This day in history: The 12th President of the United States, Zachary Taylor, died on this day (July 9) in 1850. At a fundraising event in Washington, Taylor consumed copious amounts of iced milk and cherries, which were believed to be contaminated by an open and primitive sewage system combined with the July heat at the time.
Zachary Taylor is not the only person of note in history to die after eating. Themistocles (459 BC), the Athenian general who won the Battle of Salamis, was widely rumored to have committed suicide by drinking bull's blood, which was believed to be poisonous.
While visiting relatives, Henry I of England (1135) ate too many lampreys (an eel-like fish) against his doctor's advice, which caused a pain in his gut and ultimately his death.
British composer Henry Purcell is rumored to have died from chocolate poisoning, "a result of consuming the impure drink at one of London’s new chocolate houses."
Actor Marty Feldman (Igor on Young Frankenstein) may have died of shellfish poisoning in Mexico in 1982.
Basil Brown (1974), a 48-year-old health food advocate from Croydon, England, died from liver damage after he consumed 70 million units of Vitamin A and around 10 gallons of carrot juice over ten days, turning his skin bright yellow.
Tina Christopherson (1977) died when she fanatically drank 4 gallons of water a day to combat stomach cancer.
New Zealand mother, Natasha Harris, in 2010, died of a sudden cardiac arrest because she drank over 2.5 gallons of Coca-Cola every day.
Edward Archbold, 32, of West Palm Beach, Florida, entered a bug-eating contest in 2012. Archbold ate about two ounces of meal worms, 35 horn worms and a considerable amount of roaches. He won the contest, but collapsed due to "asphyxia due to choking and aspiration of gastric contents."
Kurt Gödel (1978), an Austrian-American logician and mathematician, developed an obsessive fear of being poisoned and refused to eat food prepared by anyone but his wife. When she became ill and was hospitalized, he starved.
There are also delicacies that are known to be quite dangerous, even fatal, such as Pufferfish. Blood clams are available to eat in China, and it is consumed quickly once boiled. However, they are known to carry several viruses that lead to deadly diseases such as typhoid, hepatitis A, and dysentery. A Jamaican favorite fruit, Ackee, must only be eaten when it is fully ripe, properly prepared and without the toxic seeds. The seeds contain poisonous substances that cause vomiting. In Africa and South America there is a certain variety of cassava called manioc which must be eaten properly cooked and prepared. If eaten raw it becomes cyanide. Live octopus is eaten raw in Korea, but care must be taken so that the suction doesn't grip your throat and cause choking and suffocation.
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