Alfred Nobel: Dynamite King
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Alfred Bernhard Nobel

  • "1833  Alfred Nobel is born in Stockholm, Sweden. In the same year, his father--Immanuel Nobel-- goes bankrupt.
  • 1837Immanuel Nobel travels to Findland and then to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he starts a mechanical workshop; he leaves his family behind in Sweden.
  • 1842 The Nobel family is reunited in St. Petersburg.
  • 1850-1852 Alfred Nobel goes to Paris and works for one year in the laboratory of T. Jules Pelouze. He also travels to Italy, Germany, and the United States (US).
  • 1853-1856 The Crimean war rages. The Nobel Company fourishes at first but goes bankrupt as the war ends and the Russian military cancels orders. Alfred Nobel searches desperately for new products. Nikolai N. Zinin, Nobel's chemistry teacher, reminds him of nitroglycerin.
  • 1862 Nobel starts his experiments with nitroglycerin.
  • 1863 Nobel obtains the first patent on nitroglycerin (blasting oil) as an industrial explosive. He develops and patents a detonator (blasting cap) for triggering the explosion of nitroglycerin. He also moves to Stockholm, where he continues his experiments.
  • 1864 Emil, Alfred Nobel's brother, is killed during the preparation of nitroglycerin at Heleneborg, Stockholm. Nobel continues his experiments and forms the company Nitroglycerin AB in Stockholm, Sweden.
  • 1865 Alfred Nobel improves the design and moves to Germany to set up the Alfred Nobel & Co Factory in Krummel near Hamburg.
  • 1866 Nobel establishes the Unite States Blasting Oil Company in the U.S. A violent explosion destroys the Krummel plant. Experimenting on a raft anchored on the river Elbe, Alfred Nobel tries to make nitroglycerin safer to handle. He finds the nitroglycerin is stabilized by the addition of kieselguhr (a siliceous deposit; aslo known as diatomaceous earth), and calls this mixture dynamite.
  • 1867 Alfred Nobel obtains a patent for dynamite
  • 1871 Nobel establishes the British Dynamite Company (Ardeer, Scotland, UK). In 1877 the company name is changed to Nobel's Explosives Company
  • 1872 Immanuel, Alfred's father, passes away.
  • 1873 At the age of 40 Alfred Nobel is a wealthy man. he moves to Paris and settles at Avenue Malakoff. The manufacture of nitroglycerin and dynamite starts Ardeer.
  • 1875 Alfred Nobel invents blasting gelatin in Paris and patents it in 1876. He establishes Societe  Generale pou la Fabrication de la Dynamite in Paris, France.
  • 1876 Dynamitaktiengesellschaft (DAG), formerly Alfred Nobel & Co (Hamburg, Germany), is formed. Alfred Nobel advertises for a housekeeper/personal secretary, meets with Bertha Kinsky von Chinic und Tettau (later von Suttner) and hires her. She leaves employment after a short time and becomes a leading peace activist.
  • 1880 Dynamite Nobel is forming merging Nobel's Italian and Swiss companies.
  • 1881 Alfred Nobel buys an estate and laboratory at Sevran outside Paris.
  • 1885 German Union is formed by merging DAG and a group of German dynamite companies.
  • 1886 Nobel-Dynamite Trust Co (London, UK) is formed by merging DAG and Nobel's Explosive Company.
  • 1887 Nobel obtains a patent for the blasting powder "ballistite" in France.
  • 1889 Andriette, Alfred Nobel's mother, passes away.
  • 1891 Alfred Nobel leaves Paris and settles in San Remo, Italy, after a dispute with the French government over ballistite.
  • 1893 Alfred Nobel hires Ragnar Sohlman, who he later names executor of his will and testament.
  • 1894 Alfred Nobel buys a small machine works (Bofors-Gullspang) and a manor (Bjorkborn) at Karlskoga, Sweden.
  • 1895 The third and final will of Alfred Nobel is signed at the Swedish-Norwegian Club in Paris.
  • 1896 Alfred Nobel dies at his villa (home ) in San Remo Italy, on December 10th, 1896."