Anyone remember the joke about the guy who fell into a vat of beer and bravely fought off three rescuers before finally succumbing?

Well, it turns out this joke has a basis in fact.

True story:

My great-great-grandfather on my mother's side died in exactly this way - he fell into a vat of beer in a brewery and drowned.

He was a brewer at the St. Phillips brewery in Bristol, England, around (I'm guessing) 100 years ago. Part of his duties including sampling the beer to test its specific gravity and thus its alcohol content. This involved placing a plank across the vat and taking a sample from the center of the vat (the stuff at the sides, presumably, being contaminated by yeast residues etc.). Anyway, overcome by the fumes, he fell in and drowned, and wasn't found until the next day when they started (or perhaps had finished) barrelling up the beer.

PS rumours he managed twenty laps remain unconfirmed

Weeeelll I remember the one who died the same way -- had to get out 3 times to pee, though.