October: Alfred Nobel receives his first patent

Nitroglycerin was first discovered by Ascanio Sobrero in 1847 in Turin, it is a highly volatile and explosive substance which Sobrero came to warn against any use of.  However, one of Sobrero's fellow students, Alfred Nobel, took the formula back with him to Sweden and experimented with safer ways to handle it.

On October 14, 1863, Alfred Nobel received a patent for preparing nitroglycerin, this was the first of his 355 patents.  Nobel's company later developed and patented dynamite in 1867; mixing nitroglycerin with diatomaceous earth and sodium carbonate made it a lot more stable and easier to transport.

The RSC's historical collection contains a report by former Chemical Society President, Dr William Odling on Alfred Nobel's patent of 1869.  The collection also contains nearly 1,000 items on explosives and firearms (dating from 1598 to 1920) known as the Nathan Collection as it was donated to the Chemical Society by Colonel Sir Frederick Nathan, KBE.