How would you like your gravestone to be etched with the words “Killed by a donkey”? Please don’t laugh so hard. It may be hazardous to your health. Indeed, laughing can be deadly!
There is a rumor on the Internet that donkeys kill more people each year than die in airplane crashes. For those who care to look, there are news stories from around the world about people being mauled by donkeys or getting in car crashes trying to avoid hitting donkeys in the road. However, according to Snopes.com, there are no reliable statistics on donkey-caused deaths.
Next time you’re being chased by a pack of wild asses, there’s another way to die before they even reach you: laughing your ass off. Yes, you can die of laughter. Bitten by your own ass.
That’s what may have happened to Chrysippus, an ancient Greek Stoic philosopher. There are two accounts of Chrysippus’ death, which occurred during the 143rd Olympiad in Greece. He would have been 72 years old.
Chrysippus. Source: Commonly used meme image. Not sure who captioned it.
One account claims he drank some bad wine. The other also involved wine. According to the second version of his death (from biographer Diogenes Laertius), Chrysippus was watching a donkey that had found some figs. The donkey ate the figs, which Chrysippus found quite funny. He called out for his slave to give the donkey a drink of fine wine with the figs. And he laughed so hard he died. Not bad for a Stoic philosopher.
For someone to die of laughter, donkeys do not need to be involved. There are many other reports of this cause of death throughout history. People have died after hearing jokes, while watching comedy skits, or upon hearing something that made them laugh. Cleopatra’s retainer, King Martin of Aragon, Pietro Aretino, Thomas Urquhart, William Cushing, and Ole Bentzen are a few of the people known to have died from laughing too hard.
Death by laughter is firmly engrained in our culture, being used as a plot device in stories, movies, and video games. Batman, Seinfeld, South Park, the Ice Age movies, Mary Poppins, Little Shop of Horrors, and the Sims series provide some examples of modern use of the theme. “I’m dying of laughter” is a popular saying when a person finds something very funny.
Laughing Statues, Vancouver. Creative Commons via Flickr by Matthew Grapengleser.
In the 1970’s, as Kung Fu movies became increasingly popular, the TV show The Goodies created a phony martial art called Eckythump. The rules were similar to Kung Fu except that a person could fight with a black pudding (a type of sausage) and use it as a weapon. On one episode of the show, the Eckythump master, armed with a black pudding, fought with a Scottish bagpiper wearing a kilt.
Alex Mitchell, a fan of the show from Kings Lynn, England, found this so funny that it caused him to laugh for 25 minutes. He then keeled over on his sofa, dead. Instead of suing the TV show for causing his death, his widow sent the show’s producers a ‘thank you’ letter instead. She said Mr. Mitchell’s last few moments on earth were very happy ones.
Of course, it’s not the laughing that kills a person, since laughter sometimes is said to be the best medicine. In a fit of intense laughter, a person can suffer a heart attack, stroke, or asphyxiation. One of those would be the technical reason that he or she kicked the bucket. The laughter merely precipitates it.
There are many ways to die. Maybe death from laughter is not the worst of them. To be sure, let’s consider a few others first.
Sigurd the Mighty, a Norse earl from Orkney in the Ninth Century, died after being ‘bitten’ by a man he had beheaded. While riding his horse, he was carrying the man’s decapitated head; it slipped and the head’s teeth cut into his leg. Sigurd died of the infection.
Falling cow sign. Source: thedetroitbureau.com
In 2013, a Brazilian man was killed in bed when a cow fell on top of him. It had escaped from a nearby farm and climbed onto his roof, which backed up to a hill.
A lawyer from Canada died trying to prove that a building’s windows were unbreakable. He threw himself against a glass window on the 24th Floor of a building. The glass did not break, but it popped out of the window frame and he plunged to his death.
An Austrian man in 1567 claimed to have the longest beard in the world. While trying to escape from a fire, he tripped over it and broke his neck.
This is another person with a long beard, not the one who tripped. This is Hans Langseth, who claimed (centuries later) to have the world's longest beard. Public domain.
In 1900, American doctor Jesse William Lazear had a theory that mosquitoes were spreading yellow fever by biting humans. To test his theory, he let the mosquitoes bite him. He died of yellow fever.
In 1980, the mayor of Betterton, Maryland climbed on top of a sewage tank to test the city’s waste treatment. She fell in and drowned in 15 feet of human sewage.
King Adolf Frederick. Montage by jobbatical.com
King Adolf Frederick of Sweden ate himself to death in 1771. He ate a meal that included lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, kippers (whole herring fish), and champagne, but dessert put him over the top. He finished his meal with 14 servings of semla. It is a pastry filled with cream (and, in the case of the hetvagg version he ate, these were served in bowls of hot milk).
