164 years ago today, Robert Bosch, founder of the corporation Robert Bosch GmbH, was born in Ulm. One of the most important German industrialists of the 19th and 20th centuries, Bosch and the engineers at his company pioneered the high-voltage magneto ignition system that created the first commercially-viable spark plug for internal combustion engines. Bosch launched other automotive innovations like diesel fuel injection, and by 1927 was present on every continent. One of the most responsible companies in Germany, Bosch introduced the 8-hour workday and other early employment benefits, while donating all the proceeds from the lucrative munitions contracts he received from weapons manufacturing in WWI to charity. The company today is worth $91 billion, and is the world’s largest automotive

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