9 Inventors Who Were Killed By Their Creations

Thomas Midgley, Jr. will probably go down in history as one of the most damaging humans ever to walk the Earth, not that he meant to be at all.

He is famous for two inventions. His first great idea was to add lead to petrol in order to make cars' engines run more smoothly (which it did, very effectively). His second great idea was to put chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in everything from hairspray to fridges.

Needless to say, both of these inventions have had devastating effects on the environment, with CFCs being the main culprit behind punching that whacking great hole in the ozone layer and leaded petrol causing lead poisoning if the fumes are inhaled.

Neither of these disastrous inventions were what sent Thomas Midgley Jr. to his grave, however, but the culprit was one of Midgley's own inventions.

At the age of 51, he contracted polio which sadly left him severely disabled. He then invented a complex system of ropes and pulleys with which he could be hoisted out of bed. Then, at the age of 55, he became accidentally entangled in the ropes and died of strangulation. Nasty way to go.