Inventors Killed By Their Inventions Quiz

Answer: Steamer

Francis Edgar Stanley (1849-1918) was killed while driving a Stanley Steamer automobile. "Stanley Steamers" were early automobiles, with this nickname because of their steam operated engines. Francis Stanley died when he drove his car into a woodpile while attempting to travel past farm wagons that were riding along side by side on the road.

Answer: A type of a coat.

Franz Reichelt (1879-1912), a tailor, fell to his death off the first deck of the Eiffel Tower while testing his invention, the coat parachute. It was his first attempt with the parachute. Despite the fact that he had told the authorities he would first test it with a dummy, he tested it with himself the first time through with tragic results.

Answer: Cross the English Channel.

Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier was the first known fatality in an air crash. On 15 June 1785 he and Pierre Romain attempted to cross the English Channel in his specialized balloon that was a cross between a hydrogen balloon and a hot air balloon. Unfortunately, the winds pushed them back over land soon after takeoff where the balloon caught on fire and crashed, killing both the inventor and his passenger.

Answer: True

Thomas Andrews, Jr. (1873-1912) was an Irish businessman and shipbuilder. He was managing director and head of the drafting department of the shipbuilding company Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland. As the naval architect in charge of the plans for the ocean liner RMS Titanic, he was travelling on board that vessel during her maiden voyage when the ship hit an iceberg on 14 April 1912.

He perished along with more than 1,500 others. His body was never recovered.

Answer: Chemical weapons

Andrei Zheleznyakov was a chemist who was inventing nerve agents when a ventilation hood malfunctioned. He was exposed to traces of the nerve agent Novichok 5, which caused weeks of unconsciousness, months of being unable to walk, and years of pain and failing health before he finally died from the effects of his invention in the early 1990s.

Answer: Rope lift for transferring out of bed

Thomas Midgley, Jr. invented a complicated system of ropes and pulleys that were used by others to help lift him out of bed. Unfortunately, he became accidentally wrapped up in the ropes on one lift and died of strangulation. He was a brilliant inventor. Even though his rope lift didn't exactly work out as he planned, he did invent two other things that were widely used after his death: the tetraethyl lead (TEL) additive to gasoline, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

Answer: Canadian

Karel Soucek (1947-1985) was a professional stuntman. He was also an inventor. He made a shock-absorbent barrel that was designed to allow him to dropped from great heights and survive the fall.. He died after he was dropped, in the barrel, from the roof of the Houston Astrodome.

The barrel was supposed to land in a small pool of water, designed to cushion his fall. Instead, it hit the rim of the water tank and he was killed.

Answer: Train

The Aerowagon was a high-speed railcar. It was created using an aircraft engine and propeller, but designed as a high speed train car. It derailed at high speed 24 July 1921, killing 6 of the 22 people on board, including inventor Abakovsky.

Answer: US Civil War

Horace Lawson Hunley was a Confederate marine engineer during the American Civil War. He died in 1863 at the age of 40 when he and seven other crew members drowned while testing his invention of a hand-powered combat submarine. The ship was eventually raised and used to sink a Union vessel later in the war in 1864 (The USS Housatonic). That was the first successful sinking of an enemy by a submarine in naval history.

Answer: It crushed his foot, causing medical complications leading to his death.

William Bullock (1813-1867) invented the web rotary printing press. When he was assisting with the installation of one of his machines in Philadelphia, his foot was crushed. The injury developed gangrene that led to an amputation. He died during the surgery.