Decapitation of Mike the Headless Chicken

Date: September 10, 1945 • Location: Park County, United States

Mike the Headless Chicken was a male Wyandotte chicken that lived for 18 months after he was beheaded, surviving because most of his brain stem remained intact, and a blood clot prevented him from bleeding to death. After the beheading, Mike achieved national fame; he died in March 1947. In his hometown, Fruita, Colorado, U.S., an annual "Mike the Headless Chicken Day" is held in May. Mike has the record for the longest surviving chicken without a head in Guinness World Records.