Historical Figure
Rudolf Diesel
1858–1913
German inventor and engineer (1858–1913)
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Biography
Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer, best known for inventing the diesel engine, which burns diesel fuel; both are named after him.
Timeline
The story of Rudolf Diesel, told in moments.
Receives a patent for "a new rational heat engine" that compresses air to the point of igniting fuel without a spark. He publishes a paper describing the concept. Existing engine makers call it impossible.
Demonstrates the first working diesel engine at the Augsburg factory. It produces 25 horsepower and runs on peanut oil. He envisions farmers growing their own fuel. Within a decade, the engine transforms shipping, rail, and industry.
Displays a diesel engine running on peanut oil at the Paris World's Fair. He argues publicly that plant-based fuels are the future. "The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today," he writes. "But such oils may become, in course of time, as important as petroleum."
Vanishes from the steamship Dresden while crossing the English Channel from Antwerp to Harwich. His bed hasn't been slept in. His nightshirt is laid out. A body recovered ten days later is identified by personal effects. He's 55. Suicide, murder, or accident. Nobody knows.
Artifacts (15)
Applied calculus; an introductory textbook (IA appliedcalculusi00bisarich)
Bisacre, Frederick Francis Percival, 1885-
Applied calculus; an introductory textbook (IA cu31924031250339)
Bisacre, Frederick Francis Percival, 1885-
The new international encyclopaedia ... (Vol. 7, DIDYM-ENTER) (IA newinternational07unse)
The book of truth and facts; facts which every American should know (IA bookoftruthfacts00franrich)
Frantzius, Friedrich Wilhelm von, b. 1865
A Selection of the publications of the Berlin Photographic Co (IA selectionofpubli00phot)
Photographische Gesellschaft, Berlin
Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Motor - Scholar's Choice Edition
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains...
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