Dynamite: history of creation, description and classification. "King of dynamite", engineer and playwright: what is Alfred Nobel famous for

Debts for inventions that did not justify themselves, the perseverance of creditors and the fire that destroyed the house of the Swede Emmanuel Nobel forced his family to leave their native Stockholm. Nobel's refuge was found in St. Petersburg in 1837. The city on the Neva received the family cordially, offered her new life and new perspectives.

In the Russian capital, the Nobels set up the production of naval mines and lathes, and when they finally got on their feet, they decided to send their son Alfred to study abroad. The 16-year-old boy traveled almost all of Europe until he ended up in Paris. There he met the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero, the man who discovered nitroglycerin.

Alfred was warned: nitroglycerin is a dangerous substance, it can explode at any moment. But young man The warnings seemed to only spur them on. He wanted to learn how to manage explosive energy, find it useful application. Moreover, the Crimean War (1853-1856), which enriched the Nobel family, had ended by that time.

Enterprises that took on military orders from the state suffered losses, and Alfred's relatives risked being left out of work again. The filial duty and ambition of the young scientist motivated him to move forward, and in 1863 his labors were rewarded. Alfred invented the mercury fulminate detonator. Contemporaries considered Nobel's achievement the largest since the discovery of gunpowder, but this was only the beginning of his journey.

According to Vladimir Belin, professor of the Mining Institute at NUST MISiS, president of the National Organization of Explosive Engineers, “the Nobel detonator is still functionally and in its layout not much different from the modern one.”

Alfred Nobel
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“In the case of powder charges, the person who sets them on fire is in close proximity. With the help of a detonator, he can be beyond the limits of a possible defeat, Belin said in an interview with RT. - We must also not forget that Alfred Nobel was a businessman. It delayed the development of other industrial explosives (BBs) by 20 years. Nobel bought a patent for ammonium nitrate explosives, which were not as effective as dynamite, but less dangerous. But in any case, all explosives in the world honor the memory of Nobel, consider him the founder of modern explosives.

After some time, the young scientist left St. Petersburg and returned to his native Sweden, where he continued experiments with nitroglycerin and founded a workshop that changed the life of the family forever.

On September 3, 1864, there was an explosion in the Nobel workshop. Alfred knew about the dangers of nitroglycerin, more than once witnessed explosions and accidents, but never before did unsuccessful experiments bring him so much pain. One of the victims was his 20-year-old brother Emil. The news of the death of his son shocked Emmanuel Nobel, he survived a stroke and remained bedridden forever. Albert also grieved for a long time, but the pain of loss did not break him, and he continued his research.

By chance

In a short time, Nobel managed to find investors who agreed to sponsor his research. Nitroglycerin factories began to appear in different cities. But every now and then explosions occurred in them, which cost the workers their lives. More often, vehicles carrying vials of the chemical took off into the air. Stories were overgrown with details, rumors appeared that created the basis for speculation and panic. Ultimately, Alfred's intervention was required. Having traced all stages of the production of nitroglycerin, he developed a list of rules that helped to secure the process of obtaining the substance and its transportation.

AT liquid state nitroglycerin was still extremely dangerous. Shaking, improper storage or transportation at any time could lead to an explosion. Given the specifics of the substance, Nobel went for a trick: he began to add methyl alcohol to it, due to which nitroglycerin ceased to be explosive. But where one door opened, another closed. Returning explosive power to nitroglycerin was almost as difficult and dangerous. The process of distillation of alcohol from nitroglycerin could cause an explosion. Trying to make matter solid, Nobel came up with a revolutionary solution that led to the creation of dynamite.

Paper, brick dust, cement, chalk, even sawdust - mixing nitroglycerin with these materials did not give the desired results. The solution to the problem was diatomaceous earth, or, as it is also called, "mountain flour". This is a loose limestone-like rock that can be found at the bottom of reservoirs. Light, supple, accessible material was the answer to all Alfred's questions.

According to one of the legends, which gained popularity during the life of Nobel, the idea of using diatomaceous earth visited him quite by accident. During the transportation of nitroglycerin, one of the bottles cracked, and its contents spilled onto a package made of diatomaceous earth. Nobel tested the resulting mixture for explosiveness. All tests were successfully passed: the mixture turned out to be safer than gunpowder and five times more powerful than it, for which it got its name - dynamite (from the ancient Greek "strength"). The name contributed to the commercial success of the invention: it was possible, firstly, to avoid mentioning the nitroglycerin that frightened the whole world, and secondly, to draw attention to the enormous power of the explosive novelty.