Very few of us get to choose the time and manner of our departures. But at least Chrysippus and King Adolph Frederick died doing something that gave them pleasure. Perhaps there is a higher purpose for humankind than simple pleasures. But I can think of worse ways to go out than that, assuming I don’t get my own Wikipedia page because of it. How about you?
Sources
Snopes on Donkey Deaths: https://www.snopes.com/science/stats/donkey.asp
Death From Laughter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_from_laughter
Chrysippus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysippus
Weird Deaths: https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomphillips/incredibly-weird-deaths?utm_term=.yglMP87MKO#.uu971dY7GX
Sigurd the Mighty: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigurd_Eysteinsson
King Adolf Frederick: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Frederick,_King_of_Sweden
Semla: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semla
Toothy donkey pictures (2) are used under license from iStockphoto. Others include attribution.
I have had a few near death experiences in my life. One of them involved laughing. I can't believe I am actually putting this on the blockchain forever. Here goes... I was a little under the weather but decided to go see a movie. I had a cough but it seemed to have subsided. Then I saw a scene in a movie that made me laugh so hard that I seriously could not catch my breath. I was laughing and coughing non-stop. I honestly thought I might die. But I still couldn't stop laughing.
It wouldn't really be embarrassing except for the fact that the movie I was watching was Adam Sandler's Happy Gilmore.
This was the scene that was almost the last thing I would ever see.
I was 25.
I must go to the box now and feel shame.
Oh I feel your pain with the laughing/coughing crap. I am dealing with that going on a few days now. Today was really bad as I was wearing my smartass pants and wreaking havoc with coworkers. I had a version of comedy central going on until I started my barking cough. Adam Sandler is da man. How he can keep a straight face beats me.
Great morning read with coffee...
😂👍
I feel for you. Sometimes, our minds are in just the right place and something like that hits us like a ton of therapy.
@donkeypong, this is so so hilarious, i can't stop laughing at the post, hope i won't pass out. lol.
My wife saw some jokes a while back and she laughed so badly that she started coughing so bad, we had a hard time before she was able to get herself together.
Laughing my ass off is so crazy!
Lol....well laughter is good for the health......
It is what they say: Too much of something can kill, even laughter so always put things in moderation.
They usually say, Laughter is the best medicine, but in this case I guess not huh?
Oh god i love happy gilmore. So many good one liners
You almost killed me, I would not mind dying of laughter, but not now... 😂😂😂
okay there is something about true events the facts that are satirically very funny thanks for the smile :)
For the record. Just so you all know. If I make you laugh, you're safe. I am not trying to kill anyone.
This has been a public service announcement brought to you by @NoNamesLeftToUse.
Can't be too careful.
Lol, good to know. :-)
I am laughing so hard @donkeypong because this has me amazed who could ever have believe that one could laugh to death?. Indeed I am learning stuffs from you. Thank you
Really i can not but lough seeing this loughing photography . Really I enjoyed reading Your admirable post.
Haha......haha......haha.....hahahahahahahahah
boo, cats are the worst. Even the big stripey ones.
Don't laugh too hard. We don't want to lose you!
lolzzz...No we certainly don't want that @edith4angelseu:)
Thank you sir for the concern.
@donkeypong hhhhh killed by donkey lol , Seems That More People are
killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plance crashes .. I had to think a moment about the statement this joke makes. When there is a fatal airplane crash it is spectacular and always makes the news. When an entire plane load of people crashes and they all die, the numbers add up pretty quickly. However, “only” 200 people die annually in plane crashes. Contrast that to 40,000 deaths from automobile accidents. That means you have a 200% greater chance of dying in a car than in a plane. As far as shark attacks, , what about these killer donkeys ^_^
It's indeed possible to die of laugher, but solely because of it is extremely unlikely. You don't die because of the joke per se, but from the results it causes in your body.
From the medical angle, I have received a couple of patients at the ER who laughed so hard that they became asphyxiated. If not for the prompt medical attention, these men would have lost their lives. So yes, it is extremely likely to die solely because of laughter
what irony has life, "it is better to die laughing than a cow fall on me" hahahaha ,,,, definitely the one who left this life like this ,,, simply is a lucky ,,, logical nobody would like to die ,, , this I say in a hypothetical case ,,,
anyway great article @donkeypong, and very well @penking for clarification ,,,
Que sexy tu foto..
