More famously known as Alfred Nobel, Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, industrialist, entrepreneur, and businessman.He was born on October 21, 1833, in Stockholm, Sweden. Alfred Nobel is famous mainly for his invention of dynamite which made him famous worldwide and very wealthy.Dynamite was mainly used to cut through canals, blast tunnels, build railways, roadways, etc. Dynamite was created from a chemical substance called nitroglycerin, which was highly explosive and unstable in its natural form. He patented his invention of dynamite in 1867, and by the time of his death, Alfred Nobel had acquired 355 patents in his name. Before his death, Alfred Nobel owned more than 90 factories worldwide that produced explosives and ammunition. He also founded the Nobel prizes named after him.Every year, a prestigious award is presented to personalities who have achieved remarkable deeds to better humanity in science, literature, and peace. The synthetic element of nobelium was named after Alfred Nobel to honor him and his work in scientific discovery. He was a brilliant personality, albeit a little lonely, and preferred to be solitary. Although he was the inventor of explosives that were used in warfare to kill hundreds of people, he was also the founder of the world’s most prestigious award in the scientific field. Let’s read some Alfred Nobel facts here. Afterward, also check out Alfred Noyes facts and Alfred Stieglitz facts.The Life And Work Of Alfred NobelAlfred Nobel was involved in his family business from a very young age and showed intense curiosity and intelligence in chemistry. During that time, nitroglycerin was a chemical substance used as an explosive, but it was hazardous to handle or transport anywhere at all.Its dangerous effects led to a huge explosion in Alfred Nobel’s nitroglycerin factory in 1864. Unfazed by this accident, Alfred Nobel established more factories and adopted various preventive measures to lessen the danger of another explosion.After inventing the blasting cap, he manufactured nitroglycerin with the blasting caps, reducing the danger of the explosion of nitroglycerin during transportation or manufacturing. A blasting cap is a small metal cap containing a charge. Although the probability of accidents was not zero, there were fewer accidents due to Alfred Nobel’s work and inventions. Through the 1870s and 1880s, Nobel built several factories across Europe for manufacturing dynamite. He also formed various corporations to sell and market his explosive products, due to which he saw a lot of financial success. Alfred Nobel also invented gelignite, a powerful explosive.Alfred Nobel had to face many patent litigations throughout his lifetime as many people tried to steal his creation of explosives for their use and sale. Later in life, Alfred Nobel bought an ironworks factory called Bofors, which became Bofors arms factory in 1893. Apart from dynamite and such explosives, Nobel also made leather and artificial silk inventions, garnering more than 355 patents in several countries. Alfred Nobel also indulged in activities like literature and philosophy. He is even known to have written many poems and other stories, most of which are unpublished. He owned a very extensive library that contained several notable European literary works. Alfred Nobel amassed a lot of wealth during his lifetime, most of which he bequeathed in his will in the founding of the Nobel Prizes.Alfred Nobel also founded the Nobel Peace Prize among the five Nobel prizes. The Nobel Peace Prize has become the highlight of the ceremony, and it awarded the holding and promotion of peace congresses throughout our world. Jean Henry Dunant was awarded the first Nobel Prizes in the year 1901.Inventions Of Alfred NobelWhen Alfred Nobel was a young man, a liquid compound called nitroglycerin was used as an explosive widely, but the compound was so volatile that it was highly unsafe to use.Nobel continued his family business interests of manufacturing explosives and established a factory of his own in 1862 to manufacture nitroglycerin. Alongside manufacturing, he also researched safer ways of handling and detonating unstable nitroglycerin. He invented a detonator made of a wooden plug inserted in a metal container filled with nitroglycerin.In 1865, Alfred Nobel found a safer way to use these detonators by inventing blasting caps, a small metal cap containing a charge of mercury fulminate. This explosive can be set off by shock or heat. The invention of the blasting cap paved the way for modern explosives with a tremendous amount of power.Alfred Nobel invented dynamite in 1867, primarily because of a stroke of luck. Nobel came across a type of absorbent, porous sand, or diatomaceous earth known as Kieselguhr in German. This siliceous earth could absorb nitroglycerin to form a dry paste, which was a lot safer to use compared to pure nitroglycerin. Alfred Nobel named this substance dynamite, derived from the Greek word ‘Dynamis,’ meaning power. He gained the patent for dynamite in 1867 in Great Britain and the United States in 1868.A few years later, in 1875, Alfred Nobel invented blasting gelatin, an upgraded version