# Theodore 'Ted' Kaczynski, known as the 'Unabomber,' has died in federal prison **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 10, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294 "2023-06-10T17:26:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/61 "2023-06-13T10:15:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m sure plenty of people saw someone who looked like they could be the person in that picture, if they were wearing sunglasses and a face-covering hood. Which still doesn’t make the picture at all useful. I think of the Unabomber every time I see one of these plastered on a car: > **[Amazon.com: Hoodie Baby ON Board JDM Sticker Decal : Automotive](https://www.amazon.com/HOODIE-BABY-BOARD-Sticker-Decal/dp/B074KPB1M7)** > > Amazon.com: Hoodie Baby ON Board JDM Sticker Decal : Automotive ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/62 "2023-06-13T10:32:43Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > I’m fairly confident that he did some good in his life, though I have no idea what that is. I’m simply guessing. But it doesn’t really matter does it? There is a famous reference to his academic work in a mathematics paper which may contain the World’s Biggest Understatement In A Footnote: [![](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DuaSo2pV4AA8dux?format=jpg&name=900x900) ](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DuaSo2pV4AA8dux?format=jpg&name=900x900) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/63 "2023-06-13T22:53:03Z")
This reflects poorly on the prison administration. We paid good money to have safe prisons. It seems to me we did not get the government services we paid for. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/64 "2023-06-14T09:54:40Z")
Absolutely not. Suicide has been confirmed. This proves my assertion. He did not want to spend one more day in captivity. He escaped. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/65 "2023-06-14T11:19:25Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > This proves my assertion. He did not want to spend one more day in captivity. Or he was ill, did not want to live another day and would have done the same thing if he was not in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2023, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/66 "2023-06-14T22:06:09Z")
FTS. 😉 Fuck that shit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/67 "2023-06-15T02:23:17Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Suicide has been confirmed. This proves my assertion. He did not want to spend one more day in captivity. > > He escaped. Or, you know, he’s an elderly man with terminal cancer and wanted to end the pain and illness. The man was smart, he could probably have found a way to kill himself years earlier if that had been his desire. On the other hand, suicide in late stage cancer is hardly unknown whether the person is in jail or not. Either way, he’s not worth shedding a tear over. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/68 "2023-06-15T23:07:08Z")
a quick Q from a non-'merican … Why did the guy become so famous/emblematic/Charles Manson v2.0ish? (in public perception, that is) A quick google tells me about “3 killed” over 20 or so years … Just in 2023 there must have been what felt like 20 mass-shootings in the USofA with more deaths each, (let alone those from 2022, 21, etc… yet none of those killers are nearly as much of a household name as the unabomber)? Did the par-for-the-course change so much over the past years in what constitutes an egregous crime? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/69 "2023-06-15T23:38:30Z")
He got a lot of airplay as a “terrorist mastermind” in an era when there were no such things … yet. So a bit like DB Cooper the famous parachuting airline hijacker, he became (in)famous while his identity was still a mystery. The fact the actual person proved to be a wacky hippy sort just played into the anarchist scare that was a fresh echo of the 1960s counter-culture, Weather Underground, SLA, etc. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/70 "2023-06-15T23:47:02Z")
… who had also (apparently) worked his way into “the system”. A Harvard man (with a Ph.D. in mathematics) going that route was a shock to many of us. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/71 "2023-06-16T00:02:51Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > Why did the guy become so famous/emblematic/Charles Manson v2.0ish? (in public perception, that is) Sending out something like ~15 different bombs at random over the course of years will do it. Three people were killed, but many more were maimed. He came close to taking out a 727 in flight, but the bomb misfired and the plane was able to do an emergency landing. See [the Wikipedia entry on him](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski). ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/72 "2023-06-16T00:05:30Z")
Because of him, I opened all academic mail packages with my non-dominant hand and away from my face. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/73 "2023-06-16T00:12:07Z")
The song was actually written by Eddie Rabbit who, ironically, also wrote “I Love a Rainy Night”. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/74 "2023-06-16T00:13:42Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Because of him, I opened all academic mail packages with my non-dominant hand and away from my face.   Yep. Part of my grad-school orientation was how to potentially recognize mail bombs. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/75 "2023-06-16T03:40:10Z")
I think I’ve posted this before, but I was on campus the day his first bomb was dropped off. It was left in a parking lot at U of Illinois at Chicago Circle. Really scared the crap out of me. From [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kaczynski): > Kaczynski’s first [mail bomb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_bomb) was directed at Buckley Crist, a professor of [materials engineering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materials_science) at [Northwestern University](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwestern_University). On May 25, 1978, a package bearing Crist’s return address was found in a parking lot at the [University of Illinois at Chicago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Illinois_at_Chicago). The package was “returned” to Crist, who was suspicious because he had not sent it, so he contacted campus police. Officer Terry Marker opened the package, which exploded and caused minor injuries. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/76 "2023-06-16T03:50:20Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > This proves my assertion. Actually, it doesn’t. Your assertion requires knowledge about his state of mind that you don’t have. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/77 "2023-06-16T11:52:31Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > Why did the guy become so famous/emblematic/Charles Manson v2.0ish? (in public perception, that is) All murders are not created equal, or something like that. It went on for a long time, and involved federal authorities, state lines, and seemingly random explosive devices sent through the mail. They tried to catch this guy for a long, long time and were unsuccessful. I get your point, but “serial killers” and sensational crimes got a lot more attention in those days before everything slipped off the rails into bizarro world. I don’t recall what postal regs changed, if anything due to Kaczynski, but not too long after 9/11/2001 mailing parcels got to be a lot more of a pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/78 "2023-06-16T14:20:51Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > The song was actually written by Eddie Rabbit who, ironically, also wrote “I Love a Rainy Night”. I did not know that. Thank you. Assuming that’s not a whoosh. Which is interesting because I think of Eddie Rabbit as a no-talent loser and that song as one of the top 3 worst ever written or performed by anyone anywhere anywhen. It’s right down there with Rod Stewart and some of his worst. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/79 "2023-06-16T14:27:15Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > Why did the guy become so famous/emblematic/ He delayed at least two flights that I was on and triggered emergencies every time someone left a bag unaccompanied _anywhere_ or a university or business received even the most innocuous unidentifiable package. Even if you weren’t a potential target, the Unabomber’s activities affected (or at least inconvenienced) almost _everybody_ in some way ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2023, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294/80 "2023-06-16T15:28:23Z")
In regards to the particular notoriety of Kaczynski, he was evoking the fears of a ‘Mad Bomber’ like [George Metesky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Metesky). Both appeared to be lone bombers holding a grudge, and both were diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Their bombings weren’t in support of identifiable political causes. These things raise the fear that anyone could be a victim of their insane bombings like random shootings that plaque us now. At the time the political turmoil that created political violence in the 60s and 70s had died down and this became the new public danger of the time, coupled with the mystery of totally unknown perpetrators it was something the press would promote heavily, and an actual major law enforcement concern. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/theodore-ted-kaczynski-known-as-the-unabomber-has-died-in-federal-prison/985294.md?page=3)