What's with the sexy lady pose....it doesn't seem to fit the content you produce. Why not put something more sensible up? You're obviously very intelligent. When people see this photo, they are going to think you are selling porn. Just saying. Unless....
I appreciate this advise. Thank You
this is my photo...calm down...you're wrong...irreverent
oh my... i laugh hard every day at funny things.
This kind of freak accidents such as laugh for 25 minutes and then keeled over on his sofa, dead, man died after being ‘bitten’ by a man he had beheaded, a Brazilian man was killed in bed when a cow fell on top of him... lol, funny thing is you never know that these freak accidents could be one day your story as well. I mean it could happen to anyone and at the same time it doesn’t happen to anyone.
Hmmmm, if laughing my ass out could kill me then I should have been dead a long time ago. I laugh a lot especially when I am excited. Well now that you have made mention of it through this post and with all these facts, mayb I will reduce the way I laugh...lolzzz
Don't stop. But take all things in moderation. :)
Laughing your ass off is okay. But you should never laugh your dog off.
Source: I am a dog.
this publication looks like the television show ...
1000 ways to die hahaha, what a way to die
of each of the characters already named are
the unusual death of each one ... but life is like that,
you never know in which direction you are going to die ..
I wish I never stumbled on a donkey in my
path.. :-)
This is fascinating.. In the event that you on second thought, passing on a jackass caused demise is really not all that hard. It's anything but difficult to have a mishap caused by endeavoring to abstain from hitting a jackass out and about. Be that as it may, jackass related passings can't approach the passings in plane crashes each year.
Who wouldn't snicker so hard at a jackass eating figs, and sufficiently amusing, watching it taking wine, this is nothing unexpected got Chrysalis to giggle to he's passing. This is so interesting.. yet, to be sure valid. Ceasing to exist of giggling isn't brand new information to our ears. Furthermore, the situations in this post demonstrate that these are not accidental passing. A few of us really were cautioned by our folks when still youthful not to stimulate our kin inasmuch as they said we could slaughter them from over chuckling.
You're the first person to mention the word "jackass" but it fits well for any number of reasons.
@magoo-1 always on duty.
Hlw author this guy owner multi ID and always comment by multi ID.This person always try to chest and get your reward.
You can check report
https://steemit.com/magoo-1/@magoo-1/comment-thief-and-spammer-report-1.
Those laughing statues are super creepy, whats up with those teeth? and the nipples omg!
My grandma always uses Hans Langseth story as an example to why i shouldn't have a long beard lol, but my beard is years away from being that long.
Another way to die while laughing is if someone tells you a joke while eating or drinking or you are watching T.V eating and something makes you laugh and you choke to death with your food/drink lol. I bet if you sit long enough you can come up with infinite ways to die like this lol.
You could be driving on your car, listening to the radio and someone says something funny on the radio that makes you laugh, lose control and die too...
hahaha ubelievable and so funny rumor that donkeys kill more people each year than die in airplane crashes , if i say true donkey is a cute and hardworker animal and cannot kill anyone @donkepong
other side this think make me laughing that the chrysippus died from laughing at one of his own jokes ,,,,,, intresting and amaizing thing to know that people died from laughing so next time we should think first laughing
In some African countries, laughing in public places is a criminal offence punishable by a hefty fine of ten donkeys， two gots and a hen paid to the local chief.
Yes, I was thinking of that angle also. There are other situations where laughing can get a person into trouble. Ten donkeys? Wow.
Is that for real?
Wow, I am surprised to hear that. 😯 There are also other things (in different countries) you shouldn't do, even if they are completely normal in other countries.
This is very true. I will one story I heard from my grandfather.
He said he had 2 friends who were tendering cows on a grassy hill. Sam was being playful that he hit the cow's butt, and he can't get his fist out of the cow's butt.So the cow ran away dragging him, and John was laughing at his friend being dragged by the cow while his fist still attached to the cow's behind... He was laughing so hard that his jaw locked upon and he had the difficulty in breathing.After Sam managed to forcibly take his fist out of the cow's body, he goes back to the place where John was, and he found his friend lifeless.He died .cause of death was "laughing so hard".
Oh wow, that's quite a story.
Standing in front of St. Peter: "How did you get here?"
"Well, you see what had happened was..."
Precisely. Go tell that to the insurance adjuster.
This is interesting.. If you come to think of it, dying a donkey-caused death is actually not so hard. It's easy to have an accident caused by trying to avoid hitting a donkey on the road. But donkey-related deaths can't come close to the deaths in airplane crashes every year.
