Many great things made by man over time, but one of the most important was the discovery of explosives.
Some would say that dynamite was discovered by the Chinese in the Christian era. But when European nations began using in the 14th century, they were able to extend their influence in the world.
Old recipes of gunpowder was made of potassium nitrate, charcoal and sulfur. This was the formula used until the late 19th century.
In 1845, German chemist Schoenbein cotton treated with a mixture of concentrated sulfuric acid and nitric acid. He came out a white, fibrous like bumacul itself and known as nitro-cellulose or cotton dust. It was more explosive than gunpowder. Meanwhile, an Italian named Ascanio Sobrero experiment with normal glycerin. He allowed to flow drop by drop glycerin in a mixture of nitric acid and sulfuric strong that he kept cold. The result was a small amount of nitroglycerin, which was an explosive more powerful than cotton dust.
Almost 20 years later, the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel discovered dynamite by chance while working with nitroglycerin which gave him much hassle. He found a safe way to produce nitroglycerin, but the material was still dangerous to handle. Often explode during transport.
One day, some doses of nitroglycerin Nobel move a box keiselguhr (diatomite) which was packed. He discovered that one of them had a leak and that the mixture of nitroglycerin and diatomaceous earth formed a solid mass - dynamite.
Source: descopera.ro
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