Dynamite's an Explosive material based (in its standard form) on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth (kieselgur: United States spelling; kieselguhr: UK spelling) or another absorbent substance such as sawdust as an absorbent. It was invented by Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in 1866 in Krümmel (Geesthacht, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany), and patented in 1867. Military dynamite achieves greater stability by avoiding nitroglycerin. (External… (More on Dynamite)