Strangled by Invention: Thomas Midgley Jr.

Thomas Midgley Jr., an award-winning chemist and lauded scientist, invented leaded gasoline, freon, and CFCs, indirectly responsible for the deaths of millions of people. At the age of 51, Midgley contracted polio, which left him severely disabled. He devised an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys to lift himself out of bed, but in 1944, he became entangled in the device and died of strangulation.