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This is a list of people whose deaths were in some manner caused by or directly related to a product, process, procedure, or other technologicalinnovation that they invented or designed.
Ill-fated inventors
Automotive
Sylvester H. Roper (1823–1896), inventor of theRoper steam velocipede, died of a heart attack or subsequent crash during a public speed trial in 1896. It is unknown whether the crash caused the heart attack, or the heart attack caused the crash.[1]
Francis Edgar Stanley (1849–1918) was killed while driving aStanley Steamer automobile. He drove his car into a woodpile while attempting to avoid farm wagons travelling side by side on the road.[3]
Ismail ibn Hammad al-Jawhari (died c. 1003–1010), a KazakhTurkic scholar fromFarab, attempted to fly using two wooden wings and a rope. He leapt from the roof of a mosque inNishapur and fell to his death.[6]
Thomas Harris (d. 1824) invented the gas discharge valve, the first such device for emptying alighter-than-air balloon of gas. He died when the cord attached to the gas discharge valve in his balloon tightened as it was deflated, releasing more gas than intended and crashing the balloon.[7]
Robert Cocking (1776–1837) died when his homemadeparachute failed. Cocking failed to include the weight of the parachute in his calculations.[8]
Percy Pilcher (1867–1899) died after crashing his glider, having been prevented from demonstrating his powered aircraft.
Franz Reichelt (1879–1912), atailor, fell to his death from the first deck of theEiffel Tower during the initial test of a coat parachute which he invented. Reichelt promised the authorities he would use a dummy, but instead he confidently strapped himself into the garment at the last moment and made his leap in front of a camera crew.[11]
Carlisle Spedding (1695–1755);[21] mining engineer, inventor and colliery manager, who worked in mines owned bySir James Lowther. Spedding, along with his elder brother James, introduced many improvements to the mining industry, especially relating to drainage and ventilation, which did much to improve safety for miners. In 1730,[22] Spedding invented a mechanical device, consisting of a pair of geared wheels that forced a flint against a rotating steel disc, giving off a shower of sparks to provide some illumination. This, named the "Spedding Steel Mill",[23] was allegedly safer than the use of a naked flame, and until the invention of theDavy andStephenson safety lamps many decades later, was widely used in mines. Carlisle Spedding was killed in an underground gas explosion on 8 August 1755 in Whitehaven, Cumbria, said to have been caused by one of his steel mills.
Henry Winstanley (1644–1703) designed and built the world'sfirst offshore lighthouse[29] on the Eddystone Rocks in Devon, England between 1696 and 1698. Boasting of the safety of his invention, he expressed a desire to shelter inside it "during the greatest storm there ever was".[30] During theGreat Storm of 1703, the lighthouse was completely destroyed with Winstanley and five other men inside. No trace of them was found.[31]
Horace Lawson Hunley (1823–1863) was aConfederate American marine engineer who built theH. L. Hunley[33] submarine and perished inside it as a member of the second crew to face drownings while testing the experimental vessel. After Hunley's death, the Confederates resurfaced the ship for another mission that proved fatal for its own crew: the successful sinking of the USSHousatonic during theAmerican Civil War. The feat made theH. L. Hunley the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in wartime.[citation needed]
Karl Flach (1821–1866) was a German living in Valparaiso, Chile. He built the submarine Flach (brother of the Peruvian "Toro", sunk, refloated by the Chilean Navy and then disappeared, both events in the Saltpeter War) at the request of the Chilean government, in response to the bombing of Valparaíso. He died after the submarine failed to rise, along with his son and other sailors.[citation needed]
Thomas Andrews (1873–1912), the naval architect of theTitanic, designed his famous vessel while serving as themanaging director and head of the drafting department of the shipbuilding companyHarland and Wolff inBelfast, Ireland. He was aboard theTitanic during her maiden voyage and perished alongside approximately 1,500 others when the shiphit an iceberg and sank on 14 April 1912. Andrews' body was never recovered.[citation needed]
Stockton Rush (1962–2023) was a pilot, engineer, and businessman who oversaw the design and construction of theOceanGate submersibleTitan, used to take tourists to view thewreck of theTitanic. On 18 June 2023,the craft imploded during a dive to theTitanic, killing Rush and four other passengers.[37] Rush had spent years staunchly defending his unregulated design, claiming that "at some point, safety is just pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don't get out of bed, don't get in your car, don't do anything".[38]
