Who was the ‘Unabomber’? A look back at Ted Kaczynski, who killed three and died in prison

Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski, the man known as the “Unabomber” and one of the most destructive domestic terrorists in U.S. history, was found dead Saturday at a North Carolina prison medical facility at the age of 81.

Kaczynski was serving a life sentence for conducting an array of attacks using homemade bombs that he would send through the mail between 1978 and 1995. He was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in April 1996 and plead guilty to setting off 16 various explosions that killed three people and injured 23 others.

Here’s a summary of the Unabomber’s life and history of his bomb attacks.

Who was Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber?

Kaczynski was born in 1942 in Chicago and was one of two children, with his younger brother David ultimately aiding in his arrest. Kaczynski graduated early from high school and was accepted into Harvard University at 16, where he graduated in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

He went on to earn master’s and doctorate degrees in mathematics in 1964 and 1967, respectively, from the University of Michigan.

Following his graduation in 1967, Kaczynski became an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, where he taught undergraduate geometry and calculus for two years before he resigned in 1969.

After completing his education, at 25, Kaczynski became the youngest assistant professor in the history of UC Berkeley when he was hired to teach undergraduate geometry and calculus in the fall of 1967. However, he resigned, without providing a reason, two years later.

Kaczynski returned to the Chicagoland area after resigning from Berkeley and lived with his parents until 1971, when he moved to a cabin in the woods near Lincoln, Montana.

The ‘Unabomber’:Convicted terrorist Ted Kaczynski has died in federal prison at age 81

What did the Unabomber do in his attacks?

In 1978, Kaczynski began attacking people with homemade bombs, some sent in the mail using the U.S. Postal Service and some hand-delivered by him.

He first target was Buckley Crist, who was a professor of engineering at Northwestern University. Crist realized that the package, which listed the return address as his and was in the parking lot of his office building, was not sent by him and alerted campus security, the FBI details. The bomb exploded when a security guard opened the package, and the guard received a hand injury.