Alfred Nobel

Alfred Bernhard Nobel (21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, and armaments manufacturer.

Known for inventing dynamite, Nobel also owned Bofors, which he had redirected from its previous role as primarily an iron and steel producer to a major manufacturer of cannon and other armaments. Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous. After reading a premature obituary which condemned him for profiting from the sales of arms, he bequeathed his fortune to institute the Nobel Prizes. The synthetic element nobelium was named after him. His name also survives in modern-day companies such as Dynamit Nobel and AkzoNobel, which are descendants of mergers with companies Nobel himself established.

Alfred Nobel in The War That Came Early
A few days after Pete McGill and his USMC buddies tried to remember which inventions came from China, francs-tireurs in Shanghai blew up a Japanese movie theatre. At this point McGill remembered that, while the Chinese may have invented gunpowder, a Swede had invented dynamite. But he didn't remember that the Swede's name was Alfred Nobel.