10 Inventors Who Died Before Seeing Their Creations Succeed

In the course of time, inventors, engineers, clever thinkers, and business-minded individuals have propelled humanity forward. Their unique ideas and remarkable creations have helped improve mankind and make society more seamless in countless ways. These advancements have ranged from incremental improvements to monumental leaps—and they span industries and inventions from medical breakthroughs to technological marvels.

However, not all of these brilliant ideas materialized during the lifetime of their creators. Sometimes, the dreams were abruptly cut short by the untimely demise of the inventors who nurtured them. In other cases, the lack of financial support or public enthusiasm stifled progress for years—or even decades. And a few inventions began as merely rough sketches hastily scribbled in the pages of their originators’ notebooks. Nevertheless, many of these ideas eventually came to life.

In this list, you’ll learn about ten instances where inventions succeeded in the public sphere after their creators passed away. These ten inventors didn’t live long enough to see their bold plans come to fruition. The journey was slow for these ten ideas, but conclusions were reached… eventually.

Related: 10 Inventions That Thrived in Ways Their Creators Never Expected

10 Henry Mill’s Typewriter

Henry Mill was an English engineer who worked for the New River Company in the early 18th century. In 1714, he came up with an idea for a special invention and even obtained a patent for it. Mill’s product was called “an artificial machine or method for the impressing or transcribing of letters singly or progressively one after another.” Though his description was unclear, its meaning still came through. Many people, then and now, consider it to be the earliest known proposal for what would become the typewriter.

Unfortunately, Mill passed away in 1770 before he could mass-produce the machine—or even build one. But soon, his idea caught the attention of various people searching for ways to help blind people communicate, and it wasn’t long before it spread far beyond that.

Jump ahead to 1843, when Charles Thurber built a machine with a similar purpose. Thurber also didn’t call it a typewriter, and he didn’t live to see it come into use, either. In fact, it wasn’t until 1873—over a century after Mill’s death—that two Americans, Christopher Sholes and Carlos Glidden, finally succeeded based on those earlier designs. The two designed and produced what we now recognize as the modern typewriter.

This invention completely changed the way people could write and express their thoughts on paper. It revolutionized the writing process altogether. And now today, here you are reading this story on the ultra-modern version of a typewriter. Progress! It’s a shame Mill never lived to see his foresight realized in the modern world.^[1]

9 Robert Fulton’s Steam Warship

In 1814, an extraordinary warship called the USS Demologos was conceived—a massive leap forward in American naval technology. What made it truly groundbreaking was its steam engine, making it the first warship of its kind in the U.S. Navy. The brilliant mind behind the invention was Robert Fulton, already well-known in engineering circles as a respected innovator. The Demologos was to be his crowning achievement.

Fulton envisioned a vessel unlike any other. It was heavily armed and fortified with thick armor. Its unique design consisted of two hulls with a paddlewheel positioned between them. On one hull sat a powerful engine, while massive boilers were placed upon the other. This arrangement made the Demologos resemble a floating fortress—perfectly suited for defending American waters and seemingly impenetrable to artillery then in use. It was massive, too, displacing 2,475 tons and stretching over 48 meters (157 feet) in length.

Sadly, tragedy struck before the completion of this remarkable ship. In 1815, Fulton leapt into the icy waters of New York’s Hudson River to rescue a friend who had fallen in. Soon after, he developed pneumonia and later died of illness before his time.

Despite his passing, the Demologos was completed and renamed the USS Fulton in his honor. Regrettably, it never saw combat because it was launched just after the War of 1812. Then, in 1829, tragedy struck again when a gunpowder explosion destroyed the ship, ending its short but remarkable existence.^[2]

8 Alan Turing’s Automatic Computing Engine

After World War II, people began experimenting with computers—but it wasn’t easy. Early machines were enormous, expensive, and capable of performing only specific tasks.

That’s where mathematician Alan Turing came in. In 1945, he proposed the design of an electronic stored-program general-purpose digital computer. In 1946, he shared his formal report with the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, which loved the concept and launched the project the following year.

The computer Turing designed, known as the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE), functioned on logical principles that differed from later transistor-based machines. He worked on the project for several months before moving on, leaving other NPL technicians puzzled about how to proceed.

Finally, in 1950, engineers completed a pilot model of the ACE. It was quite fast for its time, though it didn’t fully match Turing’s original vision. Tragically, Turing died in 1954 and never saw the project’s completion. The first full-scale ACE was finished three years later, in 1957—a milestone in computing history that Turing never lived to witness.^[3]

7 Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Clifton Suspension Bridge

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was one of the most respected Britons of the 19th century and is still regarded as the father of civil engineering. In 1830, at just 24, he was appointed project engineer for a bridge over the River Avon in Bristol. From the start, the project was fraught with conflict—officials rejected several of his designs—and the river’s breadth posed serious challenges for contemporary technology.

Brunel’s design for the Clifton Suspension Bridge was revolutionary, boasting the longest span of any bridge in the world at the time. Unfortunately, repeated delays and financial difficulties plagued the project. A heavy smoker, Brunel died of a stroke in 1859 before seeing it completed.

