William McMillan
From Kook Science
William McMillan (or McMillen; b. 1855) was a Scots-born carpenter residing at St. Louis, Missouri in 1901 whose zeal to design a perpetual motion machine was reported to have caused him to experience paranoid delusions, culminating in an allegedly dream-induced murder-suicide attempt, repeatedly cutting his wife, Cecilia McMillan, and then himself with a planer blade.
Press Coverage
- "M'MILLAN UNDER OBSERVATION. Has Been Seeking the Secret of Perpetual Motion.", St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, Missouri): 4, 22 March 1901, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/76454572, "After many years devoted to a study of the problem of perpetual motion, William McMillan, 46 years old, of No. 4321 Maffitt avenue, is now at the City Hospital for observation. It is said by his friends and relatives that his efforts to invent a machine which would solve the problem has affected his mind. He was taken to the hospital by William Smith, who has known him for several years, and who lives at No. 4329 Maffitt avenue. When seen at the hospital, McMillan talked rationally. He said that he had been at work on a small stationary engine, which, if he overcame a few obstacles in its construction, would illustrate for the first time perpetual motion."
- "WOUNDED HIS WIFE AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IN FRENZIED DREAM. William McMillen Awoke to Find His Dream Was True. CRAZED BY PERPETUAL MOTION. Eight cuts Were Inflicted on His Wife and Ten on Himself While He Was Asleep, but He Is Charged With Assault to Kill.", St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri): 1, 22 May 1901, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/138859677
- "STABBED WIFE AND HIMSELF. William McMillen Inflicts Fatal Wounds with Plane Blade. Both Expected to Die from Their Injuries — McMillen Says He Did It in a Dream — The Wife Says It Was Due to Insanity.", St. Louis Globe-Democrat (St. Louis, Missouri): 4, 22 May 1901, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/571314986
- "REALITY BECAME THE HORRIBLE DREAM OF AN INVENTOR. Awoke to Find Himself Cutting His Own Throat After Wounding His Wife.", Owensboro Messenger (Owensboro, Kentucky): 2, 24 May 1901, https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/375837603