The Eccentric Polymath

Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty was a Scottish aristocrat and writer known for his linguistic genius and extreme vanity. He claimed his family lineage could be traced back to Adam and Eve and spent years developing a "Universal Language" that he believed would replace all others. Despite his intellectual pursuits, he was a staunch Royalist who fought for King Charles I, which eventually led to his imprisonment in the Tower of London after the Battle of Worcester.

A Deadly Jest

Urquhart is perhaps most famous for the manner of his passing. While living in exile in the Netherlands, he received news of the Restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660. The news so delighted him that he broke into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Because he was an elderly man, the physical strain of the laughing fit was too much for his heart to handle. He literally died of laughter, making him one of the few people in history to perish from pure, unadulterated joy.