Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish-born chemist, engineer, inventor, successful businessman, and philanthropist. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 21, 1833. At 63, Nobel passed away in San Remo, Italy, on December 10, 1866.
Alfred obtained 355 patents throughout his career, the most well-known of which was for dynamite. In addition to these innovations, he was extremely rich since he controlled several manufacturing businesses throughout the globe.
Bofors AB, a Swedish firm that produced weapons under his ownership from 1894 until his death. The Nobel Prizes are made possible by Nobel.
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The third son out of eight children, Alfred Nobel, was born. Immanuel Nobel, his father, was an engineer, inventor, and graduate of Stockholm’s Royal Institute of Technology.
Due to his family’s extreme poverty, four of Alfred’s siblings passed away while they were little. At a young age, Nobel was interested in engineering, particularly explosives, and his father gave him most of the fundamental concepts. Growing up, he never went to any official education.
Alfred’s father relocated to Russia in 1837, where he began producing explosives and machine equipment. His company flourished, and in 1942 he moved his wife and kids to St. Petersburg.
Being a rich household, Nobel’s parents sent him to private tutors. He was a standout student who excelled in both languages and chemistry.
By the time he was 17 years old, Alfred was fluent in five languages: French, Russian, English, and German. Nobel emigrated to Paris in 1850 from Russia to pursue his interest in chemistry.
The creator of nitroglycerin, Ascanio Sobrero, and Nobel met in Paris. He was interested in creating methods for controlling nitroglycerin so that it might be used as a commercial explosive. He left Paris for America to finish his chemical studies a year later.
In 1857, Nobel received his first English patent for a gas meter. In 1863, he received his first Swedish patent, which described how to make gunpowder; the same year, he also created the detonator.
He also created the blasting cap in 1865, dynamite in 1867, gelignite in 1875, and ballistite in 1887, among other things.
Nobel founded several explosives production businesses throughout his discoveries, and by the time of his death, his company had developed more than 90 weapons factories.
Along with his two brothers, Robert and Ludvig Nobel, he also invested in the oil industry. Alfred was a prolific writer of English poetry and prose, in addition to his numerous discoveries. A play by him titled Nemesis is one of his literary creations.
Legacy And Death
Following the transfer of Ballistite to Italy, Nobel was charged with treason against France and relocated to San Remo, Italy. He remained a resident of Italy until his death from heart arrest in 1896. He never got married and never had kids.
Before his passing, Nobel donated to the Swedish-Norwegian Club for the creation of the Nobel Prizes 94 percent of his fortune, which was valued at 31,225,000 Swedish kronor.
These honors were to be given out annually to deserving individuals worldwide who had made great contributions to science, humanity, or literature. In 2012, Nobel’s capital contribution to the organization was estimated to be worth $472 million.