History
Though early thermal weapons, such as Greek fire, have existed since ancient times, the first widely used explosive in warfare and mining was black powder, invented in 9th century China (see the history of gunpowder). This material was sensitive to water, and evolved lots of dark smoke. The first useful explosive stronger than black powder was nitroglycerin, developed in 1847. As nitroglycerin was unstable, it was replaced by nitrocellulose, smokeless powder, dynamite and gelignite (the two latter invented by Alfred Nobel). World War II saw an extensive use of new explosives (see explosives used during World War II). In turn, these have largely been replaced by modern explosives such as trinitrotoluene and C-4.
The increased availability of chemicals has allowed the construction of improvised explosive devices.
Read more about this topic: Liquid Explosives
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“The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records between the material and the moral nature.”
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“Humankind has understood history as a series of battles because, to this day, it regards conflict as the central facet of life.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)