In an interesting short story set in 2026, There Will Come Soft Rains, Ray Bradbury paints the picture of an empty but technologically advanced world where humans have been killed by their own invention; weapons of mass destruction. If the story seems a little far fetched to you, here’s a list of people who are (non) existing proof of the fact that sometimes, what you create ends up destroying you;
1. Franz Reichelt; The Tailer Who Could (not) Fly
The Austrian-born French tailor created a ‘flying suit’, which was basically a parachute suit, to be used in emergency situations. Now, for a guy who came up with such this groundbreaking idea back in 1912, it was pretty stupid for him to try it himself. So not only did he decide to jump to test the suit, he decided to jump off the 57 m tall Eiffel Tower.
You know what’s next.
Loud thump. A 6 inch deep crater in the ground. Formless remains.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
2. Marie Curie; The Woman Who Discovered Radium
And then died from continued exposure to it.
She co-discovered the two elements of polonium and radium, and made great leaps in the area of radioactivity (she coined the term too!). She won two Nobel Prizes for her contributions, and her work led to the development of X-rays. Unknown to the dangers of radium, she continued her research on it, only to die from over-exposure to radiation.
Source: khanacademy.org
3. William Bullock; Caught In The Self Created Printing Press
The father of the modern printing press got his leg caught up in the machine. The leg was crushed to pieces and was amputated later on, but the bacterial infection had gone too far and he had developed gangrene, which eventually killed him.
Source: surfing.ru
4. Thomas Andrews; The Man Behind Titanic
This one’s no novelty.
The chief naval architect was on board the magnificent ship as it set out for its maiden voyage. His creation let him down (into the ocean).
Source: oceanlinersmagazine.com
5. Henry Smolinski and Hal Blake; The Car That Could (not) Fly
The two inventors attempted to create a car with detachable wings; so the car could drive, and could fly like a helicopter.
During the test flight, it turned out that the wings were too detachable. They detached mid-flight, and both the inventors died from the ensuing crash.
6. Otto Lilienthal; The Glider King
The man obsessed with flying.
Otto was the first person to take a gliding trip, and then many more, and later created different types of gliders. He was the inspiration behind the Wright Brothers’ first airplane.
He lost control of what turned out to be his last flight, and crashed to the ground, fracturing his spine.
His famous last words were, “Sacrifices must be made!”.
Source: blogspot.com
7. Li Si; The Painful Death
Li Si was the chancellor of the Qin Dynasty of Ancient China, which ruled during the third century B.C. He came up with the ‘Five Pains’ execution method to punish traitors. First, their forehead was branded; then, their nose was cut off, following which their feet were cut off, after which they were castrated, and then finally executed.
After he helped Zhao Gao illegally accede to the throne, the newly installed King had Li Si executed in the exact same manner.
Source: pinterest.com
Have you been working on something?
Be careful, is all we’re saying.
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