Why Is Henry Bessemer Important

Henry Bessemer was a very successful inventor who created many useful items that people use daily. One of his most important inventions was steel. Steel is a major item that everyone uses everyday such as home goods, tools, and parts for transportation.

Henry Bessemer was born on January 19, 1813 in Charlton Hertfordshire, England. His father was an engineer and was interested in the production of metal printing. Bessemer left school early to work for his father; he was very interested in metallurgy. Bessemer had not received any special training as an engineer but he loved inventing new things to help other people. He married Elizabeth Minette at age 21; she loved to help Bessemer create new inventions and she always supported him.

During the Crimean War, Bessemer thought of an invention for making cannons more durable. Henry Bessemer tried to take his cannon ideas to the British military, only to be turned down. He then took his idea to France, where his work was met with approval. Bessemer also invented sugar-cane crushing machinery which was an effective way to get the juice from the sugar
Bessemer used phosphorus-free ores to create his steel. It is made with carbon and other compounds such as cast iron and wrought iron. Wrought iron is an iron that can be easily shaped and cast iron is a very firm type of steel that cannot be transformed. Steel is very solid and secure. Steel was scarce and wasn’t a helpful method of removing carbon from iron or to the specifications needed for steel. It was thought that cast iron could be converted to wrought iron by removing most of the carbon, then converted to steel by re-adding carbon. He sold steel for 20 euros a ton which was the reason Bessemer was so famous, he created steel for a very small amount of money. Steel was already invented by Bessemer’s time but he made steel for a much cheaper price than all of the other companies which greatly benefited