"Frequently the reptile climbed up into her throat."

Vital news about a lizard-related death in Pennsylvania arrived at the offices of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1900, and those newshounds wasted no time in using it to fill space in the paper’s July 24 edition. An excerpt:

“Philadelphia–Some time ago Mrs. Anna M. Jones of Marcus Hook, Pa., accidentally swallowed a lizard while drinking water. Frequently the reptile climbed up into her throat, but at all times successfully resisted all attempts at ejectment.

Mrs. Jones was a prey to the constant fear that in one of these excursions of the lizard she would be choked to death. Last night after complaining of a choking sensation, she suddenly expired. It is believed that her dread of an imminent violent death had a fatal effect upon her heart as there is no evidence of strangulation.”