On the wave of success

The pace of dynamite production steadily increased, and over the next eight years, Alfred opened 17 factories. Nobel's explosives helped complete work on the 15-kilometer Gotthard Tunnel in the Alps and the Corinth Canal in Greece. Dynamite has also been used in the construction of over 300 bridges and 80 tunnels. But soon the founder of the business empire began to have competitors, which made Nobel think about the modernization of explosives.

Gotthard tunnel in the Alps
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Dynamite was weaker than pure nitroglycerin, it was difficult to use it under water, and when stored for a long time, it lost its properties. Then it occurred to Alfred new idea- if you believe the legend, again completely by accident. During the experiments, he cut his finger with the glass of a broken flask. The wound was treated with collodion, a thick sticky solution that, when dried, forms thin film. Nobel suggested that this substance would mix well with nitroglycerin. And he turned out to be right. The next day, he built a new explosive - "explosive jelly", later called the most perfect dynamite.

Transience of epochs

In the 19th century, Alfred Nobel's invention revolutionized the mining industry. According to Belin, it was problematic and, most importantly, unsafe to extract minerals using powder charges. Dynamite, which replaced gunpowder, has been used for decades. But at some point, it also became obsolete and was replaced by more advanced technologies.

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Craig Lovell

“In the Russian Federation, dynamite is not used because of the danger of storage, transportation and use. Today the world is working on ammonium nitrate explosives and the so-called emulsion explosives, which have a guaranteed and adjustable explosive life. With their help, you can make, for example, so that the charge was dangerous for a week. After a certain period of time, its combat properties come to naught,” Belin said, “and not an explosive is transported, but an emulsion matrix. Explosive characteristics are acquired after loading into wells, chambers, boreholes, etc.”

Dynamite was sometimes used in military affairs, but reluctantly and with caution. The reason for this is the sensitivity of explosives: they could easily explode if stored incorrectly, shot through by a bullet or in an artillery shell.

The editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, reserve colonel Viktor Murakhovsky, noted in an interview with RT that dynamite was practically not used as ammunition.

“Such an element as TNT, and explosives based on it, appeared quite quickly. But for military purposes, dynamite was not very convenient, said Murakhovsky. - During the war, it was used only at the stages of engineering work: during the construction of fortifications or, conversely, clearing territories. It is known as an industrial explosive, not a military one."

In some countries, dynamite is still produced in limited quantities to this day. It is produced, for example, in Finland and the USA. In the United States, only one company is engaged in production. Dynamite is usually issued in the form of "cartridges" different size filled with plastic or powdered explosive. Dynamite is still used in mining or when demolishing buildings.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896)

The word dynamite in Greek means "strength". This explosive, which consists of nitroglycerin, potassium or sodium nitrate and wood flour, depending on the volume, can smash a car, a house, destroy a rock. Dynamite was invented by Swedish chemical engineer Alfred Nobel, who patented it in 1867 and suggested using it for tunneling. This invention glorified Nobel all over the world, brought him enormous income. In 1895, he made a will, according to which most of his capital was directed to prizes for outstanding achievements in chemistry, physics, medicine, literature and the promotion of peace.

In 1842, Emmanuel Nobel from Stockholm came to St. Petersburg to the Swedish owner of a company manufacturing steam engines in Russia. younger son, 9-year-old Alfred. It was defined in private school. Alfred studied well, was interested in chemistry and physics, and spent all his free time at his father's company. When he was 17 years old, he was sent to study in Germany. The father wanted the youngest son to get acquainted with the basics of chemistry and physics at German universities. After Germany, Alfred trained in Paris, then went to the USA, where he worked at the factory of the famous Swedish inventor John Erickson, got acquainted with the production of steam engines and steamboats.

Nobel returned to St. Petersburg in 1853 and began working in his father's company, which at that time specialized in the production of ammunition - Russia led a difficult Crimean War(1853-1856). After the war, the demand for military products subsided, there were few orders for parts for steamships that they manufactured before the war, and Alfred and his parents returned to their homeland in Stockholm. He spent all his free time in a small laboratory that his father had made for him. There he experimented with chemicals. He was interested in explosions. He tried to tame nitroglycerin, made a special detonator for it.

As a result of numerous experiments, the detonator turned out - a small metal capsule filled with mercury. From the compound of nitroglycerin and various organic matter Nobel received an explosive, which he called dynamite. The discovery has been made. Nobel patented it in 1867 and immediately offered it to the board of the Swedish railways use explosives to build tunnels. Considering natural conditions country, its mountainous terrain, it was very relevant.

