Inventors spend years of their lives innovating; they refine and improve them until they are confident that their brainchild is ready to see the world. The rest of the life of most rationalizers and inventors is hidden in darkness, but there are obvious exceptions to this rule. There are those whose offspring not only attracted the attention of mankind, but in one way or another caused the death of their creator.
Franz Reischelt - Parachute Suit
Franz Reischelt (1879-1912) was convinced that he could develop an aviator suit that could turn into a parachute. Known as the Flying Tailor, the Austrian-born French lost his life when he jumped off the first platform of the Eiffel Tower in his suit on February 4, 1912. Although it was planned to use a dummy, at the last minute he decided to test his invention on his own. Unfortunately for Reischelt and his family, the belief that his invention would work turned out to be just wishful thinking.
After Reischelt crashed into the ground in front of the observers, he was immediately taken to the hospital, despite the fact that the brave tester was already dead. There is a video of his fatal 90-meter jump, which is accompanied by the comment: "If he felt the terrible fate that awaits him, the unfortunate inventor would hesitate for a long time before throwing himself into the void."
Max Valier - Liquid fuel rocket engine
Max Valier (1895-1930) was at the forefront of rocket science in Germany and was one of the founders of the Space Flight Society, many of whose members contributed to the success of 20th century space programs.
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In the 1930s, the society was working with liquid-propellant rockets, and Valier was behind the idea of the first test drive of a rocket car with such an engine. Unfortunately, this type of engine destroyed him: a month later, on May 17, 1930, the rocket that Valier was working on in his Berlin laboratory exploded, firing a metal fragment directly into his pulmonary artery, thereby killing the rocket designer.
Otto Lilienthal - Glider
Known as the "King of the Gliders," Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896) was by no means an inventor who "flew out of nowhere." A German aviation pioneer, Lilienthal undertook controlled experiments and was the first to make repeated and documented soaring flights.
Thanks to Lilienthal and press publications about his success, the scientific community and the general public began to understand that the possibility of the existence of flying machines is quite real. Lilienthal was also the first to complete controlled flight in a heavier-than-air craft, an achievement that earned him the nickname "Father of Flight." The Wright brothers also followed his work and called him their inspiration. Unfortunately, after 2000 flights, Lilienthal died. On August 9, 1896, his glider suddenly dived from a height of 56 feet, during the fall he broke his spine, and died the next day, having managed to say his last words, "Victims are inevitable."
Harry K. Dalian Jr and Louis Slotin - Demonic Core
American Harry K. Dalian Jr. (1921-1945) and Canadian Louis Slotin (1910-1946) were physicists who were exposed to radiation, and both died in similar incidents while working on the atomic bomb at Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico. On August 21, 1945, Dalian accidentally dropped a tungsten carbide ingot onto a plutonium core - making it "supercritical." In a panic, Dalian tried unsuccessfully to knock down the ingot, and was then forced to partially dismantle the tungsten blocks in order to stop the nuclear reaction. He died of acute radiation sickness 25 days later.
The second victim of the "critical incident" was Louis Slotin, after he accidentally dropped a screwdriver on May 21, 1946, and triggered a nuclear fission reaction. He died even faster, just 9 days after the incident, which caused a blue glow and intense fever that hit Slotin. By a strange coincidence, the experiment on which he was working used the same plutonium nucleus that killed Dalian. Due to its dark heritage, the nucleus later received the nickname "demonic".
Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier - Char Rozier
Frenchman Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier (1754-1785) is an outstanding aviator with several accomplishments to be proud of. The first of these was that he, together with the Marquis d'Arlandés, on November 21, 1783, made the first continuous manned balloon flight. The second achievement turned out to be much less successful: on June 15, 1785, he and his companion Pierre Roman became the first victims of an air crash in history when they died while trying to cross the English Channel in a balloon.
Since the Montgolfier balloon, which the balloonist used on the first unguided flight, was not suitable for longer flights, de Rozier developed his version of the balloon that used both hydrogen and hot air. During the ensuing flight, a change in wind unexpectedly flattened the balloon, and they fell from a height of about 500 meters. Even sadder, Rosier's fiancee died eight days later, believed by many to have committed suicide.
Horace Lawson Hunley - Submarine Hunley
Horace Lawson Hunley (1823-1863) fought on the side of the Confederates during the American Civil War. As a marine engineer, he invented hand-propelled submarines. One of the submarines caused his death and was later named after him.
The Hanley submarine has already had several deaths in its account: its first team was flooded by a wave from a passing ship when the boat's hatches were opened. A second team of volunteers was recruited, and during a routine exercise, Hunley decided to command the boat himself. On October 15, 1863, the submarine sank, and all eight people on board lost their lives. Later, the submarine was raised to the surface and then became known as the first submarine in history, which managed to successfully sink an enemy ship.
Aurel Vlaicu - Airplane
Aurel Vlaicu (1882-1913) was an engineer and inventor of airplanes, born in Romania. He built his first airplane and flew on it on June 17, 1910. Vlaicu then built a second airplane and won numerous prizes at the 1912 Air Show. Unfortunately, he died from his own brainchild on September 13, 1913, when Vlaiku II refused to cross the Carpathian Mountains. Vlaicu was already working on a new airplane called Vlaicu III, but when he heard that two other Romanian pilots were planning to cross the Carpathians, he made the ill-considered decision to use his old and worn Vlaicu II instead of waiting for the new model to be completed. … It was a decision that cost him his life.
Source: “Interesting newspaper. Oracle"