of dynamite that packed more power in its explosion. He made blasting gelatin by mixing nitroglycerin in a substance called nitrocellulose which formed a rigid, plastic-like material with higher endurance against water and higher blasting power. In 1887, Nobel invented a nitroglycerin smokeless powder named ballistite. He is credited with modern plywood, gas meter, and other items.Personal Life Of Alfred NobelAlfred Nobel was the fourth son of Immanuel Nobel and Caroline Nobel, born Caroline Andrietta Ahlshell. The family faced years of poverty, leading to only four of the eight children surviving into adulthood. Since childhood, Alfred Nobel was prone to various ongoing illnesses.Immanuel Nobel was an inventor and skilled engineer who moved to Saint Petersburg after facing financial difficulties in Stockholm. Nobel always had a close relationship with his mother, who encouraged his brilliant young mind from a young age.In 1842, the Nobel family members left Stockholm, Sweden, to join their father in St Petersburg, where they had become relatively prosperous from their business. This allowed young Alfred to learn under private tutors who taught him chemistry and science and honed his skills. By 16 or 17, Nobel was a competent Swedish chemist and spoke English, French, Russian, German, and Swedish fluently.In 1850, Alfred Nobel left St Petersburg to further education and spent a couple of years learning chemistry in Paris and the USA. In 1852, Alfred worked at his father’s factory in St Petersburg and helped produce machine tools and military equipment used during the Crimean war. After the Crimean War ended, it became difficult to sell the military equipment as it no longer had a high demand, due to which the family business went bankrupt in 1859. After this incident, Alfred Nobel returned to Sweden with his parents, where he started his research into explosives soon after in a small laboratory.Criticism On Alfred NobelMany contemporaries of Alfred Nobel commented that Nobel had a very complex personality, where he preferred to stay and work alone. Being a very successful businessman involves a lot of traveling to various places.But Alfred Nobel remained alone primarily and took the burden of his business into his own hands as well. It was known that Alfred Nobel also faced bouts of depression throughout his lifetime.Alfred Nobel led an effortless life even though he owned more than 90 factories and was quite wealthy. Alfred Nobel never married due to his ascetic habits and preferred to dedicate his life to research rather than taking a wife and establishing a family. But he was known for being very courteous, a good listener, and a very witty person. A few things were quite controversial about him that he opposed democratic methods of government and was against women’s suffrage. He was also a pessimist and believed that his inventions of ammunition and explosives, mainly its destructive powers, helped bring the war to an end.Failure: Alfred NobelIn the beginning, dynamite was exclusively used for infrastructure development and construction purposes. Later on, as the use of dynamite was made in warfare, in making explosives by the military authorities, especially during the Spanish-American war.Although Alfred Nobel was known for being a pacifist, he never mentioned whether he approved of the military’s use of dynamite in armed warfare.It is said that Alfred Nobel came to know about people’s opinion about his inventions when he came across his obituary, which was meant for his younger brother but was misreported as being Alfred Nobel’s. Nobel was mentioned as making money from many people who died during the war, mainly because he invented dynamite. One French newspaper article, ‘Le Marchand de la mort est mort,’ translated from French, means, ‘the merchant of death is dead. That obituary described Alfred Nobel as a person who became rich by finding ways to kill more and more people quicker than before.It is believed that this incident had a significant impact on him, which led him to endow all his wealth into establishing the Nobel Foundation and introducing Nobel Prizes, which included gifts for people who have made remarkable achievements in the scientific field leading to the betterment of humankind.It was pretty controversial at the time for Alfred Nobel to establish international prizes for the same, and several people opposed his decision in the will that the award is restricted to Swedes only. But after a legal battle, Nobel’s will was executed according to his wishes, and the Nobel Prizes remain very much relevant and prestigious to this day. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, his death occurred in 1895 at his villa in San Remo, Italy, due to cerebral hemorrhage. His body was brought from San Remo, Italy, to its final resting place at Norra Begravningsplatsen (Northern Cemetery) in Sweden.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Alfred Nobel facts, then why not take a look at Alauddin Khilji facts or Albert Bandura facts?
More famously known as Alfred Nobel, Alfred Bernhard Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, industrialist, entrepreneur, and businessman.
