List of inventors killed by their own inventions

#1

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/12/20/list-of-inventors-killed-by-th.html

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#2

@frauenfelder link?

went to the twitter link and got it

#3

By day, Friedrich Niezsche is an ordinary philosopher. By night, he dons his cape, and becomes the crime-fighting Ubermensch! (SFX: thunder)

#4

So would Franz Reichelt be an early winner of the Darwin Award?

#5

Other than Jack Kevorkian, if you invent something, and it kills you, did you invent something? :thinking:

#6

I’d say it depends on whether you survive long enough to pass the idea on.

#7

And/or your genes.
There’s an other site for the latter.

#8

Well, not so much that.

I’m saying that if you invent, say, a device for creating antimatter, but due to a miscalculation, you get 'sploded before you can explain to anyone how you did it, then you really didn’t invent anything: no new knowledge has been given to the world. However, if you create the thing, pass on the knowledge, and then you get 'sploded and someone else figures out what you did wrong and perfects the invention, you still invented it.

#9

OK, sorry. Misunderstood, your, indeed ferry funny and correct, gest.

#10

From the story in the Wikipedia list, it sounds like Wan Hu was probably more like Wan Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…

#11

Reichelt wasn’t killed by his own invention. He was killed by jumping off the Eiffel Tower.

#12

Yes, but he was supposed to be saved by his invention.

#13

The tweet calls this Wikipedia article underrated, but in fact it has its own podcast episode.

#14

You can actually see the video. He fell without style.

#15

Here’s video of the jump. I’m surprised he didn’t think to test it with a 20ft ladder instead of the Eiffel Tower.

#16

Crash Test Dummies are for wimps.

#17

Seems like a pretty minimal list. Where are all of the people who died testing “bullet proof” vests they invented?

#18

Ewwww, splat.

Looks to me like he had some second thoughts there while standing on that chair . . .

#19

I like how they measure the depth of the impact crater at the end.

Very sciency.

#20

Looks like something Wile. E. Coyote would have worn.