How it began
Erik Andreas Rotheim (1898 to 1938) was born in Kristiania, now Oslo. He graduated as a chemical engineer from ETH Zürich in 1921 and later studied at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. In 1925 he founded his own company in Norway and developed the aerosol can. Accounts date his first patent for an aerosol can and valve to November 23, 1927, in Oslo.
How it works
Rotheim's invention was a can and valve that could hold fluids and dispense them. The contents are kept under pressure in a closed container and released through the valve as a spray. He is credited with the first aerosol spray can and valve of this kind.
How it spread
Rotheim received a Norwegian patent in 1929 and a United States patent in 1931. The invention had limited commercial success at first. He died in 1938, before aerosols became common. Wikipedia's account says the can found little use in his lifetime, and that wider application came only later.
What lasted
The design laid the groundwork for later advances in aerosol technology, including aerosol paints. Norway Post issued a commemorative stamp in 1998 recognizing Rotheim's contribution. He is best known for this one invention, the first aerosol can and valve that could hold and dispense fluids.
