Karl Bryner
From Kook Science
| Karl Bryner | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1874 Winterthur-by-Zurich, Switzerland |
| Died | 10 March 1914 (40) Los Angeles, California |
Karl Bryner (c. 1874 - March 10, 1914) was a Swiss-born watchmaker who, it was reported in March 1914, committed suicide with a rifle shot, having first tested the weapon by firing it out of a window, striking a passing street car, before turning it on himself, his second shot striking first Bryner and continuing through two partition walls of his apartment. The police investigating the matter attributed Bryner's action to despair over his failure to develop a method of perpetual motion, reportedly based on suicide notes in German that he had written, along with diagrams and research papers at the scene.
Press Coverage
- "JEWELER ENDS LIFE WHEN UNABLE TO SOLVE PROBLEM. Perpetual Motion Cause of Man Killing Self With Rifle Shot.", Los Angeles Evening Express (Los Angeles, CA): 1, 10 Mar. 1914, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/607910009
- "WATCHMAKER DESPONDENT Over Failure to Solve Perpetual Motion Suicides (UP)", Long Beach Telegram (Long Beach, CA): 6, 10 Mar. 1914, https://www.newspapers.com/image/608212416/
- "INVENTOR KILLS SELF. Swiss Watchmaker Ends Life When Perpetual Motion Device Fails.", Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN): 1, 11 Mar. 1914, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/767756510/, "LOS ANGELES, Cal., March 10. — Carl Bryner, aged 40, a Swiss watchmaker, after 20 years of labor to perfect a perpetual motion watch, today found his invention worthless and in a moment of despair ended his life in his room. Bryner used a high-power German rifle and the bullet that killed him passed on through the walls of two rooms, a door and hurtled through a passing street car, causing a momentary panic."