Let’s be honest - Americans aren’t the
most cautious people. Just ask Florida Man - when he calls you for bail money. But
some risks and bad decisions don’t work out too well. Some end with people going
down in history - in the obituaries. Here are some of the dumbest ways Americans
have managed to get themselves killed. Robert Dreyer maybe shouldn’t have been driving
anymore. The Florida man had just turned 89 in 2017, but was reluctant to surrender his
license. Sure enough, while out for a drive, he crashed into a fire hydrant. A routine accident
- except that the crash also managed to break the water line connected to the hydrant. This
created a massive burst of water pressure - and when Dreyer stepped out of the vehicle to
check the damage, the old man was pulled into a massive sinkhole and disappeared
into the ground. Witnesses tried to help, but were unable to get past the surging water, and
Dreyer drowned in a freak deadly fender-bender. He wasn’t the only Florida
Man to meet an unexpected end. Salvator Disi was trying to service a helicopter
in Hernando County, Florida in 2019. The stubborn aircraft needed to be jump-started, and Disi
needed a boost to reach the parts. He decided to use a power cart to reach it - a ground support
device used by those loading airplanes and getting them ready for de-planing. His strategy worked and
he was able to get the helicopter working - only for the rotors to move up and down unexpectedly
just as he reached them, knocking Disi’s head clean-off and bringing a sudden end to the
61-year-old airport worker’s career - and life. This next plane-related
death was even more unusual. It was a packed football game between the Jets
and Patriots in New York’s Shea Stadium in 1979, and the halftime show had an unexpected
surprise for fans. The Electronic Eagles, a radio-control plane group, was putting on a show
of pilot-less model planes that could engage in dogfights. But this day, the planes seemed to be
getting unusually close to fans. People started getting nervous when one of the planes crashed
into the field, but the show went on - until one man controlling a model plane shaped like a
lawnmower lost control. The model plane spiraled, crashed into the crowd, and seriously injured
the unfortunate John Bowen, who died four days later. While it was ruled an accident, it cast
a permanent shadow over the Electronic Eagles. But sometimes, a car will
do just as well as a plane. John Hutcherson and Francis Brohm were two friends
who loved to get drunk. After a night of partying, Brohm was two sheets to the wind, so Hutcherson
drove them home. The only problem was...he was drunk too. During the fatal 2004 ride, Brohm
stuck his head out the window - and promptly hit a telephone wire, decapitating him.
But Hutcherson was too drunk to notice, and continued driving home for twelve miles
before falling asleep and leaving Brohm’s body in the car. It was found the next morning
by a neighbor, and Hutcherson claimed he never noticed. Brohm’s family seemed to believe him -
asking a judge for mercy for the drunk driver. This next unfortunate victim
was killed by lava - in a sense. Who doesn’t love a lava lamp? Those retro
home decorations with those hypnotic blobs bouncing up and down still have their
fans, and they’re much safer than actual lava - if they’re handled properly. They’re
supposed to be heated by a bulb in the base, but Phillip Quinn of Kent, Washington had
an idea for how to speed it up in 2004. He decided to put the lamp on the stove to
heat it. It worked - a little too well. The lava lamp overheated, the glass exploded, and
Mr. Quinn took a shard of glass directly to the heart and died soon afterwards.
