When Brilliant Ideas Backfire: 19 Geniuses Who Paid the Price for Their Own Ingenuity
Alexander Bogdanov was a pioneer in hematology and helped create blood transfusion. He believed that injecting himself with younger people’s blood would rejuvenate him and halt his aging (why is beyond me). In 1928, he ended up injecting himself with blood from a tuberculosis-ridden patient, which, spoiler alert, led to his death.
#8
Li Si (280 Bc – 208 Bc)
Li Si served as the prime minister of the Qin Dynasty and oversaw the construction of the Great Wall of China. He developed the Five Pains execution method, which is so brutal that all details will be left out. In 208 BC, he was convicted of treason and had five pieces of his anatomy removed, and he bled to death.
#9
Otto Lilienthal (1848-1896)
Otto Lilienthal became a pioneer in aviation technology by creating one of the first hang gliders in history. In 1896, while taking one for a test flight, he lost control of the glider and crashed into the ground, breaking his spine in the process. Unsurprisingly, he did not survive the injury.
#10
Stockton Rush (1962-2023)
“At some point, safety is just pure waste. I mean, if you just want to be safe, don’t get out of bed, don’t get in your car, don’t do anything.” Those words came around to bite Stockton Rush square in the behind on June 18, 2023, on the ill-fated undersea voyage to see the Titanic wreckage using his Titan submarine. The submarine imploded, resulting in the deaths of him and four others on board.
