Thomas Midgley, Jr. (1889–1944) was an American engineer and chemist who contracted polio at age 51, leaving him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. He was accidentally entangled in the ropes of the device and died of strangulation at the age of 55. However, he is more famous—and infamous—for two of his other inventions: the tetraethyl lead (TEL) additive to gasoline, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).[15][16][17]
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. I’m surprised he didn’t think to test it with a 20ft ladder instead of the Eiffel Tower.
You need to build up speed.
Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius – aced all his theory classes; failed every lab.
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It does seem like a fairly incomplete list. I mean, a whole “Popular myths and related stories” and no Icarus?
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Any weapon that doesn’t kill him, makes him stronger!
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So true, it’s why polio victims make the best weight lifters!
(I’m happy to see that silly and factually incorrect aphorism mocked…)
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Give me a time machine and a cricket bat, and I’ll visit Fred for some empirical aphorism testing.
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That’s what the educated knee-capers around here call it.
To be fair, that’d only work if Daedelus had been the one who died…
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Also, there was the tragic end to the inventor of twerking.
It shook the dance world to its core.
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Mmm mmm mmm mmm.
From the wiki:
Franz Reichelt (1879–1912), a tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his invention, the coat parachute. It was his first attempt with the parachute, and he had told the authorities he would first test it with a dummy.[7]
Would it be mean of me if I said he did test it on a dummy?
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This wired piece is somewhat more sympathetic.
Learn to imitate their concern, you MONSTER!
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The guy in the airplane wasnt killed by the airplane, but the ground.
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And as we all know, the knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
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Does dying while in pursuit of your invention count? What if your invention kills your loved ones?
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Too soon?
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Doesn’t that require escape velocity?
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For those who are short on time, here’s the TL;DR version:
List of inventors killed by their own inventions
Mankind
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Now likely to be sooner than later under President Trump 
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weird place to end that loop
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