When asked if he had any last words, Cherokee Bill, a hoodlum hanged in 1896, replied, “No. I came here to die, not make a speech.”

Culled from: Death: A History Of Man’s Obsessions and Fears

Joseph Strutt, in his Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants of England (1775), described the execution of Catherine Hayes at Tyburn in 1726 – which didn’t quite go as planned:

“The letter of the law to this very day, I believe, condemns a woman, who doth murder her husband, to be burnt alive… In the case of Catherine Hayes (who, for the murder of her husband, some few years ago, was adjudged to suffer death at the stake), the intention was first to strangle her; but as they used at that time to draw a rope which was fastened round the culprit’s neck, and came through a staple of the stake, but at the very moment that the fire was put to the wood which was set around, the flames sometimes reached the offenders before they were quite strangled – just so it happened to her; for the fire taking quick hold of the wood, and the wind being brisk, blew the smoke and blaze so full in the faces of the executioners, who were pulling at the rope, that they were obliged to let go their hold before they had quite strangled her; so that, as I have been informed by some there present, she suffered much torment before she died. But now they are first hanged at the stake until they are quite dead, and then the fire is kindled round, and the body burnt to ashes.”

Culled from: The History Of Torture

“I like children – they are tasty.”
- Albert Hamilton Fish
(The Werewolf of Wisteria)

On the sleeve is the Morbid Fact Du Jour skull & crossbones logo. Available where all fine MFDJ shirts are sold: The Etsy Morbid Fact Du Jour shop. Get yours today!

Babydoll Coat Rack

Thanks to Faith for the link.

In 1991, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude put up an environmental installation art of thousands of giant yellow and blue umbrellas in California and Japan. The giant umbrellas, which measured about 20 foot (6 m) in height, 28 foot (8.7 m) in diameter and weighed about 500 lb, became a huge tourist attraction. Less than two months after the installation opened, Lori Rae Keevil-Mathews, a 33-year-old woman drove out to see the umbrellas in California. A wind gust uprooted one of the umbrellas and blew it straight at her, crushing her against a boulder and killing her. Christo immediately ordered all of the umbrellas taken down. The umbrellas, however, took another life – this time in Japan. Crane operator Masaaki Nakamura was electrocuted when the machine’s arm touched a 65,000-volt high-tension line when removing the umbrellas.

Culled from: Neatorama
Generously submitted by: Bex

They are marvelous. I wish I had this talent! Have a look for yourself…

The Art Of Travis Louie

Thanks to Bruce for the suggestion.

The body of a 16-year-old girl who police say was buried alive by relatives in an “honor” killing carried out as punishment for talking to boys has been discovered in Kahta, Turkey. Turkish police discovered the body after acting on an anonymous tip. The tipster told police that the girl was killed after a family council meeting, and had been buried under a chicken pen. Police say that the girl had complained two months earlier that her grandfather beat her for talking to boys. The girl, identified by police only by her initials M.M., was said to have a large amount of soil in her stomach and lungs, indicating she had been buried alive. “The autopsy result is blood-curdling. According to our findings, the girl – who had no bruises on her body and no sign of narcotics or poison in her blood – was alive and fully conscious when she was buried,” one anonymous expert said. The girl had been reported as missing by her family. Police have arrested her father, mother and grandfather. Her mother has been released but her father and grandfather are awaiting trial. The case is expected to bring further attention to the issue of “honor” killings in Turkey. Official figures indicate that more than 200 “honor” killings take place each year – almost half of all murders in Turkey.

Culled from: Huffington Post

At times like this I really wish I could rent a room in an Eastern European hostel and have this lovely family over for a “visit”.

Japanese Blood Mascots

Thanks to Bruce for the link.

Last Words Of Executed Prisoners

I just finished reading the The Ghost Map (featured in the last two morbid facts) and it is a very interesting book. It centers around the 1854 London cholera epidemic, and the investigator who was able to track down the source of the scourge as a well that had been tainted by cholera-infested sewage. This was a landmark discovery because the theory of the time (called miasma) held that disease was caused by polluted air, rather than germs. The discovery also led to improvements in sewage systems that resulted in a marked decrease in epidemics.

Although the book drags a bit in the last third, the first two-thirds are excellent. My favorite part is actually the first chapter, quoted for today’s Morbid Fact, which discusses the scavenger culture of mid 19th-century England. The depiction of the physical ravages of cholera itself (which will star in a soon-to-come Malady of the Month/Year/Decade entry) are also spellbinding, as are the disgusting details of the filth that city dwellers had to contend with back in those days (when “flushing the toilet” meant throwing the contents of your chamber pot out onto the sidewalk or alley). Above all, this book made me feel grateful to not have been born until we’d figured out modern sanitation systems! A recommended read!