as a power forward in basketball, an undersized yet physical safety in football, and ran on track with boundless stamina. He now liked two more college football teams namely the Ohio Bobcats, and the UNLV Rebels. He dreamed of following his football idols Jeremiah Ratliff and Randall Godfrey, both Lowndes alumni, to the NFL. His football team played with Valdosta High and competed with the state’s greatest football squads.

Kendrick Johnson Disappearance & Death

On January 10, 2013, Kendrick arrived at school in the morning. He attended his classes, laughed with his friends, it was another ordinary day.

That is until he stepped into the gymnasium at around 1:00 in the afternoon. After that, Kendrick vanished without a trace.

His mother became worried as Kendrick still wasn’t home at 10 in the evening. An hour before midnight she patrolled the school and, an hour later, she called the police where the dispatcher dismissed her saying that Kendrick might just be out with a girl. She refused to believe that as Kendrick never failed to call whenever he goes home late.

The following morning she went to the school and waited in the guidance counselor’s office. The latter was on the phone, and due to the loud volume she heard the other line say something about a body found in the gym.

Based on the incident report from the sheriff’s department, a girl saw two feet inside one of the cheerleading mats that were rolled up vertically. Philip Pieplow, the head athletic trainer, pushed the mat onto its sides and revealed the corpse of a young black male from the waist up, along with some blood and vomit. Several called 911, officers arrived, students were interviewed, and in the afternoon the local coroner, Bill Watson, was called. Six hours after the arrival of the first officers, Kendrick Johnson was officially declared dead.

That night the sheriff’s department stated that it was an accident, and that no foul play was involved. The detectives continued with the investigation and connected the facts into a theory. The sheriff’s version declared that Kendrick hid his sneakers in the mat (a common practice by students to avoid paying for lockers) and due to the holiday break the mats were moved along with his shoes. Kendrick had to reach into a rolled mat and fell into the opening. His body became stuck vertically, causing blood to rush to his head, and the tightness of the mat around his body acted like a cocoon which asphyxiated him.

That version failed to convince Kendrick’s parents. The mat’s 14-inch hole wasn’t wide enough to accommodate Kendrick’s 19-inch shoulders. Aside from that, if he did fall into the hole with outstretched arms, his legs should’ve stuck out of the opening as they were only at around six feet tall. His parents also argued that it was impossible that nobody heard Kendrick cry out for help, provided that the next class began 14 minutes after his last sighting at the gym. Students played basketball at the gym in the afternoon, and a practice of the color guard was held at night.

It was impossible that not even a single person heard Kendrick’s screams, and even more impossible that Kendrick didn’t exert any verbal effort in seeking rescue.

Another inconsistency in the investigative report was the teenager’s other pair of shoes. It was claimed that Kendrick reached for the shoes at the mat’s bottom, but they were stuck between him and the mat. It appeared as if the shoes fell after him.

Blood was also discovered 50 feet away from the mats. DNA tests confirmed that it wasn’t Kendrick’s, along with a statement from a color guard member who claimed that she was injured the same night Kendrick disappeared. The Johnsons saw the efforts in determining whose blood was it to be lackluster.

Kendrick’s parents connected their own pieces of the puzzle and came up with a theory of their own: their boy was murdered.

They found it odd that the coroner was summoned six hours after the officers arrived on the scene, contrary to Georgia’s law where authorities must immediately inform the coroner at the discovery of the body.  The local coroner Bill Watson himself expressed disappointment regarding that, saying that it was an unfair practice.

Eddie Tooley, the grandfather of Kendrick, came forward to see the body as the teenager’s father Kenneth was still on Pennsylvania. His request, however, was denied for reasons unknown despite Georgia law stating that a dead body must be released within 24 hours after a request was made unless foul play was officially suspected. The sheriff declared no trace of foul play and ruled Kendrick’s death as an accident. Eddie only managed to get a glimpse of his grandson’s body in a photograph, identified by his dreadlocks. Even when Kenneth Johnson got home the family was still denied access to the body. The father called for a press conference and spoke to the reporters about his wishes to see Kendrick’s body before it is moved to Macon for autopsy.

Eventually he was allowed access in the Valdosta-Lowndes Regional Crime Laboratory. Kendrick’s body bore blackened skin, swollen lips, misshapen head, scratches on his hands, facial discoloration, and even clipped fingernails despite the fact that Kendrick always kept them long. The autopsy results supported the sheriff’s version of the story where the teenager suffocated with just minor tears and scratches. What Kenneth saw strongly contradicted the results.

