Curiosity is a fickle thing. Since the beginning of time, humans have created and invented many things, and few even succeded beyond their inventor’s wildest dreams. These inventions have pushed mankind forward economically and scientifically. However, not all inventions have become a success story, with few even leading to the death of their creators.
Here are the 10 inventors who were tragically killed by their own creations, including the recent OceanGate’s Titanic-bound submersible which imploded, killing all 5 passengers on board.
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10. Jean-Francoise Pilatre de Rozier
The French teacher who taught physics and chemistry also became a pioneer of aviation. The name is Jean-Francoise Pilatre de Rozier who made the first manned free balloon flight in 1783. Sadly, he died when his balloon crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais during a premature attempt to fly across the English Channel on June 15, 1785. Rozier’s unfortunate accident was the first known fatality in an air crash.
9. Henry Smolinksi
Henry Smolinski wanted to connect the highway to the sky with the help of his advanced vehicle engineers company in 1973. The Mizar had the body of a Ford Pinto with the wings of the Cessna utilizing the car engine and a propeller to take off. The poor design and hasty construction led to an unfortunate incident on September 11, 1973. The right wing of the vehicle detached from the body of the car, resulting in the death of the pilot Harold Bake and Smolinski.
8. William Nelson
William Nelson was the man who dreamt of introducing a motorized bicycle. The 24-year-old General Electric employee from Schenectady, New York fell off the on his first test run while going uphill and was instantly killed.
7. Michael Dacre
Michael Darce was a man with a great vision. In a dire attempt to revolutionize short-distance air travel, making it easier to fly closer to the city center, Darce created a flying taxi called the Jetpod, something straight out of ‘Harry Potter‘. During a test run in Malaysia, the Jetpod only made it a few hundred meters before veering wildly and crashing into the ground in 2009. Sadly, the 53-year-old pilot Darce died on the spot due to the crushing impact.
6. Karel Soucek
A Canadian stuntman, Karel Soucek created a capsule – a shock-absorbent barrel in which he would go over Niagara Falls, which he managed to go successfully. But while performing a similar stunt in the Astrodome, the barrel was released too early leading Soucek to plummet 180 feet. Although the war tank was designed to cushion the blow, Soucek was severely injured and died the next day.
5. William Bullock
The invention of the rotary printing press in 1863 accelerated and revolutionized the printing industry, unfortunately, William Bullock did not face a similar fate. Four years after the original invention of the printing press, Bullock crushed this foot while installing and testing a new printing machine in Philadelphia. His foot developed gangrene and he failed to survive an attempted amputation.
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4. Horace Hunley
During the Civil War era, submarine technology was limited, but that only encouraged Horace Hunly a Confederate marine engineer to invent and pilot the first hand-powered combat submarine. The submarine had already sunk once before when Hunly joined a routine training exercise during which the sub and its eight crew members failed to resurface. People in submarines are often faced with hard luck.
3. Henry Winstanley
The English architect Henry Winstanley was proud of his creation and had great faith in the strength of his newly constructed Eddystone lighthouse. During the night of the Great Storm of 1703, Winstanley along with five others perished when they refused to leave the lighthouse, guiding the ships from the rocks, and that was when the tower collapsed.
2. Thomas Andrews
An Irish businessman and shipbuilder Thomas Andrew was in charge of the plans for the ocean-lined RMS Titanic. As he was traveling on board that vessel during her maiden voyage when the ship hit an iceberg on 14 April 1912. He perished along with more than 1,500 others. His body was never recovered.
1. Stockton Rush
The history continues. The curse of the Titanic or the submarines lures anyone to set to explore it. OceanGate CEO, Stockton Rush along with five billionaires were set off in an enclosed submersible to excavate the underwater remains of Titanic.
Unfortunately due to extreme pressure, the vessel was reported to be crushed killing everyone inside it. Rush had tested the Titan in Bahamian waters for several months before launching the submersible as a Titanic-bound tourist attraction.
During one such trip a year after the unsettling image was taken, a submarine expert warned that repeated cracking sounds emanating from the Titan’s hull could pose significant dangers. However, they still considered it to be a good idea to explore the deep sea in the enclosed vessel.
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