Not exactly the eruption of Pompeii. Sports injuries aren’t the most uncommon cause
of death - but this one was especially painful. Dick Wertheim was a tennis lineman who would
become famous in 1983 when his name became unfortunately prophetic. He was working as an
officiant when Swedish tennis phenom Stefan Edberg sent a serve in the wrong direction -
and hit Wertheim directly in the groin. Wertham recoiled in pain, fell backwards out of
his chair, and hit his head on the hard ground. He was taken to the hospital unconscious and
died five years later. Wertheim wasn’t a healthy man and there were extended legal battles
over what killed him, but the International Tennis Foundation made one big change - no
more linesmen sitting down during matches. This next daredevil failed a spot
check in the most shocking way. Ivan Lester McGuire was a veteran skydiver, and
he had gone on to his next mission - working with other parachutists in North Carolina. For part
of a mass dive in 1988, McGuire decided he would film the other divers as they descended
to the Earth. Once the others had gone, he made sure his camera was set for recording,
got into position, and jumped out of the plane. He had just forgotten one little detail - to
put on his parachute. Instead of capturing the other divers as they approached the ground,
he managed to capture the fast-approaching ground as he free-fell towards a fatal impact -
a shocking end for a man who made over 800 jumps. One of the most common ways to die? Getting
on the wrong side of the wrong animal. Jose Luis Ochoa wasn’t exactly a friend to the
animals. He liked to attend illegal cockfights in California, and he had been cited before
for training roosters to fight. But in 2011, he had a way to make the cockfights even more
exciting - strapping blades to the limbs of the birds to make it easier for them to kill
each other. Well, karma got the bird-brained crook - when trying to wrangle one of the
birds, it managed to stab him in the calf and he began bleeding profusely. He waited two
hours to get medical treatment - likely trying to come up with another explanation for
his injury - and died soon after arriving. This next death was also caused by cruelty to
animals - but these animals were a lot smaller. Edward Archbold was determined to live up to
his Florida Man title, and what better way than to win a cockroach-eating contest? The
challenge, hosted by a lizard store in 2012, offered a grand prize of an expensive python -
a deadly animal in its own right. But Archbold was done in by much smaller animals. After
eating a large number of roaches and worms, he started choking and vomiting. Unable to
clear his airway, he collapsed and died outside the store. While his cause of death was never
conclusively determined, most believe the hard, dry shells and legs of the cockroaches could
have easily gotten stuck in his throat. But you don’t always have to kill
animals to get killed by them. Erica Marshall may have been a Florida
woman, but she was a friend to the animals. She was an experienced veterinarian
who specialized in treating horses, and was working with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber
commonly used for wound care. But several things were overlooked - the horse apparently hadn’t
been sedated before being led into the chamber, and its metal shoes hadn’t been taped over. That,
combined with the high oxygen pressure, was a deadly combination. The horse started kicking,
causing sparks - which led to a fire, followed by a massive explosion that could be heard thirty
miles away and killed both Marshall and the horse. But one man managed to get killed
not by an animal, but by a plant. It was 1982 and David Grundman was out for some
target practice. The Arizona man was using his shotgun to shoot some signs, and he then turned
his attention to another target - the massive saguaro cacti growing in the desert. These
cacti aren’t the ones you get in a pot at the garden shop - they can be over twenty feet
high and live to be over a hundred years old. That didn’t stop Grundman from shooting at
one - and before he knew what had happened, a massive spiny limb from the plant landed on
him and crushed him. This death became so famous, it was immortalized in a song
by the Austin Lounge Lizards. This next fatal stunt proved that
more isn’t always a good thing. It was 1997, and a group of teenagers from Napa
High School were enjoying a senior trip to a local water park. A group came up with the
idea to see just how many people could fit in one water slide at the same time - and the
answer was apparently fewer than they hoped. No one knows exactly how many teenagers crammed
themselves into the slide, but a portion of the slide opened up due to the weight, dropping
the passengers forty feet. The accident injured thirty-two people - including eighteen-year-old
Quimby Ghilotti, who died of her injuries. This next man might have valued
his cell phone a little too much. Roger Mirro had lost his phone. The
fifty-six-year-old Chicago man had a suspicion that it might have been thrown out, so
he decided to dig through the apartment building’s garbage disposal. Unfortunately, he didn’t check
