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Nobel became interested in engineering and explosives at an early age, supported by his father, who was also an engineer.
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His father, who invented both the process of making plywood and the torpedo, influenced Nobel's interests in science and inventing.
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Nobel was only in his twenties when he filed for his first of 350 known patents, this one for a gas meter.
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His family began in fairly extreme poverty, but his father's factory switched to making weapons for the Crimean War. Unfortunately, it was difficult to maintain this economic stability once the war ended and they switched back to making household goods.
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When he learned about the newly discovered nitroglycerin, Nobel invented the remote detonator and the blasting cap.
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Following an explosion at his factory that killed five people (including his younger brother), Nobel focused on developing a safer explosive, resulting in the development of dynamite.
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He did this by combining nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth, which made it less volatile and therefore safer to handle.
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Later experiments allowed him to produce a gelatin-based nitroglycerin combination that he patented as blasting gelatin, or Gelatignite.
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An even later invention, ballistite, paved the way for smokeless explosives and gunpowder, all precursors to modern-day rocket propellant.
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Unfortunately, many in the media and pop culture took Nobel's ninety weapons factories as a sign of his fascination with war and killing, despite his belief in pacifism.
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This led to his nickname in the press as the "merchant of death."
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Due to his incredible and lifesaving contributions to science and chemistry, one of the elements on the periodic table is named after him.
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During his lifetime, two of Nobel's older brothers had established oil fields which Nobel invested in, becoming enormously wealthy.
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He left this wealth in trust upon his death to fund the awards that bear his name.
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