An important Danish astronomer of the 16th century.  His ground breaking research allowed  Sir Isaac Newton to come up with the theory of gravity.  How he died: Didn't get to the bathroom in time

In the 16th century, it was considered an insult to leave a banquet  table before the meal was over.  Brahe, known to drink excessively,  had a bladder condition -- but failed to relieve himself before the  banquet started.  He made matters worse by drinking too much at din- ner, and was too polite to ask to be excused.  His bladder finally burst, killing him slowly and painfully over the next 11 days.

Horace Wells

  Pioneered the use of anesthesia in the 1840s  How he died: Used anesthetics to commit suicide  While experimenting with various gases during  his anesthesia research, Wells became addicted  to chloroform.  In 1848 he was arrested for spraying two women with sulfuric acid.  In a  letter he wrote from jail, he blamed chloroform  for his problems, claiming that he'd gotten  high before the attack.  Four days later he was found dead in his cell.  He'd anaesthetized  himself with chloroform and slashed open his thigh with a razor.

Sir Francis Bacon

  One of the most influential minds of the late 16th century.  A  statesman,  a philosopher, a writer, and a scientist, he was even  rumored to have written some of Shakespeare's plays.  How he died: Stuffing snow into a chicken    One afternoon in 1625, Bacon was watching a snow-storm and was struck by the wondrous notion that  maybe snow could be used to preserve meat in the  same way that salt was used.  Determined to find out, he purchased a chicken from a nearby village, killed it, and then, standing outside in the snow, attempted to stuff  the chicken full of snow to freeze it.  The chicken never froze, but  Bacon did.

Jerome Irving Rodale

  Founding father of the organic food movement,  creator of "Organic Farming and Gardening"  magazine, and founder of Rodale Press, a major    publishing corporation.  How he died: On the "Dick Cavett Show",  while discussing the benefits of  organic foods.  Rodale, who bragged "I'm going to live to be 100 unless I'm run down by a sugar-crazed taxi driver," was only 72 when he appeared on the "Dick Cavett Show" in January 1971.  Part way through the interview,  he dropped dead in his chair.  Cause of death: heart attack.  The  show was never aired.

Aeschylus

  A Greek playwright back in 500 BC.  Many historians consider him the
father of Greek tragedies. How he died: An eagle dropped a tortoise on his head  According to legend, eagles picked up tortoises  and attempt to crack them open by dropping them on rocks.  An eagle mistook Aeschylus' head for a rock (he was bald) and dropped it on  him instead. 

Jim Fixx

 Author of the best selling "Complete Book of    Running," which started the jogging craze of    the 1970s.  How he died: A heart attack....while jogging 
Fixx was visiting Greensboro, Vermont when  he walked out of his house and began jogging.  He'd only gone a short distance when he had a massive coronary.  His  autopsy revealed that one of his coronary arteries was 99% clogged,  another was 80% obstructed, and a third was 70% blocked... and that  Fixx had had three other attacks in the weeks prior to his death. And finally there's Lully, one of our favorite 16th-century composers,  who wrote music for the king of France.  While rehearsing the musicians, he got too serious beating time with his staff, and drove it  right through his foot. He died of infection.