Nobel,+A.



" All the lime-light has been on me for a while. So now, //__presenting__// my role model and inspiration..."
 * __ [[image:AG00489_.gif]]ALFRED NOBEL[[image:j0283696.gif]] __**

Born in 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden. His father, Immanuel Nobel goes bankrupt in the same year. He was a descendent of Olof Rudbeck, the best-known technical genius in Sweden in the 17th century.

Following the Crimean War, (1853-56), in a desperate bid for new products following the bankruptcy of the Nobel Company in which he is employed, he finds the answer in Nitroglycerin from a young Italian Chemist, Ascanio Sobrero who, three years earlier, had invented nitroglycerin, a highly explosive liquid consisting of glycerine, sulfuric acid and nitric acid. Nobel develops an interest in nitroglycerine as a practical material for construction work, and in the following years (1862) he starts to experiment with his new material. The Hamburg factory is destroyed by a violent explosion. Following this incident, he recognizes the need to make nitroglycerin safer to handle, and discovers that it can be stabilized by the addition of //kieselguhr// (a siliceous deposit also known as diatomaceous earth). He receives the patent for the name of his mixture, **dynamite**.
 * 1850**: Alfred Nobel works for a year in Paris in the laboratory of T. Jules Pelouze.
 * 1851**: Travels to Italy, Germany and the United States
 * 1852**: Working collaboratively with his father in the family business, Nobel performs experiments to develop Nitroglycerine as a commercially and technically useful explosive.
 * 1863**: His work indicates Nitroglycerin's potential to be used as an industrial explosive. He continues experimenting in Stockholm.
 * 1864**: His brother Emil, is killed while preparing nitroglycerin. Following this, Alfred continues to work with Nitroglycerin, creating the company __Nitroglycerin AB__.
 * 1865**: Alfred sets up a new company, the __Alfred Nobel & Co__ Factory in Krümmel near Hamburg, which exports large amounts of Nitroglycerine explosives to other countries in Europe, America and Australia.
 * 1866**: Nobel creates the United States Blasting Oil Company in the US.
 * 1867**: Invents a detonator/blasting cap- which ignited upon lighting the fuse- to detonate the dynamite rods. This is invented around the same period that the diamond drilling crown and the pneumatic drill came into general use. Together, they reduce the cost of many forms of construction work, among them: blasting rock, drilling tunnels and building canals.
 * 1871**: Nobel establishes the British Dynamite Company in Ardeer, Scotland.
 * 1872**: Immanuel (Alfred's father) passes away. The following year, Alfred resettles in Paris; a wealthy man.
 * 1875**: He establishes __Société Générale pour la Fabrication de la Dynamite__ in Paris, France and invents blasting gelatine, obtaining the patent for the discovery the following year.
 * 1876**: __Alfred Nobel and Co.__ becomes Dynamitaktiengesellschaft (DAG) in Hamburg, Germany.
 * 1877**: Name is changed again to __Nobel's Explosives__ company.
 * 1880**: Nobel's Italian and Swiss companies merge to form __Dynamite Nobel__.
 * 1885**: A merger between a number of German Dynamite Companies and __DAG__ creates __German Union__.
 * 1886**: A union between __DAG__ and the __Nobel's Explosives__ companies results in the __Nobel-Dynamite Trust Co__. in London.
 * 1887**: Nobel's blasting powder obtains the patent **"Ballistite"**.
 * 1889**: Nobel's mother, Andriette Ahlsell, passes away.
 * 1891**: Alfred Nobel relocates to San Remo, Italy after a dispute with the French Government regarding his latest invention, **"Ballistite"**

On the 10th of December, 1896, Alfred Nobel died at his home in San Remo, Italy.

In his lifetime, he founded factories and laboratories in 90 different places in more than 20 countries- quite an achievement by one man. His later work, following his extensive experimentation with Dynamite, delved into other chemical inventions, including synthetic rubber and leather and artificial silk and many more- all of which he patented. In total, this came to 355 patents.

In his will, he included a Prize for persons or organizations who promoted peace, a notion which is thought to be in connection with a past love interest and life-long friend, Bertha Von Suttner, who, following a brief relationship with Alfred Nobel, became a prominent figure in the peace movement and wrote a famous book, //Lay Down Your Arms// in opposition to the use of Arms War. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905. Nobel was very interested in social and peace movements

In his will, Alfred Nobel awarded his fortune to prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace. The executors of his will were two young engineers, Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist, who collectively formed the Nobel Foundation for this purpose.

Aside from his scientific findings and life's work, he was also very interested in social and peace-related issues, and held views that were considered radical during his time. By the age of 17, he was fluent in Swedish, Russian, French, English and German. At school, he held a keen interest in English literature and poetry as well as chemistry and physics and his legacy attests to this.

Content from:
 * http://nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/biographical/