You thought the first round of death facts was wild? Buckle up, because Part 2 dives even deeper into the strange, beautiful, and downright bizarre ways humanity (and nature) deals with death. From jellyfish that never die to Victorian widows who mourned for years, these facts are just as fascinating — and maybe even a little creepier. Ready to have your mind blown all over again?
26. Near-Death Experiences Are Wild, And This Brain Study Proves It
A burst of brain activity during the dying process might explain why your life flashes before your eyes before your death. You don’t need to die to experience this though, it’s not uncommon for people who have had a near-death experience to report their life flashing before their eyes, or having an out-of-body experience. In a small study that mapped the brain activity of four people as they were dying, there was a burst of brain activity after each person’s heart stopped. A biomedical scientist at the Charlotte Martial of the University of Liège believes it may be part of the brain entering survival mode once it is deprived of oxygen as the heart stops beating and thus supplying oxygen to the brain.
27.Hearing Is the Last Thing to Go — Yes, Even After You’re Unconscious
Hearing is believed to be the last sense to go. In a groundbreaking study from June 2020, neuroscientists were able to provide empirical evidence that people are able to hear while becoming unresponsive as they are dying. They were able to measure the brain activity in hospice patients at St. John’s Hospital and compare it to a control group of healthy, young participants. The study showed that the dying brain responds to sounds even when the patient is seemingly unconscious.
28. Touching Executed Murderers Was Believed to Cure Illnesses
People used to believe that touching a murderer who was executed by hanging could cure illnesses. In England, from the 18th century until public executions were abolished in 1868, people actively tried to touch the body of the condemned, especially their hand. They believed it would cure a variety of illnesses, including swelling!
29.These 7 Animals Are Basically Immortal (If Nothing Eats Them)
There are some animals that will not die of old age, although other things can kill them. We know of 7 types of animals that can live on forever as long as they are not killed by external factors: jellyfish, lobsters, turtles, flatworms, whales, radiation-resistant bacterium, and the tardigrade, or water bear.
30.Grieving Like Humans? These Animals Mourn Their Dead Too
Some animals will grieve just like humans do. Some will even hold memorials for their dead. There are at least five animals that are known to grieve: monkeys, elephants, dolphins, dogs, and giraffes. Elephants are even known to cry for their dead, bury them, and pay tribute to their bodies and bones. It’s also not unusual for crows to gather around their dead, but not to mourn. They do it in order to find out how the crow died and learn how to avoid their fate.
31.In Madagascar, They Literally Dance With Their Ancestors
In Madagascar, the Marina tribe exhumes their dead every five to seven years to care for them. The ritual is known as famadihana. Ancestors are removed from their graves so that the living can replace their burial garments with fresh silk shrouds. While the bodies are still above ground, the living will drink, talk, and dance with their deceased loved ones. Before the sun sets, they return the bodies to the tomb.
32.Some Ancient Cultures Used Honey to Preserve Dead Bodies — Sweet but Creepy
Mellification is the process of preserving a body with honey. Herodotus, a Greek historian, claimed the Assyrians would use this method to embalm their dead. There’s also a myth that Alexander the Great’s body was preserved using this method, placed in a golden coffin filled with honey. It’s most likely a myth, but Abdallatif al-Baghdadi, a medieval physician and historian, claimed to have once found a honey pot in an Egyptian tomb. Allegedly, they found the body of a dead child inside the honey, so preserving the body of an fully grown adult is not fully out of the question. But this method wasn’t just used during ancient times. Some of you may have heard of the Mellified Man, a human mummy steeped in honey. What sounds like it could have been accidental mummification is actually a story of body donation. According to Chinese medical records, there were men in the Middle East who would volunteer to be mummified in honey in order to create medicine for others. The volunteers would eat honey, drink honey, and bathe in honey until death. They would then be sealed in a stone coffin filled with honey, and it would be left to cure for 100 years. After that, the body would be dug up to be turned into medicine. Before you get too excited about having a potentially human tasting sweet treat, no one can really prove this ever happened. Guess Skittles will have to do for now…
33.Eating Your Loved Ones Was Once a Sign of Respect (Seriously)
In some ancient cultures, it was considered respectful to eat your dead. The ancient Melanesians of Papua New Guinea and Brazil’s Wari people would eat the bodies of dead relatives out of honor.
34.In This Indonesian Culture, the Dead Stay at Home Like Roommates
Some people will live with their deceased loved ones for years. In Indonesia, the Toraja people of southern Sulawesi will often treat the dead as just a sick family member. They will regularly visit them, speak with them, and bring them meals. Even after they bury their dead, they do not see them as truly gone. They will carve wooden tau-tau statues to match their loved one’s likeness. Those statues will stand on cliff-top perches to watch over the living.
35.The “Death Rattle” Is Real — And It’s as Unsettling as It Sounds
The “death rattle” is a common symptom of death. It happens when the dying person can no longer swallow or cough, as well as being unable to clear saliva or mucus from their throat. This creates a crackling, wet noise that amplifies as the person breathes. It can sound like moaning, loud gurgling, or snoring, and it typically doesn’t cause any pain or discomfort.
36.Death Masks: Old-School 3D Portraits… of Dead People
Death masks were once used to commemorate the dead. The masks were created by placing a mold on a dead individual’s face made of wax or plaster. Perhaps the most famous example of the death mask being used was during the execution of Mary Queen of Scots. After the queen was beheaded, a mold was placed on her face, and a hand-painted death mask was created in her likeness!
