Dr. Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine in the year 1897. He was mechanical engineer by profession and belonged to Germany. The diesel engine is a compressed–ignition engine that works with a piston which compresses air and injects oil-based fuel into the superheated air, causing spontaneous combustion of the fuel. The main advantage of this engine is that instead of using expensive petrol it makes use of cheap heavy oil and is fuel efficient.
Herbert Ackroyd- Straut was the one who invented this type of an engine in 1890 and the same was manufactured by Hornsby & Sons of Lincolnshire two years later in the year 1892. The engine had a major problem, the heat had to be supplied from outside to the cylinder head till the engine started to work properly. Another design for the same was made in 1892 which did not require supply of heat. A year later, Dr. Rudolf Diesel produced the modern diesel engine and worked on the same for next four years.
Diesel was born in 1858 in Paris, France. The early years of his childhood were spent in France but due to war in 1870 the family shifted to London. At the age of 14 he had made up his mind for becoming an engineer. He got scholarship and graduated with highest marks. He came back to Paris in 1880 and assisted his professor in designing modern refrigerator. He married in 1883 and was blessed with three children.