Inventors may hope that their creations will bring fame and fortune, but sometimes, they just lead to an untimely death. Here are four of the oddest cases of inventors killed by their own inventions…
Karel Soucek
Czech stuntman Karel Soucek shot to fame in 1984 when he survived a barrel ride over Niagara Falls. The secret to his success was his custom-built barrel, which was counter-weighted to remain upright as it fell. He died a few months later while demonstrating his latest design: a shock-absorbent barrel.
He was dropped from the roof of the Houston Astrodome into a tank of water, but instead of hitting the water, his barrel hit the rim of the tank. He died in hospital shortly after.
Henry Smolinski
Polish-American inventor Henry Smolinski’s dream to invent a flying car led to his demise. Smolinski and his fellow engineer Harold Blake built a prototype by combining the wings and tail from a Cessna Skymaster plane with the body of a Ford Pinto (see main image).
Their first test flight ended abruptly, when the pilot performed an emergency landing. Smolinski and Blake took the invention out for a second test flight in 1973, but it crashed moments after take-off, killing them both.
Thomas Midgley Jr
This American chemist’s inventions may have caused more harm to the world than any other. Not only did he invent chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a group of chemicals widely used in refrigerators until they were banned in 1987 due to their damaging effects on the ozone layer, Midgley Jr is also credited with inventing leaded petrol, by adding tetraethyl lead to gasoline (the additive was phased out in the 1970s, after lead’s toxic effects were uncovered).
Midgley Jr himself died in 1940. After polio left him severely disabled, he invented a system of ropes and pulleys to lift him from his bed, but died when he became entangled in the contraption.
Sabin Arnold von Sochocky
Ukrainian chemist Sabin Arnold von Sochocky is widely credited with inventing luminescent paint, using a formula containing radium, which was discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898.
His company, the Radium Luminous Material Corporation, opened several factories in the US, making luminous watch dials. Female factory workers later sued the company over their exposure to harmful radiation.
Ultimately, von Sochocky also succumbed to the effects of radiation, dying in 1928 of aplastic anaemia, caused by bone marrow damage. Marie Curie, who was exposed to radiation through her pioneering research, died of the same condition.
Franz Reichelt
Franz Reichelt was a tailor by trade, but in the early days of powered human flight, he was inspired to design a suit that could be used as a parachute by pilots (above).
After initial tests using dummies, he was so sure his design would work that in 1912 he decided to test it by jumping from the lower level of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. Sadly for Franz, his design failed to work and he fell to his death in a matter of seconds.
Thanks to pioneering spirits like this, however, we now have wing suits used for base jumping, as well as parachutes and ejector seats for pilots.
Henry Winstanley
In 1696, after losing two ships on the dangerous Eddystone Rocks on the Devon coast, this English engineer designed and built the world’s first offshore lighthouse (illustrated above).
He was so certain of its safety that he and five other men sheltered there during the Great Storm of 1703. The lighthouse was destroyed and no trace of Winstanley or his companions was ever found.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Frances Gonzalez, Texas) 'Has anyone been killed by their own inventions?'
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