exactly how the trash was handled in the building. The man went missing, and no one knew what had
happened until his wife reported his absence later that day. An investigation found him
crushed to death by the industrial strength trash compactors in the garage. While
his death was ruled a tragic accident, many residents called for better warning
signs around the trash chute in the future. But not even the most famous are
immune to the most ridiculous deaths. Gouverneur Morris was a Founding Father and
one of the Constitutional Convention’s most ardent opponents of slavery, as well as
a Senator from New York. But in 1816, his wisdom in matters of politics didn’t
extend to wisdom in self-medicating. He had been plagued by a painful
blockage in his urinary tract, and decided to try to clear it out himself -
with a piece of whalebone he used as a catheter. Naturally, this only made things worse,
and Morris soon died from internal injuries and infection - which must have led to an
interesting day at the medical examiner’s. This next case took defending
his client a little too far. Clement Vallandingham had a controversial
life, being an Ohio Congressman who was arrested and expelled from Congress
for his opposition to the Civil War. He brought that same reckless spirit to
his later career as an attorney. In 1871, he was defending Thomas McGehean, who was accused
of murder in a barroom brawl. Vallandingham’s argument was that the victim had likely shot
himself while trying to pull out his pistol, and decided to demonstrate that this could result
in an accidental shooting. It worked - a little too well, as Vallandingham fatally shot
himself in front of the entire courtroom. While he died the next day, his mission was
accomplished - McGehean was acquitted of murder. This next man could escape anything
- except a ridiculous death. Harry Houdini was the king of escapes, pulling
off daring feats of survival like escaping from water tanks while in straitjackets or being
buried alive. But his undoing was a lesser-known stunt of his. Houdini would frequently dare
onlookers on stage to punch him in the stomach, protecting himself with a special suit.
But one day, a man named Jocelyn Gordon Whitehead approached Houdini in his
dressing room to test this ability. He punched Houdini several times in the stomach
- causing internal damage. Houdini died several days later of a ruptured appendix, which may
have not been caused by the punches, but many suspect Houdini would have been aware he had
appendicitis if he hadn’t already been in pain. Another woman travelled the world - until
she came to a sudden and shocking stop. Isadora Duncan dazzled the world as a
dancer, and travelled around much of Europe far from her San Francisco home in the
early 1900s. She performed up to age fifty, when she boarded a luxury French car while
wearing a long silk scarf. This scarf was a hand-designed gift by a Russian artist, and while
her friends urged her to wear a coat instead, Duncan wanted to show off the wrap.
While she was riding, the flowing scarf became entangled in the wheels and axle, and
yanked her back harshly. Her neck was broken, and she died instantly - one of the few people to
die in a car accident that didn’t involve a crash. In 1984, an American matinee
idol met a disturbing end. Jon-Erik Hexum was a fast-rising action star who
had just won the lead role on the new CBS drama Cover Up! Playing a CIA handler, he may have taken
his role as a daredevil hero a little too far. While filming a scene with a real handgun,
Hexum was frustrated by a delay in filming. He decided to play Russian roulette with the
unloaded gun, which only had one blank round in it. But the blank used paper wadding, and
it was shot out from the gun with such force when Hexum pulled the trigger that it
shattered part of his skull, causing a fatal brain hemorrhage - ending his promising career,
and dooming the series as it had barely begun. But some ordinary people died in such
dramatic ways that they became celebrities. Michael Godwin was awaiting execution for murder
when he got a lucky break - his attorney was able to get his sentence reduced to life in prison.
But the convict was getting a little stir-crazy, and he decided to do a little do-it-yourself
repair. He wanted to watch some television, but his earphones were broken. While
trying to repair them, he bit into a wire while sitting on the toilet - and wound up
electrocuting himself as the metal toilet and water hit him with a fatal shock. Looks like
he wound up getting the electric chair after all. Let’s hope this next case won’t start a trend. Gender reveal parties are the hottest new trend,
but some people are going well beyond a cake with a pink or blue center. Pamela Kreimeyer was
attending a celebration in 2019 when her family members unveiled the centerpiece - an umbrella
filled with gunpowder that would create a shower of sparks in the color of the gender reveal. But
the rookie gender reveal engineers miscalculated, and the umbrella went off like a pipe
bomb instead - hitting the 56-year-old Kreimeyer in the head with a piece
of metal and killing her instantly. For more on unusual deaths, check
out “Worst Natural Disasters in Human History”, or watch this video instead.
