Gunpowder was invented by people looking for the elixir of life.

850 · 1044 · apart: 194 years

Chinese Taoist alchemists mixing saltpetre, sulphur and charcoal in search of immortality got a mixture that flared up and burned their hands and faces.

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The event

• First gunpowder formulas in the Wujing Zongyao1044 · Kaifeng. China completed the military compendium Wujing Zongyao, containing the earliest known gunpowder formulas. It described incendiary and smoke bombs; gunpowder later spread to the Islamic world and Europe, transforming warfare.

9th century · 11th century

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