My partner and I are both widowed with a newly blended family of five children. We often talk about our respected spouse's passing, so death comes up a lot in conversation. My wife died of breast cancer and her husband succumbed to injuries from a 25 foot fall off a ladder.

Tragedy doesn't always come in the form of unusual, however. There are two instances of death that took place about 100 years apart in Massachusetts.

The most unusual death in Massachusetts' history

Too much black licorice can kill you

Yes, you read that right. A 54 year-old man from Massachusetts suffered cardiac arrest and died in September of 2020 from eating about a bag and a half of black licorice day.

He said studies had shown glycyrrhizic acid - the active ingredient in liquorice - could cause "hypertension, hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis, fatal arrhythmias, and renal failure" - all of which were seen in this patient. -bbc

He fell ill while eating inside a fast food restaurant. His potassium levels were extremely low from the black licorice.

The Great Molasses Flood of 1919

Speaking of death in an unusual manner, 100 years earlier in Boston's north end was the great molasses flood. 21 people were killed and 150 were injured when a molasses tank burst sending 2.3 million gallons into the streets.

Sharp temperature fluctuation was most likely to blame for the explosion as people got stuck in the sugary mess and were knocked around by the fast moving, dense liquid. Death by molasses!