2 Historical Attempts at Dehikat Haketz

Hashem1.net posted 2 amazing stories where attempts were made to be Dohek the Ketz. The Gemara in Ketubot 111a discusses the prohibition of doing so, and Aharit.com goes into further detail about this prohibition.

The first story is about R' Yosef de la Reina in the Galilee about 500 years ago. He made an attempt to bring ס"מ to be slaughtered, and got very close, but ended up making a crucial blunder, where he was Maktir Ketoret to Avoda Zara. After the incident, his Judaism made a turn for the worse. The story has interesting comparisons to ארבעה נכנסו לפרדס.

The second story is about an attempt by R' Menachem Mendel of Riminov ZT"L and the Hozeh of Lublin ZT"L to be Dohek the Ketz around 200 years ago, and render Napolean's war against the Russians to be Gog Umagog.