Henry Bessemer | Lemelson “Man of Steel” Henry Bessemer was born on January 19, 1813 in Charlton, Hertfordshire, England. The first to develop a process for mass-producing steel inexpensively, this son of an engineer was a prolific and diverse inventor throughout his life. At age 17, he came up with the idea of creating embossed stamps to use on title deeds. Then he realized a better idea was …