Alfred Nobel was born in Stockholm, Sweden on October 21, 1833.  With a father who was an engineer and inventor, Nobel was seemingly born to be successful.  However, his father’s business in Stockholm closed the year Alfred was born, and his father moved to St. Petersburg, Russia to start a new business.  When it started doing well, the whole family moved there with him.  He opened a mechanical workshop that manufactured equipment for the Russian Army.  Alfred was given a first class education and by the age of 17, could speak five languages fluently.  Displeased with young Alfred’s interest in poetry, his father sent him to study abroad to become a chemical engineer.  While in Paris, Nobel was introduced to nitroglycerin, a highly explosive liquid.  When he moved back to Russia after his studies concluded, he worked with his father in developing it into a useful explosive.  In 1866, Nobel invented dynamite.  This invention accrued Nobel quite the fortune, so when he died in 1896, he gave much of it to the Nobel Foundation to establish the Nobel Awards.  His relatives weren’t extremely pleased with this decision and his will was opposed and investigated.  The first Nobel Awards were given in 1901.

"Alfred Nobel's Life and Work." - for Gradeschoolers. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. <http://www.nobelprize.org/alfred_nobel/biographical/articles/life-work/gradeschool.html>.

"Profiles." Alfred Nobel Hall of Science. Gustavus Adolphus College, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. <https://gustavus.edu/profiles/location/Alfred%252520Nobel%252520Hall%252520of%252520Science>.