This timeline lists the development of explosives and related events.
Timeline
Year(s)
Event
Source
1st millennium
Gunpowder , the first explosive, is developed.
1040 - 1044
The book Wujing Zongyao contains three formulas for gunpowder, the first such reference.
1267
Roger Bacon's Opus Majus contains the first European reference to gunpowder.
[ 3]
1659
Ammonium nitrate is first synthesized by Johann Rudolf Glauber; it wasn't used as an explosive until World War I .
[ 4]
1745
William Watson shows that an electric spark can ignite gunpowder, demonstrating the first detonator .
[ 5]
1845
Nitrocellulose is invented by Christian Schoenbein .
[ 6]
1846
Nitroglycerin is invented by Ascanio Sobrero . It is the first practical explosive stronger than gunpowder.
[ 7] [ 8]
1863
TNT is invented by Julius Wilbrand , but used only as a yellow dye.
[ 9]
Sep 3, 1864
A nitroglycerin explosion at Immanuel Nobel's factory kills Alfred Nobel's youngest brother Emil Oskar Nobel and five other factory workers.
[ 8] [ 10]
Nov 28, 1864
Alfred Nobel establishes his first company, Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget , the first commercial manufacturer of nitroglycerin.
[ 11]
1865
Alfred Nobel develops a detonator using mercury fulminate in a copper capsule to detonate nitroglycerin.
[ 8]
1866
Dynamite is invented by Alfred Nobel by mixing nitroglycerin with silica. It is the first safely manageable explosive stronger than gunpowder.
[ 12]
1867
The use of ammonium nitrate in explosives is patented in Sweden.
[ 13]
1875
Gelignite , the first plastic explosive , is invented by Alfred Nobel.
[ 14] [ 13]
1884
Paul Marie Eugène Vieille creates Poudre B , the first practical smokeless powder .
[ 6]
1891
The explosive properties of TNT are discovered by Carl Häussermann.
[ 9]
1894
PETN is patented by the Rheinisch-Westfälische Sprengstoff A.G. [de ]
[ 15]
1898
RDX is invented by Georg Friedrich Henning, but not used until World War II .
[ 16]
1906
Dunnite is invented by US Army Major Beverly W. Dunn.
1908
The first detonating cord , a lead tube filled with TNT, is patented in France.
[ 17]
Dec 6, 1917
Halifax Explosion : A cargo of TNT, picric acid , benzol, and guncotton aboard aboard a ship explodes after a collision, killing at least 1,782 people. It was the largest artificial explosion at the time.
[ 18]
Apr 16, 1947
Texas City disaster : 2,100 metric tons of ammonium nitrate aboard a docked ship explode, ultimately killing at least 581 people, the deadliest industrial accident in U.S. history.
[ 19]
1952
Semtex , a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN, is invented by Stanislav Brebera .
[ 20]
1955
ANFO is developed, consisting of 94% ammonium nitrate.
[ 6]
1956
C-4 is developed as part of the Composition C family of plastic explosives; it contains 91% RDX.
Aug 4, 2020
Beirut explosion : A large amount of ammonium nitrate explodes, causing at least 218 deaths.
[ 21]
See also
References
^ "Roger Bacon | Philosophy, Biography, & Facts | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . 2023-05-12. Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "The deadly history of ammonium nitrate, the explosive linked to the Beirut blast" . Science . 2020-08-06. Archived from the original on March 20, 2021. Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ Royal Society (Great Britain); Britain), Royal Society (Great; Hutton, Charles; Maty, Paul Henry; Pearson, Richard; Shaw, George; Stuart, Alexander; Britain), Royal Society (Great; Britain), Royal Society (Great (1744). Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London ^ a b c "Explosive - Nitramon, Nitramex, and Smokeless Powder | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Eschner, Kat. "The Man Who Invented Nitroglycerin Was Horrified By Dynamite" . Smithsonian Magazine . Retrieved 2023-06-27 . ^ a b c "Explosive - Black Powder, Gunpowder, Glazing, and Safety Fuse | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ a b Szondy, David (2018-06-15). "New explosive could render toxic TNT obsolete" . New Atlas . Retrieved 2023-06-27 . ^ "Alfred Nobel's Industrial Activities in Vinterviken" . NobelPrize.org . 11 June 2013. Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "Alfred Nobel – Dynamit" (in Swedish). Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology . Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017 .^ "Alfred Nobel Was the Inventor of This Explosive Substance" . ThoughtCo . Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ a b "Explosive - Nitroglycerin, Ammonium Nitrate, and TNT Isomers | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "How to handle gelignite" . Wired UK . ISSN 1357-0978 . Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "PETN | chemical compound | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "RDX | explosive | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . 2023-06-16. Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "Explosive - Detonating Cord, Primacord, TNT, and Shaped Charge | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "Halifax Explosion" . Maritime Museum of the Atlantic . 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "Texas City explosion of 1947 | industrial disaster, Texas City, Texas, United States [1947] | Britannica" . www.britannica.com . 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "Czech inventions that took the world by storm: the verzatilka, the patentka and Semtex" . Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union . 2022-12-07. Retrieved 2023-06-27 .^ "Beirut explosion: What we know so far" . BBC News . 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2023-06-27 .
Sources
Padmanabhan, Thanu (2019), The Dawn of Science: Glimpses from History for the Curious Mind , Bibcode :2019dsgh.book.....P Romane, Julian (2020), The First & Second Italian Wars 1494-1504
