Death

HISTORY

During the Middle Ages, corpses were often boiled to remove the flesh so that the bones could be transported more easily. Prepared for every eventuality, the Crusaders took their own cauldrons with them.

Medieval art depicted characters dying or being killed with unusually calm expressions because it was a common belief that that such a response to death was Christlike, as Jesus did not panic on the cross.

Charles VIII  of France died after an accident in 1498. After striking himself on the head while passing through a doorway, he succumbed to a sudden coma several hours later.

Tycho Brahe died in 1601, several days after his bladder burst during a banquet. It had been said that to leave the banquet before it concluded, would be "the height" of bad manners, and so he remained until his bladder exploded.

After about 1660, the religious emphasis on dying a good death gradually declined as did the belief that sickness and death were punishments sent by God. The new age of reason called the Enlightenment encouraged the belief that God, having created the world, was allowing it to work without divine interference. This allowed for a more naturalistic approach to illness.

The fear of being buried alive largely originated after Jacques-Bénigne Winslow, professor of Anatomy at the Jardin du Roi in Paris, published a paper in Latin in 1740 on the uncertainty of the signs of death. It was translated into French by a Paris physician, Jean-Jacques Bruhier d'Ablaincourt, who sensationalized it by adding 'amusing and well-attested' stories of people who had not only returned to life in their coffins and graves but also under the hands of surgeons.

The Queen of Thailand drowned in 1880 as her subjects looked on because they were forbidden to touch her.

No American has died of old age since 1951 - that was the year the government removed that classification from death certificates.

In 1967 Dr. James Bedford became the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.

Lal Bihari (1955-1975, 1994- ) is an Indian farmer and activist. In 1975, Bihari tried to apply for a bank loan, but it was denied because, according to the government, he was legally dead. He fought with Indian bureaucracy for 19 years to prove that he is alive. Bihari founded Mritak Sangh, the Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People, to highlight other cases like his.

During the 2009 Iranian election protests, the death of Neda Agha-Soltan was captured on video and widely distributed on the Internet, making it "probably the most widely witnessed death in human history".

The government of Detroit, with an estimated at $19 billion in debt, filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history in 2013. Detroit was so broke that they were unable to print out death certificates because they had not been able to pay the company that provided the special embossed paper on which they were printed, and subsequently ran out.

DEATH FACTS

We die because our cells die. Though they replace themselves over and over again for some 70-odd years, they can't do so forever.

When a person dies, the first sense lost is sight, and the last is hearing.

If a dead body is left at 50°F, it will take about four months for its soft tissue to decompose until just the skeleton is left.

The US National Institute of Medicine estimated in 2004 that three quarters of Americans die as a result of their lifestyle, factors ranging from drinking, drugs, smoking and violence to stress.

Statisticians have calculated that about 1 in every 113 people die every year.

About 159,635 people will die on the same day as you.

World-wide, one in every eight deaths is due to cancer.

Traffic accidents are the primary cause of death worldwide for people aged 15-24.

Under one-year-old, you are most likely to die from a birth defect. From the ages of 1 to 44 you are most likely to die from an accident. From the age of 45 on, you are most likely to die from cancer or heart disease.

You are less likely to die during an economic depression. This is mostly attributed to cleaner air, reduced traffic, and fewer dollars spent on vices like tobacco and alcohol.

The animal that kills the most humans each year is the Mosquito at 725,000 deaths, followed by Humans at 475,000, and then Snakes causing 50,000 deaths per year.

You're 14% more likely to die on your birthday than any other day.

An analysis based on insurance industry data concluded that without aging or disease, people would live an average of nearly 9,000 years before accident, disaster or murder got them.

In Britain around 580,000 will die of which just over 70% will be cremated and just under 30% will be buried.

The most common time for deaths in a hospital is between the times of 4pm and 6pm, the time when the human body is at its weakest.

Psychogenic death is the act of giving up on life and dying usually within days. It is a very real condition often linked to severe trauma. People die because they have given up and feel life has beaten them and defeat is inescapable.

Working too much is an official cause of death in Japan. Called 'Karoshi' which literally means 'overwork death' it became a hot issue in the mid to late 1980s, when several high-ranking businessmen who were still in their prime years suddenly died without any previous sign of illness.

It's impossible to 'die' on an airplane when it's in the air. Most flights don't have staff who are qualified to pronounce someone dead. So, the body in question will be left in its seat or moved to an empty row, then be declared dead upon landing.

Cholesterol and saturated fats (from pork, beef, eggs and other dairy products) have killed more people around the world than all the battles and wars combined.

The dead outnumber the living by more than 30 to one.

Some scientists believe that one out of every two people who have ever lived have died of malaria.

The US state with the highest death rate is Mississippi; Hawaii has the lowest.

Every day since 1840, life expectancy has increased by about six hours.

In English and German culture, Death is typically portrayed as male, but in French, Italian and Spanish, culture, it is not uncommon for Death to be female. In the Netherlands, Death is sometimes referred to as 'Uncle Hendrik'.

A sad song, hymn, or poem mourning the death of someone is called a Threnody. Here is a list of songs about death.

Would You Believe This Too, History World