Medical
Alexander Bogdanov (1873–1928) was a Russianpolymath, Bolshevik revolutionary and pioneer haemotologist who founded the firstInstitute of Blood Transfusion in 1926. He died fromacute hemolytic transfusion reaction after carrying out an experimental mutual blood transfusion between himself and a 21-year-old student with an inactive case of tuberculosis. Bogdanov's hypotheses were that the younger man's blood would rejuvenate his own aging body, and that his own blood, which he believed was resistant to tuberculosis, would treat the student's disease.[39][40]
Thomas Midgley Jr. (1889–1944) was an American engineer and chemist who contractedpolio at age 51, leaving him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. He became entangled in the ropes and died of strangulation at the age of 55. However, he is better known for two of his other inventions: thetetraethyl lead (TEL) additive togasoline, andchlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).[41][42][43]
Physics
Richmann and his engraver during the electrocution in St. Petersburg
Georg Wilhelm Richmann (1711–1753) built an apparatus to study electricity from lightning. While "trying to quantify the response of an insulated rod to a nearby storm," it produced aball of lightning that struck him in the forehead and killed him.[44]
Karel Soucek (1947–1985) was a Czech professional stuntman living in Canada who developed a shock-absorbent barrel. He died following a demonstration involving the barrel being dropped from the roof of theHouston Astrodome. He was fatally injured when his barrel hit the rim of the water tank meant to cushion his fall.[45]
Railway
Valerian Abakovsky'sAerowagon, a propeller-driven wooden railcar which crashed in 1921, killing Abakovsky and six others
Henri Thuile (died 1900), inventor of the large high-speedThuile steam locomotive, died during a test run between Chartres and Orléans. Conflicting accounts indicate that he was either thrown from the derailing locomotive, hitting a telegraph pole,[47] or that he simply leaned too much and was instantly killed by hitting his head against a piece of bridge scaffolding.[48]
Valerian Abakovsky (1895–1921) constructed theAerowagon, an experimental high-speedrailcar fitted with anaircraft engine and propeller traction, intended to carrySoviet officials. On 24 July 1921, it derailed at high speed, killing seven of the 22 on board, including Abakovsky.[49]
Rocketry
Max Valier (1895–1930) invented liquid-fuelled rocket engines as a member of the 1920s German rocket societyVerein für Raumschiffahrt. On 17 May 1930, an alcohol-fuelled engine exploded on his test bench in Berlin, killing him instantly.[50]
Mike Hughes (1956–2020) was killed when the parachute failed to deploy during a crash landing while piloting his homemade steam-powered rocket.[51]
Li Si (208 BCE), Prime Minister during theQin dynasty, was executed bythe Five Pains method which some sources claim he had devised.[54][55][56][failed verification] However, the history of the Five Pains is traced further back in time than Li Si.
Wan Hu, a possibly apocryphal[57] 16th-century Chinese official, is said to have attempted to launch himself into outer space in a chair to which 47 rockets were attached. The rockets exploded, and it is said that neither he nor the chair were ever seen again.
João Torto, a most likely apocryphal 16th-centuryPortuguese man who jumped from the top ofViseu Cathedral wearing a biplane-like flying rig and an eagle-shaped helmet.[58]
Phil Pagano, CEO of theMetra commuter rail agency, committed suicide on May 7, 2010, by standing in the way of an oncoming Metra train.[64]
Jeffrey Parker, CEO of theMARTA public transit agency, committed suicide on January 14, 2022, by putting himself in front of an oncoming MARTA train.[65]
See also
Darwin Awards, tongue-in-cheek awards honoring persons who died as a result of their conspicuously stupid mistakes
^"1824 DEATH OF LIEUT. THOMAS HARRIS AT BEDDINGTON PARK, CROYDON".The Aeronautical Journal.33.Royal Aeronautical Society. 1929.Thomas Harris was the first English aeronaut killed during a flight in a balloon. His death was due to his own invention of a patent valve...
^Maia, Samuel (1933)."O primeiro aviador português: quem foi?" [The first Portuguese aviator: who was he?](PDF).Arquivo Nacional (in Portuguese):822–823, 831. Retrieved23 February 2021.
^Schmidtchen, Volker (1977b), "Riesengeschütze des 15. Jahrhunderts. Technische Höchstleistungen ihrer Zeit",Technikgeschichte,44 (3):213–237
^"Segway company owner rides scooter off cliff, dies".NBC News. RetrievedFebruary 3, 2022.A British businessman, who bought the Segway company less than a year ago, died after riding one of the scooters off a cliff and into a river near his Yorkshire estate.
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