The Failed Race To Build The Hyperloop Of The 1870s

One hundred and forty years ago, several inventors tried to build an air-powered transit system. They failed miserably.

In 1885, the New York Times published an obituary for an inventor named Rufus Henry Gilbert, who had died alone and broke at the age of 55, "due to exhaustion, brought about by chronic inflammation of the bowels." He was "penniless and heartbroken," another source writes.

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