Dynamite immediately demonstrated its excellent penetrating properties. Directed explosions made it possible to lay in the Alps under Mont Blanc (the highest mountain in Western Europe, 4808 m) road tunnel 11.6 kilometers long, clear the Danube, lay the Corinth Canal in Greece, remove underwater rocks in the navigable East River in New York.

With the help of dynamite, drilling was carried out at the Baku oil fields, where the two older brothers of Nobel worked, who were called “Russian Rockefellers” for the money they earned on this.

Dynamite factories were built in Europe and overseas. Nobel himself owned 20 such manufactories. But dynamite began to be actively used not only for engineering structures but also in military affairs. Nobel made a considerable fortune on all this.

In 1873, Nobel left for Paris, where he had a small chemical laboratory, from where he ran his companies. In the late 1880s, he patented a new, more powerful explosive, smokeless powder, which he called ballistite. He sold his patent to the Italian government, and immediately he had a conflict with the French government. He was accused of fraud, the laboratory was searched. Outraged by these actions, Alfred left France in 1891 and moved to San Remo on the Italian Riviera.

Nobel never married, lived as a hermit, remained unpretentious in everyday life, spoke fluent French, German, Russian and English, strove for a quiet life, world fame weighed on him. Among orange trees his villa, he created a new chemical laboratory. Soon he began to suffer pains in his heart, he felt general fatigue, he developed angina pectoris. Nobel died of a cerebral hemorrhage.

In 1888, reporters from a French newspaper mistakenly published a report about Nobel's death. He was called "blood millionaire", "merchant of death", "dynamite king". This made a strong impression on the businessman, he did not want to remain in the memory of mankind as a “world-wide villain”. On November 27, 1895, at the Swedish-Norwegian club in Paris, Nobel signed a will, according to which most of his fortune was to go to the establishment of international awards for achievements in the main branches of science, literature, and for activities to strengthen peace.

For several centuries, only one explosive was known to people - black powder, which was widely used both in war and in peaceful blasting. But the second half of the 19th century was marked by the invention of a whole family of new explosives, the destructive power of which was hundreds and thousands of times greater than that of gunpowder.

Their creation was preceded by several discoveries. As early as 1838, Peluz conducted the first experiments on the nitration of organic substances. The essence of this reaction is that many carbonaceous substances, when treated with a mixture of concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids, give up their hydrogen, take the nitro group NO2 in return and turn into a powerful explosive.

Other chemists have explored this interesting phenomenon. In particular, Shenbein, nitriding cotton, received pyroxylin in 1846. In 1847, acting in a similar way on glycerin, Sobrero discovered nitroglycerin, an explosive that had colossal destructive power. At first, nitroglycerin did not interest anyone. Sobrero himself returned to his experiments only 13 years later and described exact way nitration of glycerol.

After that, the new substance found some use in mining. Initially, it was poured into the well, plugged with clay and blasted by means of a cartridge immersed in it. However, the best effect was achieved by igniting a percussion cap with mercury fulminate.

What explains the exceptional explosive power of nitroglycerin? It was found that during the explosion, it decomposes, as a result of which CO2, CO, H2, CH4, N2 and NO gases are first formed, which again interact with each other with the release of a huge amount of heat. The final reaction can be expressed by the formula: 2C3H5(NO3)3 = 6CO2 + 5H2O + 3N + 0.5O2.

Heated to a huge temperature, these gases rapidly expand, exerting on environment colossal pressure. The end products of the explosion are completely harmless. All this seemed to make nitroglycerin indispensable in underground blasting. But it soon turned out that the manufacture, storage and transportation of this liquid explosive is fraught with many dangers.

In general, pure nitroglycerin is quite difficult to ignite from an open flame. A lit match rotted in it without any consequences. But on the other hand, its sensitivity to shocks and concussions (detonation) was many times higher than that of black powder. Upon impact, often quite insignificant, in the layers subjected to shaking, there was a rapid increase in temperature until the explosive reaction began. The mini-explosion of the first layers produced a new impact on the deeper layers, and this continued until the explosion of the entire mass of matter occurred.

Sometimes, without any external influence, nitroglycerin suddenly began to decompose into organic acids, quickly darkened, and then the most insignificant shaking of the bottle was enough to cause a terrible explosion. After a number of accidents, the use of nitroglycerin was almost universally banned. Those industrialists who set up the production of this explosive had two options left - either to find a condition in which nitroglycerin would be less sensitive to detonation, or to curtail their production.

