With businesses in Europe and America, Nobel traveled throughout most of his life but maintained a home in Paris from 1873 to 1891. By investing in his brothers’ oil businesses, Nobel obtained even greater wealth. Print Collector / Getty Images Personal LifeĮven as Nobel was building his explosives industry fortune, his brothers Ludvig and Robert were becoming wealthy themselves by developing oil fields along the shores of the Caspian Sea. From The Illustrated London News, 16 April 1884. 5: preparation of Kieselguhr which was mixed with nitroglycerine to form dynamite. 2: gate to Danger Department, with searcher on duty. Workers at Nobel Explosives Company Limited, Ardeer, Ayrshire, 1884. In 1868, Nobel was awarded his better-known United States patent for dynamite referred to as “Improved Explosive Compound.” The same year, he received an honorary award from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for “important inventions for the practical use of mankind.” Already thinking of how he might best market his invention, and mindful of nitroglycerine's bad image, Nobel had first considered naming the highly powerful substance “Nobel's Safety Powder,” but settled with dynamite instead, referring to the Greek word for 'power' (dynamis). In 1867, Nobel received a British patent for his invention he called “dynamite,” and publicly demonstrated his new explosive for the first time at a quarry in Redhill, Surrey, England. During his experiments, he found that combining nitroglycerine with kieselguhr (also called diatomaceous earth mostly made of silica) formed a paste that allowed the chemical to be shaped and detonated on command. Nobel continued looking for ways to make nitroglycerine safer. Nobel was also a descendant of the 17th-century Swedish scientist, Olaus Rudbeck. Though prone to illness, the young Nobel showed an interest in explosives, having inherited a passion for technology and engineering from his father, who had graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. These hardships left the family in poverty, with only Alfred and his three brothers surviving past childhood. The same year Nobel was born, his father, an inventor and engineer, went bankrupt due to financial misfortune and a fire that destroyed much of his work. Notable Quote: “Good wishes alone will not ensure peace.”Īlfred Bernhard Nobel was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden, one of eight children born to Immanuel Nobel and Caroline Andrietta Ahlsell.Awards: Elected to Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, 1884.patent number 78,317 for “Improved Explosive Compound.” Parents: Immanuel Nobel and Caroline Andrietta Ahlsell.Known For: Inventor of dynamite and benefactor of the Nobel Prize.

Alfred nobel biography