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Thomas Midgeley, Jr.

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Inventor

The Resume

    (May 18, 1889-November 2, 1944)
    Born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
    Mechanical engineer turned chemist
    Developed tetra-ethyl lead (TEL) additive to gasoline
    Helped develop chlorinated fluorocarbon (CFC) and named it Freon
    Notable awards include the Nichols Medal (1922), the Perkin Medal (1937), the Priestley Medal (1941) and the Willard Gibbs Award (1942)
    Died by strangulation when accidentally entangled in ropes attached to his bed at age 55

Why he might be annoying:

    As a GM employee he invented lead gasoline that reduced knock in motors but was highly poisonous.
    He inhaled enough of his own invention that in 1923 he needed to convalescence for three months in Miami.
    In 1924, two employees died from lead poisoning at an Ohio plant and 13 died at two different New Jersey plants.
    To demonstrate TEL safeness, he poured it over his hands, then placed a bottle of it under his nose and took deep breaths for 60 seconds, stating he could do this daily without ill effects.
    The State of New Jersey didn't buy the demo and pulled the rights to manufacture TEL without express permission.
    He was fired from his VP position of GM's Chemical Company in 1925 due to his 'inexperience in organizational matters.'
    Both his TEL and CFC inventions have had dramatic negative effect on the ozone layer.
    One noted historian stated he had 'more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in Earth's history.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He admired his father who was an inventor and wanted to follow in his footsteps.
    He received a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University (1911).
    He held over 100 patents.
    He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
    The American Chemical Society selected him as president and chairman in 1944, which he held until his death later in the year.
    At age 51 he contracted polio.
    He invented a pulley device to help him in and out of bed, but became caught in the apparatus and strangled to death.
    He was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame Profile in 2003.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 30.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 30 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 23 Votes: 47.83% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 20 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 29 Votes: 41.38% Annoying