Student Article
Six Terrible Inventions That Killed Their Creators
Counterweight (noun): A weight that balances or offsets another weight to make lifting or movement easier and more stable.
Shock-absorbent (adjective): Able to take in the force from a hit, bump, or impact.
Prototype (noun): A first or early version of something new, like an invention or product, that people use to test out an idea and see how it works.
Contraption (noun): A device or machine that looks unusual, complicated, or a bit messy, often made in a creative or improvised way.
Luminescent (adjective): Giving off light without being hot, usually because of a chemical reaction, special materials, or exposure to certain types of energy.
Inventors create new things to help people, but sometimes their inventions can be dangerous. Here are six inventors who died because of their own creations:
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 counterweighted 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.
Henry Smolinski
Henry Smolinski dreamed of building a flying car. He 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. 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. 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. He's also credited with inventing leaded petrol. He died from another invention. After polio left him 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 radium. Ultimately, von Sochocky succumbed to the effects of radiation, dying in 1928 of aplastic anemia caused by bone marrow damage.
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. 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. Unfortunately, his design failed to work and he fell to his death in a matter of seconds.
Henry Winstanley
In 1696, after losing two ships on the dangerous Eddystone Rocks off the Devon coast, this English engineer designed and built the world’s first offshore lighthouse. 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.
These tales showcase that inventing new things can be risky, but inventors keep trying to make the world better.
© Dr. Claire Asher / Our Media
Counterweight (noun): A weight that balances or offsets another weight to make lifting or movement easier and more stable.
Shock-absorbent (adjective): Able to take in the force from a hit, bump, or impact.
Prototype (noun): A first or early version of something new, like an invention or product, that people use to test out an idea and see how it works.
Contraption (noun): A device or machine that looks unusual, complicated, or a bit messy, often made in a creative or improvised way.
Luminescent (adjective): Giving off light without being hot, usually because of a chemical reaction, special materials, or exposure to certain types of energy.