Alfred Nobel
(1833-1896) Explosives magnate and founder of the Nobel
Prizes. The Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel is famous both for
his development of explosives and the endowing the famous prizes
which bear his name.
Born in Stockholm in 1833, Nobel first developed nitro-glycerine
in 1866. However, a fatal explosion at his factory (in which his
brother died) led him to develop the safer explosive
gelignite.
In 1871, Nobel visited Scotland whilst searching for a new site to
manufacture explosives. He found the perfect location at Ardeer
sandhills, just south of Stevenston for the British Dynamite
Company (later Nobel's Explosives Co.). It opened in 1873 and soon
became one of the largest factories in the area, with over 12,500
employees at its peak. Although Nobel died in 1896, the Ardeer site
remained a key manufacturing and research facility in the Nobel
company until it became part of the new Imperial Chemical
Industries group in 1926.
