Note: Many of these stories are likely to be apocryphal (uncertain authenticity)
* c. 500 BC: Hippasus of Metapontum, a disciple of Pythagoras, according to legend discovered a proof while at sea that the square root of two is irrational. His philosophy offended fellow Pythagoreans who threw him overboard.[1]
* 458 BC: Aeschylus, Greek playwright, was killed when an eagle dropped a live tortoise on him, mistaking his bald head for a stone. The tortoise survived.[2]
* 454 BC: Inarus, Egyptian Pharaoh and leader of the rebellion in Egypt against Persian rule, was taken captive to Susa after being defeated by the satrap Megabyzus. There, after five years, he was impaled on three stakes and flayed alive.[3]
* 430 BC: Empedocles, Pre-Socratic philosopher, jumped into an active volcano (Mt. Etna). Apparently, this was to prove his immortality.
* 272 BC: King Pyrrhus of Epirus, the famous conquerer and source of the term pyrrhic victory died while fighting an urban battle in Argos on the back of an elephant when an old woman threw and killed him with a roof tile.[4]
* 270 BC: Philitas of Cos, poet and critic reportedly wasted away and died of insomnia while brooding about the Liar paradox.[5]
* 207 BC: Chrysippus, a Greek stoic philosopher, is believed to have died of laughter after watching his drunk donkey attempt to eat figs.[6]
* 162 BC: Eleazar Maccabeus died at the Battle of Beth-zechariah while attempting to kill a royal War elephant. Seeing one in special armor, he presumed it belonged to the Seleucid King Antiochus V. Charging in to battle, Eleazar rushed underneath the elephant, thrust a spear into its belly, and when it collapsed upon him, he died with it.[7]
* 53 BC: Marcus Licinius Crassus was executed by having molten gold poured down his throat, following his defeat at Carrhae at the hands of the Parthians under Spahbod Surena. Some accounts claim that his head was then cut off and used as a stage prop in a play performed for the Parthian king Orodes II.[8]
* 42 BC: Porcia Catonis, wife of Marcus Junius Brutus, killed herself by supposedly swallowing hot coals after hearing of her husband's death; however, modern historians claim that it is more likely that she poisoned herself with carbon monoxide, by burning coals in an unventilated room.[9]
* 4 BC: Herod the Great suffered from fever, intense rashes, colon pains, foot drop, inflammation of the abdomen, a putrefaction of his genitals that produced worms, convulsions, and difficulty breathing before he finally gave up. [10] Similar symptoms-- abdominal pains and worms-- accompanied the death of his grandson Herod Agrippa in 44 AD, after he had imprisoned St Peter. At various times, each of these deaths has been considered divine retribution.[citation needed]
* 64 - 67: St Peter was executed by the Romans. According to many sources, he asked not to be crucified in the normal way, but was instead executed on an inverted cross. He said he was not worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was.
* 81: According to the Babylonian Talmud[11], an insect flew into the Roman emperor Titus's nose and picked at his brain for seven years. He noticed that the sound of a blacksmith hammering caused the ensuing pain to abate, so he paid for blacksmiths to hammer nearby him; however, the effect wore off and the insect resumed its gnawing. When he died, they opened his skull and found the insect had grown to the size of a bird. The Talmud gives this as the cause of his death and interprets it as divine retribution for his wicked actions in destroying the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.[12] Tales of his fate are also found in Christian sources, and the phrase "Titus's flea" has come to refer to any idea that gnaws at one's brain.
* C. 98 Saint Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum, was roasted to death in a brazen bull during the persecutions of Emperor Domitian. Saint Eustace, as well as his wife and children supposedly suffered a similar fate under Hadrian. The creator of the brazen bull, Perillos of Athens, was according to legend the first victim of the brazen bull when he presented his invention to Phalaris, Tyrant of Agrigentum.[13]
* 258: St Lawrence was executed by being burned or 'grilled' on a large metal gridiron at Rome. Images of him often show him holding the instrument of his execution. Legend says that he was so strong-willed that instead of giving in to the Romans and releasing information about the Church, at the point of death he exclaimed "Manduca, iam coctum est." ("Eat, for it is well done.")
