Tech History Made on December 13, 1849

"Dynamite Gun." It just sounds awesome. On this day 158 years ago Edmund Louis Gray Zalinski was born. He would go on to invent a weapon very popular in the 1890's. By age 16 Zalinksi was a lieutenant in the army. He was an explosives expert and invented the equipment for making trenches, a new kind of bayonet and a telescopic sight for aiming artillery. Then he invented the dynamite gun: A weapon that would shoot a stick of dynamite at your enemies (or friends, if you're a really really big jerk.)


Dynamite could not be used in a normal cannon because the heat and shock from the launch would cause the dynamite to explode before ever leaving the barrel. So Zalinski used an air gun. Zalinski did not invent the air gun but improved it for use with dynamite. For this reason he is considered the inventor of the dynamite gun. The dynamite gun was primarily suited for use against ships, but soon lost favor to other technologies like torpedoes and water mines.