I can't resist this. This is one of my favorite quotations from Mattis,
"The theory of magnetism", Harper & Row, (1965) p13. I like to read it to
my E&M classes.
"... Earlier, in 1753, G. W. Richmann of St. Petersburg, had been
struck dead by lightning while verifying the experiments of Franklin. The
effects of the electricity on his various organs were published in leading
scientific journals, and Priestly wrote: "It is not given to every
electrician to die in so glorious manner as the justly envied Richmann."