Thomas Midgley Jr. was an American mechanical and chemical engineer whose inventions had a profound and lasting impact on the modern industrial world, as well as severe environmental consequences. Over the course of his career, Midgley was granted more than 100 patents. He is most famous for his pivotal role in developing tetraethyl lead (leaded gasoline) and some of the first chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which became widely known under the brand name Freon.
Although both leaded gasoline and CFCs were initially celebrated as major technological breakthroughs, they were later banned from widespread use due to their devastating effects on human health and the global environment. While the destructive nature of CFCs on the ozone layer was not discovered until decades after his death, the acute toxicity of tetraethyl lead was well-known during its development. Midgley himself was aware of these dangers but publicly maintained that leaded gasoline posed no health hazards when used in internal combustion engines.
In 1940, Midgley contracted polio, which left him severely disabled. To assist himself in getting out of bed without help, he designed a complex system of ropes and pulleys. In November 1944, he was found strangled to death by this device. Although frequently cited as an accidental death caused by his own invention, the local coroner officially ruled his death a suicide.
