# Has anybody ever died from having a piano dropped on them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288 "2003-03-10T13:07:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stigoftdump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@stigoftdump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stigoftdump)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/1 "2003-03-10T13:07:07Z")
Hi all! I was watching Tom and Jerry the other day, and poor Tom had a piano dropped on him from a great height. Obviously Tom was okay, but it got me thinking about whether or not anyone had evere suffered death by piano. I can imagine someone being flattened by one when trying to get them down a flight of stairs, but I can’t find anything on the web to confirm this theory. And if no-one had died from piano, why has this been the traditional death in loony toon cartoons? Help me, please! ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/2 "2003-03-10T14:07:56Z")
Apparently yes. This is a description of the O’Cayz Corral club in Madison, Wisconsin. > [@](#): > > **You’ll no doubt hear many people bemoan the loss of this historic local club. O’Cayz was founded in 1963 by football great Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch as a cocktail club popular with businessmen from the city’s vast garment district. Over the years, the club survived several owners and incarnations as a Deadhead hangout, lonely hearts club, incubator to the city’s doo-wop revival scene and fern bar. For a brief period in 1989, it served as home to a men’s rights organization. For the last nine years, however, O’Cayz had been the city’s most prominent gay disco, its brightly colored decor and Wednesday karaoke nights fostering many loving memories that will not soon fade from our town’s collective psyche. The club closed its doors for good this past spring when owner Cathy Dethmers was killed by a falling piano.** > **[Calendar of Events](https://isthmus.com/search/event/calendar-of-events/)** > > Upcoming events in and around Madison. To list your event (or let us know about COVID-19 related cancellations) email calendar@isthmus.com. (Click in the search box to filter by one or more categories) And this is from a genealogical website. > [@](#): > > **HENRY W. GARD, b. 1884; d. 1929, Alberton, P.E.I., Canada (killed by falling piano); m. ETHEL E. METHERALL.** [http://www.islandregister.com/gard1.html](http://www.islandregister.com/gard1.html) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/3 "2003-03-10T14:53:58Z")
LOL. An interesting question indeed. Welcome to the boards stigoftdump. ---
**Author:** ![stigoftdump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@stigoftdump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stigoftdump)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/4 "2003-03-10T15:05:23Z")
Cheers peeps! That’s been bugging me for ages - how on EARTH did you find that so quick APB - did you just tap it into google? I had no luck with that whatsoever! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/5 "2003-03-10T15:09:27Z")
I read in the _NY Times_ maybe ten years ago about a man who was walking past a construction site on a very windy day and was crushed by a Port-a-Pot that blew off an upper floor. Can you imagine having to break the news to his wife?! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/6 "2003-03-10T15:51:40Z")
And someone was playing pianer in the Johnny-on-the-spot? Maybe an accordian I could imagine… ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/7 "2003-03-10T16:21:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stigoftdump \* > \*\*Cheers peeps! That’s been bugging me for ages - how on EARTH did you find that so quick APB - did you just tap it into google? I had no luck with that whatsoever! \*\* I did indeed use Google, searching on ’ killed “falling piano” '. Most of the results are obviously not about real events but a few do seem to be. I was slightly suspicious about the Madison, Wisconsin story, especially as I couldn’t find any other reports about the incident, but the unfortunate victim does seem to have been a real person. ---
**Author:** ![mooka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@mooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mooka)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/8 "2003-03-10T16:25:51Z")
What an inspired question. This message board is fantastic! I also quite liked the fact you said it had been bugging you for ages stigoftdump, that must have been quite annoying… ---
**Author:** ![Fibonacci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Fibonacci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibonacci)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/9 "2003-03-10T16:27:37Z")
There’s even been a [death by a rising piano](http://www.mistersf.com/notorious/index.html?notcondor02.htm)! Evern stranger than it sounds. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/10 "2003-03-10T17:49:05Z")
Pianos really can kill? And I wasted all these years worrying only about safes! (How bout some safe-dropping stories, Dopers?) Maybe I should also start worrying everytime I enter a tunnel that it is really just a black semicircle painted on the face of a rock by the Road Runner… \ ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/11 "2003-03-10T18:00:15Z")
How about death due to, ahem, **a falling organ**? “There is, however, an alternative tale of Genghis Khan’s death which I read in Jasper Becker’s Lost Country: Mongolia Revealed. This version claimed that Genghis Khan craved after the legendary beauty of the Queen of Xixia and brought her to his imperial ger after capturing her. During the passionate session which followed, the humiliated queen suddenly brandished a hidden knife, severed the Khan’s penis and then killed herself. The khan then died from loss of blood, rather than a fever which resulted from his fall from a horse. So, which version do you believe?” (Quote is from [www.bootsnall.com](http://www.bootsnall.com)) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/12 "2003-03-10T18:25:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LilyoftheValley \* > \*\*Pianos really can kill? And I wasted all these years worrying only about safes! (How bout some safe-dropping stories, Dopers?) > > Maybe I should also start worrying everytime I enter a tunnel that it is really just a black semicircle painted on the face of a rock by the Road Runner… \ \*\* Welcome to the boards Lily. This [Site](http://www.spokanefire.org/lastalarm.htm) claims: > [@](#): > > Captain Leonard W. Doyle Captain Leonard W. Doyle > June 2. 