Death

Some of these grave innovations are practical. Others, however, border on the bizarre and downright creepy.

We all have to go sometime. Hopefully, it won't be while choking to death at a cockroach-eating contest.

The film star's death on June 29, 1967 led to lasting safety changes.

Even if death, the Bard was eloquent.

Theresienstadt concentration camp was an oddity, even by Nazi standards.

Chemung County Historical Society, Elmira, NY

He saved lives on the Underground Railroad—then cared for the Confederate dead.

People that came before us are sometimes underfoot.

Strange as it sounds today, heart burial was once a common practice for European aristocrats.

Sezeryadigar/iStock via Getty Images Plus

New research shows that cutting back just isn't good enough.

When Hamilton met Aaron Burr in 1804, the scene would have been very familiar to a family tragedy in Hamilton's past.

Palette work from the collection of John Whitenight and Frederick LaValley

New exhibition explores a time when hair wasn't simply for heads.

The Birthday Effect is a statistical phenomenon that says the likelihood of one's death increases on or around their birthday.

The writer was found in great distress and wearing someone else's clothes. A few days later, he was dead.

Photo illustration by Lucy Quintanilla, Mental Floss. Saint Nicholas: HULTON ARCHIVE, GETTY IMAGES. Skulls, backgrounds: iStock

The Santa Claus of folklore doesn't have a skeleton. But his inspiration, Saint Nicholas, does, and people have been fighting over his bones since they were stolen nearly a millennium ago.

It's codenamed "London Bridge Is Down"

"The strangest tomb in America, if not in the world, is that which rest the remains of Lon Dorsa in Nevada, Mo. It is so constructed that the widow can look upon her deceased husband at will."

Villagers liked to make extra sure their deceased stayed that way.

Mental Floss talked to several to learn some little-known facts about the profession, from what happens behind the doors of the embalming room to the real reason you might want to think twice about that “protective” casket.

A facial reconstruction of William Burke

These killers took the oath "do no harm" to the opposite extreme.

Frank Janssen, Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 3.0

This pair used a crafty design to get around the cemetery's restrictions.

7 Weird Graveyard Inventions

7 of the Most Bizarre Ways to Die

How Jayne Mansfield Changed the Design of Tractor-Trailers

8 Projects That Reenvision the Traditional Cemetery

Pee, Poison, and Prosthetic Noses: The Story of Astronomer Tycho Brahe's Suspicious Death

What Is Death?

Doctor Weighs In on What May Have Killed Saladin, the 12th-Century Muslim Military Leader

The Curse on Shakespeare's Grave

5 Composers Murdered by the Nazis

John W. Jones: The Runaway Slave Who Buried Nearly 3000 Confederate Soldiers

8 Cemeteries Unearthed at Construction Sites

10 People Whose Hearts Were Buried Separately From the Rest of Them

Smoking Just 1 Cigarette a Day Can Significantly Damage Your Health, Study Finds

Alexander Hamilton’s Son Also Died in a Duel

Mütter Museum Showcases the Victorian Custom of Making Crafts From Human Hair

12 People Who Died on Their Birthdays

The Most Mysterious Thing About Edgar Allan Poe Might Be How He Died

Tomb Raider: The Story of Saint Nicholas's Stolen Bones

The Secret Procedure for Queen Elizabeth II's Death

How One Widow's Grief Turned a Small Town Into a Roadside Attraction

How 17th Century Polish Villagers Warded Off Vampires

17 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Funeral Directors

8 Bizarre Medical Murderers

These Connected Graves in the Netherlands Prove Love Conquers All