Who had the unluckiest death of all time?

Henry Hall (lighthouse keeper) was 94 years old and still working as a lighthouse keeper in 1755 when a spark set the lighthouse roof on fire. He and his fellow keepers valiantly fought the blaze by throwing buckets of water over their heads onto the blazing roof.

At one point, Henry stopped to assess the progress of fighting the blaze when at the same time the molten lead roof poured down onto him and into his open mouth straight down his throat. “My God! I’m on fire inside,” he screamed.

The men abandoned the fight and sought refuge in a nearby sea cave. They were eventually rescued and Henry sought medical help. Besides his obvious burns he seemed fine to the physcian taking care of him. His story about swallowing molten lead was written off as exaggeration.

When he died 2 weeks later, an autopsy was performed and over 7 ounces of lead was found in his stomach.

Lead removed from Henry Hall’s stomach is now a museum relic in the National Museum of Scotland.