Do You Know Who Invented Dynamite?

[Spungle]

I may be one of many or few AB contributors who were ignorant of this fact until today. Exactly 125 years ago today, Alfred Nobel, after whom the Nobel Peace Prize is named, died, aged 63. He was the inventor of dynamite, and as such, was responsible in part for the deaths of hundreds and thousands of people, including, ironically, his own brother. What a paradoxical and interesting man!
Read more about him here: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Nobel

[ToraToraTora]

yes I knew, you never wonder what the Nobel prizes were all about?

[Spungle]

Yes, I knew a little about him and his inventions, but never realised he was the inventor of dynamite. Happy birthday to him...!

[davebro]

Explosives are used for other things than killing people.

[mushroom25]

yep - known as "Doctor Nobel's Linctus" in some circles.

although it was the first practical explosive stronger than black powder, dynamite's disadvantage was that it was prone to freezing in cold weather. there are stories of many accidents during the railroad building frenzy of the early 20th century in north America, of navvies trying to thaw the explosive in frying pans........

[Ken4155]

^
They'd have been safe providing they stuck their fingers in their ears :-))

[Peter Pedant]

and nobel made a helluva load of lu-lu from it all

can we widen it to all physicists and inventors? what about.....Haber?
He fixed nitrogen to ammonia and made himself rich beyond dreams but alsoo..... produced gas to poison the French in 1914 - chlorine and more. Altho called a war criminal even then, the person who bore the brunt of guilt was - - - his wife who committed suicide. He didnt

[Stableford]

Anyone who survives inventing dynamite deserves a prize!