Dynamite

Dynamite is an explosive in which nitroglycerin is absorbed into a stabilizing material. Alfred Nobel patented it in 1867 as a safer way to handle nitroglycerin.

Nitroglycerin: A highly energetic liquid compound that detonates rapidly and is sensitive to shock and heat. Dynamite’s explosive ingredient is nitroglycerin, held within an absorbent material.
Alfred Nobel: A Swedish chemist, engineer, and industrialist who invented dynamite and established the Nobel Prizes. Nobel patented dynamite in 1867 after developing a way to make nitroglycerin safer to handle.
Blasting: The controlled use of explosives to break rock or other materials. Dynamite became a widely used material for breaking rock in mines and construction.
Industrial Revolution: A period of major economic and technological transformation beginning in the eighteenth century. Dynamite’s adoption accelerated large-scale mining and construction during industrial expansion.
Trinitrotoluene: An aromatic nitro compound commonly known as TNT and used as a military explosive. TNT is a distinct chemical compound, not a synonym for nitroglycerin-based dynamite.
Diatomaceous earth: A porous sedimentary material made chiefly from the fossilized silica skeletons of diatoms. Nobel’s original dynamite used this porous material to absorb nitroglycerin.
Ascanio Sobrero: An Italian chemist who discovered nitroglycerin in 1847. Sobrero’s discovery supplied the powerful but dangerous ingredient Nobel sought to stabilize.
Mining: The extraction of useful minerals and geological materials from the Earth. Dynamite made it easier to excavate hard rock and expand underground workings.
Haymarket affair: A 1886 labor protest in Chicago that turned deadly after a bomb exploded and police fired into the crowd. The affair intensified public fears that dynamite could be used in political violence.
Black powder: A low explosive mixture traditionally made from charcoal, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. Black powder burns rapidly, while dynamite is designed to detonate.

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