The Olympic Champion Who Won His Final After He Died
Choked to death in the Olympic final of 564 BC, Arrhachion of Phigalia still forced his opponent to submit, and the judges crowned his corpse.
Gruesome
Notably violent or macabre historical events.
The Knight Who Built a City on His Own Battlefield
In 1565 Jean de Valette, ageing Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, held Malta against the Ottomans for four months, then built a city on the battlefield.
The Crusade That Began With a Massacre at Home
In 1096, before they ever saw Jerusalem, crusaders turned on the Jews of the Rhineland. In Speyer, Worms and Mainz, whole communities were wiped out in weeks.
The Gladiator Arena That Killed 20,000 in a Day
In AD 27 a former slave built a wooden arena near Rome on the cheap. It collapsed during its first gladiator show, killing or injuring tens of thousands.
The Viking Earl Killed by a Dead Man's Tooth
Sigurd the Mighty, Norse earl of Orkney, tied his beheaded rival's head to his saddle. Its buck tooth grazed his leg, and the infection killed him.
The Queen Who Served Justice in a Nutshell
Under Queen Ranavalona I, guilt and innocence in Madagascar were decided by swallowing a deadly nut. Tens of thousands died, many of them willing participants.
The Experiments of Emperor Frederick II
A Franciscan chronicler said Emperor Frederick II starved babies of speech, sealed a man in a cask to watch him die and had two men disembowelled after dinner.
The Man Who Was Roasted on a Throne then Eaten Alive
In 1514 a Hungarian crusade against the Ottomans collapsed into a peasant revolt. Its leader, György Dózsa, was captured, roasted alive on a red-hot iron throne and eaten by his own starved men.