Stupid, stupid people everywhere...
by Alex Syiek (Writer/Performer)
In doing some recent research for a musical I'm writing, I found some amusing stories about people who died while reaching beyond human limits. Pretty fun stuff. Thought I would share the anecdotes I like the most.
1. Franz Reichelt
People aren't supposed to fly. However, in 1912, Franz Reichelt confidently leapt from the Eiffel Tower in his homemade “flying suit” and plummeted swiftly to his death. In a fortunate turn of events, the event was caught on film, so you can see it today on YouTube! Morbid, but humorous.
2. Chicken Tragedy
And in 1995, a chicken fell down a well in Egypt. A farmer went down to retrieve it, but ended up drowning. One by one, three other members of his family, and two other townspeople drowned in service of retrieving the chicken. They later pulled up all the dead bodies. And one living chicken.
3. Horace Hunley
In an effort to explore the ocean depths, Horace Hunley created the submarine in 1863. His first effort confined five sailors to a watery grave. Not content with manslaughter, he boarded the next ship himself, adding another poor unfortunate soul to Davy Jones’ locker.
4. Alexander Bogdanov
In 1928, Alexander Bogdanov thought that the secret to eternal life lay in blood transfusions. He happily experimented on himself, but he really hit his stride when he put the blood of a malaria patient into his system. He died, of course. The patient lived.
Don't be like these people! Think before acting, and remember, we're all just human.
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