One of the first who became interested in nitroglycerin was the Swedish engineer Alfred Nobel, who founded a plant for its production. In 1864, his factory took off with the workers. Five people died, including Alfred's brother Emil, who was barely 20 years old. After this disaster, Nobel was threatened with significant losses - it was not easy to convince people to invest in such a dangerous enterprise.

For several years he studied the properties of nitroglycerin and eventually managed to establish a completely safe production of it. But the problem of transportation remained. After many experiments, Nobel found that nitroglycerin dissolved in alcohol is less sensitive to detonation. However, this method did not provide complete reliability. The search continued, and then an unexpected incident helped to solve the problem brilliantly.

When transporting bottles of nitroglycerin, in order to soften the shaking, they were placed in diatomaceous earth, a special diatomaceous earth mined in Hanover. Kieselguhr consisted of flint shells of algae with many cavities and tubules. And once, during the shipment, one bottle of nitroglycerin broke, and its contents spilled onto the ground. Nobel had the idea to make some experiments with this diatomaceous earth impregnated with nitroglycerin.

It turned out that the explosive properties of nitroglycerin did not decrease at all from the fact that it was absorbed by the porous earth, but its sensitivity to detonation decreased several times. In this state, it did not explode either from friction, or from a weak blow, or from burning. But on the other hand, when a small amount of mercury fulminate was ignited in a metal capsule, an explosion of the same force occurred that gave pure nitroglycerin in the same volume. In other words, it was exactly what was needed, and even much more than what Nobel hoped to get. In 1867, he took out a patent for a compound he discovered, which he called dynamite.

The explosive power of dynamite is as huge as that of nitroglycerin: 1 kg of dynamite in 1/50,000 seconds develops a force of 1,000,000 kgm, that is, sufficient to lift 1,000,000 kg per 1 m. Moreover, if 1 kg of black powder turned into gas for 0.01 seconds, then 1 kg of dynamite in 0.00002 seconds. But with all this, well-made dynamite exploded only from a very strong blow. Ignited by the touch of fire, it gradually burned without an explosion, with a bluish flame.

The explosion occurred only when a large mass of dynamite was ignited (more than 25 kg). Undermining dynamite, like nitroglycerin, was best done using detonation. For this purpose, Nobel in the same year 1867 invented a rattling primer detonator. Dynamite immediately found the widest application in the construction of highways, tunnels, canals, railways and other objects, which largely predetermined the rapid growth of the fortune of its inventor. Nobel founded the first factory for the production of dynamite in France, then he set up its production in Germany and England. For thirty years, the dynamite trade brought Nobel enormous wealth - about 35 million crowns.

The process of making dynamite was reduced to several operations. First of all, it was necessary to obtain nitroglycerin. This was the most difficult and dangerous moment in the entire production. The nitration reaction occurred when 1 part of glycerol was treated with 3 parts of concentrated nitric acid in the presence of 6 parts of concentrated sulfuric acid. The equation was as follows: C3H5(OH)3 + 3HNO3 = C3H5(NO3)3 + 3H2O.

Sulfuric acid did not participate in the compound, but its presence was necessary, firstly, to absorb the water released as a result of the reaction, which otherwise, diluting nitric acid, would thereby prevent the completeness of the reaction, and, secondly, to isolate the resulting nitroglycerin in solution nitric acid, since it, being highly soluble in this acid, did not dissolve in its mixture with sulfuric.

Nitration was accompanied by a strong release of heat. Moreover, if, due to heating, the temperature of the mixture rose above 50 degrees, then the course of the reaction would go in the other direction - the oxidation of nitroglycerin would begin, accompanied by a rapid release of nitrogen oxides and even greater heating, which would lead to an explosion.

Therefore, nitration had to be carried out with constant cooling of the mixture of acids and glycerol, adding the latter little by little and constantly stirring each portion. Nitroglycerin formed directly in contact with acids, having a lower density compared to the acid mixture, floated to the surface, and it could be easily collected after the reaction was completed.

The preparation of the acid mixture at the Nobel factories took place in large cylindrical cast-iron vessels, from where the mixture entered the so-called nitration apparatus. In such an installation, it was possible to process about 150 kg of glycerin at a time. After letting in the required amount of acid mixture and cooling it (by passing cold compressed air and cold water through the coils) to 15-20 degrees, they began to spray chilled glycerin. At the same time, they made sure that the temperature in the apparatus did not rise above 30 degrees. If the temperature of the mixture began to rise rapidly and approached the critical, the contents of the vat could be quickly released into a large vessel of cold water.

