Holding tank
- There is a holding tank for content, removed from the article due to poor sourcing, which may have been included in the article for a considerable time: Talk:Lists of unusual deaths/Sourcing issues. Following talk page discussion, and in line with WP:STALEDRAFT, it has been agreed that any content in this holding area not sourced within 6 months from addition should be removed.
So... are we gonna split the article or what?
Most folks who've commented on the informal RfC above seem to agree that splitting the article would be the most permanent solution to the whole size issue, and discussion seems to have wrapped up 2 weeks ago. I understand that WP:THEREISNORUSH, but we got to get stuff done, eventually. ZionniThePeruser (talk) 08:16, 13 November 2024 (UTC)
- I don't remember if I've said this before, but the easiest solution is to split unusual deaths of notable people off from the people notable only for their unusual deaths. Abductive (reasoning) 00:03, 14 November 2024 (UTC)
- I'm not sure that arrangement would make intuitive sense to most readers. I still think a division by time period is the way to go, although I'm reluctant to do it myself because my skills on how to do that without losing edit history information are rusty. Gildir (talk) 04:14, 14 November 2024 (UTC)
- I could try and take a stab at it, but I'm a bit of a newbie. Intuitively (I haven't taken a look at the policies on this yet), I figured, based on the above-mentioned Lists of fictional astronauts, just creating new "list" pages, with this acting as a "central hub" of sorts, would work; but what are you referring to by "losing edit history information"? Do you mean if moving this page to a pluralized form, like what you did with the astronauts? LaughingManiac (talk) 16:21, 17 November 2024 (UTC)
- I'm not sure that arrangement would make intuitive sense to most readers. I still think a division by time period is the way to go, although I'm reluctant to do it myself because my skills on how to do that without losing edit history information are rusty. Gildir (talk) 04:14, 14 November 2024 (UTC)
I have split the page into multiple lists, basing the new structure closely on Lists of fictional astronauts and retaining the edit history. Any changes or refinements to the new arrangement would be greatly appreciated. Gildir (talk) 10:20, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
- Looks clear and logical to me. Many thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:27, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
- Fantastic! Great job. LaughingManiac (talk) 15:42, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
- Amazing job! Hopefully, we've put this size problem to bed once and for all. Huzzah to a new future! ZionniThePeruser (talk) 20:59, 20 November 2024 (UTC)
Ironic deaths
This has been proposed a couple of times in the past - how do we feel about a List of ironic deaths? Irony is tricky to pin a definition on, but skimming through the archives, I see multiple potential candidates:
- Jim Fixx is credited with popularizing jogging, and died of a heart attack while jogging[1]
- Jimi Heselden, the owner of Segway, drove his Segway off a cliff into a river[2]
- Thomas Macarte was a one-armed lion tamer - his left arm was amputated after lion attack - who was lethally mauled by lions during a show
- Philip A. Contos was a motorcyclist who was protesting mandatory helmet laws by riding without a helmet; he crashed, went over the handlebars, and died due to head trauma
- Dicko Toki, a feeder of sacred crocodiles, was eaten by said crocodiles
And the most recent one, kind of the real reason I'm suggesting it now (because it's already come up and I want to head this off):
- Charlie Kirk, among many other things, was a pro-2nd Amendment pro-gun rights anti-gun control activist. He was shot and killed while discussing gun violence at a speaking event. For extra irony points, he'd been previously quoted as saying "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year do that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational."[3]
Given the current political climate I'm honestly nervous about mentioning Kirk (even just here on the talkpage), but that was the prompting issue, so there we are. I'd propose similar criteria to the unusual deaths pages, 2+ reliable sources calling it ironic or some synonym thereof (things like "strangely fitting" or, borderline, "twist of fate"). Thoughts, opinions, candidates, sources? NekoKatsun (nyaa) 18:28, 22 September 2025 (UTC)
- Perhaps it could be its own section on the unusual deaths pages instead of its own page; the list of last words does something similar. 🀰☯🀰Hexes54☯Talk to me🀰☯🀰 08:39, 27 January 2026 (UTC)
- I've just had a look and Charlie Kirk is already mentioned in the ironic last words section. 🀰☯🀰Hexes54☯Talk to me🀰☯🀰 08:42, 27 January 2026 (UTC)
References
- Sources calling it ironic:
- Fewer high-quality sources, since it was mostly the internet pointing and laughing, but I did find:
- Take your pick; Medium, Variety, the BBC, Disciplinary actions for commentary on the assassination of Charlie Kirk
See Also
On mobile the See Also section is somehow behind the table that's just above it. Is this due to the column divide tag? Or something else? I don't like to edit tags/code as I'm not tech inclined in that way, but I've refreshed the page a few times and it doesn't seem to be an issue with my app/the fact that I'm on mobile. maryshelagh (talk) 08:05, 4 April 2026 (UTC)