Still, his pioneering plans remained in use. The bridge was finished in 1864 as a tribute to his brilliance. Today, it remains an engineering marvel—measuring 702 feet (214 meters) in length, with two 85-foot (26-meter) towers rising 249 feet (76 meters) above the river. Its enduring stability continues to impress modern engineers. Sadly, Brunel never lived to see its success.^[4]

6 Galileo Galilei’s Pendulum Clock

Famed Italian astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei dedicated his life to studying the natural world. Among his many discoveries was a remarkable observation: the swinging period of a pendulum remains constant regardless of the arc it travels. This defied common intuition and became foundational to physics, particularly in understanding harmonic oscillation.

Late in life, nearly blind and 77 years old, Galileo explained how a pendulum could regulate a clock. His son, Vincenzo, attempted to build it but failed, and Galileo died in 1642 with the idea unfulfilled.

Fourteen years later, in 1656, Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens constructed the world’s first working pendulum clock—directly inspired by Galileo’s notes. The invention revolutionized timekeeping and advanced the study of motion. Galileo never saw it completed, but his insight kept the world ticking ever since.^[5]

5 Leonardo da Vinci’s Viola Organista

Leonardo da Vinci was famous for a mind that never rested. Around 1490, he sketched one of his most intriguing designs: the viola organista. It combined elements of a violin and a piano—stringed like the former but played by a keyboard rather than a bow. True to form, Leonardo moved on to other projects before ever building it.

Centuries later, inventors rediscovered his drawings. Though incomplete, they inspired others, including German musician Hans Haiden, who built the similar Geigenwerk in 1575.

The closest realization of Leonardo’s design came in 2013, when Polish organ builder Slawomir Zubrzycki constructed a playable viola organista based on the centuries-old sketches. Nearly 500 years after Leonardo’s death, his musical imagination finally took form—and it sounds as hauntingly beautiful as you’d expect.^[6]

4 Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine

In the early 19th century, calculating mathematical tables by hand was tedious and error-prone. Mathematician Charles Babbage dreamed of creating a machine that could perform those calculations automatically and flawlessly. He called it the Difference Engine.

Unlike modern computers that rely on electricity, Babbage’s design used interlocking toothed wheels to represent digits from 0 to 9. These gears would turn, carry over numbers, and even print results on soft metal—a truly visionary idea.

Backed by the British government, Babbage began work in 1823 with engineer Joseph Clement. But after funding disputes and engineering challenges, Clement walked away, and government support eventually dried up—after spending over £17,000.

Heartbroken, Babbage died in 1871, believing his machine would never exist. Yet in 1991, London’s Science Museum built a fully working Difference Engine using only technology available in his era. With 4,000 parts and weighing over three tons, it worked perfectly—just as Babbage had intended.^[7]

3 John Browning’s High-Power Pistol

In the early 1920s, the French military needed a compact handgun that could hold at least ten rounds, be easy to disassemble, and remain affordable to mass-produce. Enter legendary gun designer John Browning, who submitted a 1923 patent featuring innovations like a thumb safety and external hammer—rare at the time.

Browning, however, died of heart failure in 1926 before completing the work. His colleague Dieudonné Saive refined the design, and by 1935 the finished weapon debuted as the Browning Hi-Power. Though the French declined to adopt it, the pistol proved a global success, prized for its power and reliability.

The Hi-Power was used in countless 20th-century conflicts and remains one of history’s most iconic handguns. It’s still produced by several manufacturers today, keeping Browning’s legacy alive almost a century later.^[8]

2 Enrico Forlanini’s Omnia Dir Blimp

After World War I, aviation pioneers dreamed of safer, more maneuverable airships. Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini designed one of the most advanced—the Omnia Dir, short for Omnia Dirigibile. Introduced in 1930, it stretched 56 meters (184 feet) and held 4,000 cubic meters of gas.

Its innovation lay in its propulsion: compressed-air jets at the front and back provided remarkable control and thrust for the era. Unfortunately, Forlanini died later that same year, and with him, the project’s momentum faded. The Omnia Dir had a brief test flight but was never mass-produced.

Even so, his work influenced modern aircraft design, inspiring auxiliary-thrust systems that improved speed and maneuverability. Though the airship never took off commercially, its impact on aviation endures.^[9]

1 Bill Lear’s Lear Fan 2100

In the late 1970s, aviation innovator Bill Lear—founder of Lear Jet Corporation—envisioned a radically new airplane made mostly of carbon-graphite composite, a material both strong and lightweight. The Lear Fan 2100 would use two turboprop engines driving a single rear-mounted propeller, allowing it to match jet speeds while weighing roughly half as much as aluminum aircraft.

When Lear presented the concept to the FAA, officials raised concerns about the gearbox and aerodynamics. Before the design could be proven, he succumbed to leukemia in 1978. His wife, Moya Lear, determined to fulfill his dream, secured British government support and completed the prototype.

The Lear Fan’s first flight in 1981 was a triumph of persistence. Though it never entered mass production, three planes still exist today—at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington; the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas; and at the FAA facility in Oklahoma City. Each stands as a tribute to Bill Lear’s inventive spirit and the dream he never saw take flight.^[10]