The operation of forming nitroglycerin lasted about an hour and a half. After that, the mixture entered the separator - a lead rectangular box with a conical bottom and two taps, one of which was located at the bottom and the other at the side. Once the mixture had settled and separated, the nitroglycerin was released through the top tap and the acid mixture through the bottom. The resulting nitroglycerin was washed several times to remove excess acids, since the acid could react with it and cause its decomposition, which inevitably led to an explosion.

To avoid this, water was supplied to the hermetic vat with nitroglycerin and the mixture was mixed with compressed air. The acid dissolved in water, and since the densities of water and nitroglycerin differed greatly, it was not difficult to separate them from each other. In order to remove residual water, nitroglycerin was passed through several layers of felt and table salt.

As a result of all these actions, an oily yellowish liquid was obtained, odorless and very poisonous (poisoning could occur both by inhalation of vapors and by contact of drops of nitroglycerin on the skin). When heated above 180 degrees, it exploded with terrible destructive force.

The prepared nitroglycerin was mixed with diatomaceous earth. Before this, the diatomaceous earth was washed and thoroughly ground. Impregnation with nitroglycerin occurred in wooden boxes lined inside with lead. After mixing with nitroglycerin, the dynamite was rubbed through a sieve and stuffed into parchment cartridges.

In kieselguhr dynamite, only nitroglycerin was involved in the explosive reaction. Later Nobel came up with the idea of impregnating with nitroglycerin various varieties gunpowder. In this case, gunpowder also participated in the reaction and significantly increased the force of the explosion.

Inventor Story by: Alfred Nobel
A country: Sweden
Time of invention: 1867

For several centuries, only one explosive was known to people - black, which was widely used both in war and in peaceful blasting. But the second half of the 19th century was marked by the invention of a whole family of new explosives, the destructive power of which was hundreds and thousands of times greater than that of gunpowder.

Their creation was preceded by several discoveries. As early as 1838, Peluz conducted the first experiments on the nitration of organic substances. The essence of this reaction is that many carbonaceous substances, when treated with a mixture of concentrated nitric and sulfuric acids, give up their hydrogen, take the nitro group NO2 in return and turn into a powerful explosive.

Other chemists have investigated this interesting phenomenon. In particular, Shenbein, nitriding cotton, received pyroxylin in 1846. In 1847, acting in a similar way on glycerin, Sobrero discovered nitroglycerin, an explosive that had colossal destructive power. At first, nitroglycerin did not interest anyone. Sobrero himself returned to his experiments only 13 years later and described the exact method of glycerol nitration.

Heated to a huge temperature, these gases rapidly expand, exerting tremendous pressure on the environment. The end products of the explosion are completely harmless. All this seemed to make nitroglycerin indispensable in underground blasting. But it soon turned out that the manufacture, storage and transportation of this liquid explosive is fraught with many dangers.

In general, pure nitroglycerin is quite difficult to ignite from an open flame. Lit rotten in it without any consequences. But on the other hand, its sensitivity to shocks and concussions (detonation) was many times higher than that of black powder. Upon impact, often quite insignificant, in the layers subjected to shaking, there was a rapid increase in temperature until the explosive reaction began. The mini-explosion of the first layers produced a new impact on the deeper layers, and this continued until the explosion of the entire mass of matter occurred.

Sulfuric acid did not participate in the compound, but its presence was necessary, firstly, to absorb the water released as a result of the reaction, which otherwise, diluting nitric acid, would thereby prevent the completeness of the reaction, and, secondly, to isolate the resulting nitroglycerin from a solution in nitric acid, since it, being highly soluble in this acid, did not dissolve in its mixture with sulfuric acid.

The preparation of the acid mixture at the Nobel factories took place in large cylindrical cast-iron vessels, from where the mixture entered the so-called nitration apparatus. In such an installation, it was possible to process about 150 kg of glycerin at a time. After letting in the required amount of acid mixture and cooling it (passing cold compressed air and cold water through the coils) up to 15-20 degrees, they began to spray cooled glycerin. At the same time, they made sure that the temperature in the apparatus did not rise above 30 degrees. If the temperature of the mixture began to rise rapidly and approached the critical, the contents of the vat could be quickly released into a large vessel of cold water.

