Some of the most notorious discoveries and inventions arose by accident, or more commonly, were developed for uses other than what they ended up doing. Listverse looks at ten such products, including trinitrotoluene, a chemical discovered by Joseph Wilbrand in 1863 and meant for use as a yellow dye. With the name shortened to TNT, the explosive was used to wage both world wars. Link -via the Presurfer
What is indeed ironic (or perhaps simply sad), however, is that he was a patriotic Jew trying to help his country in the war, and that sentiment in Germany turned so bitterly against Jews twenty years later.
Alejo
Also, if they aren't in any particular order, why number them?
A nitpick: it's Thomas Midgely, JR. and he died badly as a result of ANOTHER invention:
From Wikipedia:
In 1940, at the age of 51, Midgley contracted polio which left him severely disabled. This led him to devise an elaborate system of strings and pulleys to help others lift him from bed. This system was the eventual cause of his ironic death when he was accidentally entangled in the ropes of this device and died of strangulation at the age of 55.[6][7] Midgley died before the effect of CFCs upon the ozone layer became widely known in 1974.
He's the Wile E. Coyote of inventors. It would be funny if he didn't kill thousands of people and seriously mess up the environment.