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Henry Bessemer

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Inventor

The Resume

    (January 19, 1813-March 15, 1898)
    Born in Charlton, England, United Kingdom
    Held 129 patents
    Best known for inventing the Bessemer process to mass produce steel by blowing air through molten pig iron to burn off impurities (1856)
    Knighted for services to science (1879)

Why he might be annoying:

    He began experimenting with steel after inventing a new artillery shell and being told by the armies that he tried to sell it to that their cast iron cannons could not withstand the forces needed to fire the new shell.
    He licensed his steel making technique to four manufacturers, then had to buy back the licenses when they complained that they could not get the process to work.
    He eventually discovered that his process did not remove phosphorus from iron. (His experiments had been done with phosphorus-free iron ores, while the licensees had been using cheaper but phosphorus-rich ores.)
    His steel making process would be replaced in the 20th century by techniques that offered better control over the content of alloying elements in the steel.
    After becoming seasick during a Channel crossing, he designed the SS Bessemer, a ship with a passenger cabin on gimbals so the cabin would stay level even as the ship rocked about. During its maiden voyage, it ran into the Calais pier and was subsequently scrapped (1868).

Why he might not be annoying:

    Once the bugs (like the phosphorus issue) were worked out, his process caused the price of steel to quickly drop from £40 per ton to £6 per ton.
    By the end of the 1870s, his plant in Sheffield, England, was making more steel than had been made worldwide at the start of the decade.
    Mass-produced steel played a major role in the rapid spread of railroads and the growth of skyscrapers.
    The Bessemer process really took off in the United States, where eight cities and towns were named after him.
    He said about developing the Bessemer process, 'I had an immense advantage over many others dealing with the problem inasmuch as I had no fixed ideas derived from long-established practice to bias my mind.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 55 Votes: 50.91% Annoying