His mother's name was Karoline and his father's nick-name was probably 'Manny'. They likely called him Freddy when he was born on the 21st day of October 1833.
The best schools were just good enough for Freddy and soon he showed extraordinary intelligence.
As time went on, he invented this and then he invented that, until he had amassed and registered over 350 patents. So, you might agree that Freddy was a smart guy. He had developed a keen interest in explosives and found to his everlasting dismay that Nitroglycerin was a most dangerous substance.
On the 3rd of September 1864 an explosion in a shed, used for the preparation of this chemical, killed five workers, including Freddy's brother, Emil.
One of the Newspapers reported this accident in the mistaken belief that it was Freddy who had 'bought the farm' and in a headline article said:
"The merchant of death is dead."
Had it really been Freddy who was killed, they would have had good reason for this statement, since, by this time, Freddy owned and operated over 90 armament factories throughout Europe in which he produced all manners of heavy artillery, along with his beloved explosives.
When Freddy realized what the world, or at least this Newspaper, thought of him, he decided to change his will and directed that the bulk of his considerable fortune must be used to bestow price-money for the best in this and the best in that.
Finally, one of Europe's biggest arms dealers made sure that one of his prices was to be given to the person who had contributed most to peace in the world.
Therefore we now are proud to present:
"The Nobel Peace Price."
No comments:
Post a Comment