Tycho Brahe was a famous astronomer who accurately measured the stars and planets before the telescope was invented. He improved the sextant and quadrant to make his measurements. He was the first to propose that comets were objects in space. He also was a believer in alchemy. His achievements caught the attention of King Frederick II of Denmark. The king gave him an island where Brahe built an observatory. In spite of his accomplishments, he died an embarrassing death.
In October, 1601, he attended a banquet for King Christian IV. Brahe drank excessively and really needed to go to the bathroom, but he decided it would be impolite to do so. He ended up with a burst bladder. He died eleven days later on Oct. 24, 1601. He was 54 years old. Rumor had it that his death was from mercury poisoning by his jealous assistant Johann Kepler. Apparently it was dog eat dog in the astronomy world back then. A wilder rumor had him poisoned by the king because he had slept with the king’s mother. (This rumor inspired Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.)
On the 300th anniversary of his death, his body was exhumed to check out the poison rumor. Turns out he did not have a high level of mercury, so the burst bladder was the cause. By the way, the exhumation proved that Brahe’s famous silver nose was not made of silver. Brahe wore a fake nose after his was cut off in a duel over who was the better mathematician.
https://www.livescience.com/24835-astronomer-tycho-brahe-death.html
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/death-tycho-brahe
http://www.unexpectedtraveller.com/tycho-brahe/
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