1956 > > Leonard Doyle was the Captain at Station 4. At age 37 he had 15 years on the department. He and his wife, Freda, lived with their four children at 2333 South Grand Boulevard. > > A fire in the shoe store on the street level of the Peyton Building eventually went to a third alarm, working fifteen engines and eighty firefighters. Captain Doyle and six other firefighters were advancing a hose lead into the fire when the floor collapsed from beneath them, plunging them all into the basement. Some of the firefighters already in the basement were trapped and injured by the falling debris. Captain Doyle was crushed under a falling safe. Seventeen firefighters were sent to the hospital and twenty-\_five others were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Many were injured trying to free Captain Doyle. Many of the men said it was the worst fire they had ever been to. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/13 "2003-03-10T18:47:10Z")
How about anvils? ---
**Author:** ![namesabr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@namesabr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/namesabr)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/14 "2003-03-10T18:53:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by APB \* > \*\*I was slightly suspicious about the Madison, Wisconsin story, especially as I couldn’t find any other reports about the incident, but the unfortunate victim does seem to have been a real person. \*\* You were right to be suspicious, APB. The Daily Page article was bogus. I can’t find a cite correcting the joke, but here’s a more recent article about Cathy from the same web site: > **[Calendar of Events](https://isthmus.com/search/event/calendar-of-events/)** > > Upcoming events in and around Madison. To list your event (or let us know about COVID-19 related cancellations) email calendar@isthmus.com. (Click in the search box to filter by one or more categories) The reason her club closed was because it burned down. ---
**Author:** ![Skeptico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19b73/32.png) [@Skeptico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeptico)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/15 "2003-03-10T18:56:24Z")
Also worth a read: [Are 150 people killed each year by falling coconuts?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/020719.html) ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/16 "2003-03-10T19:17:24Z")
Okay, so I did a search at (US) OSHA to see if they had any records of falling pianos. I found only the following two items: [Broken jaw from piano](http://www.osha.gov/cgi-bin/inv/inv1xp?s=170379150001) > [@](#): > > At about 10:00 a.m. on June 12, 1994, Employee #1 was using a forklift truck to move a piano. The piano , which was on a loading dock located at the rear of a hospital, was resting on the truck’s forks; the forks were resting on the dock’s surface; and the truck itself was on a roadway beneath the dock. Employee #1, who was standing on the dock, wanted to move the truck’s mast backward. To do so, he leaned through the gap between the mast and the frame to reach the control switch. As he operated the switch, the mast tilted quickly under the weight of the piano and trapped him, fracturing his jaw. and [Employee Crushed to Death When Piano Fell on Him](http://www.osha.gov/cgi-bin/inv/inv1xp?s=014523294001) > [@](#): > > Employee #1 was moving a piano over a carpeted floor. The piano tipped onto employee #1, killing him. Unfortunately, neither of these really answer the original question. ☹ Unless Jerry pushes the piano across a carpeted floor onto Tom. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/17 "2003-03-10T19:39:09Z")
I didn’t imagine it! “Ramon Jose Rodriguez, 23 was working at a construction site north of Miami, Florida, when a sudden gust of wind blew a portable toilet off the fourth floor of the building next to him. He died about an hour after the bizarre accident. A public spokesman said, ‘High winds evidently blew the metal toilet over the edge of the building. The victim didn’t know what hit him.’ ‘It was a tragedy but it could have been worse.’ said a co-worker. ‘Fortunately, no one was using the toilet.’” ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/18 "2003-03-10T19:50:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LilyoftheValley \* > \*\*Pianos really can kill? And I wasted all these years worrying only about safes! (How bout some safe-dropping stories, Dopers?) > > Maybe I should also start worrying everytime I enter a tunnel that it is really just a black semicircle painted on the face of a rock by the Road Runner… \ \*\* Well, that’d actually be Coyote who painted the black semi-circle, and RoadRunner who goes through said painting unharmed, where-in Coyote tries it to only to be flattened. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/19 "2003-03-10T19:55:47Z")
OSLO, Norway (AP) – A flying sheep’s head hit a concertgoer and fractured his skull at a concert of metal band Mayhem. The band, part of Norway’s death metal music scene, was carving up a dead sheep as part of its stage act when the animal’s head flew off lead singer Maniac’s knife and struck Per Kristian Hagen, 25. “My relationship to sheep is a bit ambivalent now. I like them, but not when they come flying through the air,” Hagen told The Associated Press Monday from his hospital room. “I have a headache now.” ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288/20 "2003-03-10T20:01:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philster \* > \*\*Well, that’d actually be Coyote who painted the black semi-circle, and RoadRunner who goes through said painting unharmed, where-in Coyote tries it to only to be flattened. \*\* Oops…that was a silly mistype on my part. Only my 2nd post too! :smack: You can tell that I secretly always rooted for Wile E. Important question: was it Acme brand paint? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-ever-died-from-having-a-piano-dropped-on-them/160288.md?page=2)