Beware, selfies can be hazardous to your health

Since March 26, three tourists visiting the Grand Canyon have died in the famous national park. The identities of two of the dead are unknown, as are the full circumstances of their deaths. We know that one fell to his death from the South Rim at Grand Canyon Village.

The third tourist who died was from Hong Kong. He tripped near the Grand Canyon's Skywalk while shooting a selfie at the edge of the rim and fell hundreds of feet to his death.

That death follows numerous, needless selfie deaths that occurred around the globe last year.

Museums fed up with travelers' selfie sticks

They used to be called self-portraits. Today they have a shorthand name; “selfies.” With selfies becoming more and more popular, a piece of gear designed to help make selfies, the “selfie stick,” has emerged, and is causing major concerns and consternation at museums across the globe.

While smartphone selfies are a 21^st century phenomenon, the first selfies appeared more than 33 centuries ago. Archaeologists, discovered a selfie made in 1365 BCE by Pharaoh Akhenaten's chief sculptor Bak. The great Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn is the all-time king of the selfie. He painted self-portraits from the time he was a young man, until shortly before his death in 1669.

During the first half of the 19^th century selfies became a photographic staple. Robert Cornelius, a life long Philadelphian, is reputed to have made the first photo selfie in 1839. The famous US Civil War photographer Mathew Brady made many self-portraits.

Travelers have been making selfies in front of favorite sights such as the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, at the edge of the magnificent Grand Canyon, or while just having a meal on a cruise, since photography became mainstream.