The prepared nitroglycerin was mixed with diatomaceous earth. Before this, the diatomaceous earth was washed and thoroughly ground. Impregnation with nitroglycerin took place in wooden boxes lined with lead inside. After mixing with nitroglycerin, the dynamite was rubbed through a sieve and stuffed into parchment cartridges.

In kieselguhr dynamite, only nitroglycerin was involved in the explosive reaction. Later, Nobel came up with the idea of impregnating various grades of gunpowder with nitroglycerin. In this case, gunpowder also participated in the reaction and significantly increased the force of the explosion.

Dynamite is a special explosive mixture based on nitroglycerin. It is worth noting that in its pure form this substance is extremely dangerous. While the impregnation of solid absorbents with nitroglycerin makes it safe for storage and use, convenient to use. Dynamite may also contain other substances. As a rule, the resulting mass has the shape of a cylinder and is packed in paper or plastic.

Invention of dynamite

An important event for the invention of dynamite was the discovery of nitroglycerin. This happened in 1846. The discoverer was the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero. For powerful explosives, factories immediately began to be built all over the world. One of them opened in Russia. Domestic chemists Zinin and Petrushevsky were looking for a way to use it safely. One of their students was

In 1863, Nobel discovered the detonator cap, which greatly simplified practical use nitroglycerin. This was achieved through activation with the help Many today consider this discovery of Nobel more important than the discovery of dynamite.

Dynamite itself was patented by a Swedish chemist in 1867. Until the middle of the last century, it was used as the main explosive when working in the mountains and, of course, in military affairs.

Dynamite walks the planet

For the first time, the use of dynamite for military purposes was proposed by Nobel himself in the year when he patented it. However, then the idea was considered unsuccessful, as it is too unsafe.

Industrial production of dynamite began in 1869. One of the first to use it was Russian industrialists. Already in 1871 it was used in mining hard coal and zinc ore.

The production of dynamite grew exponentially. If in 1867 11 tons were produced, then after 5 years - 1570 tons, and by 1875 up to 8 thousand tons were produced.

The fact that dynamite is an excellent weapon was the first to be understood by the Germans. They began to blow up fortresses and bridges, prompting the use of it and the French. In 1871, this explosive appeared in the engineering troops of Austria-Hungary.

What is dynamite made of?

As soon as the industrialists and military men of the world found out what was in dynamite, they immediately set up its production. It continues to be released today. Nowadays, it is cartridges weighing up to 200 grams, which can be used for six months. There are high percentages and low percentages.

Given that the composition of dynamite different manufacturers somewhat different, its main components, of course, remained unchanged.

The main one is nitro mixture. It began to be used to increase frost resistance. It consisted of nitroglycerin and dinitroglycol. This is the main component, which occupied up to 40% of the weight. The next largest component is ammonium nitrate (up to 30%), almost 20% went to sodium nitrate. The remaining components were used to a much lesser extent - these are nitrocellulose, balsa and talc.

Dynamite in the service of criminals

One of the first to understand what dynamite is, criminals of all stripes and terrorist organizations. One of the first crimes involving this explosive occurred in the United States in 1875. American sailor William Kong-Thomassen tried to undermine the Moselle ship that had gone to sea in order to obtain insurance. However, a barrel of homemade dynamite exploded in the port during loading. The tragedy claimed the lives of 80 people.

However, the first failure did not stop the leaders of the underworld and terrorists. From 1883 to 1885, members of an extremist organization advocating the separation of Ireland from Great Britain staged a series of explosions with dynamite. Including an explosion at the headquarters of the British police Scotland Yard and an attempt to undermine

This substance was also used by fighters against autocracy in Russia. In particular, the People's Will party. In Europe, dynamite was massively used by anarchists.

The popularity of dynamite is falling

For many years, most industrialists believed that dynamite was the main explosive in mining and the discovery of new minerals. It withstood the competition of saltpeter until the middle of the 20th century. In some countries - until the mid-80s. For example, dynamite was very popular in South Africa. It was used here in the gold mines. Already closer to the 90s, under the pressure of trade union organizations, most of the factories were converted to safer explosives based on saltpeter.

In Russia, dynamite was mass-produced even after the Great Patriotic War. The hard-freezing composition was especially popular. The explosive substance left the domestic industry only in the 60s.

For many countries, dynamite is an affordable and easily produced explosive. This state of affairs continued for almost 100 years. To date, dynamite occupies no more than 2% of the total turnover of all explosives in the world.