Remembering Mike: The chicken who lived without a head

Eighty years ago in Fruita, Colorado, a farmer’s axe created one of the strangest animal legends. The bird — Mike the Headless Chicken — survived 18 months without a head, baffling scientists and entertaining crowds nationwide, Euronews reported.

Beheaded on Sept. 10, 1945, Mike didn’t die. He stood up and walked, his brainstem and jugular vein intact and a blood clot preventing fatal bleeding. Fed through an eyedropper into his esophagus, Mike thrived.

Farmer Lloyd Olsen quickly realized he had a miracle. He toured Mike across the U.S., charging admission to see the «Headless Wonder Chicken.» At the height, Olsen earned today’s equivalent of $63,000 a month. Mike even appeared in Time magazine.

Mike’s story ended in 1947 when he choked on corn in Arizona, but his legend lives on. Fruita still hosts the annual Mike the Headless Chicken Festival, featuring a 5-kilometer «Run Like a Headless Chicken» race and other quirky events.

Mike still holds the Guinness World Record for the longest-living headless chicken.