Who was Grant Thompson? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Canadian Celebrities Born In November

Died At Age: 38

Born Country: Canada

Died on: July 29, 2019

Cause of Death: Accident

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Early Life & Career

Grant Thompson was born on November 21, 1976, in Canada. He spent his childhood with his brother and would often indulge in creating random stuff. Hence, his brother’s friends gave him the nickname ‘The King of Random.’

After high school, Thompson started building his own real estate business before exploring social media. When he did, he came across Kipkay’s YouTube channel, where he found some useful videos. Thompson was inspired by Kipkay’s channel and wanted to do something similar.

He created his YouTube channel ‘The King of Random’ on January 3, 2010, and started posting interesting life hacks and DIY videos. One of his most viewed videos, ‘How to Make LEGO Gummy Candy,’ has so far gathered more than 27 million views.

Other popular videos on his channel are ‘Self Freezing Coca-Cola,’ ‘10 Amazing & Life-Changing Life Hacks,’ ‘How to Make Ninja Stress Balls,’ and ‘Melting Cans with the Mini Metal Foundry.’ Many of his videos have gathered millions of views each. His video ‘Self Freezing Coca-Cola’ has so far collected more than 23 million views.

Thompson said he drew inspiration from his surroundings and people around him. He was honest enough to admit that he got the ideas for his experiments from his parents, friends, kids, books, and internet. He then used to modify the idea and give the experiment his own touch, making it that much more interesting.

Apart from being a social media superstar, Thompson was also a businessman. He had built his own real estate business. He also owned an online store that sells apparel, project kits, fidget spinners, etc.

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Controversies

Grant Thompson was charged by the local police department for possessing explosives on two different occasions. Someone had filed a complaint through ‘Facebook Messenger,’ which had stated that Thompson was exploding an ice bomb.

When confronted by the cops, Thompson explained that he is a YouTuber, and posts science experiments on his channel.

Thompson was not happy with the complaint as he claimed that the explosion was controlled. He expressed his disappointment on his social media pages by saying that the complaint had made him look like an irresponsible YouTuber, who goes about exploding things.

On another occasion, he was once again charged for causing an explosion. The explosion was so strong that firefighters from the nearby station heard it. Thompson told the cops that his friend from Ontario, Canada, had brought a bag of explosive powder, which he thought was extracted from deconstructed firework. After a series of controlled explosions, Thompson and his friend Timothy Burgess ignited a large pile of the explosive powder. The explosion caused minor injuries to his friend, who too, was charged for possessing explosives.

Family & Personal Life

Grant Thompson lived in South Jordan, Utah, US. He was married and enjoyed spending time with his three kids. His family was very important to Thompson as he often said that family is more important than his career.

He loved to experiment, which was his core personality. Not surprisingly, he had tried his hands at many jobs before becoming a YouTube star. He had piloted aircrafts and had auditioned for reality TV shows as well.

Thompson was often persistent with his experiments. For one of his videos titled ‘Fight Club Soap,’ he had to shoot for over a period of four to five months. Despite facing many challenges while shooting the video, he managed to complete it, which tells a thing or two about his amazing will power.

Death

Grant Thompson died on 29 July 2019 in a paragliding accident in Utah.

Grant Thompson Bio