Henry Bessemer 1813–1898
Inventor of the Modern Steel-Making Process
Henry Bessemer was always interested in inventing things. Even as a boy growing up in England, he was skillful with machines. He sold his first invention when he was 17. It was a stamp for the British government to use on official documents. Henry Bessemer went on to produce more than 110 inventions.
One of his inventions was a powerful new cannon shell. It was too powerful for ordinary cannons made of iron. Bessemer was looking for a material to make a stronger cannon when he came up with his most important invention, which was a furnace for making steel.
The furnace was called the Bessemer Converter. It turned hot liquid iron into steel. It could make several tons of steel in minutes. Steel became much cheaper to produce than before. Within a few years, people were using strong steel frames to make buildings taller and bridges bigger. Bessemer's steel became the material from which today's modern cities were built.
Critical Thinking
What was one effect of people using the Bessemer process to make steel?