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Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents, and stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germany, and was patented in 1867. It rapidly gained wide-scale use as a more robust alternative to the traditional black powder explosives. It allows the use of nitroglycerine's favorable explosive properties while greatly reducing its risk of accidental detonation.
Tewksbury Hospital is a National Register of Historic Places-listed site located on an 800+ acre campus in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. The centerpiece of the hospital campus is the 1894 Richard Morris Building.
There have been many extremely large explosions, accidental and intentional, caused by modern high explosives, boiling liquid expanding vapour explosions (BLEVEs), older explosives such as gunpowder, volatile petroleum-based fuels such as gasoline, and other chemical reactions. This list contains the largest known examples, sorted by date. An unambiguous ranking in order of severity is not possible; a 1994 study by historian Jay White of 130 large explosions suggested that they need to be ranked by an overall effect of power, quantity, radius, loss of life and property destruction, but concluded that such rankings are difficult to assess.
The Peters Cartridge Company was a company located along the Little Miami River in Kings Mills, Ohio, which specialized in gunpowder and ammunition production. Founded in 1887 by Gershom Moore Peters, the company supplied military ammunition to various countries during both world wars. Following its demise in 1944, the site was repurposed by Columbia Records and later Seagram, before being abandoned in 1968 and falling into disrepair. Its historic buildings, built in 1916, were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. A brewery and apartment complex themed to the defunct company was constructed on site in 2020, in which many structures were restored and the company's history was placed on display for guests.
Hercules, Inc. was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, incorporated in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company following the breakup of the DuPont explosives monopoly by the U.S. Circuit Court in 1911. Hercules Powder Company became Hercules, Inc. in 1966, operating under this name until 2008, when it was merged into Ashland Inc.
A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications required storage magazines. Most magazines were purely functional and tended to be in remote and secure locations. They are the successor to the earlier powder towers and powder houses.
From 1802 to 1921, Eleutherian Mills was a gunpowder mill site used for the manufacture of explosives founded by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, which grew into the DuPont company. The name also refers to the house on the hill above the mills, which was the first du Pont family home in America. In 1957 the site became an outdoor museum when the Hagley Museum and Library was founded. The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
A powder mill was a mill where gunpowder is made from sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal.
The Grover Shoe Factory disaster was an industrial explosion, building collapse and fire that killed 58 people and injured 150 when it leveled the R. B. Grover shoe factory in Brockton, Massachusetts on March 20, 1905. Following a boiler explosion, the four-story wooden building collapsed and the ruins burst into flames, incinerating workers trapped in the wreckage.
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California Powder Works was the first American explosive powder manufacturing company west of the Rocky Mountains. When the outbreak of the Civil War cut off supplies of gunpowder to California's mining and road-building industries, a local manufacturer was needed. Originally located near Santa Cruz, California, the company was incorporated in 1861 and began manufacturing gunpowder in May 1864. For 50 years, it was a major employer in the county, employing between 150 and 275 men. The powder works was located on a flat adjacent to the San Lorenzo River, three miles upstream of Santa Cruz.
Oriental Powder Company was a gunpowder manufacturer with mills located on the Presumpscot River in Gorham and Windham, Maine. The company was one of the four largest suppliers to Union forces through the American Civil War.
Laflin & Rand Powder Company was a gunpowder and early smokeless powder manufacturer notable for producing the smokeless powder used by United States Army infantry rifles from 1896 to 1908, which included the period of development of the M1903 Springfield rifle and .30-06 Springfield cartridge.
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American Powder Mills (1883–1929) was a Massachusetts gunpowder manufacturing complex on the Assabet River. It expanded to include forty buildings along both sides of the river in the towns of Acton, Concord, Maynard, and Sudbury. Press mills, kernelling mills, glazing mills, and storehouses were dispersed over four-hundred acres to minimize damage during explosions. A narrow gauge railway transferred raw materials and products between the buildings.
Miami Powder Company operated a gunpowder manufacturing complex on the Little Miami River at Goes Station, Ohio from 1855 to 1925. Willows growing along the banks of the Little Miami River provided the charcoal required for gunpowder. Production was approximately 75 percent rifle powder and 25 percent blasting powder.
The Poudrerie nationale de Vonges is a French powder mill established in 1691 in Vonges, Côte-d'Or. It manufactured explosives for use in quarries, mines and fireworks. During World War I (1914–18) it manufactured munitions. It expanded after the war, producing explosives for civil use. During World War II (1939–45) production was scaled back drastically, but expanded again after the war. The powder mill was fully privatized in 2008.
The Preble Box Toe Company explosion occurred on November 8, 1928, at the company's factory in Lynn, Massachusetts. Eleven people died in the blast and resulting fires and another nine later died from their injuries, making it the deadliest explosion to occur in Greater Boston.
The Paramount Hotel explosion occurred on January 28, 1966, in Boston, Massachusetts. A series of explosions under the hotel and resulting fires killed 11 people.
References
- 1 2 3 "Like Gun's Flash.: One Upheaval Follows Another, Leveling Persons and Buildings --Settlement of Wigginville All But Wiped Out". The Boston Daily Globe. July 30, 1903.
- ↑ Thomas, Matthew (2013). Historic Powder Houses of New England. History Press.
- ↑ "Makes 22 Lives Lost". The Boston Daily Globe. September 25, 1903.
- ↑ "Two Inquests are Probable". The Boston Daily Globe. August 1, 1903.
- ↑ "For Halloway's Death.: Judge Hadley Holds Foreman Goodwin Responsible". The Boston Daily Globe. October 3, 1903.
- ↑ "Settled Out of Court". The Boston Daily Globe. February 17, 1904.
- ↑ "Powder Mills Liable". The Boston Daily Globe. October 20, 1905.