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Here at Mytour, we have a peculiar fascination with the macabre, which means we often find ourselves discussing the strange and unusual ways people have met their end. If karma is real, we’re probably destined for a spectacularly absurd demise—perhaps slipping on a giant banana peel at a grand event, tumbling down a glittering staircase while a polka band serenades our fall. But hey, we’re ready for whatever comes our way.
Having ventured down this path long ago, we’re excited to share this compilation of 20th-century figures who met their end in remarkably bizarre circumstances. Dive in, and we’ll catch you at the next big event!
10. Ray Chapman
Ray Chapman, a renowned shortstop for the Cleveland Indians, made history on August 16, 1920, as the only professional baseball player to lose his life due to a pitch. The ball, a 'spitball' that had been tampered with, led to speculation that Chapman never saw it coming.
Carl Mays, a Yankees pitcher, delivered a high, inside pitch that struck Chapman’s left temple with such force that it caused an audible crack. Initially, Mays mistook the sound for the bat hitting the ball. Chapman fell, briefly stood up, then collapsed again while heading to the dugout, never waking up.
Although Mays was exonerated, the incident led to the banning of spitballs, with an exception for veteran pitchers who relied on the technique. This grandfather clause somewhat undermined the rule’s intent. Surprisingly, batting helmets weren’t mandated until 1971.
9. Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey, a pioneering Black activist born in 1887, formulated the Pan-African philosophy known as 'Garveyism.' While he is often associated with advocating for the return of Black people to Africa, this was just one aspect of his broader ideology. A skilled orator and successful entrepreneur, Garvey founded numerous influential Black political and activist organizations and left a lasting impact on the Nation of Islam.
Garvey’s death was both unusual and ironic—he suffered two strokes after reading his own premature obituary. The obituary, far from flattering, described him as having died 'broke, alone, and unpopular,' dismissing his political contributions. While the report of his death was premature, it wasn’t long before it became a reality.
Garvey is revered as a prophet in the Rastafari religion. Though raised as a Methodist in Jamaica, his teachings deeply influenced the Rastafari movement, with some even believing he was the reincarnation of Saint John the Baptist.
8. Gareth Jones
'Armchair Theatre,' a British drama anthology series, aired from 1956 to 1974. Early episodes were broadcast live, and a November 1958 episode highlighted the challenges of live television when tragedy struck.
Actor Gareth Jones, aged 33, was in makeup between scenes when he suffered a fatal heart attack. As the live show continued, Jones collapsed and died, becoming the first actor to pass away during a live TV broadcast. The director and producer quickly improvised to work around his absence, and the play concluded as Jones' body was removed from the set.
Ironically, Jones' character was scripted to have a heart attack later in the play. The director, Ted Kotcheff, later helmed Hollywood films like 'First Blood' and 'Weekend at Bernie’s,' a movie about hiding a boss’s death. The parallel likely wasn’t lost on him.
7. Sherwood Anderson
Without Sherwood Anderson, literary giants like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner might never have emerged. During the 1910s, 1920s, and 1930s, Anderson penned novels and short stories that profoundly influenced the Great American Writers. His 1919 collection, 'Winesburg, Ohio,' broke away from conventional literary techniques, offering stark, unromanticized depictions of American life that others would later popularize.
Anderson’s death reads like a plot twist he might have scorned in his own writing. At a party, he swallowed a martini olive that contained a toothpick fragment. While he didn’t choke, the toothpick likely caused internal damage, leading to an infection. He succumbed to peritonitis a few days later.
Today, Anderson is celebrated as a pivotal American writer. Numerous works were published after his death, many of which remain in print. While his contemporaries, like Fitzgerald, were known for their excesses, Anderson stands out as the only one whose life was claimed by a single martini.
6. Jack Daniel
The legendary master distiller Jack Daniel needs no introduction; chances are, someone reading this is currently enjoying his famous creation. While we’ve previously explored fascinating aspects of his life, the event that led to his demise was, unfortunately, absurd.
In 1906, Jack arrived unusually early to his office one morning. Struggling to recall the combination to the company safe—something he rarely did—he grew frustrated and kicked it hard. The kick likely injured his foot, as he immediately began limping, and the condition persisted.
