Tech History Made on March 18, 1858

On this day 150 years ago the inventor of the diesel engine was born. Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel a German born in Paris who also lived in London before finally moving to Germany at the age of 12. At 14 he knew he wanted to be an engineer and went on the Industrial School of Augsburg. He did not like the engines of the day so he made his own. The engine worked on ignited fuel after it was injected into the engine. He was able to patent the engine in many countries. The oddest thing about Diesel surrounds his death. In 1913 he was traveling by ship Belgium to England. He went to bed and asked that he be roused the next morning at 6. In the morning he was gone and his body was later found floating of the Dutch Coast.