Mike The Headless Chicken

So the other day I was doing some research for an article I’m writing when I come across this Wikipedia timeline of events for September the 10th. Sandwiched inbetween the German occupation of Rome in 1943 and the United Kingdom’s 1953 economic boycott of Iran was this strange item:

1945 – Mike the Headless Chicken is decapitated; he survives for another 18 months before choking to death.”

Assuming this to be some kind of LOLCat Internet meme prank, I clicked the link to the “main article” about Mike the Headless Chicken with a huge grain of salt. Turns out to be no prank—MTHC was real (technically this link is SFW, but if graphic depictions of decapitated farm animals and how they died gurgling on their own neck mucus isn’t really your bag, proceed with caution).

I’ve lived in this country for twenty-nine years with at least one eye constantly scanning the landscape for all things bizarre and unusual. I don’t know how I missed Mike the Headless Chicken. It seems like something I should have discovered when I was eleven. Damn you, Nintendo, for keeping me away from my local library!