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
Born	Theodore John Kaczynski (1942-05-22)May 22, 1942 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	June 10, 2023(2023-06-10) (aged 81) Durham, North Carolina, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide by hanging
Other names	Unabomber
Occupation	Mathematician
Criminal status	Deceased
Conviction(s)	Transportation, mailing and use of bombs; Murder
Criminal penalty	4 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole + 30 years in prison[1]

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 cancer.^[9]

Written works

Kaczynski wrote many books, Industrial Society and Its Future, Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How, and Technological Slavery 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]