Crazy Deaths by Food Throughout History

Flickr/Jo Naylor
Flickr/Jo Naylor

You know the expression, "death by chocolate." Well, actual food fatalities go much further. And while accidental food poisoning is no joke, you figure that every way you could possibly go, people have gone. Indeed, there have been bizarre food and drink related deaths throughout history - some involving pretty famous people. Here's a list of strange food deaths.

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King Adolf Frederick of Sweden

You've heard the expression "too much of a good thing." Well, King Adolf Frederick is supposedly "remembered by Swedish school children as the king who ate himself to death. He died on Feb. 12, 1771, after having consumed a meal consisting of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, kippers and champagne, which was topped off with 14 servings of his favorite dessert, semla, served in a bowl of hot milk.''

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Edgar Allan Poe

There are several theories as to this writer's death in 1849 - rabies and a brain tumor among them. Another hypothesis is that he died from a cerebral edema after a drinking binge.

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Elizabeth Stride

It was reported in The Evening News that Elizabeth Stride, one of Jack the Ripper's five known victims, was found dead in 1888 with grapes in hand. She was supposedly seen earlier with a man who bought the grapes from a vendor. Grapes were expensive and one theory is that they were used to lure Stride.

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Tommy Dorsey

This renowned trombonist led bands that were ranked among the top two or three of the Swing era. Supposedly, he choked to death in his sleep in 1956 while under sedation from sleeping pills following a heavy meal.

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Calamity Jane

This icon of the Wild West was famous for drinking. Supposedly, she died after a last binge; "She rode an ore train to Terry, a little mining village near Deadwood, where she became violently sick to her stomach. A bartender secured a room for her in the Calloway Hotel and a doctor was summoned. Her death.... was ascribed to inflammation of the bowels and pneumonia." Another food-related note, after Jack McCall killed Wild Bill Hickok it was supposedly Jane who "had the honor of commanding him [McCall] to surrender, when cornered in a butcher shop, with a meat cleaver as her weapon."

Related: Click Here to see other Bizarre Deaths from Food Throughout History

-Arthur Bovino, The Daily Meal