Unabomber (1942–)

aka Theodore (Ted) Kaczynski

The Unabomber, named for his initial attacks on universities and airlines, (“un” in his FBI code name was short for university, and “a” referred to airlines), was responsible for placing or mailing 16 package bombs and letter bombs that resulted in three deaths and nearly two dozen injuries in the United States. After one of the longest and most expensive manhunts in the nation's history, the FBI seized Ted Kaczynski, a Harvard-educated mathematician turned recluse, who later pleaded guilty for the attacks.

The Unabomber addressed his first package bomb, crudely made with plumbing pipe and electrical wire from a lamp, to a professor at the University of Illinois. The package was found in a university parking lot on May 25, 1978, and sent back to the return address, at Northwestern University, where the bomb [Page 379]exploded, injuring one person. Although no ...