14 Facts About Alfred Nobel
We all know about the prestigious Nobel Prize. But how many of us know about the founder of this award? Here are some facts about Alfred Nobel.
1. Born in Stockholm (Sweden) on 21st October 1833, Alfred Nobel was a descendant of Olof Rudbeck, who was a greatly renowned technical genius in Sweden in the 17th century.
2. When Nobel was just 17 years old, he became fluent in languages like French, Russian, German, English, and of course, Swedish.
3. Alfred Nobel is known to have been keenly interested in poetry as well as English literature. He also had a passion for physics and chemistry.
4. In 1864, his experiments with nitroglycerine caused an accident in the factory which killed many people, including his younger brother, Emil.
5. When Alfred Nobel invented the dynamite in the 1867, he originally wished to call it “Nobel’s Safety Powder”, since it was safer than nitroglycerin. He finally named it dynamite, a word which is derived from Greek and which means “power”.
6. During his lifetime, Alfred Nobel invented about 355 things, including leather, ballistite (a form of smokeless powder), synthetic rubber, artificial silk, and more.
7. He maintained a life-long friendship with his former lover and secretary Bertha Kinsky, who later married Count Arthur von Suttner.