37.You Can Actually Die of a Broken Heart — And Science Backs It Up
People can die from a broken heart. Known as broken heart syndrome, or takotsubo cardiomyopathy, this fake-sounding sickness is a very real thing! It happens when the heart experiences a surge of stress hormones that are often the result of an emotionally taxing event. High-stress situations like the death of a loved one, bankruptcy, being fired, public speaking, divorce, or a terminal medical diagnosis can cause you to die of a broken heart.
38.Some Filipinos Dress Up the Dead, Sit Them in Chairs, and Give Them Cigarettes
In the Philippines, the Tinguian people will dress the deceased in their best clothing, sit them down in a chair, and give them a cigarette. They will have their dead sit there for several weeks, but don’t worry, the bodies do eventually get buried!
39.In Ghana, You Can Be Buried in a Giant Shoe or a Car (No, Really)
In Ghana, you can be buried in a “fantasy coffin”. It’s a popular custom in Ghana to bury your loved ones in a coffin that reflects who they were. The coffins could represent a hobby, occupation, or other characteristics. For example, a successful businessman may be buried in a Mercedes Benz coffin.
40.In Victorian Times, Men Barely Had to Mourn, but Women Had YEARS of It
In the Victorian era, there were different expectations of men and women for how long they would mourn. Widowers would only mourn for six months or less. Widows, on the other hand, were expected to mourn for two and a half years. Men were often encouraged to remarry more than widows would be.
41.King Charles II Paid a Fortune for Medicine Made From Crushed Skulls
On his deathbed, King Charles II paid a great deal of money for a tincture made from human skulls. When he was dying, Charles II paid Jonathan Goddard, Oliver Cromwell’s doctor, for the formula of his miracle cure, King’s Drops. King’s Drops were said to help treat gout and dropsy, among other ailments. The secret ingredient was a powder made from five pounds of crushed human skulls. It really takes alternative medicine to a whole new height!
42.Water Changes the Way Bodies Decompose (And Not How You’d Think)
Water can speed up decomposition. We’ve talked about water cremation, but in normal circumstances, decomposition changes happen more slowly in water, mostly due to a cooler temperature and anaerobic environment. But once you remove the body from the water, the putrefaction process will likely accelerate.
43.Cotard’s Syndrome: When You’re Alive but Believe You’re Already Dead
There’s a rare mental condition where people believe they’re dead or are missing organs. It’s known as Cotard’s syndrome, or Cotard Delusion, and “walking corpse syndrome.” While doctors don’t know what causes it, it often comes with another brain disorder, like dementia, a mood disorder, epilepsy, and many other medical conditions.
44.There’s a Whole Festival for a Frozen Dead Guy — Coffin Races Included
In Nederland, Colorado, there’s a Frozen Dead Guy Days Festival. It’s a weekend-long festival that’s held in honor of Bredo Morstoel, a 110-year-old corpse. It’s believed Morstoel was cross-country skiing in Norway when he died of a heart attack. His grandson put his body on dry ice and brought him back to the United States in 1989. When his grandson had to leave the United States, his sister kept her father’s body cryogenically frozen in a shed behind her house. After she was evicted from the house, Tuff Shed would donate a better shed, and Delta Tech would take care of the body. Twice a month, they deliver dry ice to keep the body frozen. At the festival, people engage in coffin racing, frozen salmon tossing, costumed polar plunging, and frozen t-shirt contests.
45.One Day, Facebook Will Be Full of More Dead People Than Living Ones
One day, social media will have more dead people than living people on it. Researchers at Oxford University have stated that, by 2100, there will be around five billion dead people on Facebook if the platform survives that long. At Facebook’s current rate, dead people will outnumber the living by 2070.
46.Fun(?) Fact: About 150,000 People Die Every Single Day
Around 150,000 people die every day. This total includes all deaths from accidents, illness, disasters, and violence.
47.That Time a Dead Pope Was Put on Trial (and Lost, Obviously)
In 897, the corpse of a Pope was put on trial. Pope Stephen VI exhumed the corpse of Formosus in order to prop him up on a throne and put him on trial. He had a deacon answer for the corpse since Formosus, understandably, wouldn’t be able to answer for himself. The Pope’s corpse was accused of violating canon law, perjury, and several other crimes. He was declared guilty, and his status as pope was posthumously taken away. They also cut off his fingers and threw him into the Tiber River.
48.Crematorium Secret: Why Larger Bodies Get Burned First Thing in the Morning
Bodies containing a lot of fat are often cremated in the morning while the machine’s bricks are still cold. Meaning, they’ll be one of the first bodies burned that day. Since their cremation will require a higher temperature for a longer amount of time, those managing the crematorium have to be careful. When heat rises too quickly, black smoke can start clogging and messing up the machine.
49.Yes, “Death Erections” Are a Thing — Here’s Why It Happens
You can get a death erection. It’s also known as Rigor Erectus, and it’s usually observed in corpses of men who have been executed. It’s associated with men who have been killed by hanging specifically. It’s believed that this happens because of the pressure on the cerebellum created by the noose.
50.People Used to Tell the Bees When Someone Died — Or Risk Losing Them
Let’s end on a cheerful note. Bees! There is a European tradition in which bees are told important news regarding the beekeeper’s household, like births, weddings, and even deaths. Some people believed if you didn’t spill the tea, the bees would leave their hive, stop producing honey, or die. When Queen Elizabeth II died, we saw John Chapple, the royal beekeeper, tell the bees about her death.
