UNITED STATES

Alfred Nobel patented dynamite 150 years ago

May 26, 2018

Alfred Nobel, a man once dubbed the Merchant of Death, patented dynamite 150 years ago. His bequest, which founded the prestigious Nobel Prizes, might be seen as a penitential gesture.

A Swedish chemist and businessman, Nobel went on to patent another explosive, gelignite, which became widely used by both armies and terrorists. He owned the arms company Bofors and many others.

When his brother Ludvig died, in 1888, according to Foreign Policy, one newspaper mistook him for the more famous Alfred, and published an obituary under the headline: "The merchant of death is dead." Mortified, the scientist left his fortune to found the Nobel Prizes, which were and remain the richest awards in the world. The magazine observes that perhaps he thought the gesture would do something to atone for the massive carnage and destruction that his inventions had already caused by the time of his death in 1896.

Both the invention – patent no. 78,817, May 26, 1868, for an "Improved Explosive Compound" – and the Nobel Prizes have succeeded on a monumental scale. Other inventors picked up where Nobel left off, patenting ever-more lethal explosives. His invention didn’t cause the wars and terrorism of the subsequent 150 years, but it has contributed to their deadliness.

The Nobel Prizes, meanwhile, have increased in stature since they began on Dec 5, 1901, the fifth anniversary of Nobel’s death. Winners of the international award receive an 18-karat gold medal and a check of nearly US $1 million. If one prize has multiple winners, the cash reward is split.

#22332 Published: October 9, 2017