# Inventions Which Killed Their Creators **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 29, 2008, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334 "2008-04-29T09:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/1 "2008-04-29T09:36:54Z")
[Interesting blog post about folks who were killed by their own inventions.](http://www.neatorama.com/2008/04/28/five-people-killed-by-their-own-inventions/) One of the more interesting ones: > [@](#): > > Franz Reichelt was a tailor who was convinced that the next big thing was a coat that doubled as a parachute. So he got busy sewing and developed just that. To test the coat/parachute (coatachute? Paracoat?), Reichelt climbed up to the first deck of the Eiffel Tower. He told authorities that he was going to use a dummy to test the invention, but at the last minute he strapped himself in and jumped to his death in front of a large crowd of spectators. You can see [the video of it here.](http://youtube.com/watch?v=BepyTSzueno) (Not terribly graphic, it having been shot during the silent film era.) ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/2 "2008-04-29T10:39:24Z")
I present to you [Deacon Brodie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brodie) > [@](#): > > Brodie and Smith were hanged at the Tolbooth October 1, 1788, using a gallows Brodie had designed and funded the year before. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/3 "2008-04-29T10:55:34Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] [Interesting blog post about folks who were killed by their own inventions.](http://www.neatorama.com/2008/04/28/five-people-killed-by-their-own-inventions/) One of the more interesting ones:You can see [the video of it here.](http://youtube.com/watch?v=BepyTSzueno) (Not terribly graphic, it having been shot during the silent film era.) [/QUOTE] I like the bit where they measure the depth of the crater he made. He definitely made an “impression.” Another: [Otto Lilienthal - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/4 "2008-04-29T11:49:11Z")
What about Jim Fixx, “inventor” of jogging? ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/5 "2008-04-29T11:50:07Z")
Lets make sure to **not** add [Joseph-Ignace Guillotin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Ignace_Guillotin) who neither invented the guillotine nor was a victim of it. I’ll suggest [Donald Crowhurst](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Crowhurst). Problems with his new design of yacht prompted him to falsify his progress in a round the world race which drove him insane. He committed suicide leaving his log books as a record of his madness. EDIT: Oops, I didn’t read to the bottom of that blog ^. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/6 "2008-04-29T12:34:08Z")
> [@](#): > > He told authorities that **he was going to use a dummy to test the invention** , but at the last minute he strapped himself in and jumped to his death Sounds like he was still telling the truth… ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/7 "2008-04-29T12:34:32Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin] Lets make sure to **not** add [Joseph-Ignace Guillotin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph-Ignace_Guillotin) who neither invented the guillotine nor was a victim of it.. [/QUOTE] Likewise, the popular story that King Louis XVI helped with the design is also false. > **[Guillotine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillotine#Development)** > > A guillotine (/ˈɡɪlətiːn/ GHIL-ə-teen /ˌɡɪləˈtiːn/ GHIL-ə-TEEN /ˈɡijətin/ GHEE-yə-teen) is an apparatus designed for effectively carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with a pillory at the bottom of the frame, holding the position of the neck directly below the blade. The blade is then released, swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single, clean p... “It is a pervasive and beguiling myth that the people who design instruments of death end up being killed by them. There is almost no foundation in fact. Colonel Shrapnel wasn’t blown up, M. Guillotin died with his head on, Colonel Catling wasn’t shot. If it hadn’t been for the murder of cosh and blackjack maker Sir William Blunt-Instrument in an alleyway, the rumour would never have got started.” -\* Terry Pratchett.\* ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/8 "2008-04-29T12:48:37Z")
Wow, the first thing I thought about when reading the thread title was that French guy fluttering down from the Eiffel tower. How about Marie Curie?, radiation exposure from the elements she discovered finally did her in. ---
**Author:** ![Ellef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8dc957/32.png) [@Ellef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellef)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/9 "2008-04-29T15:45:11Z")
I submit Thomas Midgley, killed not by leaded petrol, but by a harness he devised to help him get out of bed. [http://www.timelinescience.org/resource/students/midgley/trouble.htm](http://www.timelinescience.org/resource/students/midgley/trouble.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/10 "2008-04-29T15:55:37Z")
Dr. Frankenstein? i also recall that an industrial robot killed a guy in a japanese auto factory. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/11 "2008-04-29T16:11:10Z")
There is a story that the inventor of the [brazen bull,](http://www.medievality.com/brazen-bull.html) Perillos, was ordered to take it for a test run and of course burned alive. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/12 "2008-04-29T16:51:18Z")
[QUOTE=Ellef] I submit Thomas Midgley, killed not by leaded petrol, but by a harness he devised to help him get out of bed. > **[DUBAI69 $ Situs Game Bersponsor Sultan Dubai Dijamin Maxwin Terus](https://www.sunbrothers.pizza/)** > > DUBAI69 bangga menyatakan bahwa kami adalah satu-satunya situs 69 game gacor yang bersponsor sultan dubai sehingga menjamin maxwin terus bagi para player. [/QUOTE] I remember hearing about that first on QI, when I also learned that he was the world’s biggest ecological menace. ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/13 "2008-04-29T16:54:43Z")
Did the monster kill Frankenstein or was it the torch- and pitchfork-bearing mob of villagers? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/14 "2008-04-29T19:20:34Z")
[QUOTE=ChiefScott] Did the monster kill Frankenstein or was it the torch- and pitchfork-bearing mob of villagers? [/QUOTE] Neither. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/15 "2008-04-29T19:28:36Z")
Not quite an invention, but [Marie Curie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie) was killed by aplastic anemia, most likely due to long term exposure to radiation. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/16 "2008-04-29T19:34:27Z")
[QUOTE=Ale] Neither. [/QUOTE] It’s been awhile since I’ve read the book, but I think the ending is a bit ambiguous - him and his monster sail off together amidst the icebergs, or something of that sort. No villagers involved, pitchfork-wielding or otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/17 "2008-04-29T20:47:39Z")
[QUOTE=SuperNelson] Not quite an invention, but [Marie Curie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie) was killed by aplastic anemia, most likely due to long term exposure to radiation. [/QUOTE] Right, and while Lavoisier proved oxygen was an element, he also died from a lack of it (among other things) after being guillotined. According to a video I have, Lavoisier told a friend that he would try to blink his eyes when they held his severed head up…and he did, about a dozen times. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/18 "2008-04-29T21:06:40Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] What about Jim Fixx, “inventor” of jogging? [/QUOTE] Tempting, but I vote nah. He had a family history of heart disease and his father died from the same thing ten years younger. Running might have added years to his life he might not have gotten otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/19 "2008-04-29T23:02:38Z")
Maximilien Robespierre invented the legal system that was later used to execute him. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334/20 "2008-04-29T23:13:33Z")
Alessandro Guidoni, an Italian test pilot, went up one day in 1928 to test a new parachute he had designed, _after_ informing his commanding officer that it probably wouldn’t open. It didn’t. :dubious: I’m sorry to say that my English language cite is no longer online. Here is one in [Italian](http://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/SitoAM/Default.asp?idsez=726&idarg=1589&idente=177). I don’t speak much of it, but _paracadute_ is a parachute and _dubbioso_ means doubtful. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inventions-which-killed-their-creators/447334.md?page=2)