Dunfermline, ancient capital of Scotland, is the birthplace of seven kings (including Charles I), an empress, a queen and four princes. It is also the final resting place of nine kings, five queens, six princes and two princesses.

Robert the Bruce was buried at Dunfermline Abbey in 1329 but was forgotten over the centuries until excavation work was carried out during the building of a new church on the site of the old ruined choir.

A tomb was discovered containing the remains of Robert the Bruce, identified by a shroud of gold cloth and the fact that the breastbone had been severed to facilitate the removal of his heart. (Knowing he would be unable to travel, Robert the Bruce instructed that his heart be removed and taken to the Holy Land in atonement for his killing of the Red Comyn).

Dunfermline ceased to be a Royal Burgh after the death of James I, with Charles II (first to inherit a United Kingdom throne) the last monarch to stay at Dunfermline Palace in 1650, after which the Palace became a ruin. The town was almost destroyed by fire in 1624 with the result that it has few antiquities in relation to its long and fascinating history. It became a hand-loom weaving town noted for its damask linen and silks but perhaps Dunfermline is best known today as the birthplace of Andrew Carnegie.

Andrew Carnegie was a 19th century steel tycoon who became one of the 20th century's most well known philanthropists, and his life story is one of the most famous rags-to-riches accounts. Born in Dunfermline, Carnegie moved to Pennsylvania with his family in 1848 and began working in factories as a teenager. Hard work and wise investments led to Carnegie's early success in the railroad business as well as the financial world. During the Civil War he invested in oil, worked in transportation for the U.S. War Department and became interested in the iron and steel business. After the war he concentrated on steel, and by 1888 he owned control of the Homestead Steel Works and other manufacturing plants, which he eventually consolidated as the Carnegie Steel Company. With his longtime partner, Henry Clay Frick, Carnegie competed fiercely in business. In 1901 Carnegie Steel merged with the U.S. Steel Corporation and Carnegie sold out to J.P. Morgan for $480 million, making Carnegie the richest man in the world. After his retirement he became a philanthropist and donated more than $350 million to further public education, build libraries and lobby for international peace. He also created the Carnegie Corporation of New York, endowing it with $125 million to support benefactions after his death.

He spent much of his later life at Skibo Castle, his estate in Scotland (well known as the location for Madonna and Guy Ritchie's wedding). During World War I Carnegie returned to the U.S., where he died in 1919 at Shadowbrook, his estate in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.