Who wouldn't laugh so hard at a donkey eating figs, and funny enough, watching it taking wine, this is no surprise got Chrysippus to laugh to he's death. This is so funny.. but indeed true. Dying out of laughter is not news to our ears. And the scenarios in this post prove that these are not accedental deaths. Some of us actually were warned by our parents when still young not to tickle our siblings so long as they said we could kill them from over laughing.
The scenarios of the funny deaths in this post that are not donkey-related are killing me with laughter. Did I just say killing.. Hope I don't end up like Alex Mitchell.
Yes, tickling can be related as well. There is even a form of torture called tickle torture.
Hahahahahaha... tickle torture is one way to make you give in. Honestly you wouldn't hold on to your word after a 5 minute hard laugh.
hehe i really love this post i just wanted to say that laughing indeed can cause death but i thing donkeys are really very good animals to human being i do really love the way you orgnized your post, this one is killing me"In 1900, American doctor Jesse William Lazear had a theory that mosquitoes were spreading yellow fever by biting humans. To test his theory, he let the mosquitoes bite him. He died of yellow fever". it really emphsize that scieence can cause us death haha. have a great time.
That's the scientific method in its most direct form, but that doctor was not wise enough to keep himself out of it.
Hahaha. Oops! Am laughing now?. I should be careful doing it next time. I am not prepared yet.
Amazing! I never thought these happen to people. So, is laughter still the best medicine?
Its the best way for suicide.
Hahaha. It's Happy Death then @amit-negi. Right? Hahaha
Well, what kind of humour can make one laugh for 26 minutes!
I have some problem of laughing myself, sometime I couldn't stop it when I start to laugh, this gives me a lot of problem.
BTW, I couldn't stop laughing while reading this post haha
I was falling once from the toilet aka closet aka the thing you do your shit from laughing, was dangerous - hit my head. Now you know why I write the way i do here on steemit lol
I think I have to be more careful with laughing now because sometimes I laugh really hard till I get a headache. Never knew laughing could cause such great harm as death. Thanks for the heads up :)
i had a strange experience, in which I almost died, and since then I've been convinced we actually do determine the time of our death. the reason for the lack of knowledge by the majority is the poor understanding most have about what is going on in their unconscious mind.
but we can fish it out, and when I did, I found many reason that I would have 'died' because of my thoughts. but before you realize they have a real impact, you don't think of them that way.
but once you see the power of your thoughts, you never allow such thoughts to linger as I would before when I was unaware of the consequences.
I'm overwhelmed.
@donkeypong - You are the most humorous blog artist, I ever read. Today is my first day on steemit and due to your blog post, I got motivated to join steemit. After a busy and little bit sad day, this post bring some smile on my face. I would like to thank you for your efforts. You are really a magical person.
Welcome to Steemit and I hope you like it here!
This is a very interesting post !Seriously it is better to die laughing than crying :)
And King Adolf Frederick is somehow lucky to die after a good meal that many people never had :)
Good work, keep it up!
I couldn't laugh enough, am still laughing especially when I actually found out that I have believed that laughter can kill but not so, then I read it is the precipitation and not the actual cause the I laughed the more, I was fooled again, the undetected indirectedness of this writing really dazed me, am still laughing but now at myself for not seeing where you were going in time, I just dived in, love your story. Thank you for making me laugh, Atleast am not dead.
"Undetected indirectness" = one of the best compliments I've received. :)
Thank you.
Donkeys and mules are really great creatures, they need to be given some kind of award especially for how they help with therapy of disabled children. We have a donkey sanctuary locally and I often see the donkeys walking with kids.
That's nice to hear. They are hard workers.
I doesn't have much to do with the topic, but, believe it or not, my friend was hit by a deer (hoof)! It was a mother deer protecting her baby from my overly cuddling friend in a baby zoo. : )
Speaking of Kung Fu, I beleive that Jackie Chan almost killed me dozens of times while I was younger, I loved his movies (especially with Owen Wilson)!
Most of the deaths you described are funny (not a nice to admit but it's true), however, Sigurd the Mighty has died maybe in a most bizarre way in the history.
I had no idea that the donkey epidemic had become such a big issue. It’s like an infectious disease. The spread of donkey through the world causes a dramatic increase in deaths. There is no know cure for donkey? It’s a sad day as we are nearing the moment when donkey deaths surpass deaths due to cancer. Bahahahaha well done sir!!!!
These stories make me want to go back and watch the show called 1000 ways to die.. some funny stuff on that show and I think that they had an episode where someone died of laughter. Highly entertaining article.
