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Nitroglycerin was discovered in 1847 by the Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero when he reacted glycerin with a sulphonitric mixture. It was very unstable and its explosion was extremely violent, which made it impossible to use it as an explosive. In 1867, Swedish chemist Alfred Bernhard Nobel managed to make nitroglycerin less sensitive to shocks by creating dynamite, a mixture of 75% nitroglycerin and 25% diatomaceous earth. Later, Nobel also invented gelatinous dynamite and smokeless gunpowder. Currently, nitroglycerin has applications in medicine as a coronary vasodilator, being prescribed in cases of risk of infarction and obstruction of the arteries.
