Top ironic deaths

Pietro Aretino

Pietro Aretino was an unrelenting Venetian 16th Century satirist, notable for his saucy humor aimed at the aristocrats. As such, it's only fitting that this famous humorist's death was brought on by a dirty joke. Aretino was never one to shy away from a naughty story. One day, he was told a particularly dirty one about his (possibly imaginary) sisters and the brothel they worked in. Instead of getting offended, Aretino found this hilarious. He laughed and laughed and laughed-until he collapsed backwards in his chair, dying as he hit the ground. He literally laughed himself to death.