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Ted Kaczynski

Theodore John "Ted" Kaczynski (May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023) was an American mathematician who was known as the Unabomber.[2] Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski launched a nationwide bombing campaign against people involved with modern technology, planting or mailing numerous home-made bombs, killing a total of three people and injuring 23 others.[3]

Ted Kaczynski
Kaczynski after his arrest in 1996
BornTheodore John Kaczynski
(1942-05-22)May 22, 1942
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedJune 10, 2023(2023-06-10) (aged 81)
Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Alias(es)Unabomber
Conviction(s)Transportation, mailing and use of bombs; Murder
Penalty4 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole + 30 years in prison[1]
StatusDeceased
OccupationMathematician

Early life

Kaczynski was born in Chicago and raised in Evergreen Park, Illinois.[4] Kaczynski was accepted to Harvard University at the age of 16.[4] He earned an undergraduate degree. He then earned a PhD in mathematics from the University of Michigan.[4] Kacyznski was a child prodigy who did well in mathematics.[5] He became an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley in 1967 at age 25.[4] He resigned two years later.[4]

The Unabomber

In 1971, he moved to a cabin without electricity or running water, in Lincoln, Montana. He lived there while learning survival skills. From 1978 to 1995, Kaczynski sent 16 bombs to targets including universities and airlines, killing three people and injuring 23.[6][7]

Kaczynski sent a letter to The New York Times and others on April 24, 1995, called Industrial Society and Its Future, and he wrote about his thoughts on society.[4]

Kaczynski was arrested in his cabin on April 3, 1996. His brother, David, called the police so that they could arrest him because he recognised the way that Kaczynski wrote.[8] He pleaded guilty of his crimes on January 22, 1998. He was an inmate of ADX Florence, Fremont County, Colorado. On December 14, 2021, he was moved from ADX Florence to the Federal Medical Center, Butner, North Carolina after being diagnosed with late-stage rectal cancer.[9]

Written works

Kaczynski wrote many books, Industrial Society and Its Future, Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How, Technological Slavery and The Age of Spiritual Machines are his most famous.[10] Industrial Society and Its Future was best known as the "Unabomber's Manifesto".[11][12]

Death

In March 2021 Kaczynski was diagnosed with rectal cancer.[13] He complained of rectal bleeding in March 2021, and on December 14, 2021, he was transferred to Federal Medical Center, Butner, in North Carolina.[14]

At 12:23 a.m. on June 10, 2023, Kaczynski was found in his cell unresponsive, with no pulse, after hanging himself from a handicap rail with a shoelace.[13] He was taken to Duke University Hospital in Durham, North Carolina, where his blood pressure remained low until he was pronounced dead at 8:07 A.M. EDT.[13]

Ted Kaczynski Media

  • The five merit scholarship finalists from our school are Jerry De Runtz, Fred Topel, Bill Widlacki, Gail Burgess, and Ted Kaczynski.

  • 8 Prescott Street, Cambridge, MA

  • Kaczynski's diplomas from Harvard University and the University of Michigan

  • Kaczynski as an assistant professor at UC Berkeley in 1968

  • Bible belonging to Kaczynski, found in his cabin

  • Kaczynski's cabin, photographed in 1996

  • Driver's license photo of Kaczynski from 1978, around the time the first bombs were mailed

  • An FBI reproduction of one of Kaczynski's bombs, once on display at the now defunct Newseum in Washington, D.C.

  • FBI poster offering a $1 million (equivalent to approximately $1.47 million in 2020) reward for information leading to the Unabomber's capture

References

  1. ↑ Kaczynski recieved 4 life sentences + 30 years in prison (archived) ‘Unabomber’ Ted Kaczynski died by suicide in prison medical center, AP sources say. Retrieved 2025-07-27.(archived) Unabomber Sentenced to 4 Life Sentences. Retrieved 2025-07-27., but some people (including himself) claimed that he recieved 8 life sentences (archived) Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, lists himself in Harvard 1962 alumni report; says ‘awards’ include eight life sentences. Retrieved 2025-07-27.(archived) Kaczynski Died by Suicide in Prison, Sources Say. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  2. ↑ Kaczynski identified himself as an anarchist, although few anarchists accept this claim. On his own views see Gautney, Heather. … claimed to be from 'the anarchist group calling ourselves FC (2010). ISBN 9780230620247. Haberfeld, M. R.. ... Kaczynski was a disenchanted mathematics professor turned anarchist (9 July 2009). ISBN 9781441901156. Sue Mahan, Pamala L. Griset. Terrorism in Perspective (2007)Sage Publications. ISBN 9781412950152.
  3. ↑ "Interview with Ted Kaczynski, Administrative Maximum Facility Prison, Florence, Colorado, USA". Earth First Journal!. June 1999. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090318135703/http://www.insurgentdesire.org.uk/tedk.htm. Retrieved March 18, 2009. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 U.s Seizes Unabomber Suspect (April 4, 1996)Chicago Tribune.com. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  5. ↑ Unabomber Ted Kaczynski dead at 81The Hill. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  6. ↑ The Unabomber's Targets: An Interactive Map. CNN. 1997. http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1997/unabomb/victims/. 
  7. ↑ Lardner, George; Adams, Lorraine (April 14, 1996). To Unabomb Victims, a Deeper Mystery. p. A01. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/bkgrdstories.victims.htm. 
  8. ↑ New York Times
  9. ↑ Zapotosky, Matt (December 23, 2021). Ted Kaczynski, the 79-year-old Unabomber, transferred to prison medical facility. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/unabomber-kaczynski-hospital-ill/2021/12/22/4f773f82-6367-11ec-8ce3-9454d0b46d42_story.html. Retrieved December 23, 2021. 
  10. ↑ Bailey, Holly. The Unabomber takes on the Internet (in en-US). Yahoo News (January 28, 2016).
  11. ↑ Kaczynski, Theodore. Industrial Society and Its Future. editions-hache.com. Retrieved January 17, 2021.
  12. ↑ Chase (2004), p. 84.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Ortiz, Erik. 'Unabomber' Ted Kaczynski had late-stage rectal cancer and was 'depressed' before prison suicide, autopsy says (April 17, 2024)NBC News. Retrieved April 18, 2024.
  14. ↑ Zapotosky, Matt (December 23, 2021). Ted Kaczynski, the 79-year-old Unabomber, transferred to prison medical facility. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/unabomber-kaczynski-hospital-ill/2021/12/22/4f773f82-6367-11ec-8ce3-9454d0b46d42_story.html. Retrieved December 23, 2021. 

Other websites

Media related to Ted Kaczynski at Wikimedia Commons

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