Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel (18 March 1858 – 30 September 1913) was a German engineer and inventor. His best known invention is Diesel engine. He was born in Paris and died on the English Channel. His death was officially judged a suicide, but many people believed (and still believe) that Diesel was murdered.

He had the idea to develop an engine which relied on a high compression of the fuel to ignite it. With this he could do without a spark. The technique with a spark was developed by Niklaus Otto. The engine based on this is called internal combustion engine.

In 1892, he got a patent for the engine.

He got a lot of money from licensing his invention.

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