On This Date: Taylor Stewart

On September 29th of 1913, Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the engine that bears his name, disappeared from the steamship Dresden while traveling to England. A week later, his body was spotted floating in the water, he was indeed very dead. There was, and remains, a great deal of mystery surrounding his death: It was officially judged a suicide, but many people believed, and still believe, that Diesel was murdered.

Diesel's work was intelligent and revolutionized the progression of engine development. He called his invention a "compression ignition engine" that could burn any fuel, later on, the prototypes he built would be ignited by introducing fuel into a cylinder full of extremely compressed air that was and was incredibly hot. Such an engine would be unprecedentedly efficient, and this made Diesel a celebrity of the motor world. Eventually, his work would revolutionize the railroad industry as well, after World War II.

At the time of his death, Diesel was on his way to England to attend the groundbreaking of a new diesel-engine plant, and to meet with the British navy about installing his engine on their submarines. Following the discovery of his body, conspiracy theories were developed almost immediately: "Inventor Thrown Into the Sea to Stop Sale of Patents to British Government," read one headline. It's that Diesel did throw himself overboard (he was nearly broke), but the mystery will probably never be solved.