Rudolph Diesel was a German engineer who in 1892 created the diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine. He was born on the 18th of March, 1858 in Paris. Rudolph was born into a poor family and was surrounded by poverty almost all of his life, making for a very unhappy childhood.
Diesel started his education in Paris where he was an excellent student. He enjoyed art and spent a lot of his time in the museum of arts and crafts. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War forced him and his family to leave Paris and go to London. Rudolph was enrolled in a London school to continue his education. He was most impressed by the British Museum and the South Kensington Museum's exhibits of science and engineering.
Rudolph's aunt, Betty Barnickel, heard of their family's misfortune and offered to take in Rudolph into their home in Augsburg in Rotterdam.
Cummins Diesel engine piston. permanent mold casti...
DM 12 — Stationary One-cylinder Diesel Engine (M...
English: Line art drawing of a diesel engine.Betty Barnickle was married to Cristoph Barnickel, he was a professor at the Augsburg's Royal District Trade School and they lived in a modest, warm home. After studying three years in Augsburg, Rudolph decided to become an engineer.
When the war ended, Diesel moved back to Paris with his family. But shortly later moving back to Paris, Rudolph's sister died and a decision was made for him to move back to live with his aunt and uncle in Augsburg. In 1883, Rudolph was enrolled in the mechanical engineering program, and he excelled in it, graduating as the youngest student with the highest marks ever. He was awarded a scholarship to Munchen Polytechnic in Germany. After several years of living in Munich, Diesel was granted German citizenship.
In January 1880, Rudolph joined the Sulzer Engine Works in Winterthur, Switzerland to begin his apprenticeship building refrigeration and steam engines. Rudolph began...