10 Weirdest Deaths In History

Okay, so just a heads-up: once we get into ancient times, some of these deaths are less concrete. Still, historians have generally accepted certain accounts, namely because there's no evidence to the contrary. Such is the case with the untimely demise of the ancient Greek philosopher, Chrysippus of Soli.

Chrysippus was a practitioner and follower of Stoicism. Today, people hear the word "stoic" and picture someone who is altogether cold and emotionless. The original philosophy, however, asserted that self-control was paramount to overcoming destructive, counterproductive emotions. It was not built upon the suppression of emotion, but the temperance of emotional extremes.

Was excessive laughter part of that? Because it probably should have been.

According to Greek biographer, Diogenes Laërtius, Chrysippus died in 206 BCE, at the ripe old age of 73. At some sort of banquet or feast, he watched as a donkey munched on some figs. Apparently, good ol' Chrysippus found this pretty entertaining. He demanded that someone give the donkey some wine to wash the figs down. They did, and suddenly you have a drunk donkey, and a (presumably) drunk man. Apparently, this was SO funny, that Chrysippus laughed himself to death.

This CAN happen, usually the result of asphyxiation or cardiac arrest. Moral of the story: maybe modern "stoics" have it right. Laugh less. Life is pain.