After the autopsy in Macon, Kendrick’s body was returned to Valdosta. The one who transported the corpse, Steve Owens, signed an acknowledgement sheet which indicated three t-shirts, black shorts, a pair of pants, boxes, and two white socks that came along with the body. Georgia law states that the items found along with the body must be returned the family. Instead the Johnsons only received broken earphones. They believe that the clothing must’ve contained evidence that suggested physical resistance or at least DNA and the disappearance of the items just gave more weight to their theory.

Dissatisfied with the findings on the autopsy, the Johnsons had their boy’s body exhumed from the cemetery and sent to Florida for another autopsy and a second opinion. Dr. William Anderson, the pathologist who conducted the second autopsy, noted blunt force trauma to the right of the jaw and neck. The first autopsy only noted bruising on that same part. Also the injuries were close to the lower part of Kendrick’s brain stem, a location where physical trauma can easily incapacitate and kill a person.

Also, during this autopsy, Kendrick’s body was revealed to be stuffed full of paper. The funeral home that received his body mentioned that the organs were nowhere to be found, and the police said that the organs were discarded.

The Johnsons submitted Dr. Anderson’s autopsy results to the local coroner, the United States Department of Justice, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI). The GBI announced that they are satisfied with their own autopsy, while the Department of Justice reported that the case is still being reviewed and formal investigation has not yet been launched.  Eventually a federal investigation was launched by the U.S. Attorney Michael Moore ten months after Kendrick’s death but so far no findings have ever been released.

Following a court request by CNN, surveillance tapes from the cameras on the gym were released which contained 290 hours of footage. Grant Federicks, a forensic analyst, noted that two cameras have tapes with almost two hours worth of missing footage.  

Kendrick Johnson – The Aftermath

Kenneth and Jackie Johnson furiously worked to have their message heard, to reveal the truth of what happened to their son, and to put those responsible behind bars. They sat on chairs near the Lowndes County courthouse, and wore white shirts with the words I AM KENDRICK JOHNSON written in red. They gave away shirts with different slogans to their supporters who related or sympathized with their plight, and there are those who made fun of their struggle and even tried to convince them to let Kendrick rest in peace. They also use their son’s death picture to show the damage on his face that contradicts the fact that it was an accident.

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the Johnsons against the Board of Education of Lowndes County, along with its superintendent and the principal. It bore no names of those who were directly responsible, but instead pointed out the ignorance of the defendants to the reports that a white student harassed Kendrick multiple times, even in the presence of school staff.

Two students were named as possible suspects to Kendrick’s death by several articles published in Ebony Magazine. Even though the articles resorted to pseudonyms, their vivid descriptions of the students were accurate enough to identify who they were. An anonymous email sent to the sheriff’s department was the basis, which claimed that the younger of the two suspects planned Kendrick’s death after the latter’s sexual relations with the older suspect’s girlfriend. Their parents filed a lawsuit amounting to $5 million against the magazine as they were being harassed after the publication of the articles.

Kendrick Johnson’s Legacy in 2016

As Kendrick’s parents continue the fight for justice, circumstances have came and went that are both in and against their favor.

On April 2013 the parents, along with five other family members (who collectively named their group the KJ 7) formed a human barricade and blocked access to the Lowndes County Courthouse as part of their protest as they weren’t given cooperation by the sheriff’s department. They were informed to stop the act, but their refusal to oblige charged them with civil disobedience. In January 2015, they were handed a guilty verdict and slapped with a 12 month suspended sentence given that they don’t get arrested for the same charge again. The Johnson’s attorney, Chevene King, expressed disappointment as the family only sought to bring Kendrick’s injustice to light.

On the same month, in the DeKalb County Superior Court, the Johnsons filed a civil lawsuit against 38 people ranging FBI agent Rick Bell and his sons Brian and Branden, the Lowndes County school superintendent Wes Taylor, federal, local, and state officials, the crime lab of Valdosta-Lowndes, the Valdosta police chief, several deputies of the sheriff, the medical examiner of Georgia, the GBI and five of its agents, and the city of Valdosta itself. The lawsuit stems from the allegation that a girl lured Kendrick into the gymnasium where he was attacked and killed by Brian and Branden, at the orders of their father, and the rest were involved due to creating a conspiracy that ensured the murder was covered up. The Bells filed a countersuit in March, denying the accusations and claiming that the Johnsons spread defamatory messages on the internet.

Brian claimed that he was in class during Kendrick’s alleged murder while Branden was preparing for his trip to Macon with members of the wrestling team. Federal investigators seized the computers and other electronic gadgets of the Bell family as part of their investigation. The two brothers were also interviewed by WSB-TV Atlanta in August 2015 wherein they denied all accusations against them.

The post What Happened to Kendrick Johnson – New Updates appeared first on Gazette Review.