József Károly Hell

József Károly Hell – 11 March 1789, Selmecbánya ) was a Hungarian mining engineer and inventor, who invented the water-pillar in 1749. It is mainly used today for oil extraction. He also proposed construction of the tajchy reservoirs around Selmecbánya. He was a student of Sámuel Mikoviny in 1737. Regardless of his nationality, he is a pride of both Hungarian and Slovak nations.
His first machine was able to pump water up from the depth of 212 meters. Hell later built pumping machines in 1749-1768, which belonged to the best technology in this field worldwide.