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super-hombre t1_ixo0my7 wrote

Nitroglycerin is still used as heart medication today

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ZwischenzugZugzwang t1_ixopj1g wrote

It is. I think this fact is notable because Nobel invented (or popularized? I'd have to look it up) TNT

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Goalie_deacon t1_ixos2ag wrote

Okay, Nobel didn’t invent nitroglycerin. Dynamite was Nobel’s invention to make handling nitroglycerin safer. He created the Nobel Peace Price because his fear that he made a great weapon. None of that makes this as interesting as he created dynamite after his brother died from nitroglycerin explosion. What killed one brother kept the other brother alive a bit longer, and a legend.

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Devil_May_Kare t1_ixptinr wrote

Dynamite. He invented dynamite. That's a way of stabilizing nitroglycerin so it won't explode if you look at it funny.

TNT is a different explosive that's inherently more stable than nitroglycerin, so it doesn't need extra stabilization.

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dk3tkd t1_ixras3a wrote

I was given it once in the ER. Went in for high troponin levels found in a blood test, by my GP's recommendation. When that stuff wore off, OMG! Horrible headache, dizzy, I was a complete mess. Nobody warned me about the after effects.

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Ganacsi OP t1_ixo1u2q wrote

> A few months before his death in 1896, Alfred Nobel was prescribed nitroglycerin for this heart condition, writing to a friend: "Isn’t it the irony of fate that I have been prescribed nitro-glycerin, to be taken internally! They call it Trinitrin, so as not to scare the chemist and the public." The medical establishment also used the name "glyceryl trinitrate" for the same reason.

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MechaBeatsInTrash t1_ixo4cj8 wrote

I see in the other comments that the Nobel prizes have accomplished their intended task of masking the name of the man who invented such a powerful explosive.

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Atlhou t1_ixo0x0w wrote

Now almost anyone is treated with nitro.

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Charyou-Tree t1_ixosh0x wrote

Nitroglycerin is one of those strange molecules that is really good at two completely unrelated things. Powerful primary high explosive, also an excellent vasodilator drug.

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blues-brother90 t1_ixnzuoh wrote

Raised like a pitbull, My heart pumps nitro

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EvilIgor t1_ixq61uo wrote

So he went out with a bang!

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steez8000 t1_ixq71rr wrote

Till we blow like nitroglycerin, we sip that cheap brew that tastes like Listerine - Jay Z

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