Thomas Midgley, Jr. (died 1944)
Thomas Midgley, Jr. is credited as the man who ruined the environment more than any other single human on the planet. He invented leaded petrol and CFCs. Pretty impressive hey?: lead fumes into the atmosphere and a massive hole in the ozone.
To be fair, how was he supposed to know? The lead in the petrol was to stop the annoying knocking sound that cars made, and the CFCs were to replace the dangerous ammonia and propane that was being used in refrigeration systems at the time. He was trying to be helpful bless him.
It wasn’t either of those sinister inventions that caused his demise though. At the age of 51 Midgley contracted polio which severely disabled him. Like any inventor worth his salt he decided to think his way around his immobility issue. He created a set of pulleys and levers which enabled him get out of bed unaided.
One day in 1944 Midgley became entangled in these ropes and pulleys he’d created to assist him and died of strangulation aged 55.
