30 Geniuses Who Changed The World, And Their Inventions Ended Theirs

Innovation has always been a double-edged sword. While some inventions change the world for the better, others end up taking a dark turn—sometimes at the cost of their own creators. Throughout history, there have been inventors who, whether through tragic irony or unforeseen consequences, fell victim to their own genius. Here are some times inventors unknowingly built their own doom.

#1 Franz Reichelt

Image source: wikipedia, wikipedia

A tailor fell from the first deck of the Eiffel Tower during a test of a coat parachute he had invented. Although Reichelt had assured authorities he would use a dummy, he chose to wear the parachute himself at the last moment and jumped in front of a camera crew.

#2 Stockton Rush

Image source: wikipedia, Madelgarius

He was a pilot, engineer, and businessman who managed the design and construction of the OceanGate submersible Titan, used to take tourists to see the Titanic wreck. On 18 June 2023, the submersible imploded during a dive to the Titanic, resulting in the loss of Rush and four other passengers. Rush had long defended his unregulated design, stating 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.”

#3 Henry Smolinski

Image source: wikipedia, Doug Duncan

(1933–1973) passed away during a test flight of the AVE Mizar, a flying car built on the Ford Pinto, which was the only product from the company he founded.

#4 Henry Winstanley

Image source: en.wikipedia.org, After Henry Roberts’ 1761 engraving – Charles Knight – editor

(1644–1703) designed and built the first offshore lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks in Devon, England, between 1696 and 1698. Confident in its safety, he once expressed a wish to take shelter inside it “during the greatest storm there ever was.” However, during the Great Storm of 1703, the lighthouse was destroyed with Winstanley and five others inside, and no trace of them was ever found.

#5 Valerian Abakovsky

Image source: wikipedia, Author Unknown

He built the Aerowagon, an experimental high-speed railcar powered by an aircraft engine and propeller, designed to transport Soviet officials. On 24 July 1921, the railcar derailed at high speed, resulting in the loss of 7 of the 22 people on board, including Abakovsky.

#6 Wan Hu

Image source: wikipedia, NASA – Illustration courtesy of United States Civil Air Patrol

A possibly legendary 16th-century Chinese official is said to have tried to launch himself into outer space in a chair equipped with 47 rockets. The rockets exploded, and it is claimed that neither he nor the chair were ever found again.

#7 Marie Curie

Image source: wikipedia, wikipedia

Curie visited Poland for the last time in early 1934 and passed away on 4 July 1934 at 66, likely from aplastic anaemia caused by radiation exposure. At the time, the dangers of radiation were not known, and she had stored radioactive test tubes in her desk and carried them in her pocket. She was also exposed to X-rays during World War I. In 1995, it was suggested that her illness was more likely due to this exposure than radium.

#8 Georg Wilhelm Richmann

Image source: wikipedia, Frank Schulenburg

He created a device to study electricity from lightning. While attempting to measure the response of an insulated rod to a nearby storm, it generated a ball of lightning that struck him in the forehead, leading to his passing.

#9 Luis Jimenez

Image source: wikipedia, Mike Sinko Photography

He was a Chicano sculptor and graphic artist, known for his work highlighting Mexican, Southwestern, and Hispanic-American themes. His most famous piece, Blue Mustang, was commissioned by Denver International Airport. Jiménez passed away in an industrial accident while working on the sculpture, which was completed posthumously.

#10 Robert Cocking

Image source: wikipedia.org, Published by J. Thompson

Robert Cocking (1776–1837) passed away when his homemade parachute malfunctioned. He had neglected to factor in the parachute’s weight during his calculations.

#11 Thom Andrews

Image source: wikipedia, wikipedia

The naval architect of the Titanic designed the renowned ship while working as the managing director and head of the drafting department at Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. He was aboard the Titanic during its maiden voyage and was lost along with about 1,500 others when the ship struck an iceberg and sank on 14 April 1912. His body was never found.

#12 Sabin Arnold Von Sochocky

Image source: bbc, 4thwalldramaturgy

Ukrainian chemist Sabin Arnold von Sochocky is credited with inventing luminescent paint using radium, discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898. His company, the Radium Luminous Material Corporation, produced luminous watch dials, but female workers later sued for radiation exposure. Von Sochocky eventually suffered from radiation effects, developing aplastic anemia in 1928, the same condition that claimed Marie Curie’s life.

#13 Carl Wilhelm Scheele

Image source: wikipedia, wikipedia

In the fall of 1785, Scheele began experiencing symptoms of kidney disease and a skin condition, which weakened him significantly. Foreseeing his early demise, he married his predecessor’s widow in early 1786 to ensure his pharmacy and possessions were passed on to her. Known for his hazardous experiments with toxic substances like arsenic, mercury, and lead, his exposure to these chemicals, along with his practices of tasting and smelling compounds, likely led to his death at 43 on May 21, 1786, from mercury poisoning.

#14 Mary Ward

Image source: wikipedia, Unknown author

She was an Irish naturalist, astronomer, microscopist, author, and artist. She tragically fell under the wheels of an experimental steam car built by her cousins in 1869, becoming the first person recorded to have been involved in a motor vehicle accident.

#15 Louis Slotin

Image source: wikipedia, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Louis Slotin (1910–1946), a Canadian physicist, was involved in the Manhattan Project. While conducting a dangerous experiment with radioactive materials, he was exposed to lethal radiation. Despite medical efforts and his parents’ presence, he suffered severe radiation injuries, including organ failure, and passed away five days later.