* 260: Roman emperor Valerian, after being defeated in battle and captured by the Persians, was used as a footstool by the King Shapur I. After a long period of punishment and humiliation, he offered Shapur a huge ransom for his release. In reply, Shapur had the unfortunate emperor skinned alive and his skin stuffed with straw or dung and preserved as a trophy. Only after the Sassanid dynasty's defeat in their last war with Rome three and a half centuries later was his skin given a cremation and burial.[14] (A recent report from Iran mentions the restoration of a bridge supposed to have been built by Valerian and his soldiers for Shapur in return for their freedom).[15]
* 336: Arius, the heretical priest who precipitated the Council of Nicea, passed wind and evacuated his internal organs. [16]
* 415: Hypatia of Alexandria, Greek mathematician and philosopher, was murdered by a mob by having her skin ripped off with sharp sea-shells and what remained of her burned. (Various types of shells have been named: clams, oysters, abalones. Other sources claim tiles or pottery-shards were used.)[17]
[edit] Middle Ages
* 1087: While the death of William I of England was not unusual (peritonitis), his decomposing body exploded during his funeral service, forcing mourners to exit due to the putrid smell (see here for more details).
* 1135: Henry I of England is said to have died after gorging on lampreys, his favourite food.[18]
* 1258: Al-Musta'sim was killed during the Mongol invasion of the Abbasid Caliphate. Hulagu Khan, not wanting to spill royal blood, had the Caliph wrapped in a rug and trampled to death by horses.[19]
* 1277: Pope John XXI was killed in the collapse of his scientific laboratory.[20]
* 1308: John Duns Scotus, O.F.M. according to an old tradition was buried alive following his lapse into a coma.
* 1322: Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford was fatally speared through the anus by a pikeman hidden under the bridge during the Battle of Boroughbridge.[21]
* 1327: Edward II of England, after being deposed and imprisoned by his Queen consort Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, was rumored to have been murdered by having a red-hot iron inserted into his anus.[22]
* 1410: Martin I of Aragon died from a lethal combination of indigestion and uncontrollable laughing.[23]
* 1478: George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence reportedly was executed by drowning in a barrel of Malmsey wine[24] at his own request.
* 1514: Gy
* c. 500 BC: Hippasus of Metapontum, a disciple of Pythagoras, according to legend discovered a proof while at sea that the square root of two is irrational. His philosophy offended fellow Pythagoreans who threw him overboard.[1]
* 458 BC: Aeschylus, Greek playwright, was killed when an eagle dropped a live tortoise on him, mistaking his bald head for a stone. The tortoise survived.[2]
* 454 BC: Inarus, Egyptian Pharaoh and leader of the rebellion in Egypt against Persian rule, was taken captive to Susa after being defeated by the satrap Megabyzus. There, after five years, he was impaled on three stakes and flayed alive.[3]
* 430 BC: Empedocles, Pre-Socratic philosopher, jumped into an active volcano (Mt. Etna). Apparently, this was to prove his immortality.
* 272 BC: King Pyrrhus of Epirus, the famous conquerer and source of the term pyrrhic victory died while fighting an urban battle in Argos on the back of an elephant when an old woman threw and killed him with a roof tile.[4]
* 270 BC: Philitas of Cos, poet and critic reportedly wasted away and died of insomnia while brooding about the Liar paradox.[5]
* 207 BC: Chrysippus, a Greek stoic philosopher, is believed to have died of laughter after watching his drunk donkey attempt to eat figs.[6]
* 162 BC: Eleazar Maccabeus died at the Battle of Beth-zechariah while attempting to kill a royal War elephant. Seeing one in special armor, he presumed it belonged to the Seleucid King Antiochus V. Charging in to battle, Eleazar rushed underneath the elephant, thrust a spear into its belly, and when it collapsed upon him, he died with it.[7]
* 53 BC: Marcus Licinius Crassus was executed by having molten gold poured down his throat, following his defeat at Carrhae at the hands of the Parthians under Spahbod Surena. Some accounts claim that his head was then cut off and used as a stage prop in a play performed for the Parthian king Orodes II.[8]
* 42 BC: Porcia Catonis, wife of Marcus Junius Brutus, killed herself by supposedly swallowing hot coals after hearing of her husband's death; however, modern historians claim that it is more likely that she poisoned herself with carbon monoxide, by burning coals in an unventilated room.[9]
* 4 BC: Herod the Great suffered from fever, intense rashes, colon pains, foot drop, inflammation of the abdomen, a putrefaction of his genitals that produced worms, convulsions, and difficulty breathing before he finally gave up. [10] Similar symptoms-- abdominal pains and worms-- accompanied the death of his grandson Herod Agrippa in 44 AD, after he had imprisoned St Peter. At various times, each of these deaths has been considered divine retribution.[citation needed]
* 64 - 67: St Peter was executed by the Romans. According to many sources, he asked not to be crucified in the normal way, but was instead executed on an inverted cross. He said he was not worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was.