Oh my goodness...sounds like a 1000 ways to die! Some of these people did not use their common sense. Have a great day!
It wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if they'd used common sense. :)
As educative as this post is - which of course I've learnt a whole lot from it, I find the quoted part amusing and funny.
Thanks for sharing this @donkeypong. The post is well detailed and meticulously written.
I've always been fascinated about the science, biology and the human body and I'll try to do more researches on this.
I gotta be careful how I laugh lol😁
Happy Steeming
Keep laughing. You'll be OK. :)
I never knew one could loose his life as a result of laughter. I am going to do more research about this this to understand the chemistry behind death due to laughter.
The image of that donkeys showing her teeth is hilarious. Lol.
I would rather die of laughter than of drowning in human waste, or asphyxiation under a cow :P
Very troll article, I like the dark humor, it is almost.. (dare I say it) ..british :))))
Hahahahaha. The story of a Sigurd the mighty killed by the decapitated head of a man he just beheaded got me laughing my ass off. The man must have been a bad ass criminal that even in death his head can still commit murder.
I have actually witness a man died laughing at a performance at a wedding while eating. He had laughed with some fish in his mouth and got chocked by fish bone. He didn't make it to the hospital. It reminds me of the movie: Arabian Nights.
@donkeypong. Absolutely if die peoples through laughing I'd control my smile today onward. Lolzz :D. It's possible way to die peoples coz I've experience for that. But I have more learnt from you today. Nice you decided to share.
Laugh my ass off.
This is pretty interesting
So laughing can kill now
And what interest me again about your post was when you said
"There is a rumor on the Internet that donkeys kill more people each year than die in airplane crashes"
How is this possible?
It probably isn't possible, but that never stopped a rumor.
I never knew laughing can be deadly.
And @donkeypong just got me laughing my ass out with this, though not to my death lols!
Really so people have actually died from laughing? That's quite weird to begin with. I thought laughing - I mean - a good laugh is supposed to be good medicine for the body! Well, isn't that why excess is never good, no matter how well thought out that thing is. I have a friend who can laugh non stop for 30 minutes and I have actually witnessed him do so. Let's hope I see him tomorrow and maybe show him this post. He sure needs to read this!
But @donkeypong, I think it'd be much fun if we were allowed to choose our way to exit this life, to end it. Most deaths are usually unplanned - that's why statiscal data pulled off from anywhere are often messed up with silly death stories like being ran under by a donkey (!)
Thanks for educating me on this!
Haha, yeah I've heard those stories of death from laughter. If it's truly possible, I think I will leave this world exactly this way, LOL. I simply laugh too much...
I even wanted to laugh from all the stories you included about people dying in weird ways. I think the cow one is the funniest, but I the beard guy breaking his neck and the guy how "proved" that the window can't break were also hilarious!
I think dying because of laughing is probably one of the best way to go, as well as dying while being sleep, because in neither of them you suffer, so it must feel very peaceful to die like that.
What a fate ... to die of laughter!
Another risk factor to take into consideration ...
Thanks for this insight & for "avoiding" extremely strong emotional states (even positive). Next time we see a comedy we need to be careful not to laugh to hard. Great post!
And that is not a scary thought, lol. I use laughter as a means of stress release as much as possible. Sometimes I will laugh so hard that I start coughing and sound like a dog barking. I have never been tested for bronchitis or asthma, so one of those may be possible. This should be interesting for me to learn to moderate my laughing. To think I thought it was just a pun. :-)
Laughter is good for you in moderate doses. :)
Agreed, as long as it is caught before going too far. Not sure how it would turn out if I said, "Wait, hold that thought. Please stop that so I can stop laughing."....5 minutes later.."Ok, proceed."
:-)
Thank you Tom for the smile in response to the post image and the subject of this post :)
I will be resteeming this soon!
I like how your username and post are working in conjunction together haha I'm a bastion of useless trivia and this one has just widened my horizons, so for that I thank you very much.
Humor is completely subjective I find. Slapstick humor just doesn't do it for me, but give me some of the Python boys and I will have side-splitting fits of laughter for hours...
"It's not dead, it's just sleeping"
A man from Detroit farted himself to death, and it almost caused me to laugh to death.
https://www.snopes.com/humor/follies/methane.asp
"To me there is no picture so beautiful as smiling, bright-eyed, happy children; no music so sweet as their clear and ringing laughter." - P. T. Barnum
Ha!! Thanks I needed that :P lol
If u suddenly have uncontrolable laughs and a bad heart then i could see someone dying from it, lol..
Haha! Funny! Followed!
you aare amazing this is ...amazing