Gunpowder invention

Miner s Squib (PSjtard de Mineurs). One of the primitive devices which was invented by Daddow in Engl in 1874 for igniting blasting expls. It consists of a tapered paper tube, about 7 inches long, filled with fine gunpowd. One end of the tube is filled with chemicals, such as milled gunpowd mixed with either sulfur or sulfur and charcoal, so as to form a sort of slow match. 

Of course, in the Middle Ages the emerging gunpowder industry relied on mortars and pestles to do the mixing, and the recipes were changed in what was, in reality, an enrichment of the saltpetre content to give faster burning and ever more powerful powders for yet another historically important invention - the gun. 

These dangerous early experiments led to many secret or banned recipes, but enough information was disseminated to enable the details of the discovery to be brought to Europe. However, the place and date of the invention of true gunpowder are still unknown and have been the subject of extensive but inconclusive investigation. 

Guns were invented shortly after Bacon s death in about 1292 and so he never used the term gunpowder . However, he had certainly had experience of fireworks for which his early black powder recipe would have been perfectly suitable. In the Opus Majus he wrote ... 

Accdg to Fuller, Vol 1 (Ref 50), solid iron balls partly replaced stones as cannon missiles, but hollow iron projs filled with Gunpowder (to act as an explosive) were not invented (in Holland) until the 16th century (Greener, 1st edn, Ref 2,... 

Chap I, Early Arms Chap II, The Invention of Gunpowder Chap III, Early Artillery ... 

Since black powder is relatively low in energy, it leaves a large proportion of corrosive solids after explosion and absorbs moisture readily, it was succeeded in late 1800s by smokeless gunpowder and picric acid. The first smokeless powder, known as cordite, was invented by tbe English chemists Sir James Dewar and Sir Frederick Augustus Abel in 1889. It was made in two forms a gelatinized nitrocellulose and a mixture of NC and NG with a small quantity of petroleum jelly added to act as a stabilizer. Smokeless powder soon became tbe primary ammunition for use in pistols. 

The origin of pyrotechnics is obscure and the Chinese are usually credited with the invention of pyrotechnics (gunpowder-a pyrotechnic mixture of charcoal, potassium nitrate and sulfur). Pyrotechnics are among the oldest explosive devices known to man and have been used from very early times to display fireworks for celebrating important occasions or to express victory. Fireworks are believed to be similar to pyrotechnics with minor differences. 

There can be no doubt that the nitrum of ancient writings must have been in some cases an alkaline carbonate, which in their nomenclature was confused with saltpetre. It is not known when saltpetre was definitely recognized as something different from the ordinary nitrum. It is commonly supposed that saltpetre was a component of Greek fire invented near the end of the seventh century. The first definite reference to saltpetre appears in literature in connection with the preparation of gunpowder. Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon, of the thirteenth century, both refer to this salt, and probably both derived their information from... 

The forerunner of all modern explosives, blackpowder, formerly often called gunpowder, is a mixture of potassium nitrate (saltpetre), sulphur and charcoal. The origin of blackpowder is obscure and dates back to very remote times. According to numerous historical works, in particular that of Romocki [1] blackpowder was invented by the Chinese many centuries B.C. The secret of its manufacture penetrated from there to Central Asia and was brought to Europe by the Arabs about the middle of the thirteenth century. 

---