Progress has a price.
William Bullock
Bullock invented the web rotary press, a printing press fed by a continuous roll of paper. In 1867, he either kicked or had his foot caught in one of the mechanisms, which resulted in an infected cut, gangrene, and eventually death.
Source: news.discovery.com / via: en.wikipedia.org
William Nelson
A 24-year-old inventor who worked for General Electric, Nelson was killed while test-driving a motorized bike for which he invented a motor in 1903.
Source: the-tin-man.com / via: en.wikipedia.org
Henry Smolinski
Smolinski died in 1973 while test-piloting his flying car, the AVE MIZAR, the only product his company ever attempted to produce.
Source: en.wikipedia.org / via: en.wikipedia.org
Horace Lawson Hunley
In 1863, Hunley engineered the first combat submarine for the Confederates during the Civil War. Despite the submarine having already sunk once, killing a majority of its crew, Hunley was aboard the CSS Hunley for its the second attempt at the Union blockade in Charleston, where he drowned along with the entirety of its crew.
Source: americandigest.org / via: en.wikipedia.org