Each of us is inevitably destined to die. But regarding death, you might not know the following 20 facts:
1. The custom of burying the dead can be traced back 350,000 years. The discovery of 27 Homo heidelbergensis fossils in a 45-foot-deep pit in the northern Spanish city of Atapuerca proves this. Homo heidelbergensis may have been the ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans.
2. People are superstitious about saying 'death,' so there are many euphemisms for death. Statistics show that in English alone, there are at least 200 euphemisms for dying, including 'to be in Abraham's bosom,' 'just add maggots,' and 'sleep with the Tribbles.'
3. Since 1951, no American has died of old age.
4. Also in 1951, the U.S. government abolished the categorization of death certificates.
5. All deaths are caused by lack of oxygen. Hypoxia can lead to muscle cramps or a 'painful state.'
6. Three days after death, the enzymes that were once used for digestion begin to consume you. Bursting cells become food for the live bacteria in the organs, releasing enough toxic gases to cause bloating and the eyes to protrude.
7. Many materials are reusable: US cemeteries deposit 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid (methanol and ethanol) into the soil each year. Cremation releases dioxins, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
8. A Swedish company (Promessa) can freeze-dry corpses in liquid nitrogen, then grind the body into powder using high-frequency vibration, and seal the powder in a coffin made of cornstarch. They claim this 'eco-burial' method begins decomposing within 6 to 12 months.
9. The Zoroastrian community in India allows vultures to eat the corpses of the dead.
10. Nowadays, vultures are dying after eating cows that died from taking diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug used to reduce fever in livestock.
11. Queen Victoria insisted on being buried with her long-deceased husband, Prince Albert's, bathrobe and a plaster cast of his hand.
12. In Madagascar, people dig up the bones of their relatives and display them to the entire village in the 'turning of the bones' ceremony (Famadihana). After the display, the bones are wrapped in new cloth and reburied.Old burial shrouds were used by newlyweds without children to lay on their wedding bed. 13. In the 19th century, during the expansion of a railway in Egypt, the construction company dug up a large number of mummies to use as fuel for locomotives. 14. In 1626, Francis Bacon, the founder of the scientific method and an English philosopher, died of pneumonia. Before his death, he filled the stomachs of chicks with snow to see if cold could preserve them. 15. During embryonic development, some cells inevitably commit suicide to form certain organs. Without this programmed cell death, we would be born with webbed feet, like ducks. 16. In 1907, a doctor in Massachusetts conducted an experiment on a specially designed deathbed. Reports claimed that the human body lost 21 grams at the moment of death. Since then, this discovery has been widely accepted as fact. In reality, this was incorrect. 17. Burials of the living: In 19th century Europe, there is abundant evidence that many people were mistakenly declared dead. While waiting for signs of decomposition, the bodies in the morgue were actually just in a fainted state. 18. In the United States, 80% of people die in hospitals. 19. In New York City, there are more suicides than homicides. 20. Since the existence of humans, it is estimated that the total number of deaths has reached 100 billion. __________ 'Shared from Baidu Shuiba Bar'
