Rudolf Diesel

Rudolf Diesel, full name Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (1858-1913), German engineer, who invented the diesel engine. After studying in England, he attended the Polytechnic School in Munich, where he settled in 1893. In 1892 he patented the internal-combustion engine named for him, which employed autoignition of fuel. While associated with the Krupp firm in Essen, he built the first successful diesel engine, utilizing low-cost fuel. In 1913, while on a voyage to England, Diesel was lost overboard and is believed to have drowned in the English Channel.

See Internal-Combustion Engine.