Death is a strange thing that is seldom talked about. However, we’re all going to die at some point. Instead of cowering in fear, lean into the morbid seduction of death by learning more about what happens to your body when you die, how people thousands of years ago handled the dead and where the death industry is going. Take a look at 50 of the creepiest, strangest and grossest facts about death in the gallery below, then let us know your favorite fact from this list in the comments section on social media.
- Approximately 150,000 people around the world die every single day.
- It was very normal to pose and take photos of your dead relatives during the 1800s.
- Due to a loss of blood pressure, your eyeballs flatten out shortly after you die.
- In 2007, a woman died after consuming over a gallon and a half of water in three hours. She did so in order to win a Wii in a radio contest.
- Hearing is the last sense to go as a person is dying.
- Against popular belief, your hair and nails don’t continue to grow after you die. Instead, your skin retracts due to dehydration, pushing out your hair and nails.
- Messy handwriting on doctors’ notes kill approximately 7,000 Americans each year.
- You’re more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than a poisonous spider.
- In 1945, President Andrew Jackson’s pet parrot was removed from his funeral for swearing.
- Vending machines kill about 13 people per year.
- There are over 200 bodies on Mount Everest and many are used as trail markers for hikers.
- More people die from taking selfies than from shark attacks.
- The smell of decay results from bacteria breaking down the amino acids ornithine and lysine.
- More natural deaths occur during the holiday season.
- Less suicides and homicides occur during the holiday season.
- People used to pay money to drink the blood of the recently executed, believing it to be a health tonic.
- The average human body is reduced to between 3 and 9 lbs of cremated remains.
- Between 1347-1352 the bubonic plague killed approximately 75 million people.
- Hanging is the most popular method of suicide worldwide.
- The concept of a six-foot-grave came from a 1665 decree by the Mayor of London during the plague outbreak to limit the spread of disease.
- Seattle is on track to open up the world’s first human composting facility in 2021.
- To avoid being buried alive during the 1800s, many coffins included bells, flags and air tubes.
- Cotard’s syndrome is a rare mental disorder that makes people believe they’re dead.
- The leading cause of death worldwide is heart disease.
- Forensic scientists can tell how long a body has been dead based on the insects inhabiting it.
- It’s possible to get an erection after death.
- The difference between a coffin and a casket has to do with the shape. Coffins are tapered at the bottom and caskets are rectangular.
- The Egyptian pyramids were created to prevent grave robbers from stealing jewels and treasures that were buried with the royals.
- 80% of Tibetan Buddhists chose to have a sky burial, in which their bodies are placed on mountain tops and consumed by birds of prey.
- Ancient China had rules for how long you were allowed to mourn the death of a child. Children under seven weren’t given a funeral and the parents of children who died under three months were only allowed to cry one day for every month their child was alive.
- About 108 billion people have died since the first modern human.
- You continue to poop for days after your death.
- The deadliest battle in history, the Battle of Stalingrad, took the lives 1.97 million people.
- People are more likely to commit suicide than be murdered in New York City.
- Alaska has the highest suicide rate of any state in the country
- Physician-assisted suicide is legal in California, Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana.
- The 1918 flu pandemic killed between 50 million and 100 million people worldwide.
- The brain can produce thoughts for 15-20 seconds after the head has been decapitated.
- During a stampede, you’re more likely to die from lack of oxygen than from being crushed to death.
- Studies have shown that a fear of death decreases as you get older.
- In the United States, 80% of all deaths occur in hospitals.
- The majority of people who die in fires don’t die from the burns, instead from a lack of oxygen or inhalation of toxic gases.
- Legally, you don’t die from old age. Instead from diseases caused by old age.
- Ancient Egyptians used to shave off their eyebrows to mourn the death of a cat.
- One of the reasons why cowboys carried a pistol was to prevent getting their foot caught in a stirrup and being dragged to death by their horse.
- Approximately 2,500 left handed people die using products designed for right handed people.
- A cockroach can live up to nine days without their head.
- If you were to commit suicide by jumping from the top of Mount Everest, it would take 2.5 minutes for you to reach the bottom.
- At least one in 25 people sentenced to the death penalty are innocent.
- Oscar Wilde’s dying words were, “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go.”