* 81: According to the Babylonian Talmud[11], an insect flew into the Roman emperor Titus's nose and picked at his brain for seven years. He noticed that the sound of a blacksmith hammering caused the ensuing pain to abate, so he paid for blacksmiths to hammer nearby him; however, the effect wore off and the insect resumed its gnawing. When he died, they opened his skull and found the insect had grown to the size of a bird. The Talmud gives this as the cause of his death and interprets it as divine retribution for his wicked actions in destroying the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.[12] Tales of his fate are also found in Christian sources, and the phrase "Titus's flea" has come to refer to any idea that gnaws at one's brain.
* C. 98 Saint Antipas, Bishop of Pergamum, was roasted to death in a brazen bull during the persecutions of Emperor Domitian. Saint Eustace, as well as his wife and children supposedly suffered a similar fate under Hadrian. The creator of the brazen bull, Perillos of Athens, was according to legend the first victim of the brazen bull when he presented his invention to Phalaris, Tyrant of Agrigentum.[13]
* 258: St Lawrence was executed by being burned or 'grilled' on a large metal gridiron at Rome. Images of him often show him holding the instrument of his execution. Legend says that he was so strong-willed that instead of giving in to the Romans and releasing information about the Church, at the point of death he exclaimed "Manduca, iam coctum est." ("Eat, for it is well done.")
* 260: Roman emperor Valerian, after being defeated in battle and captured by the Persians, was used as a footstool by the King Shapur I. After a long period of punishment and humiliation, he offered Shapur a huge ransom for his release. In reply, Shapur had the unfortunate emperor skinned alive and his skin stuffed with straw or dung and preserved as a trophy. Only after the Sassanid dynasty's defeat in their last war with Rome three and a half centuries later was his skin given a cremation and burial.[14] (A recent report from Iran mentions the restoration of a bridge supposed to have been built by Valerian and his soldiers for Shapur in return for their freedom).[15]
* 336: Arius, the heretical priest who precipitated the Council of Nicea, passed wind and evacuated his internal organs. [16]
* 415: Hypatia of Alexandria, Greek mathematician and philosopher, was murdered by a mob by having her skin ripped off with sharp sea-shells and what remained of her burned. (Various types of shells have been named: clams, oysters, abalones. Other sources claim tiles or pottery-shards were used.)[17]
[edit] Middle Ages
* 1087: While the death of William I of England was not unusual (peritonitis), his decomposing body exploded during his funeral service, forcing mourners to exit due to the putrid smell (see here for more details).
* 1135: Henry I of England is said to have died after gorging on lampreys, his favourite food.[18]
* 1258: Al-Musta'sim was killed during the Mongol invasion of the Abbasid Caliphate. Hulagu Khan, not wanting to spill royal blood, had the Caliph wrapped in a rug and trampled to death by horses.[19]
* 1277: Pope John XXI was killed in the collapse of his scientific laboratory.[20]
* 1308: John Duns Scotus, O.F.M. according to an old tradition was buried alive following his lapse into a coma.
* 1322: Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford was fatally speared through the anus by a pikeman hidden under the bridge during the Battle of Boroughbridge.[21]
* 1327: Edward II of England, after being deposed and imprisoned by his Queen consort Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, was rumored to have been murdered by having a red-hot iron inserted into his anus.[22]
* 1410: Martin I of Aragon died from a lethal combination of indigestion and uncontrollable laughing.[23]
* 1478: George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence reportedly was executed by drowning in a barrel of Malmsey wine[24] at his own request.
* 1514: Gy