1816-1892

German electrical engineer and inventor who made important contributions to the electrical supply industry in Germany, Britain, and Russia. Siemens also developed the telegraphic system in his native Prussia and invented the dial telegraph (1846). In 1857 he invented an apparatus that included an electromagnetic generator. In January 1867 Siemens's experiments led to his independent discovery of the self-excited dynamo (also discovered in England by Charles Wheatstone).