Editing Dynamite (section)

==History==
[[File:Nobels Extradynamit label.jpg|thumb|"Nobels extradynamit" manufactured by Nobel's old company, Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget]]
[[File:Women mixing dynamite at Nobel’s Ardeer Factory in 1897.jpg|thumb|Women mixing  dynamite at Nobel's Ardeer factory, 1897]]

Dynamite was  invented by Swedish chemist [[Alfred Nobel]] in 1866 and was the first safely manageable explosive stronger than [[black powder]].

Alfred Nobel's father, [[Immanuel Nobel]], was an industrialist, engineer, and inventor. He built bridges and buildings in Stockholm and founded Sweden's first rubber factory. His construction work inspired him to research new methods of blasting rock that were more effective than black powder. After some bad business deals in Sweden, in 1838 Immanuel moved [[Nobel family|his family]] to [[Saint Petersburg]], where Alfred and his brothers were educated privately under Swedish and Russian tutors. At the age of 17, Alfred Nobel was [[grand tour|sent abroad for two years]]; in the United States he met Swedish engineer [[John Ericsson]] and in France studied under famed chemist [[Théophile-Jules Pelouze]] and his pupil [[Ascanio Sobrero]], who had first synthesized [[nitroglycerin]] in 1847. Pelouze cautioned Nobel against using nitroglycerine as a commercial explosive because of its great sensitivity to shock.<ref name="tekniskamuseet">{{cite web|title=Alfred Nobel – Dynamit|url=https://www.tekniskamuseet.se/lar-dig-mer/svenska-uppfinnare-och-innovatorer/alfred-nobel-dynamit/|publisher=[[Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology]]|access-date=1 October 2017|language=sv-SE|archive-date=3 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003064331/https://www.tekniskamuseet.se/lar-dig-mer/svenska-uppfinnare-och-innovatorer/alfred-nobel-dynamit/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1857, Nobel filed the first of several hundred [[patent]]s, mostly concerning air pressure, gas and fluid gauges, but remained fascinated with nitroglycerin's potential as an explosive. Nobel, along with his father and brother [[Emil Oskar Nobel|Emil]], experimented with various combinations of nitroglycerin and black powder. Nobel came up with a way to safely detonate nitroglycerin by inventing the [[detonator]], or blasting cap, that allowed a controlled explosion set off from a distance using a [[Fuse (explosives)|fuse]]. In 1863 Nobel performed his first successful detonation of pure nitroglycerin, using a blasting cap made of a copper [[percussion cap]] and [[Mercury(II) fulminate|mercury fulminate]]. In 1864, Alfred Nobel filed patents for both the blasting cap and his method of synthesizing nitroglycerin, using [[sulfuric acid]], nitric acid and glycerin. On 3 September 1864, while experimenting with nitroglycerin, Emil and several others were killed in an explosion at the factory at Immanuel Nobel's estate at [[Heleneborg]]. After this, Alfred founded the company Nitroglycerin Aktiebolaget in [[Vinterviken]] to continue work in a more isolated area and the following year moved to Germany, where he founded another company, [[Dynamit Nobel]].<ref name="tekniskamuseet"/>

Despite the invention of the blasting cap, the instability of nitroglycerin rendered it useless as a commercial explosive. To solve this problem, Nobel sought to combine it with another substance that would make it safe for transport and handling but would not reduce its effectiveness as an explosive. He tried combinations of cement, coal, and sawdust, but was unsuccessful. Finally, he tried [[diatomaceous earth]], which is fossilized algae, that he brought from the [[Elbe]] River near his factory in [[Hamburg]], which successfully stabilized the nitroglycerin into a portable explosive.<ref name="tekniskamuseet"/>

Nobel obtained patents for his inventions in England on 7 May 1867 and in Sweden on 19 October 1867.<ref name="s&s-101">Schück & Sohlman (1929), p. 101.</ref> After its introduction, dynamite rapidly gained wide-scale use as a safe alternative to black powder and nitroglycerin. Nobel tightly controlled the patents, and unlicensed duplicating companies were quickly shut down. A few American businessmen got around the patent by using absorbents other than diatomaceous earth, such as resin.<ref name="USPat 234489">US Patent 234489 issued to Morse 16 November 1880</ref>

Nobel originally sold dynamite as "Nobel's Blasting Powder" and later changed the name to dynamite, from the [[Ancient Greek]] word ''dýnamis'' ({{lang|grc|δύναμις}}), meaning "power".<ref>{{cite book|chapter=dynamite |title=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language |edition=4th |year=2003 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dynamite |access-date=19 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520041505/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dynamite |archive-date=20 May 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter=dynamite |title=Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged |year=2003 |orig-year=1991 |publisher=HarperCollins |access-date=19 March 2013 |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dynamite |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520041505/https://www.thefreedictionary.com/dynamite |archive-date=20 May 2020 }}</ref>