15 Famous People Who Allegedly Died of Food Poisoning

A popular military leader and hero of the Mexican-American War, Zachary Taylor was elected president in 1848 but only served for 16 months before dying of a stomach ailment. He fell ill after consuming lots of cherries and iced milk during a fundraising event for the Washington Monument and died of acute gastroenteritis several days later. His specific cause of death remains debated.

William Stephens was the Dean (or head) of Winchester Cathedral, in the English city of Winchester, from 1895 to 1902. At a mayoral banquet in that year, Stephens ate oysters that had been contaminated with raw sewage, and he died six weeks later from the typhoid fever he’d contracted as a result.

Brother of the famed film director Georges Méliès, Gaston Méliès was a noted (if unsuccessful) director in his own right, who spent several years filming around the Asian Pacific before moving to Corsica with his wife in 1913 – where he died from shellfish poisoning two years later at age 63.

Hersal Thomas was an American blues pianist and composer who recorded several songs in 1925 and ’26, including a session with young Louis Armstrong. While headlining at a music venue called Penny’s Pleasure Inn in Detroit, he contracted food poisoning and died at the young age of just 19.

Corinne Barker was an actress and costume designer during the silent film era. She became well-known for her appearances in Vitagraph films and also appeared in several Broadway productions. She died of food poisoning in 1928, at age 38.