Five Death By Lightning real-life facts that you wouldn't believe

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Death By Lightning.

New historical series Death By Lightning explores the "wild" true story of the events surrounding the death of America's 20th President James Garfield. Death By Lighting has dropped on Netflix today, Thursday, November 6, with all four-episodes of the limited series now ready to watch.

Set in the late 1800s, Death By Lightning takes subscribers through the events leading up to and after the death of President James Garfield (played by Michael Shannon) who was four months into his presidency before being shot by Charles Guiteau (Matthew Macfadyen). While some fans are only just learning about this part of history, creator Mike Makowsky has been working on this story for several years and is still baffled by the real-life events.

He shared: "Six years into working on this project, it's a story I still can't believe is true - in all its wild, tragic glory - and it somehow feels even more relevant to our world today than ever before. I can't wait for us to be able to finally share it."

Here's a rundown of unbelievable facts brought to the forefront in Death By Lightning.

Prior to his infamy, Charles Guiteau was not only a failed lawyer but a member of a sex cult for several years.

He joined The Oneida Community in New York, a 19th Century utopian religious commune that practiced "complex marriage", often referred to as "free love" or a "sex cult".

Everyone in the community was actively having sex apart from Guiteau who was unpopular and shunned by the women who mockingly nicknamed him "Charles Gitout".

Eventually, the exclusion got too much for him and Guiteau decided to leave the community for good.

Inventor of the telephone Alexander Graham Bell was invited to the White House to try and save the president after he was shot twice by Guiteau.

Bell created an early version of a metal detector called an "induction balance" which he operated to try and find the bullet so it could be removed.

However, the attempt was unsuccessful because the doctors placed Garfield on a metal-springed bed which interfered with the device's reading.

The bullet was only located and removed during the autopsy following the president's death a few weeks later.

The Netflix series reveals that even though Guiteau had shot Garfield twice, with one of the bullets lodged in his back, this wasn't what killed him.

During the autopsy, a mortician shared that if the bullet had been left alone, the wound would have likely healed on its own.

What actually killed Garfield was septic poisoning, caused by Dr Willard Bliss using unsterilized equipment and not washing his hands before trying to locate the bullet.

America was left in mourning as President James Garfield died on September 19, 1881, just six months into his presidency.

It was his Vice President Chester Arthur who automatically became the next President of the United States, a position he never dreamed of getting given his background.

Arthur, who was known as a heavy drinker who regularly attended parties and other social events, was originally the Collector of the Port of New York.

He was associated with corruption in the city and participated in the "spoils system" where party supporters were given Government jobs as incentives for future support.

When he took over as president, he became the champion of reform and signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 which began dismantling the "spoils system" which initially fuelled his rise to power.

Charles Guiteau was sentenced to death following the murder of President James Garfield.

He was executed at the prison in Washington DC just two days before the first anniversary of the shooting.

As Guiteau stood on the gallows, just moments before he was to be hung, he sung a poem that he had written that morning, entitled I Am Going to the Lordy.

Before singing, he shared: "I am now going to read some verses which are intended to indicate my feelings at the moment of leaving this world.

"If set to music they may be rendered very effective.

"The idea is that of a child babbling to his mamma and his papa."

It is widely reported that Guiteau had requested an orchestra to play behind him as he recited his poem but, of course, this request was denied.

Death By Lightning is available to watch on Netflix.