The safe’s revenge unfolded over time. The limp worsened, leading to suspected blood poisoning and gangrene, which eventually required amputation. Jack died from gangrene five years after the incident, proving that when your life revolves around whiskey, showing up early for work might not be the best idea.
5. Keith Relf
The Yardbirds served as a breeding ground for legendary rock guitarists. After Eric Clapton left to form Cream, Jeff Beck took over, later joined and eventually replaced by Jimmy Page. Page developed his iconic cello bow technique with the Yardbirds before taking it to Led Zeppelin and shaping the sound of heavy metal.
Keith Relf was the Yardbirds’ frontman and lead singer throughout their entire run. He stayed with the band from their bluesy Clapton era through the heavier Beck/Page phase. Relf eventually disbanded the group, weary of the increasingly loud, electric direction and the strain of competing with the instruments.
Ironically, Relf later joined a heavy metal band called Armageddon. While recording vocals for them, he tragically died from electrocution caused by playing an improperly grounded electric guitar. Perhaps sticking to softer music would have been safer. Relf was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Yardbirds in 1992.
4. Janet Parker
Janet Parker is unique on this list, notable solely for her cause of death: she was the last known victim of smallpox. Her tragic case serves as a stark reminder that even 'eradicated' diseases persist in laboratories.
Parker worked as a medical photographer at the University of Birmingham, sharing a building with Henry Bedson’s smallpox research lab. To this day, it remains unclear how she contracted the virus or how it escaped the lab. Ironically, Bedson had recently defended his lab’s safety standards in a letter to the World Health Organization, just days before Parker’s infection.
She passed away in September 1978, ten months after the last natural smallpox case. No cases have been reported since, but the virus remains stored in labs worldwide. Another breach could have catastrophic consequences, a reality Bedson understood all too well—he took his own life five days before Parker’s death.
3. Boris Sagal
Boris Sagal, a film director and father to a family of actors—most notably daughter Katey, known for 'Sons of Anarchy' and 'Futurama'—met a tragic end that few in Hollywood have experienced. His death bears eerie similarities to another infamous incident.
While directing a TV movie in Oregon in 1981, Sagal accidentally stepped into a helicopter’s rotor and was decapitated. This mirrors the fate of actor Vic Morrow, who died a year later in a helicopter accident on the set of 'The Twilight Zone Movie.'
Sagal had directed episodes of 'The Twilight Zone' early in his career. His first feature film, 'The Omega Man,' was based on Richard Matheson’s novel 'I Am Legend.' Matheson, a writer for 'The Twilight Zone,' penned much of the film, except for the segment filmed during the helicopter accident. What does this all signify?
It’s simple: avoid getting near helicopter rotor blades. The consequences are fatal.
2. Dick Wertheim
Stefan Edberg, a dominant tennis player in the ’80s and ’90s, won multiple Grand Slam titles, including the U.S. Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon. Known for his serve-and-volley style, he relied on agility and speed rather than sheer power. This makes the tragic incident involving line judge Dick Wertheim even more unusual.
During a Junior Boys’ Title Match at the U.S. Open, 16-year-old Edberg unleashed a powerful serve that went astray. Wertheim, seated courtside, saw the ball coming and tried to dodge, but the impact struck him in the groin, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. Rushed to the hospital, he never regained consciousness and died a week later from the head injury.
The incident deeply affected Edberg, who considered quitting tennis despite winning the match. It was a freak accident that showcased the unexpected dangers of the sport. Had we been in his shoes, we might have either retired or embraced a superhero persona.
1. Kurt Godel
As evident from the photo of him alongside Albert Einstein, Kurt Godel was an exceptionally brilliant man. His Incompleteness Theorem revolutionized the field of logic, and he is immortalized in mathematics through Godel numbering. Plus, there he is—hanging out with Einstein himself.
Brilliant minds often come with unique quirks, and Godel was no different. In his later years, he developed severe paranoia, particularly a fear of being poisoned. He refused to eat anything not prepared by his wife—without exception. This, as you might guess, led to complications.
When Godel’s wife fell ill and was hospitalized for six months, he stopped eating entirely. He passed away on January 14, 1978, weighing just 65 pounds. The official cause of death was 'malnutrition and inanition due to personality disturbance,' a formal way of saying he died from his own stubbornness.
