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Death
Vol. 2
Death
When being buried alive wasn’t all that uncommon, bells on the surface were attached to corpses. The inventor of this contraption became so preoccupied to the point of psychosis over being buried alive, he soaked himself in linseed oil and set himself ablaze (Final Exits p.65).
American History
Vol. 2
Death
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4th, 1826, exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed (Final Exits p.199).
Random
Random
Jimmy Stewart (of It's a Wondeful Life fame) smuggled an alleged yeti finger out of India (grunge.com).
Weird
Weird
People can smoke toads like a crack pipe to get aphrodisiac effects, talk about a horny toad. The U.S. law even states “Toads may not be licked” (Final Exits p.27).
Ancient
Ancient Fun Facts
In the second century A.D., the fourteen-year-old emperor of Rome, Elagabalus, was reported to be a complete psychopath. One story tells how he enjoyed having broken glass mixed into his guest’s food that he would make them eat, once he fed a party camel heels, nightingale tongues, parrot heads, and flamingo brains, only to release live lions and leopards into their room. At a separate feast, he ordered some guests to be tied to a spinning water wheel and ordered everyone else to watch as they drowned. Once at a packed gladiatorial game, he released venomous snakes loose among the packed crowd (Madman’s Library p.188)
Animals
Ancient Fun Facts
Steve Irwin and Charles Darwin owned the same pet tortoise, Harriet (Australia Zoo).
Art History
Art History
Da Vinci’s The Last Supper is in a terrible state and always has been. Its deterioration was noted soon after completion. By using paints of an ephemeral nature on a thin exterior wall, humidity rapidly ravaged the masterpiece. Like the ship of Theseus, just 42.5% of the painting is da Vinci’s work, 17.5% is lost, and the remaining 40% is the work of restorers (Madman’s Gallery p.61).
Death
Vol. 1
Death Vol. 1
Human Cannonballs killed half of the stunt people who attempted (Final Exits p. 19).
American History
Vol. 1
American History Vol. 1
Alexander Hamilton had been successful in 14 previous duels before dying by Burr’s gun (Final Exits p.05).
Gross
Vol. 1
Gross Vol. 1
The average ER performs twenty small-animal-from-anus removals yearly (Final Exits p.146).
