15. Johann Conrad Dippel – Frankenstein in Name
This guy is the original, very real Dr. Frankenstein. Though his name was Johann Dippel, he was born at the Castle Frankenstein near Darmstadt, Germany. And, while obtaining a master’s degree in theology (while studying philosophy and alchemy as well) he was referred to with the addendum Frankensteinensis. Because this was around 1700, medicine was more alchemy than science. The guys that were trying to turn lead into gold? Dippel was one of them. In fact, he claimed to have created the elixir of life which he called Dippel’s Oil – bones, blood, and other bodily fluids distilled from animals. It did not work, because he is not still alive. In fact, the oil was so bad that it was used during WW2 to poison wells (seriously). You can probably guess where his interest in artificial life and his prophetic birthplace are taking this guy.
