Racked with guilt from inventing a highly dangerous substance? Just balance it out by setting up an award celebrating global peace and human progress. That's exactly what Alfred Nobel did  after inventing Dynamite in 1867.

By merging nitroglycerin with kieselguhr, a spongy silicate earth, he whipped up a concoction that was shock-resistant but could still go boom with some heat or a good knock. Since nitroglycerin is highly volatile, Nobel invented dynamite as a safer alternative.

Inspired by the Greek word "dynamis" for power, he dubbed his creation "dynamite".  When Nobel realised nitroglycerin needed rapid heating to explode reliably, he came up with the "blasting cap" to initiate it. Initially, a fuse-lit gunpowder-filled wooden plug would trigger the dynamite's larger explosion.