Born in Paris of Bavarian parents, Diesel studied at Munich Polytechnic. He began his career as a refrigerator engineer. For ten years he worked on various heat engines, including a solar-powered air engine. Diesel's ideas for an engine where the combustion would be carried out within the cylinder were published in 1893, one year after he applied for his first patent.

The diesel engines of today are refined and improved versions of Rudolf Diesel's original concept. They are often used in submarines, ships, locomotives, passenger cars, large trucks and in electric generating plants.

• Rudolf Diesel's Internal Combustion Engine