#16 Sophie Blanchard

Image source: wikipedia, Jules Porreau (fl. 19th century)

She was a French aeronaut and the wife of ballooning pioneer Jean-Pierre Blanchard. Ballooning was perilous for pioneers. Blanchard faced freezing temperatures, near-drownings, and lost consciousness multiple times. In 1819, she became the first woman to perish in an aviation accident when fireworks ignited the gas in her balloon during a Paris exhibition, causing a crash and her fall from the roof of a house.

#17 Alexander Bogdanov

Image source: wikipedia, Alexander Bogdanov Library

He established the first Institute of Blood Transfusion in 1926. He passed away from an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction after performing an experimental mutual blood transfusion between himself and a 21-year-old student with a dormant case of tuberculosis. Bogdanov believed that the younger man’s blood would rejuvenate his aging body, and that his own blood, which he thought was immune to tuberculosis, would cure the student’s condition.

#18 Sylvester H. Roper

Image source: wikipedia, E.G. Williams & Bro. (New York)

Sylvester Howard Roper (1823–1896) was an American inventor known for his early work on automobiles and motorcycles. On June 1, 1896, he rode one of his steam-powered bicycles at the Charles River track in Cambridge, Massachusetts, reaching speeds of 40 mph. After completing several laps, he fell and suffered a head injury. He was later found dead, with an autopsy revealing heart failure, though it’s unclear whether the crash caused the heart failure or if it occurred beforehand.

#19 Thomas Midgley Jr

Image source: wikipedia, Anonymous

An American engineer and chemist, he contracted polio at 51, which left him with significant disabilities. To assist with getting out of bed, he created a complex system of ropes and pulleys. Unfortunately, he became tangled in the ropes and passed away from strangulation at 55. Despite this, he is more widely recognized for two other inventions: the tetraethyl lead (TEL) additive for gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

#20 Max Valier

Image source: wikipedia, Daderot

As a member of the 1920s German rocket society Verein frr Raumschiffahrt, he invented liquid-fueled rocket engines. On 17 May 1930, an alcohol-fueled engine exploded on his test bench in Berlin, resulting in his immediate death.

#21 Francis Edgar Stanley

Image source: wikipedia.org, dailytelegraph.com.au

Francis Edgar Stanley, the inventor of the Stanley Steamer automobile, passed away following a car crash driving his automobile while attempting to avoid farm wagons.

#22 Horace Lawson Hunley

Image source: wikipedia, American Civil War Museum

Horace Lawson Hunley (1823–1863) was a Confederate marine engineer who built the H. L. Hunley submarine. He tragically became part of the second crew to face fatalities while testing the experimental vessel. After his passing, the Confederates raised the submarine for another mission, which resulted in the successful sinking of the USS Housatonic during the American Civil War. This achievement made the H. L. Hunley the first submarine to sink an enemy warship in wartime.

#23 Aurel Vlaicu

Image source: wikipedia, a photographer named Adler

On September 13, 1913, Aurel Vlaicu crashed his A. Vlaicu Nr. II near Campina while attempting to be the first to fly across the Carpathian Mountains. He was en route to the ASTRA festivities in Oraștie. The cause of the crash remains uncertain, but it is believed the airplane stalled during a landing with the engine off, a common practice

#24 Orban

Image source: wikipedia, Gaius Cornelius

The designer and maker of the Basilic, a massive cannon used to breach the walls of Constantinople in 1453, passed away when one of his cannons exploded during battle.

#25 William Bullock

Image source: wikipedia, LincolnDuncanIsMyName

(1813–1867) invented the web rotary printing press. Several years later, while a new machine was being installed in Philadelphia, his foot was crushed. The injury developed into gangrene, and Bullock passed away during the amputation procedure.

#26 Cowper Phipps Coles

Image source: wikipedia, Illustrated London News

He was a Royal Navy captain who perished along with around 480 others when the HMS Captain, a masted turret ship of his design, sank.

#27 Jean-Francois Pilatre De Rozier

Image source: wikipedia, REPOSITORY: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA

He completed the first manned free balloon flight with François Laurent d’Arlandes on 21 November 1783, using a Montgolfier balloon. Later, during an attempt to cross the English Channel, his balloon crashed near Wimereux in the Pas-de-Calais. As a result, he and his companion Pierre Romain became the first recorded victims of an air crash.

#28 Jimi Heselden

Image source: wikipedia, Gawrisch

He passed away while riding a Segway scooter. Although he owned Segway Inc., he was not the inventor of the Segway.

#29 Otto Lilienthal

Image source: wikipedia

On 9 August 1896, Lilienthal flew his glider in the Rhinow Hills under good weather. The first flights were successful, covering 250 meters. During the fourth flight, his glider pitched upward and then quickly descended, possibly due to a stall. Unable to recover, he fell from a height of about 15 meters while still in the glider.

#30 Karl Flach

Image source: wikipedia, wikipedia

A German resident of Valparaiso, Chile, he constructed the submarine Flach at the request of the Chilean government following the bombing of Valparaiso. The submarine, a sibling to the Peruvian “Toro” (which sank, was refloated by the Chilean Navy, and then disappeared during the Saltpeter War), failed to surface during testing. He, along with his son and other sailors, lost their lives in the incident.