The Past: A Dangerous Place To Live

Did you ever see Seth MacFarlane's "A Million Ways To Die In The Old West"? It's not a very good movie. Has a few funny moments, but one of the running gags is how many ways there were to die back in the old days.

I'm convinced he got that idea after reading just a few newspapers from the past. It's pretty incredible not only how many ways there were to die, but how graphic the newspapers got into describing them.

Here's just a couple. Since they were small articles I posted a few.

Like this one--a "Medical Duel"? With arsenic? The way the article ends is pretty funny.
(and I forgot the other article I attached from the same issue involved a committe that was offering a premium for the best architectual plans to enlarge the Capitol building in Washington)

From the Covington Journal 1850:

Nitroglycerine, you say? Sure. From the Daily Star 1910.

And I give you the original Ash from Evil Dead! From the Daily Star 1925:

Dynamite, as my friend Jimmy would have said! "Blown to atoms", and "Torn to Pieces". Man, did they like the gory stuff back then! From the Daily True American 1883.

Sever the artery, from the Daily True American 1904:

Kids meets circular saw. Bad things happen. Dispatch 1913.

I have a feeling this is going to be a recurring kind of post, because I'm finding more all the time.