1867 – Alfred Nobel patents dynamite in Sweden (the invention that would both make him rich and haunt him).
Alfred Nobel patented dynamite on November 25, 1867, in Britain.
He tamed dangerously unstable nitroglycerin by mixing it with absorbent earth (kieselguhr), making a safe, powerful explosive that revolutionized mining, tunneling, and construction—and made him hugely rich.
But when newspapers called him “the merchant of death” (and one even ran his obituary early), he was horrified. That guilt led him to leave his fortune to create the Nobel Prizes, turning his name from destruction to peace and progress. 
