Timeline of explosives

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This timeline lists the development of explosives and related events.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Timeline

Year(s) Event Source
1st millennium Gunpowder, the first explosive, is developed. [1][2]
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 An 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. [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

  1. ^ Padmanabhan 2019, p. 59.
  2. ^ Romane 2020, p. 220.
  3. ^ "Roger Bacon | Philosophy, Biography, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-05-12. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ 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. Vol. 43. London: Royal Society of London.
  6. ^ a b c "Explosive - Nitramon, Nitramex, and Smokeless Powder | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  7. ^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Eschner, Kat. "The Man Who Invented Nitroglycerin Was Horrified By Dynamite". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  8. ^ a b c "Explosive - Black Powder, Gunpowder, Glazing, and Safety Fuse | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  9. ^ a b Szondy, David (2018-06-15). "New explosive could render toxic TNT obsolete". New Atlas. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  10. ^ "Alfred Nobel's Industrial Activities in Vinterviken". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  11. ^ "Alfred Nobel – Dynamit" (in Swedish). Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Alfred Nobel Was the Inventor of This Explosive Substance". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  13. ^ a b "Explosive - Nitroglycerin, Ammonium Nitrate, and TNT Isomers | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  14. ^ "How to handle gelignite". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  15. ^ "PETN | chemical compound | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  16. ^ "RDX | explosive | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-06-16. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  17. ^ "Explosive - Detonating Cord, Primacord, TNT, and Shaped Charge | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  18. ^ "Halifax Explosion". Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  19. ^ "Texas City explosion of 1947 | industrial disaster, Texas City, Texas, United States [1947] | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  20. ^ "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.
  21. ^ "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
  • Romane, Julian (2020), The First & Second Italian Wars 1494-1504
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