Urban legend tells of people who die laughing, and death by laughter appears several times in history.
A Little Humor Can Kill You
In the third century BC, the Greek philosopher Chrysippus allegedly died of laughter, while watching his drunken donkey try to eat figs.
Italian political satirist Pietro Aretino is famous for translating the works of Rabelais. He's also known for inventing modern porn literature. Legend has it that Pietro died of suffocation in 1556, from laughing too hard.
A Mrs. Fitzherbert attended a performance of the "Beggar's Opera" in 1782. She burst into uncontrollable laughter at the character of Peachum, and had to leave the theater. Mrs. Fitzherbert couldn't stop laughing, and died about thirty-six hours later.
Can You Really Die Laughing?
During a bout of laughter, the diaphragm expands and contracts, drawing air into the lungs. Extreme laughter pushes the diaphragm beyond its normal limits. The diaphragm weakens, causing suffocation.
Unaccustomed levels of laughter make the heart beat faster for a longer period of time, and can result in heart failure.
Laughter can also trigger existing respiratory or heart conditions.
The term "fatal hilarity", or death by laughter, first appeared in 1596.
Modern Deaths by Laughter
Two of three modern deaths by laughter were due to British comedy - strange, but true!
In March 1975, a bricklayer in England was watching the television show "The Goodies". When a Scotsman in a kilt used bagpipes to fend off a nasty black pudding, Alex Mitchell burst into uproarious laughter. After laughing for twenty-five minutes, he had a heart attack. In a letter to the Goodies (a British comedy trio), his widow thanked them for making Mitchell's last moments so pleasant.
In 1989, in Denmark, Ole Bentzen died of laughter while watching John Cleese in the movie, "A Fish Called Wanda". Examiners estimated his heart rate at 250 to 500 beats per minute, before he expired.
Case number three happened in Thailand. In 2003, a 52-year-old Thai ice cream salesman laughed himself to death in his sleep. He laughed continuously for two minutes. His wife tried to wake him, but he stopped breathing and died.
You really can die laughing, but you probably won't. There are only ten recorded cases of fatal hilarity in history.
If you're going to die, you might as well die laughing.
