The Man Who Accidentally Killed The Most People In History
43M views · Apr 22, 2022 · Education
Comments · 47K
@veritasium · 4 years ago · pinned
Happy Earth Day! If you want to offset your carbon emissions I will personally cover the first month of your subscription at <a href="https://ve42.co/wren">https://ve42.co/wren</a> (for the first 100 people to sign up)
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@Uns0lvedp4rad0x · 4 years ago
Imagine being the person responsible for making an entire generation dumber on average. That’s a sad legacy to leave behind.
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@A.Mere.Creator · 4 years ago
Gives an entire generation lead poisoning. Rips a hole in the ozone. Refuses to elaborate, gets strangled by his own invention.
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@MrJZ367 · 4 years ago
Clair Patterson was a big part of getting lead out of gasoline. He didn't just do the research, he testified to lawmakers as well. He's one of those true heroes that we shamefully never get told about in school.
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@calumaimes132 · 1 year ago
How is Du Pont so involved with so many catastrophic environmental disasters
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@xliquidflames · 4 years ago
If it's a story about chemistry hurting people, you can bet DuPont is going to be mentioned at least once.
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@Imperiused · 4 years ago
I think "accidental" is more than a little generous. They knew it was poison. They just chose to ignore it because of the opportunity for profit.
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@ROLtheWolf · 4 years ago
The moment that Midgley pretended that Ethyl wasn't dangerous (especially after HE, HIMSELF, had just recovered from lead poisoning) was the moment that it was no longer an "ACCIDENT" that he poisoned the world.
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@cz941 · 3 months ago
Even the Romans were already aware of the toxicity of lead. Vitruvius wrote, that water pipes should be made of clay instead of lead.
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@garya7129 · 4 years ago
"We'll go down in history as the first society that wouldn't save itself because it wasn't cost effective" Kurt Vonnegut
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@ddognine · 4 years ago
Let's be honest. Thomas Midgley did not operate in isolation. He had many enablers and was ultimately just an employee of General Motors. By putting the blame on Midgley, it offers a convenient escape from culpability to GM, Standard Oil, DuPont, and many other corporations.
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@AntiCitizenX · 4 years ago
He didn’t “accidentally” kill anyone. That was criminal negligence. He knew the dangers and went ahead with it anyway.
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