Thomas Midgley Jr
Thomas Midgley was an American chemist who invented both leaded petrol and CFCs. Though lauded during his time, he has come to be known as having “had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth history” and “the one human responsible for more deaths than any other in history” due to his inventions. He eventually contracted Polio and lead poisoning and was left disabled in his bed. This caused him to create an elaborate system of pulleys and ropes in order to lift himself from bed. He died at the age of 55 after being strangled by one of his pulleys and is notable for the fact that both his inventions, leaded petrol and his pulley operated bed, contributed to his death.
Seems as if this poor guy was snakebit, if you know what I mean.
Coffee out on the patio this morning.
9 comments:
I never thought of someone inventing leaded gas... That was a great find, it allowed the high compression engines to function and squeeze more power out of them. A big thing in the aircraft engine world.
Coffee on the patio!
Poor fellow. Seems he was doomed from the beginning. Yay, sunshine today. Maybe the swamp in my backyard will dry up a little.
Hey Rob...
He must have had a brilliant mind, for sure.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Hey Linda...
It sure seems that way.
Thanks for coming over this morning!
There's always someone willing to sell us the negatives. I bet those same inventions also accomplished much good in their day, too. And how do we know their replacements will fare any better in the long run? Sad story, though.
He tried and well the out come wasn't good. To bad he had a hard working brain.
coffee on the patio what better way to start the day.
Hey Gorges...
Folks are more likely to remember the negative, I guess.
Thanks for stopping by today!
Hey Jo...
His mind stayed active, even when he was bedridden.
Thanks, dear, for dropping by today!
Poor guy.Seems like to be intelligent enough to creat those inventions, he should have been able to avoid the dangers they created. But then hindsight is always 20/20.Patio sounds good. I read once that having cake at breakfast wasn't nearly as bad as our mothers told us, since you then have the rest if the day to work off those calories...That being said I'll bring a mayo cake, which is a rich moist chocolate cake, with home made chocolate frosting to share, if anyone would care to indulge this morning with me.
Sometimes you can't win for losing.
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